But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.”
— 1 Samuel 17:34-35
Because of his rebellion and insubordination, Saul was rejected as Israel’s first king by the God who appointed him. The Lord then commanded His prophet Samuel to call David out from tending his father’s flocks and anoint him as Saul’s successor. Samuel did as he was commanded and anointed David with a horn of oil in the presence of his family and the elders of Bethlehem. Then David went back to faithfully caring for his father’s sheep.
Later, David heard the challenge of the giant Goliath, and though not trained as a soldier, he volunteered to defeat the warrior Philistine to demonstrate the strength of Israel’s God. Though Saul was unsure whether this young shepherd boy was equipped for a seemingly impossible task, David was confident that God had prepared him for the battle and the conquest.
