David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King

Meyer's spirited and moving account of the life of King David follows the progress of David from humble shepherd to glorious king of Israel and Judah.

The story of David's life and rise from modest beginnings is one of the most celebrated in the Old Testament tradition. This book is an attempt by F. B. Meyer to tell the story of David with a sequential and lively narrative, with the Bible as a source. Meyer's account is readable, colorful and thoroughly rooted in the authentic Biblical canon.

We first see David as a bright, courageous young lad, who ascends from obscurity to fame and renown by fighting and defeating the great Goliath. Not merely a great leader, David takes to authoring a great series of sacred songs and hymns celebrating life and the Lord. His wise leadership, which increased the influence of Judaism and its interpretation of God, led David to become one of the most important figures in the Holy Bible.

F. B. Meyer was one of England's best-known Biblical theologians in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. Educated in theology as a young man, he would spend decades preaching both in his home country and the United States. Famed and well-regarded on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, Meyer was a household name, in great part due to his prolific written works concerning subjects of the Bible and Christianity.

Summing up his objective with this book, Meyer writes:

"While sketching every period of David's life, I have concentrated myself on those passages which trace the steps by which the shepherd became the king. It was in these that his character was formed, his sweetest psalms composed, and those manifold experiences encountered which enabled him to interpret and utter the universal heart of man."