The story of David

Okay I know that some of you are going to start reading and begin gnashing your teeth (get really angry ;) ) because you didn’t come here for a history lesson. Well, give me a break. It’s my first real series here :) To really understand what’s going on with this guy David you need to know this stuff, trust me.

And I promise. The rest of the weeks won’t have all the history lessons :) If you already know your Sunday School stories then I give you permission to jump past the history part but let me warn you, your going to miss out on a masterfully written narrative. haha!

History-
First let’s talk about the Israelites and how they got a king.

Let’s start all the way back in Egypt. Back in Genesis 46 Joseph convinces his father Jacob to move his family to Egypt to make it through the severe famine that is gripping that area. So Jacob’s twelve sons live in Egypt and over the years their families form into an entire nation. (This is the nation that God promised Abraham in Genesis 15. Abraham’s son is Isaac who has a son which is Jacob.) At some point the Pharaoh of Egypt enslaves them, which prompts the exodus recounted in the aptly named second book of the Bible…Exodus :) If you remember the Israelites wander around in the desert for a couple of generations before they are willing to trust God in giving them the land that He had promised them (and Abraham.) Moses dies, Aaron leads them forward and they take over this land (all of this you can find in the book of Joshua) and divide it among the twelve tribes. At this point the people have been led by several leaders; Moses, Aaron and Joshua. They have led them both as a people and militarily, receiving direction straight from God. Over the next few hundred years the people are led primarily by Judges, people who are respected and Godly leaders among the people, and Prophets, people chosen by God to speak for Him to His people. This can be found in the book of Judges. Somewhere in here the people look around at the other nations with their kings and start to grumble to themselves thinking that they want a king instead of their prophets and judges. Samuel is the prophet at the time and kind of takes this personally for God. God however tells him to take it easy and give the people what they want. (Actually it doesn’t play out so succinctly. God actually gives them what they want but explains that this wasn’t how He designed things. He does however let them take on a harder existence in setting up a kingdom, with a king, to live under. Us and our stupid desire to use free will.) Anyway, God directs Samuel to pick out a king for the people and leads him to a guy named Saul. Saul starts out pretty well but has this bad character trait of impatience. He continually jumps the gun and acts before God gives him the go ahead. These hasty acts ultimately lead him to live outside of God’s will and commit some big no-no’s. God then tells Samuel to let Saul know that his days as king are numbered and to go anoint a new king.
This finally leads us to David. While Saul is still king God leads Samuel to a little town called Bethlehem (name sound familiar?) and anoint a little kid who is a sheep herder named David to be the next king.

A little about David-

We’re not sure about the actual date that David lived and reigned although many scholars would put him somewhere around 1000 B.C.
Biblically we find the account of David’s life in three different books in the Old Testament. His story starts in 1 Samuel 16, continues through the entire book of 2 Samuel and ends in 1 Kings 2:11. The book of Psalms is attributed to David. It is a collection of psalms (songs & poetry) written by David and few others in David’s kingdom to worship God.

Si vis pacem, para bellum – If you want peace, prepare for war.

David lives a really interesting life and under his reign the twelve tribes come together to be a nation. Out of all of the kings of the Jewish people David is remembered as the best. Under his kingship peace comes to the kingdom and the people are continually brought before God by a king whose heart was devoted to Him. Peace was a pretty remarkable thing in that day and age. Remember even though they were given their land by God He had them take it by force. Many of the people that they had relatives living just on their borders and continually antagonized them. Raids and all out war with their neighbors was pretty common. Even within themselves there was some fighting that went on. (Remember they are twelve tribes descended from twelve brothers. Family!) David led armies that crushed his opponents and as a king united the people into a unified nation for the first time.
David’s kingdom was really the pinnacle. Solomon, David’s son, was the wisest and richest however the downfall of the empire begins with him as he marries foreign wives and allows them to lead the people in worshipping false gods.
Even today the Jewish people long for David’s kingdom to return.

So why is this important?-

Well for one thing to understand much of the New Testament it is important to have some idea about who David was and what he did. David’s name is used in 10 of the New Testament books and is constantly referred to in reference to God’s future kingdom and the Messiah.

David is also important for the simple fact that God calls him a man after His own heart. How does a guy who killed, committed adultery, led a band of thieves and let his kids run wild get a title like that from God himself? David is important because his life was complicated just like yours is. We live in a messy world just like David did. We sin and repent, we fail and try to pick ourselves back up, we hurt and break and cry out to God to come rescue us just like David. A guy like David gives me hope. In David God shows me that to be the man that He has called me to be isn’t necessarily about perfection but character. The account of David is a story that allows us to see a boy become a man who becomes a king who becomes a man after God’s own heart. I hope that over the next few weeks you’ll take time to look in the mirror and see who you are becoming.