King David Research Paper

Caleb Johnson
Old Testament Personality – David: A Man after God’s Own Heart
CSBS 1311-08 Old Testament Study
Dr. Paul Stripling
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Every sense the creation of the world, God has called specific men and women to lead and rule over land and people. For centuries people have been intrigued and captivated by the stories of powerful leaders throughout the history of the world. Powerful leaders such as The Great Pharaohs of Egypt and Chinese emperor Qín Shǐ Huáng continue to capture our attention. Even mystical stories or legends about great kings, such as the stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, still have an incredibly firm grasp on our curiosity. One of the most popular and powerful kings ruled over 3,000 years ago. The story of the great ruler of Israel, King David, has continuously been a measuring stick by which leaders are measured and compared to. King David’s impact was not only present during his time period but is still evident now, in our very lives.
What about David makes his life so interesting? What made him such a great leader that people still study his life in order to learn more about affective leadership? These are just a couple of the questions people ask to try to understand the cause of the impact that King David made then, and is still making today. One of the very important aspects of King David, that is typically overlooked, is that of his Spiritual gift. Spiritual gifts include; Service, Teaching, Exhortation, Giving, Administration or Ruling, Prophecy, and Mercy. At first glance one would automatically assume that King David’s spiritual gift would obviously be Administration or Ruling. He was a king after all, but maybe it could be Teaching, Giving, Mercy or Service. Actually, it is more than likely that King David’s spiritual gift was really Prophecy. David is also known by some as the Great Prophet, the Weeping Prophet, or the Beloved Prophet. Now, when the word “prophet” is mentioned, most people tend to think of people such as Daniel, Elijah, Jeremiah, and Nehemiah, but about 327 verses of prophecy are contributed to King David, “The Great Prophet”. (Dake, 530) That means that David wrote about 188 more verses of prophecy than even Daniel, but yet Daniel is considered a great prophet and yet King David is never thought of as a prophet. Even the five characteristics of prophets listed in Tullock’s textbook on page 162 apply to David. 1. David spoke for the Lord many times to many people, including Saul. 2. As a dominating ruler, David had to be courageous in his actions and messages. 3. David spoke to his people and asked them to be morally pure and follow God’s law. 4. David was also compassionate. Not just for citizens he ruled over but to his enemies and even Saul when he was trying to kill David. 5. David was also sensitive of the people around him and the affect he was having on them. Even as a young boy, when David went to fight the giant Goliath, he courageously spoke prophecy out to the giant and the rest of the Philistines. “David said to the Philistine, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.’” (1st Samuel 17:45-47) David also writes in Psalms 2 “You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” (Psalms 2:9) According to the Zondervan NIV Study Bible, Psalms 2:9 is most likely a prophetic reference to the end times! King David even prophesied in apocalyptic language! Another great attribute of David was his humbleness. The Bible describes humbleness as submission to God and His will, while glorying Him and holding an inferior view of one’s self. If King David was anything, he was a humble servant of God. This is first seen in his occupation before he became king of Israel. David was a shepherd. In David’s time, a shepherd was considered a poor occupation for nobody special. Not only did David start off at a humble point but even after defeating Goliath, he returns to his work as a shepherd. While working as a shepherd, Samuel anointed David to become the next king. One would think that if somebody was told he was about to be king, that would give the person a sense of pride and cause him to carry himself as if he was better than others, but not David. When going out to fight Goliath, David even stated the killing of the giant will not be by David’s hand but by the Lord’s. Thus, by giving the glory to God, David took no credit in defeating the giant. David always thought of himself as that lowly shepherd. He never tried to make himself bigger or better than whom he believed he was. “Although people honored him, women sang of his greatness, and thousands voluntarily followed him into battle, David never forgot that he was just a shepherd boy that God had, for some amazing reason, chosen to use.” (A MAN OF HUMILITY) David truly understood what it meant to be humble. His humility is part of what molded him to be the great leader that he was as King of Israel. In Psalms 10 it is easy to see David’s exalted view of God as David compares a humble man to a proud man. His ability to always give God the glory, and deflect the attention of the people from himself to God, is one of the major reasons David is considered “a man after God’s own heart”. King David was also respectful of his enemies. He knew he had the power of God on his side, so he was not afraid, but he still had love for his enemies. In chapter twenty-four, verse four of First Samuel, David’s men tell him, “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” God put Saul into David’s hand to do with as he saw fit. When David had the chance to kill Saul, all he did was cut off a piece of his robe. (1 Samuel 24:4) Even after cutting off a part of Saul’s robe, David felt bad and said, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the Lord.” David had so much respect for Saul because of his honor for the Lord that even when God told him that he could deal with Saul as he pleased, David still honored the man that was trying to kill him. This integrity is just another reason for why David was such a great man and king. One of the best known stories is that of David fall into lust with Bathsheba.
