The Inspiring Life of King David

The life of King David of the Old Testament has been the focus of a few church sermons I've heard recently. I've since reread parts of the Bible and am astounded at David's life story and the lessons to be learnt from this. I have summarised his story below, but there are many more details I have left out.

David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons, a shepherd, yet he was chosen over his brothers and God commanded Samuel to anoint him. David then found his way into King Saul's castle, after Saul requested a musician to calm him when he was troubled and David played the harp to him and became his armour bearer. Later, David was the one who stepped forward to kill Goliath, of the Philistines. Saul gave David his armour with which to fight, but David threw it off as it was too bulky for him, and instead he stepped forward armed only with a sling and five stones. Thus was the mighty Goliath felled by a tiny stone flung by a mere boy. Saul then placed David in charge of his army, and people soon began to sing David's praises, 1 Samuel 18:7 (KJV) "And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Even Saul's own son, Jonathan, who was the heir to the throne, recognised David as Saul's successor, the future King. David at this point was on King Saul's side and he brought glory to Saul's kingdom, yet Saul became jealous of David and he was overtaken by an evil spirit. Instead of welcoming David's successes, Saul tried to get rid of him and so Saul offered his daughter's hand in marriage to David, initially his first daughter, but this offer fell through, and then his second daughter, Michal, fell in love with David, and David agreed. David was asked to bring 100 Philistine foreskins to King Saul for Michal's hand in marriage, and by doing so King Saul secretly hoped that David would fall at the hands of the Philistines, yet instead David triumphed and brought back 200 foreskins. Jonathan later warned David that King Saul, his father, planned to kill David and David fled, leaving behind his wife. Sometime after this, David spared King Saul's life twice when he came upon him, though he had King Saul easily within reach and even though he knew King Saul desired to kill him. David then found abode in Ziklag, ironically, a Philistine town. How sad that a mighty champion of Saul's people fled into the wilderness, right into the camp of the enemy, to find safety for a time and to rebuild his life. Sometime during this period, David almost joined together with the Philistine army to fight with them, but one of the Philistine leaders asked that David be sent away. Meanwhile, Saul consulted a medium, even though doing so was against God's commandments, and Saul was told that David would be King someday and that Saul and his sons would die at the hand of the Philistines. When David arrived back home in Ziklag, he found Ziklag ransacked and burnt down by Amalekites, who had carried away all David owned, including his two wives and all of the town's inhabitants. David's men turned on David in their anguish, but the first thing David did was to consult God to ask what he must do, and then he pursued the raiders with 600 men, 200 of whom couldn't complete the entire journey, and David regained his entire household and all of his belongings and more. He shared what he obtained with the surrounding Israelites, even with the 200 men who couldn't complete the journey with him, and his former fame was rekindled. King Saul was killed in the battle David was turned away from, and Saul fell on his own sword, surrounded by Philistines, and Jonathan and another two of King Saul's sons succumbed at this battle too. I wonder, if David had been part of King Saul's kingdom, would King Saul still have died in this way? Many years later, the Israelites approached David, who was anointed and then appointed as King Of Israel. It seems to me that David was always destined to be King, with or without Saul, and I wonder if Saul's outcome might have been different if Saul had accepted David instead of rejecting him, consequently fighting against God who was with David?

David was far from perfect and later he committed adultery with Bathsheba, who was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David attempted to conceal the resultant pregnancy by bringing Uriah back from battle so he could sleep with his pregnant wife, but Uriah refused and David then commanded that Uriah be killed. God however punished David for these incorrect choices. What set David's life apart was that he worshiped God through all, even when his son died he accepted God's decision, and David also refused to harm any of God's anointed even were this to be to his favour, Saul being the best example.