CHAPTER 1 David: His Character Overview David is one of the principal characters of our Bible. His name is mentioned over 1,000 times in Scripture, and it is the most referenced name in the Bible. In the New Testament his name comes immediately after that of the Lord Jesus: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David” (Matt 1:1). Interestingly, “David” is the second last name in the New Testament: “I am the root and offspring of David … the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen” (Rev 22:16-21). In other words, David is a character who seems to shadow our blessed Lord and his life is full of meaning and lessons for all believers. David as a picture of Christ David, the son of Jesse, was born in Bethlehem, as was the Lord Jesus. When Christ was born, the angel said to Mary: “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32). David is uniquely called by God, “a man after mine own heart” (Acts 13:22). Therefore, there are delightful features of David that remind us of the character of the Lord Jesus, and these will be brought out as we travel through the Scriptures with him. Furthermore, important prophecies concerning David in relation to Christ are still to be fulfilled: for example: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth” (Jer 23:5). We are still waiting for our Lord to return to set up His Kingdom on earth, and in this context Ezekiel refers to Him as “David”: “And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd” (Ezek 34:23). The covenant promise to David (2 Sam 7:8-17) is literally fulfilled in Christ and will know its ultimate fulfilment when He comes back to reign in this world. Inspiration and comfort David lived when King Saul was on the throne and the Philistines were Israel’s major threat. David was a shepherd boy who became the King of Israel and ultimately removed the Philistine threat and established the Kingdom. It is an inspiring story of a young boy looking after sheep, who moves from poverty to prosperity by being catapulted into a position of authority from relative obscurity. David knew real adversity. His psalms help us in days of trial, his prayers of penitence move us in our days of weakness and sin. His victory and valley experiences combine true devotion with real weakness encouraging all of us that we can do better, rise higher, and serve the Lord more valiantly. Worship David’s psalms of worship touch the soul. The profundity and yet simplicity of David’s words (as inspired by the Lord) are thrilling and so relevant to our experiences of life: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Ps 23:1); “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Ps 27:1); “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress” (Ps 18:2), to name but a few. David was devoted to his Lord and his worship draws us all nearer to the throne. Warning David made some major mistakes with tragic consequences, and we should learn from these so that we do not fall into the same errors. This book will follow the major movements in the life of David, reminding us that God can teach us in the dark days as well as at the high points in life. As we reflect upon David’s sin, it encourages us to reflect on our lives. Our day of service will all soon be over, and we will have to give account of ourselves before God. The first mention of David is found in the book of Ruth where we discover the intriguing story of his ancestry. The details of his life are found in First and Second Samuel (from 1 Samuel 16 onwards), in the early chapters of First Kings, and in First Chronicles. David is constantly referred to when the other kings of Judah are being discussed. He also wrote half the book of Psalms, and his name is found in almost all of the poetical books. His legacy is found in the exile accounts of Ezra and Nehemiah as well as in the Minor Prophets. The New Testament is saturated with references to him. Therefore, we will need to be selective in this pen portrait of David! The broad movements of David’s life are as: • Shepherd boy (1 Samuel 16-17); • Servant to King Saul in the palace, and ultimately son-in-law to the King (1 Samuel 18-20); • Stranger and stateless man hounded by King Saul across the mountains and valleys of Judah (1 Samuel 21-2 Samuel 1); • Sovereign on the throne of Judah and Israel (2 Samuel 2-1 Kings 2). The base text used for this book will be 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2. The emphasis will be not so much in re-telling David’s story, although some of that will be necessary, but rather in considering the lessons we can learn from the life of David for our lives today. Therefore, this book is devotional and practical in nature rather than being expository. Thirteen of the titles of the 75 psalms of David share details of their settings, and these 13 psalms are all arranged chronologically in this book, after each chapter, without commentary, and after the relevant setting for each psalm has been discussed. If there is no psalm that we are aware of being written in the period under consideration, then a psalm has been selected that is relevant. It is hoped that the simple reading of the psalm in its context will prove to be a “selah” moment of deeper reflection upon the Word of God and appreciation of our God. The chapters of this book can be summarised briefly.
