How DAVID Went From Shepherd to King! 👑 | Bible Stories for Kids

Minnow Laugh and Grow Bible Israel had a king. Me, King Saul. But after a while, King Saul stopped listening to God. Uh-oh, that sounds bad. It was. Israel needed a king who would follow God with his whole heart. So, God sent the prophet Samuel on a search for a new king. And one day, he arrived at the house of a man named... Jesse. I have eight sons. So, Samuel asked to see Jesse's sons. And the first one he saw was... Eliab, I am the oldest. Well, what do you think? He's strong. He's handsome. Hmm, he does look like he would make a great king. Hmm, I think... No, not him. You're looking at the outside of this man. I look on the inside. So, Jesse brought out the next son. Abinadab. Ah, this one. I think... No, not him either. No. So, God didn't choose that brother either? No, he had someone else in mind. So, what happened next? Well, Samuel tried the next son. Shammah. And the next one. And the one after that. And the next one. Seven sons in all came before Samuel. And to each one, God said... No. So, maybe Samuel went to the wrong house. That's what it seemed like. Until... Is that all the sons you have? Well, there is one more. Oh? Yes, the youngest. He's out taking care of the sheep. Oh, well, bring him here. So, Jesse sent for his youngest son. A young man named... David. Now, David did not look like a king. He looked more like a kid. But, God said... That's the one. David is the one. Then, Samuel did something very special. What did he do? He poured oil on David's head. Wait, oil? You mean like the stuff that my mom uses to cook? Well, kind of. In those days, olive oil was very special. It was used in the temple. And it was used for anointing someone. Annoying someone? Not annoying someone. Anointing. What does that mean? Anointing someone meant that they were being set apart or chosen for something special. David was being chosen by God... To be the king of Israel. Yes, by anointing David, Samuel showed that God chose him to one day be Israel's new king. He would follow God with his whole heart. And do you know what else? What? What? From David's family, years and years later, would come the long-awaited blessing for the whole world. Wow-wee! Many, many years ago, Israel had a big problem. Really? What was it? Their enemy came to attack them. That is a big problem. So, King Saul, the leader of Israel, sent out a messenger to ask for help throughout the land. The messenger passed by a town where a man named Jesse lived with his big, strong sons. The Philistines are attacking and King Saul needs brave and mighty men to fight. Well, when Jesse's sons heard that, they said... Brave and mighty? That's us! So, off they all went. All except for their little brother, David. I take care of the sheep. David was too young and too small to go to war. So, instead of fighting, David brought food to his brothers. One day, while he was visiting them, David saw a big, huge Philistine. Was he one of the Philistines attacking Israel? Yes, and his name was... Goliath! I'm the baddest, biggest, strongest guy around! The Philistine leader said... If your strongest man can beat our strongest man, we will be your slaves. But if our strongest man can beat your strongest man, you will be our slaves. The Israelite soldiers were really scared. But someone had to fight Goliath. Who's brave enough to fight? I will! You? You're just a kid! God has helped me save our sheep from a lion and a bear. And God will help me save Israel from Goliath and the Philistines. Well, it sounded... Crazy! But no one else volunteered. So, King Saul said... All right, here, use my sword. Uh-oh. It's too heavy. I'll just use this. A slingshot? I use this slingshot to protect my sheep from lions and bears. And I'll use it to protect us from the Philistines. Then, David picked up five smooth stones and walked out onto the battlefield. He was such a nice kid. Israel announced that they were sending their champion out to meet Goliath. So, the giant Philistine turned to meet him. Where is he? Right here. You? I'm going to feed you to the birds. Goliath! Goliath! Goliath! David must have been so scared. Maybe. But David trusted God and said... This is God's battle. Oh, yeah? Well, this is my spear. You come at me with your big spear and strong armor, but I come with the power of my big, strong God. And just then, David slung a stone through the air and... It hit Goliath right between the eyes. Uh-oh. So, Israel was safe. And who did God use? Not big, strong King Saul or his army. Not Jesse's warrior sons. It was David because he trusted God. And when we trust God with everything, God can use us to do amazing things. Defeating the giant Goliath made David... a pretty popular guy. Can I have a picture with you two? And when he saw the giant, he took a little swing. Oh, yes. It sure looks like he was popular. Suddenly, everybody in Israel wanted to be his friend. Even King Saul. The king? Oh, yes. In fact, when David was old enough, King Saul asked him to be a leader in his army. I want you in my army. Every time David went out to fight a battle, God was with him and helped David win. So, guess what King Saul did? What? He sent David out to fight more and more battles. And David kept on winning and winning. And people kept on cheering and cheering. Hooray for David! Soon, King Saul was not so happy. Really? But his army was winning. Well, he got jealous. Jealous? Why? Because now David was more popular than him. If David keeps on winning, the people are going to want to make him king. Why do they like him more than me? Why does God like him more? Why doesn't anybody like me? Wow, he looks upset. And it got worse. It did? Yes, Saul got so jealous and so angry that he decided to do a really bad thing. Oh, no. What did he decide to do? Kill David! What? That's horrible. It was horrible, but not surprising. King Saul had not been listening to God for a long time. Even though David was helping King Saul win all those battles, even though David was helping to keep Israel safe, King Saul was so jealous that he wanted to get rid of David. Did David know that King Saul wanted to hurt him? Well, he had a feeling. Especially when one day... Saul's spear almost hit David. At that moment, David knew that something was wrong. Uh, I guess I'd better go now. It's a bad thing when a king wants to hurt you because... Hmm, the army obeys the king. That means if the king tells them to hurt me, they'll hurt me. But the good thing was David had a best friend, and he was King Saul's son, Jonathan. Wait, what? David's best friend was King Saul's son? You got it! So, did he help David? Yes, Jonathan didn't want his father, King Saul, to hurt his best friend, David. So, one day when Jonathan overheard his dad... Kill David! Jonathan ran to tell David, and David said... Okay, I can't stay here anymore. So David said goodbye to Jonathan and ran away from King Saul and his army. He hid in the desert. He hid in caves. And he waited for God to tell him what to do next. Poor David. How long did he have to hide from King Saul? Oh, uh, about... Eight years. Eight years? Yep, David ran and hid from King Saul and his army for eight long years. But you know what? Just as God kept David safe in his battles, he kept David safe from King Saul. But then... Oh? Then what? What? What? There was a great battle between the Philistines and King Saul's army. Many Israelites died in the battle, including David's friend Jonathan and King Saul. It was a very sad day for David. He was sad that so many Israelites had died. He was sad that his best friend had died. He was even sad King Saul had died. After this battle, the people of Israel knew they needed help. We need a new king! Someone who can help us win battles. Someone who can help us follow God. Hmm. They thought about it for a while. Hmm. And then... Hey! They remembered who had been following God all along. They remembered who God used to win all those battles. So, who do you think they chose? I'm pretty sure I know. David! David! David! David! Yes! God had already anointed David to be the ruler of his people. In time, he would become Israel's king. And what a king he would be!