Life of David: 1. David the Shepherd

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A brief overview & background of David

This can be used at the beginning of the series for the Life of David, or as a conclusion for the Life of David. Some wording can be changed, and it can also be used by itself and a general overview of David.

We are beginning a study on David. The study will include Saul who was the first king of Israel. These lessons are found in 1 Samuel. David spends a lot of time with King Saul. David was good friends with Saul’s son Jonathan. Saul disappoints God and God chose David to be the second king of Israel after Saul. David’s son Solomon was the third king of Israel.

(1 Samuel 16-17) David was a shepherd for his father Jesse. That means he took care of his father’s sheep. David was ruddy (reddish, pink) with bright eyes and good looking. He was strong and healthy. They lived in Bethlehem. David had seven brothers and he was the youngest. David told King Saul that to take care of his sheep, he had killed a bear and a lion! Can you imagine? He protected his sheep!

David was a warrior and a good leader. He was in a lot of battles, mostly against the Amalekites and the Philistines. King Saul loved him. David was his armor bearer which was a very special job for the king. David was very brave, full of courage. He was smart. He won a famous battle that we will learn about. God was with David.

David played the harp for Saul when he wasn’t feeling good. It would soothe him. David wrote over 70 of the Psalms found in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. Psalms are songs of praise. David praised God the Creator with Psalms. One of the most well-known is Psalm 23. Open your Bibles and let’s look at this Psalm and see what David wrote.

Think of David being a shepherd and he wrote that the Lord is his shepherd. God is over all. God is the One that watches over us and provides for us. Because God takes care of us, David said “I shall not want.”

These are good things to a shepherd. If he can lie down in green pastures, he can rest. There is peace. His sheep have food to eat. If you are by still waters, you have water for your animals and there is a calmness. It is not storming. The animals will feel safe. God is watching over you.

If God is leading you in the paths of righteousness, you are trying to live right. You are trying to live as God wants you to. God was guiding David to be the kind of man and king that He wanted. David was a “man after God’s own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)

Even though there were valleys and danger all around where he took care of his sheep, David wasn’t afraid. He knew that God was with him. David took comfort knowing that God was with him. “Your rod and Your staff comfort me.” A rod was used by the shepherd to guide their sheep. The shepherd’s staff was used to protect and defend the sheep. [Ellicott]

David continued to praise God for the abundance God has given him. God has taken care of him and the physical things he wants or needs. He has plenty of food to eat. Even having enemies, David feels blessed by God. “My cup runs over.”

God shows His favor with “goodness and mercy” to David as long as he lives. David ends Psalm 23 by saying that he will stay faithful to God. Forever.

(1 Chronicles 29:27-30) David did make mistakes and he sinned. We will study some of them. But, he tried to stay faithful to God. He was king in Hebron for 7 years, and king in Jerusalem for 33 years. David was a king for a total of 40 years. David lived a long life that was full of honor and riches.

The printables for David in this series are for an older age group than I usually post. A lot of these lessons about David are not appropriate for early elementary. But David is a great study. So, as you can see from the above picture, there is a Q&A. This could be used with younger groups by using the answer sheet and just asking the questions for discussion. Each post in this series will have a maze and some type of puzzle. The additional application has thought questions about how the students can apply the lesson to their daily life. There are answer sheets for all worksheets except for the last application. Everyone will have a different set of answers. Click here to download.