Tragic King David's Life: Seeking God's Heart with Feet of Clay
By Chaplain Darrell W. Wood
Two pillars of the Old Testament who rose to prominence as leaders of God's people--yet demonstrated tragic weaknesses--were Moses and David. Moses led the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and after 40 years of wilderness wanderings, was prevented from entering the Promised Land because of disobedience; similarly, King David led the Israelites for 40 years, yet was denied the distinction of building the Lord's temple in Jerusalem because of excessive bloodshed in his storied warrior past (1 Chronicles 22:8).
David, the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, was the successor to Saul as the second king of Israel and Judah, reigning from 1,000-960 B.C.--seven years in Hebron and 33 years in Jerusalem.
King David appears to us, in all that we can learn of him, as one of the grandest--and yet most tragic--characters of the Bible.
In his early life as a shepherd, David tended his father Jesse's flocks and was anointed by Samuel to succeed Saul as king of Israel. After a reign of 40 years, "David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David" (1 Kings 2:10).
David's multi-faceted life was a most remarkable one. Few men have succeeded in doing well even one of the many different things he accomplished. He was
Into all these roles he threw his immense energy, creativity, and intellect. The life and legacy of Israel's greatest king are recounted in 1 Samuel 16 through 1 Kings 2:11 and 1 Chronicles 11, as well as many of the Psalms which David wrote. In the New Testament, Luke briefly summarizes the spiritual legacy of David in Acts 13:22-23.
David also had great faults as revealed in his sin with Bathsheba and his subsequent crime against her husband, Uriah the Hittite, by having him killed in battle. But at the same time, he had qualities of unmatched sincerity and nobility, making him one of the most commanding figures of the Old Testament.
When David sinned, committing adultery and murder, his remorse and repentance were deep and sincere. From the Psalms that he wrote--baring his soul to God his Creator--countless of the faithful through the ages have found comfort and encouragement.
The account of David's victory over Goliath (1 Samuel 17:31-58) is a testament to the power of God over great trials testing human valor and faith to give victory. Undoubtedly, David's courage was buttressed because he believed he was fighting Goliath for his people, and, more importantly, because he faced Goliath in the name of the Lord of Hosts (Lord Sabaoth).
David's covenant of friendship with Jonathan, son of King Saul, was sealed with the saying--"Therefore deal kindly with your servant [David] into a covenant of the Lord with you. But if there is iniquity in me, put me to death yourself; for why should you bring me to your father [Saul]?" (1 Samuel 20:8)
Conscientious David was bothered because he lived in a grand palace ("house of cedar") with pillars of bronze while the Ark of the Covenant (symbolizing the presence of the Lord, Yahweh) was housed in a tabernacle, a temporary tent.
As David prepared for building the temple, he called his son, Solomon, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel (1 Chronicles 22:6). David told Solomon he had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord his God. But the word of the Lord came to David, saying, 'You have shed much blood and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name' (vs. 8).
Lessons learned from a royal life:
I. David's private years--
II. David's public life--
III. David's problems--
The Israelites, who conquered the Canaanites in Palestine, were hemmed in at the heartland of the "Fertile Crescent" in the Near East--adjoining the great empires of the Assyrians-Babylonians to the east and the pharaonic dynasties of Egypt to the south. Because their powerful neighbors had kings, they also wanted a king (1 Samuel 8) to deliver them from their oppressors. Thus, Samuel anointed Saul to become the first king of Israel.
At the death of Saul, his only surviving son, Ishbaal, was the heir apparent, supported by the northern tribes in Israel. But the southern elders of Judah went to Hebron, David's military base, and in due course anointed David king "over the house of Judah," according to Isbout's 50 Most Influential Figures of the Bible.
I. David's early/private years--
'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all My will.'
