"... At many points, David is presented favorably - for example, in the accounts of his battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and of his flight from Saul. The account of his early years as king (2 Samuel 5-10) shows how his rule brought great blessing to Israel (see 2 Samuel 5:12). 2 Samuel 7, the climax of the account of David’s rise, suggests the theological and historical significance of what David accomplished: he gave Israel the “rest” (security) in Canaan that Moses had foretold, succeeding where earlier leaders had failed (2 Samuel 7:1, 10-11; compare Deuteronomy 12:10). The narrator notes that David was widely accepted as the only suitable successor to Saul (2 Samuel 5:1-2; compare 1 Samuel 18:16). Even Jonathan and Saul acknowledged this (1 Samuel 23:17; 24:20). Taken together, these features suggest that the account is partly intended as pro-Davidic apologetic. David, after all, could be described as a usurper, for he was not Saul’s son; it is not surprising that the account explains why he was justified in assuming power and defends the steps by which he did so ..."