Bible overview #4

David

Who is God? What is His character? And what does relationship with Him look like? We are going to continue looking at these questions as we go through the Bible. We have gone through Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Moses. We have seen His love and creativity. We have seen His judgment and His grieving heart. And we have seen His mercy and instruction. Through it all, He has reminded His people of the promises of a coming Savior and shown them their need for Him to come. They are incapable of ever being perfect or keeping themselves pure before Him. So, our story continues…

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with Moses, and a man named Joshua brought them into the land God promised Abraham. He warned them to keep their promise and not forget the laws He had given them. But when Joshua died, they turned away from God. Then their enemies would attack them. They would cry out to the Lord, and He would send them a judge (Book of Judges) who would lead them into battle. But after a while, they would turn away again.

Judges 2:1–3
The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

This became a cycle happening again and again for many generations. The book of Judges ends with this simple phrase in chapter 21:25: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” Then they decided they wanted Israel to look like every other kingdom. They wanted a king. But you see, they were meant to look different from the others, because God was their King.

Still, God gave them what they asked for. He commanded this king to lead by letting God lead him in everything. But this man was prideful and feared people more than God. Easy trap to fall into. Have you ever fallen into it? So God anointed another king—David.

David became a great warrior. He rescued them from many enemies, but the first king did not trust David. So David lived in many caves or among Israel’s enemies. Yet in all his running, he brought his fears, anger, grief, joys—every emotion—to the Lord. Many of the psalms are him expressing these things to God. Finally, God brought him out of the caves and put him on the throne.

God promised that Jesus would come from David’s line in 2 Samuel 7:8–15:

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

But you see, his physical kingdom did end—but through Jesus, David’s kingdom continues as the spiritual Kingdom of Heaven. David was not perfect, but God used him to lead the people in serving God and being humble before Him. He was different from other kings because when he sinned, he repented with all his heart. He was called a man after God’s own heart.

I would encourage you to read these stories for yourself. I love seeing how all these stories actually come together as a whole. God is amazing, and as you read, you really get to see more of His heart for us. Please share with us what you are learning. Join us next week for part #5 of our Bible Overview.