David

David is celebrated in history as the great founder of the Israelite monarchy, the wise and able chieftain who welded this loose federation of tribes into a single nation and used its forces successfully in the establishment of an empire. Next to Moses, he is the most prominent figure in the Old Testament history of the Hebrew race.

To most of us, however, David is less familiar as a king than as a man, a man whose whole life has been laid bare before us with a frankness such as few lives could stand. No other portion of the Old Testament extends to such fullness of detail as do the chapters dealing with David's life. They are elaborately minute. Their hero is perhaps the most admirable, and at the same time the most lovable figure in all history. His life was indeed stained by one great crime, which plunged his later days into sorrow, heroically endured. But that crime was sincerely repented and patiently atoned, and revealed the full humanity of the man, his mingled strength and weakness, and, above all, his loyal, confident faith in his Maker's goodness and forgiveness.

David has often been quoted as typifying man's true attitude toward God. Yet a third fame belongs to David as a poet and musician, composer of many of the beautiful Psalms which form one of the great treasures of the Bible.

This series of illustrations of David is from my collection of antique religious books. Feel free to use these drawings of David in your artwork. Click on the David pictures below to see more details about saving a image of David or about purchasing the images of David at a higher resolution.