David: Lessons From His Life

David: Lessons From His Life

Do you ever wonder about the kind of people God likes? As we read the Bible, we find out that He loves flawed people. Otherwise, we’d be in serious trouble, because we are all flawed by sin. David, too, was flawed; yet he is one of God’s favorites, unique as the man God called “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22 NIV ). There are important lessons to learn from David’s life – about him and God.

Historical Setting
David appeared on the scene at a time when Israel had turned her back on the God who had rescued her from slavery in Egypt, preserved and miraculously preserved her through a 40-year desert campout, and led her in conquest of His promised land against powerful enemies. Now resident there, the people decided they no longer wanted God as their king; instead, they wanted a king “such as all the other nations have” (1 Sam. 8:4-5). They were a standout among the nations for their miraculous history and unique relationship with God. But now they wanted a king like everyone else; they wanted to reduce their status to “status quo,” another form of the very lukewarmness that later characterized the disgusting church in Laodicea (Rev. 3:14-22), that evoked God’s withering censure.

God responded to Israel’s demand – even godly Samuel was hurt by their choice and felt the offense to God (1 Sam. 8:6-7) – and gave them Saul, a kingly “impressive young man without equal among the Israelites – a head taller than any of the others” (1 Sam. 9:2). Saul started out well enough, but soon rejected God’s authority in his life, as the nation had done. God had given them a king who was a moral and spiritual mirror-image of themselves. And, as both nation and king had rejected God, God finally rejected the faulty king (15:26; 16:1).

Samuel had anointed Saul and he loved him like a father. When God sent him to anoint Saul’s replacement, Samuel was saddened – as well as worried that Saul would have his head when he heard (1 Sam. 16:1-2).

Probably still a teenager, David was the youngest of eight sons, mostly kept out of sight in the fields watching the family’s sheep. He wasn’t even invited to his own anointing until the process of elimination alerted Samuel that David was the real guest of honor, and he sent for him (1 Sam. 16:1-13).

Saul And David: Evil Versus Good
Though anointed as the Lord’s chosen king (1 Sam. 16:1), David humbly went back to his shepherding, showing no eagerness to enter the stage of royal life. When demon-plagued Saul required a skilled harpist, David was recruited and dutifully soothed the troubled king with his music. But he frequently returned to his family responsibilities (16:14-23; 17:15). The “man after God’s heart” was a diligent, faithful servant.

When recommending David’s services to the king, Saul’s servants mentioned, in addition to his being a brave warrior, that “the Lord is with him” (1 Sam. 16:18). This contrasts with the fact that “the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (16:14), which was the real basis for the enmity that soon filled Saul’s heart toward David, just as God’s ultimate enemy, Satan, inspired enmity against His Christ.

David’s stunning conquest of the Philistine giant Goliath (1 Sam. 17) ended his humble obscurity and made him an immediate national hero. Women everywhere met Saul and his returning army with dancing and tambourines, singing, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” From that moment bitter jealousy, suspicion and fear took over Saul’s soul (18:6-16).

Saul’s hatred and fear of David were aggravated by the fact that his son Jonathan was enthralled with David and the two became dear friends for life. After Jonathan died in battle David mourned him with these words: “Jonathan my brother, you were very dear to me. Your love for me was ... more wonderful than that of women” (2 Sam. 1:26). There is no reason to suppose anything perverted in this relationship, as some depraved minds have suggested. It is simply the deeply satisfying friendship Solomon wrote about in Proverbs 18:24: “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” David’s own brothers despised him (1 Sam. 17:28), just as Jesus’ brothers despised Him (Jn. 7:2-8).

Saul feared David because the Lord had left him and was now with David (1 Sam. 18:12), because of David’s military success (18:15), and because his daughter Michal loved David (18:28-29). And of course, Saul resented him because of David’s friendship with Jonathan (20:30-31). Saul is a strong example of the insecurity of a life lived without God. David’s life is a great example of God’s blessing on and protection of those who, even though flawed, live for Him.

After the Goliath conquest (1 Sam. 17), for the rest of his life Saul’s primary “mission” was to do away with David. He repeatedly attempted to nail him to the wall with his spear (18:10-11; 19:9-10), and pursued him relentlessly “as one hunts a partridge in the mountains” (1 Sam. 26:20). Through years of wandering in the wilderness and living in caves in continual flight from Saul’s intrigues, David remained loyal.

Twice David had opportunity to kill Saul but refused to do so, and restrained his men who would have loved to do so (1 Sam. 24-26). David’s conviction that Saul was “the Lord’s anointed” wouldn’t permit him to lay a hand on the king (24:3-13; 26:7-20). He never exhibited any ambition for the throne, but waited for God’s timing through years of misunderstanding, persecution and death threats.

