David
The man who would be king

The name David means well-beloved. My brother’s name is David. My son is named David. The biblical David was the youngest son of Jesse. He was anointed by Samuel. He united the kingdom of Israel. David was a politician and military leader. A diplomat and statesman. He was a devout man, a musician and poet who wrote many of the Psalms.

David started out as a shepherd and ended up king of Israel. One time the Lord told David, “I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel.” David’s response is impressive: “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” David had an amazing humility in the face of his favor and triumph as hero of Israel—whereas the rest of us would be inclined toward pride.

But David’s story is not all glory and perfection. He fell into grievous sin. He committed adultery with Bathsheba. And he placed Uriah, her husband, in a battle position to be killed.

Yet he was the anointed of God and his name continues to the end of the Bible. In the book of Revelation, at the end of the New Testament, Christ is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.” Interesting, the root—the life-source of a plant. Jesus came before as well as after David? It is explained later in Revelation: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

Who was this man? Was he born first, ahead of everyone in understanding? Was he born with discernment we seem to lack? No, it seems he was born the last. He had seven older brothers who kept him humble. “Why have you come down here?” they said at one point. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? You came down only to watch the battle.”

Often in the Bible, it is the second before the first. The younger over the older. Isaac over Ishmael. Jacob over Esau. Ephraim before Manasseh (his grandfather Jacob said, “He also shall be great, but truly his younger brother shall be greater”). David, the second king, replaced Saul, the first. Solomon, a younger son of David, was chosen over Adonijah, his older brother. It points the way to the biggest change of all: Christ, the second Adam and a new creation, over the first Adam.

I see the story of David as a pattern for the kingdom of my own life. A paved road through the unruly tribes in my promised land. David was a devout warrior. An oxymoron. A man of inconsistencies. He knew failure, yet when he saw a giant in his path, he said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” I want to think that way. I want to see beyond the fear of immediate circumstances the way David did.

But Saul said to David, “You’re not able to go out against this Philistine—you’re not strong enough—what do you know?” David told Saul that in keeping his father’s flock, if he met a lion or bear with one of his sheep in its mouth, he struck the animal and rescued his own. David faced the small things and therefore had confidence for the big. So David chose five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in his shepherd’s bag. Then he took his sling and went after the Philistine, who wore a brass helmet and coat of mail. David himself had tried to wear a coat of armor, but walking around said, “I cannot go in these because I’m not used to them.”

Yet his inner strength showed itself: “This day the Lord will hand you over to me . . . that all the earth might know there is a God in Israel.” Again, it was David’s attitude: “It is not by sword or spear . . . but the battle is the Lord’s.”

Despite David’s victories, it seems that nothing was easy for him. In the Psalms he says, “I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts—men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.” David’s whole life was spent in war, revolt and insurrection. Besides the Philistines, David endured a civil war with his own countrymen. The house of Saul against the house of David. Later on, David’s own son Absalom wanted to usurp his power. His battles went on and on.

Yet the Psalm ends, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.” In David’s distress, he knew the Lord heard his cries. Read and see how often David found strength in the Lord his God.

When I am discouraged, I can look at the life of David and see what he faced—how he overcame. I learn that because of faith, I can do more than I could on my own. I have hope that my dreams will be realized. In reading about David, I find the little burning fire of faith.

Often, it is interesting to read David’s thought processes—the different way he looked at things. Once, some men returning from battle with the Amalekites didn’t want to share the booty, but David said, “The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle.” At another time, David could have taken Saul’s life in En Gedi while Saul was sleeping, but he said, “I will not put forth my hand—he is the Lord’s anointed.” Other men would have rushed in for an easy kill.

There are times in prayer the Lord says to be quiet. There’s a way to think I haven’t thought of yet. Like David, I am often in a dark desert with only the stars over me, which I cannot reach. But there, far off in the distance is that campfire. The light toward which I walk.

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1 Samuel 16

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”
Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”
Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.

Moses

David

Abraham