What is often not mentioned is the fact that at the time Israel was at war with the Ammonites and David should have gone to war with his army. Instead of going with his army he sent Joab in his place and stayed behind. (2nd Samuel 11:1) According to McKenzie, when David was on the palace roof “following a late afternoon nap and spotter her bathing in the courtyard of her house.” (McKenzie, 157) “David was consumed by desire for Bathsheba from the moment he saw her. (McKenzie, 157) However, David should have never even been at his palace in the first place. He should have been out with his army fighting a war, and that would be the beginning in a chain of sinful events, including adultery, murder, and deception. It was not the temptation of Bathsheba bathing that started the chain of sin, but the fact that he did not go to war like he should
have. Another lesser known mistake made by David was toward the end of his life. King David decided that he would decree a census of all of Israel and Judah. At first glance this might not seem like much of a sin or even a mistake. Why would it be considered a sin to calculate how many people are living in your country? On the surface it does not sound corrupt or sinful in the least bit, but that is on the surface. What does one find when he digs deeper into the motives behind King David’s desire to count how many people were in the nation of Israel and Judah? In verse one through two of Chapter twenty-one of First Chronicles it states, “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, ‘Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.’” In First Chronicles it states that Satan rose up against Israel but in Second Samuel it stats that the Lord told King David to take the census. On page 141 of Tullock’s textbook states, “The Lord was said to have told David to take the census. The story in First Chronicles 21:1 provides a different understanding of this event, saying that ‘Satan’ caused David to take the census.” Then, in verse three Joab inquires of King David as to why he would like to know the number of Israelites. Joab explains how it is unnecessary for King David to need to know the number of troops he has under his control because the Lord can do the impossible with only a small number of men. Joab basically tried to explain how he believed that King David was making a mistake and should trust God, but King David demanded that Joab issue the census, and sense David was the king, Joab had to obey him. The Bible shows in verse seven that Joab was not the only one appalled by this order. “This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.” However, this points back to King David’s ability to be incredibly humble and he immediately realizes what a foolish mistake he has made in doubting the Lord. Because of this, in verses eleven and twelve of First Chronicles chapter twenty-one and verse thirteen of Second Samuel chapter 24, the Lord offers King David three options of judgment to fall upon Israel. King David regains his trust in the Lord when he asks for the third option, “David said to Gad, ‘I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.’” (2nd Samuel 24:14) Through all of this, what impact did David have during his time period and how is it still impacting the world in which we live in now? In David’s time, the people of Israel wanted a king. Saul was chosen to be the first king, but began to disobey God and use his own judgment and not the Lord’s. David comes on the scene and is anointed to be the next king. David kept his faith in God and used this to rebuild the kingdom that Saul had created. Not only did David rebuild the country but also passed on a health nation to his son Solomon to turn Israel into a great and even more powerful nation. King David was a great leader that trusted in the Lord and because of this was victorious in many battles and wars. David’s impact can also be seen in the lives of his descendants. Solomon, David’s son and successor, became one of the richest rulers in history and is known for his wisdom. If a person were to trace David’s descendants, that person would find that Jesus, The Christ, is also a descendant of King David. Without King David, not only would Israel have possible fall to its enemies but might even cease to exist as a whole. Not only that, but the Bible and History as we know it would be altered beyond our wildest imagination. King David’s life, military administration, and kingship have been studied and used ever sense the time of his reign. In his reign he was able to take the disorganized country Saul left behind and turn it into the beginning of an empire. While David’s kingdom might not have been a spectacular, breath-taking, or grand as his son’s, Solomon, it still was the stepping stone for Solomon’s great nation. David defeated his enemies, causing Solomon’s rule to be at a time of peace so King Solomon could strengthen Israel to become the rich and powerful country it was. The Davidic monarchy lasted more than 400 years, “but its influence would extend even further.” (Tullock, 142) After the Babylonian Exile, the Israelites’ hope for a great king like, King David, was kept alive because of the prophesies that foretold of a perfect king to come that would have all of the great qualities of King David. Jesus’ disciples and Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the answer to this fulfillment. Israelites that do not believe that Jesus is Lord and the fulfillment of the prophesies are still looking for the new King David to come and take up his throne. It seems that throughout studies of David, people seem to amplify the small number of King David’s sins. Maybe it is human nature to want to see somebody so great have horrible falling outs with God, or maybe it is because people have a hard time believing that anybody could possibly be that close to God. Now, David’s sins were still sins and they were not any greater or any worse than any other sin, but when studying King David’s life, through the ups and downs, one must not forget his humility, his ability to communicate with and speak for God, and his great ability to lead his people in a time when Israel was on an unstable foundation. All in all, with David’s wrongdoings and his great achievements, we must always remember that even God called David a man after his own heart.
Bibliography
A MAN OF HUMILITY. (n.d.). Retrieved from Positive Action for Christ: http://positiveaction.org
Dake, F. J. (2001). Dake Annotated Reference Bible King James Version. Lawrenceville, Georgia: Dake Publishing, Inc.
God. (2000). Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.
McKenzie, S. L. (2000). King David A Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Tullock, J. H. (2012). The Old Testament Story (Ninth Edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersy: Prentice Hall.