Through all these crises, David came to know God as a person—someone with feelings. He wrote: “Jehovah is near to all those calling upon him . . . and their cry for help he will hear.” (Psalm 145:18-20) David’s sincerity and devotion are plainly expressed in the beautiful songs he composed, which make up about one half of the book of Psalms. Millions have drawn comfort and encouragement from this poetry. Consider David’s closeness to God, as reflected in Psalm 139:1-4: “O Jehovah, you have searched through me, and you know me. You yourself have come to know my sitting down and my rising up. You have considered my thought from far off. . . . For there is not a word on my tongue, but, look! O Jehovah, you already know it all.”

David was especially aware of God’s saving power. (Psalm 20:6; 28:9; 34:7, 9; 37:39) Each time he experienced it, his trust in Jehovah grew. You can see evidence of that at Psalm 30:5; 62:8; and Ps 103:9. Or read Psalm 51, which David composed after being reproved for sinning with Bath-sheba. How refreshing it is to know that we can readily express ourselves to the Creator, assured that he is not arrogant but is humbly willing to listen! (Psalm 18:35; 69:33; 86:1-8) David did not come to such appreciation just through experience. “I have meditated on all your activity,” he wrote, “I willingly kept myself concerned with the work of your own hands.”—Psalm 63:6; 143:5.

David, who was to be the next king of Israel, was the youngest son in a family of the tribe of Judah. As to this surprising choice, God told Samuel: “Mere man sees what appears to the eyes; but as for Jehovah, he sees what the heart is.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Is it not encouraging that the Creator looks at what we are inside, not at outward appearances?