King Saul’s oldest son, Jonathan, was a brave warrior. David said that Jonathan was faster than an eagle and stronger than a lion. One day Jonathan saw 20 Philistine soldiers on a hill. He said to his armor-bearer: ‘We will attack them only if Jehovah gives us a sign. If the Philistines tell us to come up, then we know to attack.’ The Philistines shouted: ‘Come up and fight!’ So the two men climbed up the hill and conquered the soldiers.

Because he was Saul’s oldest son, Jonathan would have been next in line to be king. But Jonathan knew that Jehovah had chosen David to be the next king of Israel; yet, he was not jealous. Jonathan and David became close friends. They promised to protect and defend each other. Jonathan gave David his own coat, sword, bow, and belt as a sign of friendship.

When David was running away from Saul, Jonathan went to him and said: ‘Be strong, and have courage. Jehovah has chosen you to be king. Even my father knows that.’ Would you like to have a good friend like Jonathan?

More than once, Jonathan risked his life to help his friend. He knew that King Saul wanted to kill David, so he said to his father: ‘It would be a sin for you to kill David; he has done nothing wrong.’ Saul was furious with Jonathan. Some years later, Saul and Jonathan died together in battle.

After Jonathan died, David searched for Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. When David found him, he told Mephibosheth: ‘Because your father was a good friend to me, I will take care of you for the rest of your life. You will live in my palace and eat at my table.’ David never forgot his friend Jonathan.

When Saul died, David became king. He was 30 years old. After he had been king for some years, one night from the rooftop of his palace, he saw a beautiful woman. David found out that her name was Bath-sheba and that she was married to a soldier named Uriah. David had Bath-sheba come to his palace. They had sexual relations, and she became pregnant. David tried to hide what he had done. He told his general to put Uriah on the front lines of the battle and then to retreat from behind him. After Uriah was killed in battle, David married Bath-sheba.

But Jehovah saw all the bad things that had happened. What would he do? Jehovah sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan said: ‘A rich man had many sheep, and a poor man had only one small lamb that he loved very much. The rich man took the poor man’s only lamb.’ David was angry and said: ‘That rich man deserves to die!’ Nathan then told David: ‘You are that rich man!’ David was heartbroken, and he admitted to Nathan: ‘I have sinned against Jehovah.’ This sin brought a lot of trouble on David and his family. Jehovah punished David but allowed him to live because he was honest and humble.

David wanted to build a temple for Jehovah, but Jehovah chose David’s son Solomon to build the temple. David started to get things ready for Solomon and said: ‘Jehovah’s temple must be magnificent. Solomon is still young, but I will help him by getting things ready.’ David donated a lot of his own money for the building work. He found skilled workers. He collected gold and silver, and he had cedars brought from Tyre and Sidon. Near the end of his life, David gave Solomon the plans for building the temple. He said: ‘Jehovah had me write these things down for you. Jehovah will help you. Don’t be afraid. Be strong and get to work.’