David a young shepherd boy, the youngest of eight sons, tended to his fathers sheep daily and the experiences taught him how to lead and make wise decisions. One of the most famous kings in all of history, David’s humble beginnings turned out to be very essential to his maturity and also his leadership skills.1 Samuel, the High Priest of Israel introduced readers to David as a young shepherd boy when he went to Jesse’s, father of David, house. Samuel began to look for Israel’s next king, and instead of choosing one of David’s older brothers, God told Samuel to pick the youngest of the family.2 Shortly after being anointed, the young man rose to fame after defeating the Philistine Giant, but many readers of the Bible quickly skip the early …show more content…
David’s family contained eleven people including him, and he often was forgotten in all the chaos by his siblings. However, his father held an important role in David’s childhood.4 Jesse not only played the father figure to David, he also trained David. Jesse grasped the importance that David must find a mentor outside the family. Although there is little history about David’s other friends, several modern authors believe that Jesse oversaw the friendships David built.5 Jesse also bestowed David with large amounts of responsibility that assisted David’s expansion into a man. Also, as the youngest in his family, David watched all of his older brothers and learned from their success and from their down fall. Although the relationships he built with his brothers were perhaps not his best, they still shaped the way he acted. David examined each of his brothers and saw how they lead others, but David also saw the incorrect decisions that they made. Each brother built a different relationship with him and taught David different lessons. Family relationships that David enjoyed resulted in David’s choices as both a King and a …show more content…
When he was provided with an opportunity to kill King Saul, and also King Saul’s last family member, he chose not to, a decision that was directly altered by his friendship with Jonathan. David also continued to practice his faith in God and several times throughout his reign, readers of the Old Testament discover that the decisions relating to battle and discipline took large amounts of faith from David, but that he truly trusted God and that his decisions paid of for