Saul and his son Jonathan fell in battle. This news made David sad. And, in II Samuel 1: 19-27, he wrote a song about Saul and Jonathan.
Then David asked the Lord, "Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?"
The Lord told David to go to Hebron. And there David was anointed king of Judah.
As king of Judah, David fought many battles against his enemies. And he won. Soon David became king over all of Israel.
David was thirty years old when he began his reign. And he reigned over Israel for forty years.
Now David became full of pride. So he took a census during his reign. He told Joab, the commander of his army, to count all the people.
Joab counted 800,000 valiant men in Israel and 500,000 men of Judah.
David knew he had sinned against God after Joab gave him the numbers.
The Lord sent a plague upon Israel because of David's pride. Then David spoke to the Lord, and said, "Surely I have sinned; but these sheep, what have they done?" And the Lord ended the plague upon Israel.
David was a shepherd before he was a king. And he was a man after God's own heart. These qualities made him a beloved king over Israel.
David wrote at least seventy-three of the one hundred fifty psalms. He wrote one of his most famous Psalms while he was king. It was Psalm 23.
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