David

David was the first king to unite Israel and Judah and the first to receive the promise of a royal messiah in his line. David was pictured as the ideal king of God's people. He ruled from about 1005 to 965 B.C.

Selection as King When Saul failed to meet God's standards for kingship (1 Sam. 15:23,35; 16:1), God sent Samuel to annoint a replacement from among the sons of Jesse, who lived in Bethlehem (1 Sam. 16:1). God showed Samuel He had chosen the youngest who still tended sheep for his father (16:11-12). David's good looks were noteworthy.

At a later date the Philistines with the giant Goliath threatened Israel (1 Sam. 17). David returned home to tend his father's sheep (17:15). Jesse sent David to the battlefield with food for his warrior brothers. Saul tried to persuade David, the youth, from challenging Goliath; but David insisted God would bring victory, which He did.

Hearing of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, He moved to Hebron, where the citizens of Judah crowned him king (2 Sam. 2). This led to war with Israel under Saul's son Ishbosheth. After much intrigue, Ishbosheth's commanders assassinated him. The northern tribes then crowned David king at Hebron, uniting all Israel under him. He led the capture of Jerusalem and made it his capital. After defeating the Philistines, David sought to move the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, succeeding on his second attempt (2 Sam. 6). He then began plans to build a temple but learned from Nathan, the prophet, that he would instead build a dynasty with eternal dimensions (2 Sam. 7). His son would build the Temple.

David then organized his administration and subdued other nations who opposed him, finally gaining control of the land God had originally promised the forefathers.

David was a giant among godly leaders, but he remained human as his sin with Bathsheba and Uriah showed. He spied Bathsheba bathing, desired her, and engineered the death of her faithful warrior husband, after committing adultery with her (2 Sam. 11). Nathan, the prophet, confronted David with his sin, and David confessed his wrongdoing. The newborn child of David and Bathsheba died. David acknowledged his helplessness in the situation, confessing faith that he would go to be with the child one day. Bathsheba conceived again, bearing Solomon (2 Sam. 12:1-25).

When we think of David, we think: shepherd, poet, giant-killer, king, ancestor of Jesus -- in short one of the greatest men in the Old Testament. But alongside that list stands another: betrayer, liar, adulterer, murderer. The first list gives qualities we all might like to have; the second, qualities that might be true of any one of us. The Bible makes no effort to hide David's failures. Yet he is remembered and respected for his heart for God. Knowing how much more we share in David's failures than in his greatness, we should be curious to find out what made God refer to David as "a man after My own heart" (Acts 13:22).

David, more than anything else, had an unchangeable belief in the faithful and forgiving nature of God. He was a man who lived with great zest. He sinned many times; but he was quick to confess his sins. His confessions were from the heart, and his repentance was genuine. David never took God's forgiveness lightly or His blessings for granted. In return, God never held back from David either His forgiveness or the consequences of his actions. David experienced the joy of forgiveness even when he had to suffer the consequences of his sins.

We tend to get these two reversed. Too often we would rather avoid the consequences than experience forgiveness. another big difference between us and David is that while he sinned greatly, he did not sin repeatedly. He learned from his mistakes because he accepted the suffering they brought. Often we don't seem to learn from our mistakes or the consequences that result from those mistakes. What changes would it take for God to find this kind of obedience in me.

< back to House of Faith >