One of the most prominent men in all of history, especially Hebrew history, was King David. It is even contested among scholars whether Moses or David is the foremost figure of the Old Testament. David is called “the man after God’s own heart,” and understandably is used as a reference by many regarding how to worship and how to live righteously. Because of David’s close and personal relationship with God, it is helpful for any Christian to have some understanding of David’s life and the way he lived. To this end, David’s life could be examined in three stages: his childhood and the time spent serving Saul, his time as a fugitive from Saul, and his time spent as the King of Israel. To have the proper context, the examination of David’s
This was the case with David and Saul’s relationship in the extreme. While David was still serving as the king’s musician, Saul made a number of attempts on David’s life, most notably casting a spear at him out of nowhere and trying to get Jonathan, the king’s son and David’s best friend, to kill David. After several attempts on his life, David had no choice but to flee as a refugee of Saul’s unjust wrath. Because there are so many details to David’s time as a refugee, only the most prominent experiences will be mentioned here. One of these events was when David fled to Gath, the hometown of Goliath; in order to escape from the Philistines, David had to pretend to be mad. Another one was when David sought refuge in a great cave in Engedi. Saul slept for the night in the same cave, unaware of David’s presence. David had a prime opportunity to kill his oppressor and claim his rightful place as king, but he impressively spared Saul. David also spared Saul’s life a Hacilah. These two instances of David showing mercy exemplified David’s righteous soul and his dedication to waiting for God to give him the throne rather than taking it himself. Becoming weary of life as a fugitive, David eventually sought refuge with the Philistines. With the Philistines, David was given the small border city of Ziklag. When the Philistines gathered to battle Saul, David had the hard
Prayer to God guided David to go to Hebron, where he was anointed king of Judah. His first act as king was showing gratitude to the people of Jabesh-Gilead for burying Saul and Jonathan honorably. This is another example of David’s genuine forgiveness of Saul despite the insane desire to end David’s life. Ishbosheth was Saul’s only remaining kin, and he became king of the remaining eleven tribes of Israel. Abner, the highly appointed military official, decided to betray Ishbosheth by bringing leadership of the remaining tribes to David. David’s military leader, Joab, was jealous of the potential position Abner would hold and murdered him, causing David to strongly rebuke Joab. Shortly after, Ishbosheth was assassinated, making David king of all Israel. This shows that sinful selfishness on the part of men cannot stop God’s intentions. As the king of all Israel, David needed a more defensible capital than Hebron. He came across the perfect site and made the city of Zion, later called Jerusalem, his capital. The city was the perfect location for many geological reasons that won’t be mentioned here. David had the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem to make it the center of Israel’s religious life. He also intended to build a great temple to house the presence of God, but God instructed him to save the construction of the temple for his son, Solomon, because David was a man of war and Solomon would be a man of peace.