DAVID 

The King of Israel

by 

J.W.Weeda

 

 

History of David, second king of Israel, and a example from the Old Testament:

       

       David was, according to the Bible, the second king of Israel and Judah and according to the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of our Lord Jesus Christ. His life is conventionally dated to c. 1040–970 BC, his reign over Judah c. 1010–1002 BC, and his reign over the United Kingdoms of Israel c. 1002–970 BC. The Books of Samuel, I Kings, and 1 Chronicles are the only sources of information on David. Also the Psalms explains a lot over David

According to the Bible, God appointed Saul to be the first king of Israel, after the leading elders of the land demanded a king to replace the Judges  who had previously ruled the country.  Although successful at first, Saul quickly fell of God by disobeying his instructions. He was told that God had "rejected" him from being king, and that he would give the kingdom instead to "a man after [my] own heart" who was better than him, Saul. So God gave Samuel the Judge and Prophet the task to find someone else in Saul’s place. He, Samuel had to go to Bethlehem and anoint a son of Jesse. Samuel went to Bethlehem and found Jesse and his sons. There were only 7 sons of Jesse (Jesse had 8 sons) there when Samuel visit them. No one of the seven was chosen by God. Only one son wasn’t there. His name was and is David. David was the youngest son of Jesse. God indicated Samuel that David was the one who has to be anointed. Samuel anointed David and his father and brothers were watching it. David was very young when he was anointed as the second king of Israel. At that moment God’s Spirit came upon him. In I Samuel 16:13 we read the following verse: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. “ And the same time we read in verse 14: “But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him”

David was anointed with oil as the second king of Israel. Saul, the king of Israel didn’t know this. David feed the flock of sheep of his father Jesse, he was a keeper of sheep. Because of the evil spirit send by God who troubled Saul, the king of Israel he became very instable emotional. There were periods of depression. Saul asked his servants: “Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me” One of his servants said: “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse that is cunning in playing and mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him” So, Saul send messengers to Jesse and asked: “Send me David ty son, which is with the sheep” So David came to Saul and he became his armour bearer. In 1 Samuel 16:23 we read: “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him”

After this the Philistines, who were a folk who lived in cities as Gaza (as the Palestines now at the moment)gathered men together for an army and to battle with Israel. They began this war against Saul and his army of Israel. The Philistines gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes –dammim. Saul and his men were pitched by the valley of Elah. The Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side. I Samuel 17:1-3. The Philistines had a big man, a warrior, whose Name was Goliath. He came from Gath. He was six cubits height and a span. In verses 5-7 we read what this man had put on. Goliath cried unto the armies of Israel. He wanted to fight with Israel. In verse 10 we read: ”I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together”. Saul and his army were very afraid of this man. Jesse send David to his brothers who served in the army of Saul against the Philistines. When David heard all things from his brothers and Saul and his men about Goliath he wanted to fight against this huge, giant man. In I Samuel 17:32-37 we read the following verses: ”And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.”

There is a lot to learn here. First David was not afraid to fight with the giant Goliath. Why not? He trusted in the Lord that the Lord should deliver him out of the hand of this Philistine although he was very young of age. Second on what basis he said this? The Lord had delivered him out of the mouth of the lion and the bear who would harm the flock. He slew both the lion and the bear to death. Third: King Saul doubted. Why? Because David was young and not a warrior. He had no experience in fighting as a warrior, a soldier. Fourth: David completely trusted in the Lord and told King Saul the experiences he had with the lion and the bear and that God had delivered him out of their mouth and that God should also deliver him from this Philistine. Fifth: After this king Saul was convinced and said unto David, go and the Lord be with thee! What a beautiful example we see here in I Samuel 17! What we can learn from this is that David trusted completely in the Lord although he was under the Law of Moses with all the commandments of God. We as members of the body of Christ we are in Christ and under grace and in Romans 8:37-39 we read the following verses: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” We , members of the Body of Christ , are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, Who gave His life for us on the cross and died for our sins and rose from the dead and gave us life, yes eternal life and a new life in Him Romans 8:37. Our fight or battle is with the devil. We can read this in Ephesians 6:12: ”For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” In this battle we have to trust the Lord Jesus Christ that we are more than conquerors in Him Who gave also the whole Armour to put on in this wrestle that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil! Read Ephesians 6:13-18!

In I Samuel 17: 38-39 David was armed with the Armour Saul gave him but David told Saul that he couldn’t go with this to fight against Goliath and put them off him. David took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine verse 40. When the Philistine saw David he cursed David by his gods [verse 43] and said to him: Am I a dog that thou comes to me with staves? David's answer we find in verse 45: ''Thou comes to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied'' David trusted complete in God, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. He didn't trust himself but God who would help him to defeat this Philistine Goliath.

We read this in verse 46: “This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. After this, this happened: the giant Goliath fell upon his face to the earth after David took a stone, slang and smote the Philistine in his forehead.

Goliath fell dead, and David took Goliath's sword and beheaded him. The Philistines fled in terror. Saul inquired about the name of the young champion and David told him that he was the son of Jesse. In 2 Samuel 22, David credited God for delivering him from the hand of the Philistines and saving him from "the snares of death," in his psalm, "David’s Song of Praise."