II. David's public life--
III. David's problems and path to peace--
In biblical times, the Twelve Tribes of Israel were named after the sons of Jacob (Israel). According to Bowker in The Complete Bible Handbook, the birth of Jacob's sons is recorded in Genesis 29-35. At this point, they made up a single kinship group according to their mothers: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
From the time of their entrance to Canaan, the Israelites had to respond to the continuing conflict with the Philistines and Ammonites (1 Samuel 11), as well as other pagan people among the indigenous cultures. Tragically, through acculturation and intermarriage, the children of Israel disobeyed God and worshipped other gods such a Baal (Ba'al), leading to their captivity, exile, and self-destruction.
Upon David's being anointed as king, his reign was marked by national unity and stability unknown under the Judges. During David's 40-year monarchy, known as the "Golden Age," David's impressive accomplishments reached mythic proportions, and he reigned supreme.
When David returned from killing the Philistines, women came out singing and dancing, and saying,
"Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands."
Then Saul became very angry, for this saying displeased him...(1 Samuel 18:6-9). Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on. And David became the leader of an outlaw band constantly on the run to avoid Saul's efforts to seize and kill him.
After Saul's demise, and David's triumphant reign, according to J. B. Payne in The Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, David expanded his kingdom on all sides. An alliance with Hiram of Tyre enabled David to construct a palace in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:1). This was because of the great cedars of Lebanon that grew in that northern region.
Although David's plans to build the temple for Jehovah in Jerusalem were denied by the Prophet Nathan, David knew that God would raise up his son, Solomon, to construct the temple (2 Samuel 7:13a), and establish his dynasty to culminate in the incarnation of God's eternal Son (7:14).
Citing J. B. Payne, this "Davidic covenant" mediates Christian salvation for all (Isaiah 55:3; Revelation 22:16), climaxing God's promises begun in Genesis 3:15, and accomplished in the new testament of Jesus Christ. God's Spirit then inspired David to compose Messianic psalms, depicting the deity of God's anointed Son (Psalm 2).
One of the world's best loved compositions is David's heartwarming affirmation,
"The Lord is my shepherd..." (Psalm 23).
The tragedy of King David's life was in seeking God's heart with feet of clay. The magnitude of David's gifts and abilities was matched only by the greatness of his sin. After committing adultery with Bathsheba, he murdered her husband to conceal his crime (2 Samuel 10-11). When Nathan exposed his wrongdoings, David humbly confessed his sins in the great penitential psalms--Psalm 32 and Psalm 51.
Because of the failure of the kings of Israel and Judah (including David) to keep God's law--true religion of the Mosaic covenant--and the recurring disobedience and rebellion of the people, the judgment of God falls upon them. First, northern Israel goes into exile in Assyria for its sins around 722 B.C. (cf 2 Kings 17); then Judah suffers the same fate as Israel with the Babylonian captivity in 598 B.C. and 587 B.C. (cf 2 Kings 23:26-27; 24:1-4).
According to C. Westermann in The Bible, A Pictorial History, the first king, Saul, was a tragic figure. The rise of the young David stands out brilliantly against the dark background of the catastrophe in which the reign of Saul ended. David, who triumphed magnificently over a difficult situation; who succeeded in uniting the tribes of the North and of the South under his rule; and who conquered Jerusalem to give his kingdom an ideal center: the Jerusalem of the royal citadel and later of the temple, the Jerusalem of the Psalms, and in later times the Jerusalem of the yearnings of the exiles. Jerusalem, the city of David, the capital of the Israelite kings at the height of their power, survived the collapse of the monarchy. It survived great spans of history even to the present day.
The culmination of this salvation history is proclaimed by the apostle Paul, in Acts 13:23--"From the descendants of this man [David], according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus." The long-awaited Messiah, God incarnate, was born in Bethlehem, also called "the city of David."
Thus, God is faithful to fulfill His promises to His people. Through the lineage of David, Jesus Christ came as the Savior of the whole world for those who believe. Paul, in Hebrews 11:6, says that by faith God can be found:
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him"
The tragic truth is that those who seek God's heart, like King David, have feet of clay--and with the psalmist David pray, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast, right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10).
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