Said David before the Holy One, Blessed is He: “Master of the Universe, despise not my prayer, for Israel’s eyes are raised to me in hope, and my eyes are raised to you in hope. If You hear my prayer, it is as if You heard theirs” (Shocher Tov 25:5).

Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skillful in playing, and a mighty man of valour, and a man of war, and prudent in affairs, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him” (I Samuel 16:18). “Skillful in playing” - in understanding Scripture; “a mighty man of valor” - in Mishnah; “a man of war” - who knows how to give and take in the battle of Torah discussion; “prudent in affairs” - in good deeds; “a comely person” - in Talmud (Ruth Rabbah 4:3).

He is almost always viewed as Israel’s hero, despite his frailties, and notwithstanding his immoral and unforgivable disposal of Uriah the Hittite. Remembrance of David will always be associated with the slaying of the inimical Goliath and as the concomitant inspiration of Saul’s armies.

His love of Jonathan, perfectly reciprocated, is also his legacy, although one must be careful not to read the ultraliberal mores of the late twentieth century into the biblical world. His love of women, particularly his attraction to Bath-sheba, which both ruined and resurrected the king, reveals the unbridled, instinctive nature of a man who placed his passions even above the law.

His passionate love of his children, his desperate attempt to keep the rebellious Absalom in the fold, provide the most intimate, sentimental, and heartrending portraits in Scripture.

He began his kingship reluctantly. Perhaps he knew too well that Samuel’s warning about the corruption of kingship was a fatal prophecy. When still a boy, had he not watched, with terror, the deterioration of the once humble Saul, whom he tried to placate with the gentle rhythms of his lyre and his paeans to the God of Israel? But something of Saul - or was it Saul’s office - rubbed off on the brilliant protege. David became dizzy with success and overwrought with failure. His life-lust was boundless. He danced a brazen half-naked dance before the Ark of the Covenant as it was being brought to Jerusalem. He fought with fury, he judged his people with intense scrutiny and fairness, he sought with the utmost devotion and fervent prayers the Lord’s forgiveness of his sins.

He may be the most human, the most touchable, the most sensitive of all our biblical heroes. Moses was aloof; Solomon was narcissistic; only Abraham’s humanity is as patent, but still the portrait of David is more vivid, more complete. He knows and is known. He is at times uncomfortable that his life is lived so publicly, but finally, it is clear, he would have had it no other way.

David, our shepherd, our poet, our prophet, our sage.

David, king of Israel, in the illuminated Hebrew Kennicott Bible, Spain, 15th century. The aged David is shown enthroned and holding a scepter, representing his role as founder of the first Israelite royal dynasty.