David is a living legend of Hebrew history, and this is a presentation of him from a Greek point of view: a view which found its way into the English language. David's rise to power starts with the story of a man of God named Samuel. As a child, Samuel lived in a house of worship. The Lord singled him out as a prophet, and the child's first prophecy was one of judgment on the corrupt priests. This was when Samuel's people, the people of Israel, got used to being in constant battles with their most famous enemy, the Philistines. The Philistines capture the ark of the covenant, Messiah's earthly gift to Israel, but when the Creator sends judgment, the Philistines return the ark. Samuel calls Israel to repentance, and then to victory over the Philistines. But that was not enough for Israel: wanting to be like other nations, they desired a king. Samuel is displeased by their demands, but God the Father tells him that it is not Samuel's leadership they are rejecting, but his own. After warning the people of what having a king would mean, Samuel anoints a man named Saul. Saul enjoys initial success, but then he makes a series of missteps: he presumptuously offers a sacrifice, he makes a foolish vow at the expense of his son Jonathan, and he disobeys the heavenly Father's direct command. As a result of Saul's rebellion, God the Son chooses another man to take Saul's place. Meanwhile, God the Holy Spirit removes his blessing from Saul, and an evil spirit begins goading Saul toward madness. Samuel travels to a small town to anoint a youth named David as the next king. Then, David has a confrontation with Goliath the Philistine and becomes a national hero. David serves in Saul's court, marries Saul's daughter, and is befriended by Saul's son. Then Saul grows jealous of David's success and he attempts to kill David. David flees, and so begins an extraordinary period of adventure. With supernatural aid, David narrowly but consistently eludes the bloodthirsty Saul. Through it all, David maintains his integrity. Then, when Samuel dies, Saul is a lost man. On the eve of a battle with the Philistines, Saul seeks for answers. Having rejected the Holy One of Israel, he finds no help from heaven, and he seeks counsel from a medium instead. During the seance, Samuel's spirit rises from the dead to give one last prophecy: Saul will die in battle the next day. The prophecy is fulfilled: Saul's three sons fall in battle, and Saul commits suicide. Then David was crowned king in Juda (a tribe of Israel), but one of Saul's sons was proclaimed king in Israel. A civil war in the divided nation ends with David being crowned king over the whole country. David then moves to Jerusalem. He also moves the ark to Jerusalem. Then David gets the desire to build a permanent dwelling place for Almighty God. David vows to build a temple for his Savior, but his Redeemer would not allow him to do so. However, the Maker of heaven and earth did give him the promise that his son would build the temple. Encouraged by the promises of the Prince of Peace, David took Israel into successful campaigns to win the land that had never been fully claimed. Then David fell into a series of problems. Some were brought on by his own actions, and some were caused by those around him. David began a dark time of not living for the Rock who had brought him this far in his life. David slept with the wife of one of his own mighty men. Then the son born to David dies. Then some of the other children of David began causing problems. While David was slowly becoming a great man of God, he also had trouble teaching moral character to his own children. His failure with some of his kids even led to one of his sons taking over his kingdom: but that was only temporary, because the Holy Ghost had guaranteed David's rise to power - and the world around David was able to see that strength is made perfect in weakness.
