This week’s Come Follow Me lesson ends with David becoming king, being favored of the Lord, wanting to build the Lord a temple, and some dancing. To find out how he got there, we have to go back and discover who the young boy David was before becoming a young king. 1 Samuel 17–31 and 2 Samuel 1–7 show the heart of young David and the story he’d like to be remembered for.
Segment 1
Scriptures:
1 Samuel 17:37 (The Lord that delivered me)
Ether 12:27 (Our weaknesses can become our strengths)
Segment 2
Scriptures:
1 Samuel 17:18 (Cheese in the scriptures)
1 Samuel 17:4-11 (Description of Goliath)
1 Samuel 17:12-32 (Description of David)
1 Samuel 17:36-37 (David’s faith in the Lord)
1 Samuel 17:29 (Is there not a cause?)
Segment 3
Scriptures:
1 Samuel 17:39 (I have not proved them)
1 Samuel 17:43 (Am I a dog?)
1 Samuel 17:46 (The Lord will deliver)
1 Samuel 17:48-51 (David ran to the fight, the Philistines ran away)
Translations:
Prove - nasah = to test someone’s limits, to try (Hebrew)
Segment 4
Scriptures:
1 Nephi 4:9 (Laban’s sword)
1 Nephi 4:6 (Walk by faith)
1 Samuel 17:40 (Five stones)
Words of the General Authorities:
While David used only one stone to kill Goliath, he was prepared with five. With five! This makes me think about how I can prepare myself to face the world.
What if each of David’s stones represented a strength we need to be triumphant in our lives? What could those five stones be? I thought of these possibilities:
- The stone of my love for God.
- The stone of my faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
- The stone of the knowledge of my true identity.
- The stone of my daily repentance.
- The stone of my access to God’s power.
(Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, “Faithful to the End”, April 2024 General Conference)
Segment 5
Scriptures:
1 Samuel 18:7-8 (Jealousy of Saul)
1 Samuel 18:3 (David and Jonathan’s covenant)
1 Samuel 24:1-2 (Saul chases David)
1 Samuel 24:6 (The Lord forbid)
1 Samuel 24:12 (Let the Lord judge)
D&C 64:11 (Judge between me and thee)
1 Samuel 25:3 (Introduction to Abigail)
Words of the General Authorities:
In the Garden of Gethsemane, in unimaginable agony…under the immense pressure to enable the salvation of all humankind, Jesus demonstrated three important conditions that help us understand His great poise. First, He knew who He was and was true to His divine mission. Next, He knew that there was a great plan of happiness. And finally, He knew that through His infinite Atonement, all who faithfully yoke themselves to Him by making and keeping sacred covenants received through priesthood ordinances will be saved (Mark A. Bragg, “Christlike Poise”, April 2023 General Conference)
Segment 6
Scriptures:
David Inquired Scripture Chain:
1 Chronicles 14:10,14
1 Samuel 23:2,4
1 Samuel 30:8
2 Samuel 2:1
2 Samuel 5:19,23
2 Samuel 21:1
David did NOT inquire:
2 Samuel 11:1
Words of the General Authorities:
If we “ask not amiss,” there are no limits to when, where, or about what we should pray. According to the revelations, we are to “pray always.” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Motions of a Hidden Fire”, April 2024 General Conference)
Artwork:
A Node Glows in the Dark p.c. Brian Yen
Read the transcript here.