1. Why did God anoint David, a shepherd boy, as king?
As a young boy, David spent time in the hills of Bethlehem watching over the sheep for his father. This may seem like an insignificant, quiet occupation for a young boy, but that's where God prepared David for his future role as king of Israel. As he learned what it meant to be responsible for the sheep in his fold and to care for them when they were in danger, he learned how to be courageous when nobody was watching.
You might be in a place in life where you question the purpose for where you are at the present. But let me assure you, the time spent in waiting is never wasted when we are being prepared for future service for the Lord.
During Samuel’s visit to the home of Jesse in his quest for the future king, the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him, for the LORD does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). It is not our status in the world’s eyes that makes us fit for service for the Lord, but the sincerity of our heart.
2. Why was David worried about losing the Holy Spirit?
When David sinned with Bathsheba, he wrote in Psalm 51:11, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” David understood that through sin he could lose the empowered blessing of the Spirit of God on his life.
Now it’s true that today we can’t lose the Holy Spirit once we have Him, so let me explain the theology.
The Spirit of God did not always function as He does today. In fact, we are told in Acts 2 that on the Day of Pentecost, God's Spirit came down and indwelt the Body of Christ which is the Church. Since that event in Acts 2, every single Christian is permanently indwelt with the Holy Spirit. You cannot lose the Holy Spirit in your life once you’ve accepted Christ as your Savior.
But in the Old Testament, before the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Spirit of God did not come to permanently indwell believers. He selectively and temporarily indwelt them for service. David did not want the Spirit of God to leave him because he wanted to continue being an effective servant of God even though he had grievously sinned against both God and man. In 1 Samuel 16:13, we are told when Samuel anointed David in the midst of his brothers, “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.”
3. How did David’s life change after he slayed Goliath?
After his victory on behalf of Israel, David was offered Saul’s daughter Michal as his wife. He became part of the king’s family as Saul’s son-in-law. In 1 Samuel 18:2 we are also told that from the day of David's victory over Goliath, Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house.
Overnight David’s entire life turned upside down. The silence of the hillside was replaced by the noise of the palace, and the solitude of the sheep was exchanged by the teeming multitudes who thronged David wherever he went. The consolation David had through this dramatic transition was the friendship that was established between he and Jonathan—which continued until Jonathan’s death.
4. Why did David feel guilty for cutting Saul’s robe?
1 Samuel 24:4-6 says, “And the men of David said to him, ‘Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, “Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.”’ Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul's robe. And afterward David's heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul's robe. He said to his men, ‘The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord's anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the Lord's anointed.’”
Though David didn’t seek full revenge, his conscience bothered him that he had even cut Saul's garment. This was the Lord's anointed, and to treat him in such a way David knew was wrong. He recognized that Saul was God’s anointed and should not be harmed by him.