Saul made David a commander over his armies and gave David his daughter Michal in marriage for bringing 100 foreskins of the Philistines but David brought back 200, saying "God was with me". David was successful in many battles, and his popularity awakened Saul's fears. Saul tried to arrange for David's death, but the plots only endeared David further to the people, and especially to Saul's son Jonathan, who loved David, read 1 Samuel 18:1, 2 Samuel 1:25–26! Jonathan warned David, who fled into the wilderness, gathered a band of followers and became the champion of the oppressed while evading Saul's pursuit. He accepted the town of Ziklag from the Philistine king Achish of Gath, but continued secretly to champion the Israelite s. Achish marched against Saul, but David was excused from the war after suspicion from Philistine nobles that his loyalty could not be trusted.

David as king of Israel:

       

        After Jonathan and Saul were killed in the  battle with the Philistines at Mount Gil-boa. David mourned their deaths, especially that of Jonathan. He traveled to Hebron, where he was anointed king over Judah. In the north, Saul's son Ish-Bosheth was made King of Israel by Abner. There came war between Ish-Bosheth and David and Ish-Bosheth was murdered. The assassins brought the head of Ish-Bosheth to David hoping for a reward, but David executed them for their crime. With the death of Saul's son, the elders of Israel came to Hebron and David was anointed King over Israel and Judah. After this David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital. David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. His purpose was to build a temple for God. The prophet Nathan, announced that the temple would be built at a future date by one of David's sons (Solomon). Nathan told David that God had made a covenant with David, promising to establish the house of David: "Your throne shall be established forever." On that throne shall sit our Lord Jesus Christ when He shall began to reign on earth after the tribulation period. David wins victories over the Philistines, and the Moabites and Hadadezer of Zobah paid tribute. David committed adultery when he was King of Israel with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. Bathsheba became pregnant. David sent for Uriah, who was with the Israelite army at the siege of Rabbah, so that he could sleep with his wife and conceal the identity of the child's father. Uriah refused to do so while his companions are in the field of battle and David sent him back to Joab, the commander, with a message instructing him to ensure that Uriah died in battle. Uriah died in that battle and David married Bathsheba and she bore his child, "but the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." The prophet Nathan confronted David, saying: "Why have you despised the word of God, to do what is evil in his sight? You have smitten Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife." Nathan presented three punishments from God. First, that the "sword shall never depart from your house" (2 Samuel 12:10); second, that "Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight", and finally, that "the son born to you will die" (2 Samuel 12:14). David repented and the child of David and Bathsheba died . David left his lamentations, dressed himself, went to the House of the Lord and worshiped. (Read 2 Samuel 12:22–23.) In the later life his son Absalom rebelled against him and David was forced to flee for his son out of Jerusalem and there was a war between father and son. In the battle of the Wood of Ephraim, Absalom's forces were defeated, and his head was caught in the branches of an oak, and David’s general Joab killed Absalom. When David had become old and sick, Adonijah, his eldest surviving son and natural heir, declared himself king of Israel. Bathsheba, David's favorite wife, and Nathan the prophet went to David and obtained his agreement that Solomon, Bathsheba's son should become king. David gave his final instructions, to Solomon including his promise that the line of Solomon and David will inherit the throne of Judah forever, and his request that Solomon kill his oldest enemies on his behalf. David died and was buried on Mount Zion. This is the history of David, second King of Israel.

We find the history of David's life in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Chronicles.

 

David the Psalmist:

    Almost half of the Psalms are called "A Psalm of David" (though the phrase can also be translated as "to David" or "for David") Psalms 3, 4, 5,6,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18, 19,20,21 till 30, 31,32,34, 35 till 42,51 till 66 till 71, 86,101,101,108 till 111,138,139,140,141 till 145 are from David. What is a Psalm? It is a song for God, a religious song. David wrote half of the Psalms and in a lot of the Psalms God is praised about what He had done, that He made the heavens, son, moon and earth and that He is the great Deliverer of Israel, not only Israel but also the God who is with David read Psalm 23, one of the most famous Psalms of the Bible. He testified in his Psalms that he trusted in God with the fact that he was under the law of Moses, of God.

 

The blessedness of David

       Under the law David describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God impute righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. We find this scripture in Romans 4:6-8. David knew nothing about the present dispensation of the grace of God Ephesians 3:1-3 under which we now live. He lived under the dispensation of the Law, when sacrifices were required for acceptance with God. David understood the purpose of the Law of Moses: man is guilty before God. In Psalm 130 we read in verse 3,4: If Thou, Lord, should est mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee. He didn't know that God would forgive men on the basis of His grace but still believed the fact that God would forgive man. We thank God that we know now the reason because God has revealed this through the apostle Paul. He was the chief of sinners and saved by grace, through faith and in Christ alone. God is just and the Justifier of him that believes in Jesus Romans 3:26. This is that God made Him, Christ, to be sin of us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him 2 Corinthians 5:21. The blessedness of David may be ours too: we have to trust in God Who graciously forgives sin and justifies believers on the basis of the finished work of Christ. I Corinthians 15:3-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Ephesians 1:7, Romans 3:23-24.