Ultimately, the genuineness of David’s loyalty was demonstrated in his refusal to gloat over Saul’s death, or to take it as good news. He mourned honestly and in terms that showed that he still loved Saul deeply after all (2 Sam. 1:17-27).

David, God’s Anointed
We need no deep spiritual perception to see in David’s attitude and demeanor a reflection of the spirit of his own future descendant, Jesus Christ (Mt. 1:1-6; Lk. 3:23-31). Jesus, too, lived a quiet, humble, servant’s life of submission to His Father’s will, while enduring the same kind of misunderstanding and scathing false accusations, constantly waylaid by a religious establishment who would discredit His teachings and ultimately kill Him. David was indeed a “man after God’s heart.”

Many years later, firmly established on the throne, David remembered his friendship with Jonathan – and their mutual vow (1 Sam. 20:13-17) – and sought out some descendant of Saul’s “to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake” (2 Sam. 9). His loving kindness in taking Mephibosheth into the royal family is so Christ-like. And Mephibosheth’s response is an example of the gratitude that should characterize Christians today (9:8; 19:26-30).

Saul’s intense hatred of David led him to exterminate the entire family of the priests (except for Abiathar who escaped) because he believed they had conspired with David (1 Sam. 22:6-23).

David didn’t suffer alone in his rejection and life on-the-run. About 400, then 600 men, “who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader” (22:2; 23:13; 30:9-10). The young priest, Abiathar, also fled to David, who said, “Stay with me; don’t be afraid; the man who is seeking your life is seeking mine also. You will be safe with me” (22:23). So Christ-like: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened” (Mt. 11:28); “Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away” (Jn. 6:37); “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mt. 9:11); “You are those who have stood by Me in My trials. And I confer on you a kingdom” (Lk. 22:28-30).

David, As Human As He Could Be
God didn’t love David because he was perfect. He wasn’t. His humanness was all too evident, most notably in the case of Bathsheba. In a tragic series of missteps, David first stayed home while his army was at war; in the wrong place by choice, he fell prey to “the lust of his eyes” (1 Jn. 2:16), which led to adultery. When a pregnancy resulted he tried to dodge discovery by summoning the wronged husband, Uriah, back from battle, hoping that he’d cover David’s sin by sleeping with his wife. But out of loyalty to his king and fellow soldiers, he refused. So David arranged for Uriah’s death in battle so that he, David, might yet escape scandal by marrying the widow (2 Sam. 11). “But the thing David had done displeased the Lord” (11:27).

For that double sin of adultery and murder God decreed, “Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you” (12:11). And tragedies plagued David’s family for the rest of his life. First, the child of his adultery died (12-18). Later his own son, Amnon, shamed the royal family by raping his half-sister Tamar (13:1-22). Then Tamar’s full-brother Absalom had Amnon murdered to avenge her dishonor (13:23-39). After that Absalom plotted a coup and drove his own father into exile (15:7-14). On taking over the kingdom, Absalom added insult to his father’s injury by publicly sleeping with the royal concubines (16:15-22), partially fulfilling God’s word (12:11-12). Later, Absalom himself was murdered (18:1-18).

Though a “star player” on God’s team, David was nevertheless subject to His moral code, as we all are. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7); true both naturally and morally.

To David’s credit, despite human failure and weakness, he exhibited his character as “a man after God’s heart” even in these sad circumstances. When his friend and spiritual advisor, Nathan, confronted him with the gravity of his sin he immediately humbled himself and acknowledged his sin – and God suspended the required death sentence. “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ Nathan replied, ‘The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the Lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die’” (2 Sam. 12:13-14). It is believed that about a year passed between David’s sin with Bathsheba and his conversation with Nathan. At that time David wrote Psalm 51, expressing his deep repentance, the honest confession of a heart in tune with God.

God’s Perspective
The book of Chronicles, which covers the same royal history, gives no hint of David’s great sin. Chronicles focuses more on the positive, a frequent feature of God’s grace in remembering history. Similarly, Hebrews 11 emphasizes the active faith of numerous Old Testament saints, mostly ignoring their faults. David expressed his thrilled surprise at this in Psalm 130:3: “If You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” Though He is not blind to our sins and failures, and does call us to account, God looks for faith and a heart that seeks to please Him, and that is what He chooses to remember. “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). We know, of course, that this is only possible because of the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross. “God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them” (2 Cor. 5:19).

Can we live in the good of what we learn from David’s life?

By Bill Van Ryn