Old Testament Heroes – David

David: A King After God’s Own Heart

Class Date: June 8, 2022

David was a king whose reputation reached mythic proportions in Israel’s history. This study begins with a review of the historical context surrounding David’s reign. The first story of David comes when Samuel selects David, son of Jesse, to be the next king of Israel. The next major incident is the familiar story of David and Goliath. This initial story of David reveals that he has the potential to become a great warrior and worshiper of God.

The tumultuous story of King Saul and David is told in first Samuel. At first Saul and David had a good relationship. David becomes a very close friend of Saul’s eldest son, Jonathan. He also weds his daughter Michal. However, things deteriorated swiftly. David proved himself to be a more effective warrior than Saul, and Saul developed a murderous rage against David. For his own protection, David joined the army of the Philistines and fought against Saul’s army.

The story of David’s rise to power is told in the first six chapters of second Samuel. Saul’s army is defeated by the Philistines and he loses his life in the process. To ensure clear claim to the crown, David proceeds to wipe out Saul’s family. Once that is completed, all the tribes of Israel crown David king and he becomes the ruler of all of Israel. He establishes the capitol city of Jerusalem that has the sanction of God and the priests. David makes this the city of God by moving the ark of the covenant to a tent in the city.

After establishing his holy city, David turned to the task of defeating his enemies. First, he drove the Philistines to the coastline, where they remained. He then defeated all the small kingdoms around Israel, expanding Israel’s borders to the largest in history. It became the dominant power in the region until the reign of Solomon.

As David grew older he handed the job of leading the army in battle to his general Joab. It is during this time that we hear of the story of David pursuing the married Bathsheba and sending her husband to the front line to be killed. While God forgave his for this, he punished him by causing conflict in his house. One of his sons, Ammon, rapes his sister Tamar and destroys her life. Absalom, his eldest and heir to the throne, kills Ammon in an act of revenge. He raises an army of his own and is killed by David’s general Joab. David finally chooses the next king – Solomon, the second son of Bathsheba. Solomon reigned over a very wealthy and large kingdom and he built the temple into which was placed the sacred ark of the covenant. This was the golden age in Israel’s history.

David is remembered as Israel’s greatest king for several reasons. First, he expended the kingdom to the dimensions that God had promised Abraham. Secondly, God made a covenant with David that promised a king from his line of whose kingdom there would be no end. Finally, David is know to be a poet and a musician. 73 of the 150 Psalms are attributed to David. He was considered a man who had great devotion to God and a servant to Israel’s Heavenly Father.