THE KINGDOM UNITED: DAVID

The purpose of this lesson is to present evidence that King David is the historical figure who occupied a position of prominence in God’s purposes for the nation of Israel.

WAITING PATIENTLY (2 Sam 1-5; 1 Chr 11-12)

David was the youngest of eight brothers and was anointed by Samuel to be the new king even though Saul was still reigning. David was chosen by God, but he knew how to wait for his time to reign. He was Saul’s servant in the palace and helped the people a lot in battles, defeated the giant Goliath, and began to live close to the then-king. He was a musician and comforted the afflicted Saul. David became Jonathan’s best friend and was promoted to leader of the king’s army. David began to be noticed and Saul became filled with envy, because he was vain and wanted to be the only one worthy of honor, however, “those who love vanity are unworthy of victory. Those who love power are unworthy of it. To succeed in order to be above others is more insane than the hallucinations of a psychotic” (CURY, 2013, p. 42).

Saul was crazy about power and began to persecute David, reduced his army, and tried to kill him several times. As if that were not enough, he humiliated him in public, since he had promised him his daughter Merab and gave her to another man – Adriel. In order to give him his other daughter Michal, he demanded something impossible in his eyes. He ordered Jonathan, his son, to kill David, a faithful friend of his. We must not forget that nothing can stop God from acting in our lives. God’s promises will be
fulfilled in us, not because we deserve them, but because of His grace and mercy.

David was brave, a warrior, and feared no one. He was a king, and yet he fled from Saul to live in the desert, in a cave, where he was exiled. But he never stopped loving Saul; he did everything he could to keep his friend alive. David teaches us that a leader is someone who serves and, even though he is a king, does not dominate others. People followed him even when he was running away and hiding. David led an army because he loved Israel and was faithful to the Lord.

The time has come. David has saved Saul’s life many times, but he has not been able to save him for long. Saul and Jonathan were killed after the war with the Philistines. David is informed of what has happened and could have been relieved, but instead, he is saddened and deeply sorry for the death of his king and his great friend. David had many reasons to expose the negative aspects of Saul, but instead, he only mentions his positive aspects. Like David, we must exalt our brothers in public and exhort them in private. Like David, we must learn to love our enemies and treat them with dignity. What do we do when someone does not like us? Love them, be their servant, because as servants we are exhorted to love like Jesus, that is, a love that does not depend on others.

With the death of Saul, the kingdom is divided again. David is proclaimed king of Judah, and Ish-bosheth, who was Saul’s son, is proclaimed king of Israel. Thus, after David’s victory over Ish-bosheth, about eight years after being proclaimed king of Judah, David is anointed king of all Israel, thus uniting the people once again. God’s timing is different from ours; He knows what He is doing, and in His own time, things happen. We should not despair and run after what only God can do. Our mission is to
wait with confidence for His provision.

A COVENANT WITH THE LORD (2 Sam 6-10; 1 Chr 13-29)

After reigning over all of Israel, David tried to bring the ark to Jerusalem. The ark was placed in a temporary tent and David wanted to build a place for it. Once his reign was established, he planned to build a temple to worship the Lord, a permanent place that would be completed during the reign of his son Solomon. David was not content to live in a palace and the ark in a tent.

We must dedicate our best to the Lord. We dedicate much of our time and resources to our causes, but we cannot forget that the expansion of God’s kingdom depends on us. We must not only pray for God to raise more workers for His harvest, but it is necessary to invest our resources so that the work advances according to God’s direction. Quoting the writer Augusto Cury once again, “a person can have billions of dollars and be miserable if he does not have these dreams. It is no wonder that there are miserable people living in palaces” (CURY, 2017, p. 44).

Wars continued during David’s reign, but he became sovereign, and the Lord made a covenant with him (2 Sam 7:8b). When the Lord calls us, He guarantees victory, and this was a big difference between Saul and David. While Saul threw confetti over his  head extolling his achievements, “as king of the Israelite empire, David did not fail to recognize that it was God who granted military victories and material prosperity to Israel.”3 We must always remember and acknowledge that the glory belongs to the Lord alone: When we stand up to celebrate each achievement, let us give Him the honor that is due to Him, just as some Christian athletes did after winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games. Let us understand that victory comes from Him

REPENTANCE BRINGS RESTORATION (2 Sam 11-24)

David’s reign was not only marked by great conquests and prosperity. At a certain point in his life, he sinned gravely against the Lord. David fell into adultery with Bathsheba and tried to hide it from everyone and from God Himself. The woman he committed adultery with was the wife of a faithful warrior in his army. David wanted so much to hide his sin that he ended up plotting the death of Uriah, thinking that by doing so he could hide his sin from God (2 Sam 11:27).

In this context, the prophet Nathan, sent by God, goes to David and tells him a parable (2 Sam 12:1-5). Being a just king, he condemns the man in the parable without knowing that he is condemning himself. We cannot be so naive as to think that we can hide our sins from God. Today, many avoid preaching about sin and exhorting the church to repent. We must learn by meditating carefully on these chapters. David repented of his sins after being confronted, beginning his restoration. Repentance is the way for this to happen; without repentance, there can be no restoration.

As long as David hid his sin from men and, especially, from God, his life became chaos, his joy in serving the Lord disappeared, and God’s wrath weighed upon him day and night. We always wonder why David was considered a man after God’s own heart, and the answer to this question is that David, when he sinned, was overcome by “true repentance with a broken heart, sorrow for his sin, and determination to turn away from it.” This should be our attitude when we sin. We should not blame others for our mistakes. At no time did David blame Bathsheba and Uriah for having sinned against God (Ps 51:3,4). David always recognized his sin and knew that only God could forgive him, since he had sinned against Him. We should never forget this truth; only God can forgive our sins, and for that, repentance is necessary.

CONCLUSION

Sin lasts for generations until there is repentance. God had commanded His people not to make alliances with foreigners. He communicated this to Moses and Joshua found out about it, but the people did not obey and made an alliance with the Gibeonites. During his reign, Saul ordered them to be killed, and during the reign of David, the people went through a great period of torment because of Saul’s sin. More than 300 years later, the consequences came to his Israelite successors. We have seen the importance of a leader who cared about the Word of God, who feared Him and who acknowledged his mistakes before the Lord. In the same way, we must confess our sins to the Lord, repent and take the path back and, thus, sing a song of gratitude to God as David did: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer […]” (Ps 18.2).