Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Jewish Perspective
1 Samuel is one of those books. It's just super super super important.
Why? Because this book is about how a fragmented community of Israelites—those divided twelve tribes—unites under one king. What could be more important than that? Moreover, this story reinforces the idea that the nation of Israel is lucky enough to have God's guiding hand in its creation. God helped Samuel handpick the future kings of Israel and the rest is history, plus or minus a few battles.
Let's zoom in on our central figure here. David's pretty key in the history of Judaism, as he's really the first legit king of Israel (Saul wasn't so great, after all). And David is a key player in the formation of a united Jewish kingdom. It's his leadership that brings the people together, and because God's on Team David, that leadership is defined by good choices—at least so far. It's also worth noting that in Hebrew texts, David is anointed not only to be king of Israel, but one of his descendants will bring about the restoration of the kingdom and sit on the throne as a messiah figure.
So yeah, he's kind of a big deal.
Christian Perspective
Sure, he's the king of Israel and one of the founding fathers of Judaism as we know it, but David's a pretty important figure in Christianity as well. By ushering in a united Israelite kingdom, David set the stage for Christianity.
How's that, you ask? Well, Christians believe that Jesus was actually a direct descendant of David. Fun fact: Joseph, Jesus' step-daddy was from Bethlehem, the same town as David.
Coincidence? Hardly.
So why does it matter that Jesus is known as a direct descendant of David? Well, because many Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies that have been foretold over the years, just not in the way the Israelites believed it would happen. For the Israelites, the prophecy that a messiah wound one day rule the kingdom of Israel takes the form of a warrior wielding weapons and taking names. Christians, however, believe that that messiah arrived in the form of Jesus, who's not exactly the warrior king type. Nevertheless, Christians believe that Jesus, with all his carpentry and waterwalking, represented the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about the future of the Israelite kingdom.
Muslim Perspective
In Islam, David plays a big role—but maybe not as big. Muslims believe that David was a major prophet who was sent to the Israelites by God.
They even have their own version of the David and Goliath story. In the Qu'ran, Goliath is a powerful king that David slays (Qur'an, Sura 2 Al-Baqara, ayat 251). When this occurs, God grants David kingship and wisdom to rule over the Israelites. Hmm. Sounds pretty similar, right?
The Qu'ran also makes several remarks about David's prayer and fasting as well as his musical ability. The Qu'ran holds David's psalms with very high esteem as they are seen as songs of wisdom. So all the details match up—which is just one more reason to note that the three major religions of the world have a great deal more in common than we typically realize.