For a while David split his time between King Saul’s court and his father Jesse’s home. At court he played the harp to quiet the King’s mind, but King Saul didn’t pay much attention to the young musician. He was just one of his many servants.

At home, David was the little brother who tended his father’s sheep and he made good use of his time out there by himself. He worked on some skills that came in handy later in life.

Goliath, the Philistine Champion

1 Samuel 17 is a story about champion warfare. Instead of two armies engaging in battle, two champions fought each other. Whoever won the fight gained the victory for his army. The Philistines had what appeared to be an unbeatable champion in Goliath, but Israel had no champion. Saul and all of the Israelites were terrified of Goliath.

Goliath was well over nine feet tall and strong enough to wear 125 pounds of protective armor while carrying a heavy spear with a 15 pound bronze tip. Each day he faced the Israelites and threw down a challenge.

“Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us . . . This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 1 Samuel 17:10

This went on every morning and evening for forty days.

David Comes to the Battle

Jesse’s three eldest sons were at the battlefront with Saul, and Jesse wanted to know how they were doing so he sent David out with supplies for them. David arrived in time to see the Israelite and Philistine armies lined up across the valley from each, shouting their war cries.

He ran to the front lines to talk with his brothers just as Goliath stepped out with his daily challenge and the Israelite soldiers shrank back from him. David was amazed that no one was willing to fight Goliath. He heard rumors of a reward for whoever could defeat this giant so he asked someone about it.

Eliab, David’s oldest brother angrily reprimanded him, but that didn’t put David off. He kept on asking about fighting Goliath until King Saul heard about it and sent for him.

David defeats Goliath

David had a lot of confidence for a young shepherd.

“‘Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’” 1 Samuel 17:32

Saul didn’t think David could handle this seasoned warrior, but David told the king about his exploits in the sheep pasture killing a lion and a bear. He said,

“The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37

Saul agreed to send David into battle and tried to outfit him with armor and a sword, but it made David uncomfortable. He took off the armor and picked up his shepherd’s staff. Then he put five smooth stones from the stream into his bag, and with his sling in hand he walked out to meet the giant.

Goliath scoffed when he saw him.

“’Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks? . . . Come here and I will give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.’” 1 Samuel 17:43-44

David told Goliath that he came against him in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, and “The battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:47

Goliath advanced toward the battle line and David ran to meet him. As he ran he loaded his slingshot with a stone and flung it deep into Goliath’s forehead. Goliath fell facedown on the ground and David finished him by cutting off his head with his own sword.

The Philistines fled and Israel slew them along the road until the Philistines got back inside the gates of their own towns. Saul didn’t recognize who David was until he asked him who his father was. From that day on he kept David with him and didn’t let him go back to his father Jesse.

David Becomes Famous

Saul’s son Jonathan was very drawn to David’s bold spirit and when he honored David by giving him his own royal robe and tunic, along with his weapons, Saul began to be jealous of David.

Nevertheless, David was a great soldier and the King soon promoted him to a high rank in the army. The officers, soldiers and civilians in Israel loved David. The women sang songs about his military prowess and praised his victories above Saul’s.

Saul began to suspect David could become the next king. “He thought . . .What more can he get but the kingdom?” 1 Samuel 18:8

The evil spirit that tormented Saul prompted him to try and kill David the next day while David was playing the lyre for him. He hurled his spear at David twice, but David dodged it both times.

Then Saul sent David far away on military campaigns, but “In everything [David] did he had great success, because the Lord was with him.” 1 Samuel 18:14

Saul was afraid of David.

David Becomes Saul’s Son-in-Law

Saul’s next attempt to control and undermine David was to make him part of the royal household through marriage to one of his daughters. David considered becoming the King’s son-in-law a high honor and refused it until Saul gave him a nearly impossible way to earn his princess. David was to collect one hundred Philistine foreskins and deliver them to Saul.

This unholy bride price was not God’s idea. It came from the mind of a man tormented by an evil spirit, but David doubled the number and fulfilled the challenge, and Saul gave David his daughter Michal in marriage.

Saul thought he would be able to manipulate David through his new wife, but Michal was in love with David and only wanted to protect him from her father.

Saul Tries to Kill David

Saul commanded his son Jonathan and the other palace attendants to kill David, but Jonathan refused the order. He told David to hide in a field while he reasoned with his father.

Jonathan reminded Saul that David was Israel’s champion and innocent of any harm to him or the nation. Saul listened to Jonathan and rescinded his order to kill David.

Jonathan was able to bring Saul and David together and temporarily make peace between them, but before long the evil spirit provoked Saul again and he tried to kill David with a spear. This time David escaped with his wife Michal’s help.

Psalm 59

David’s years alone in the fields with the sheep had given him time to meditate and pray and he had become a Psalmist. Songs and poems flowed from his life experiences and observations about God.

Psalm 59 became a prayer set to music about what it was like to be pursued by King Saul’s men. Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him and David felt they were like wild dogs that wanted to tear him to pieces. He turned to God and asked him to expose the plot against him.

“But do not kill them, Lord our shield, or my people will forget. In your might uproot them and bring them down. For the sins of their mouths, for the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride.” Psalm 59:11-12

David prayed that the God who had helped him defeat a lion, a bear, and Goliath would show him how to deal with King Saul now.

David and Samuel

Things had not gone as David expected since his anointing by Samuel, so he went to Samuel’s home in Ramah to talk it over.

Saul found out where David was and sent men to capture him, but the Lord personally protected David. When the men arrived in Ramah they saw Samuel leading a group of prophets in a praise circle. The Spirit of God came upon Saul’s men and they also started praising and prophesying about the Lord.

Saul sent two more groups of men to Ramah who also got caught up in the revival going on there. Finally, Saul went himself. As he walked along toward Naioth where he heard David was staying, he also began to prophesy and praise God. He took off his royal garments and lay on the ground all that day and night under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord. Israel resurrected the old saying, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

David was now a fugitive on the run, but as he fled he gathered strength from what God did for him.