The Shepherd Boy And The Giant

To fill the armor, David stretched in vain,
Fearing the king would deny him the chance
To fight the giant to the death on the plain;
He was so small, the Hebrews looked askance!
He was no soldier, in just his twelfth year,
Come to bring his brothers their home-sent ration,
Shocked to find God's army faltered in fear,
None would fight Goliath to save the nation!
Filled with faith in God, David volunteered,
And for some strange reason, they sent him out;
The stone he slung struck true, and Hebrews cheered;
As the stricken giant fell, with a stifled shout!
David's fame like wildfire swept through the land,
And flames of King Saul's jealousy were fanned!

God did not want His Chosen People to establish a kingdom in Canaan. What He wanted was a theocracy under His rule through the priestly system (this is what is now established under Jesus Christ as King and High Priest combined in the Kingdom of God that Jesus established). Moses was both ruler and prophet under God for Israel's escape from Egypt and 40-year trek through the desert. Moses turned his authority over to Joshua; Canaan was conquered and the 12 tribes of Israel settled. For a coup;e of centuries the tribes operated together loosely under "prophets" and judges, but they had continual wars with Philistines and other surrounding nations, and the people demanded a king. God didn't like it, but He let them have a king named Saul, which means in Hebrew, "You asked for it." After Davic (who God wanted to be Israel's king) burst on the scene by killing Goliath in about 1000 B. C., Saul brought him into his palace; he was extremely jealous of David, because the people showered the shepherd boy with more praise than they had for Saul.

David was a musician; his harp-playing soothed Saul's headaches; he also became a great soldier and lifelong friend of Jonathan, Saul's son. In returning from battle, the crowds of people would chant, "Saul kills his thousands, and David kills his ten thousands". Saul became so jealous that he hurled a spear at him once in the palace, so David fled to save his life. King Saul chased him with thousands of soldiers, but David was helped by many. Twice he had opportunities to kill Saul, but did not; he cut a piece of his robe off and sent it to Saul with a note, saying this was proof that he did not want to kill God's appoited king. Eventually Saul was killed in battle, and Jonathan gave David the king's purple robe that was given to him. David became the greatest king in Israel's history, and under his rule Israel became great. When God began promising Israel about the coming of a Messiah, He was to be descended from David and to be a future king on David's throne.

David wanted to build a temple for God to dwell in with His people, but God refused to let him, because of his killing so many enemy soldiers in battle and his great sin with Bathsheba. She was the wife of Uriah; they lived next door to David's palace in Jerusalem. While Uriah was off fighting with David's army, the king saw Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop. He committed adultery with her. When she became pregnant, David wrote a note to his general in command, telling him to pull his soldiers back from Uriah in battle so that he would be killed. Psalm 51, written by David, is an account of his grieving repentance for these terrible sins. David wrote many of the Psalms in the Bible. They are Jewish hymns. The child of David and Bathsheba was Solomon, who followed David as king, and he was allowed by God to build the temple. David was born in Bethlehem, where Jesus was born in a manger.