Here the way a person lives and conducts himself is spoken of as if it were walking. For most of David's life he lived righteously and followed Yahweh closely. Alternate translation: "lived in the first ways of his father David" or "lived righteously as has father David had done in his earlier years" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-idiom]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-explicit]])