Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me. (Psalm 18:43)
David was acknowledged to be the ranking king among the nations of that part of the world (2 Sam. 8). The leading position of Israel among the nations is more clearly seen in the descriptions of the kingdom inherited from David by his son Solomon (1 Kings 4:21, 24).