It was after Saul's disobedience over destroying the Amalekites that the Almighty sent a message via Gabriel to Samuel to choose the next king, telling him to go to the family of Jesse in Judah and anoint one of the boys. Samuel did so, and examined each of the adult sons of Jesse - but each time the Almighty sent the message, "No". Finally, all the grown-up sons had been rejected and, in despair, Samuel asked if there were any more. "Only the boy", was the reply. Amazingly, the Almighty chose this teenage lad. One reason for this, no doubt, was that it would be many years before David would become king, but the Almighty saw more deeply into the heart of the man and knew he would be the best. To give David experience of a king's life I had to arrange that he became the musician to King Saul, which I did.

Soon after that came the famous battle when David killed the Philistine giant, Goliath. This 9ft. tall, immensely strong man terrified all his opponents, including the whole Israelite army, and I was at my wits end to find a way of defeating him. When David turned up at the battlefield and said he would fight Goliath I hastily gathered all my angels to guard him. Saul offered David his armour, but the boy found it too cumbersome and he amazed even me by choosing to fight with his sling and a few pebbles. I put the angels in position, expecting David to be torn to pieces. To the surprise of everyone present, David's first shot with his sling was bang on target in the middle of Goliath's forehead, killing the giant outright. David cut off his head with his own sword just for good measure. Quickly seizing the advantage, I moved my angels to create an atmosphere of fear among the Philistines and one of courage among the Israelites. The result was a great victory for the Israelites and David being honoured by all the people as their greatest warrior.

King Saul became very jealous of David and sought to kill him, but David was warned by Jonathan, Saul's son, who was about the same age as David and had become his closest friend. David fled and became a hunted outlaw. A number of men came to join him and it was not long before he had quite a small army of followers. He did not attempt to take the crown however as he always saw Saul as the Almighty's appointment, and reckoned it was up to the Almighty to remove him. There were several times when David could have killed Saul but refrained, and Saul never managed to get anywhere near catching David. Eventually David went to live in Philistia for safety, and pretended to ally himself with the Philistines, though he never attacked the Israelites when the Philistines did.

The day came when King Saul was killed, as I have described before. Immediately the southern tribes of the Israelites called for David and crowned him king, but the northern tribes wanted one of Saul's many sons to be king. David knew he had been anointed by the Almighty as the next king, and he felt now free to fight for the throne. Seven years of civil war followed before David triumphed and became king over all Israel.

The first task David set himself was to conquer the one remaining enclave in Israel which had not yet been conquered, - the fortress city of Jerusalem. This was perched on top of a high mountain with precipices on three sides and a stout wall on the other, which made it impregnable, - well almost. David spotted that a sewage shaft led up from the valley into the city, and he led his men up this shaft to take the city's defenders by surprise. Having captured this fortress, David decided to make it his headquarters and the capital city of the kingdom. But first he had to fight off an attack from the Philistines. They were annoyed that one who they thought was their ally had become king of their chief enemy-country, and were determined to put him in his place. David prayed about the situation, as he always did, and received the assurance he would win the battle. That meant I had to get my angels to work again! Two attacks by the Philistines were defeated before they were driven back into their own country.

To establish Jerusalem as the capital city, David decided to move the Synagogue there. The old tents were getting very tattered after 400 years of use so, first, David had a new tent built. Then he set out to bring in the Arc of the Covenant. Unfortunately a young man died as a result of touching the Arc. He did this in all innocence to steady it when the cart on which it was carried tilted. David was distraught and immediately abandoned the Arc at a nearby farm and went into a time of prayer and fasting. He found out that the Arc was so holy and powerful that anyone touching it would immediately die, and also it should not be carried on a cart but suspended from poles carried on the shoulders of a team of Levites. Having got this sorted out, he then arranged for the Arc to be brought into Jerusalem, properly this time, and got so excited that he took off his royal robes and, wearing only his undergarment, led the procession in a dance. His wife thought it undignified!

All went well for some time. David had some brilliant generals among his soldiers and they went from victory to victory, enlarging the kingdom. It was while the army was away on one battle that David committed his biggest sin. He looked down from the top of his palace and saw a beautiful woman bathing in the seclusion of her courtyard.
David immediately wanted her sexually and, being king, ordered that she be brought to him. Evil always breeds evil. The next thing David knew was that Bathsheba was pregnant. He panicked. Firstly he attempted to get her husband to sleep with her so that the baby would be thought of as the husband's. Then, when that did not work, he had him sent to the worst battle area, where he was killed.

The Almighty sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David, and, to the king's credit, if there can be any credit in this incident, David accepted the rebuke and repented and married Bathsheba. The Almighty forgave him but decreed that the baby must die. As soon as the baby was born David went into a period of prayer and fasting in the most humiliating of circumstances in the hope that the Almighty would change His mind, but seven days later the baby died. How often the innocent suffer because of the sins of another.

David's story became even more complex after that but I will tell you about it in the next letter...