Introduction
In seven lessons, we will look into David’s life, who becomes the great king of Israel. The lessons, right now, are structured as such:
- David as a shepherd, youth, and warrior: 1 Samuel 16 – 20
- David, a man fleeing for his life: 1 Samuel 21 – 2 Samuel 1
- David as King of Judah and Israel: 2 Samuel 2-6
- David, the sinner and repentant King: 2 Samuel 9-12
- David, the grieving Father: 2 Samuel 13-19
- David and the worship life of Israel: 2 Samuel 7:1-9, 24:15-25; 1 Chronicles 22-26
- David and his everlasting reign: 1 Kings 1:28-40, 2 Samuel 7:8-19, Psalm 132:1-18, Isaiah 11:1-12, Matthew 1:1-17
God selects David to become King
Enslaved in Egypt, God delivers His people through Moses and brings them into the Promised Land, Israel. God tasks His first judge, Joshua, to rule the land. Judges ruled for over 400 years, Samuel being the last. The rule of the judges, however, did not go well, which Scripture summarizes in this way: “In those days Israel had no king; every person did whatever he considered as right” (Judges 21:25).
Samuel spent the first half of his life bringing God’s Word to the Israelites, helping them settle legal questions, and overseeing affairs of state. At times he also led Israel’s army. The second half of his life took place after the Israelites asked for a king.
So, at God’s direction, Samuel anointed Saul to reign as a king over His people. God anointed Saul, a tall and handsome youth. In time, the people accepted Saul and he became King of Israel. Samuel handed over his authority to Saul by laying down his office as a judge.
In the beginning, life went well for Israel. Saul experienced victories in battle and progress on the home front. In a military campaign against the Philistines, however, Saul made a mistake. He acted beyond his authority, which turned out to be an enormous blunder, one costing him his dynasty (1 Samuel 13).
Samuel, who still Israel’s priest, instructed Saul to wait until he arrived to make the sacrifice. Saul waited for Samuel but became impatient. He chose to offer the sacrifice on his own, stepping into God’s priestly office without authority. God only made him king.
Samuel arrives at the camp to discover Saul acting as the priest. Samuel reprimands him with a warning:
You did something foolish. You did not follow the command of the Lord, your God. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingship will not endure. The Lord will search for a man after his own heart and appoint him as ruler of his people, for you did not obey the Lord’s command. [1 Samuel 13:13-14]
God punished Saul, not by deposing him at once but by not allowing his son to succeed him. Though Saul continued to reign as king for some time more, his kingdom ended regarding his dynastic succession. Another will receive an enduring reign, but not Saul.
Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13
- Whom does God select as king of Israel?
- How does God, through Samuel, make David king?
Anointing with oil: “Anointed”: A title first used for the priests of Israel (Leviticus 4:3). Later, “anointed” transfers to Kings and becomes a prophetic reference for them (2 Samuel 22:51): Saul (1 Samuel 10:1), David (1 Samuel 16:13), Solomon (1 Kings 1:39), for all became kings by being anointed.
The term “anointed” comes from the Hebrew Mashiah (“Messiah” as a verb) as a title for the royal and priestly “Messiah” to come. So, the method God used to make someone a priest (Exodus 29:7, Leviticus 8:12), a prophet (Ps 105:15), or a king (2 Sam 2:4; 1 Kings 1:34) all pointed to the prophesied Messiah.
In the Greek of the New Testament, the Hebrew Mashiah becomes Christos, “the Anointed One.” The oil anointed kings, prophets, and priests all pointed forward to the Messiah, who would take and fulfill all these offices Himself, anointed by the Spirit (Isaiah 61:1).
- What does David enjoy “from that day forward” in his life?
“From that day forward”: David experienced the ongoing presence of the Holy Spirit. In God’s Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit did not live within every believer. For some, the Spirit did not dwell within them during their entire lives (for example, Saul, 1 Samuel 10:6, 16:14; Samson, Judges 14:6, 19; 15:14; 16:20). The Spirit descending and remaining with David anticipates the Spirit coming down and remaining on Jesus from the day of His Baptism at the Jordan (John 1:32-33).
Read 1 Samuel 16:18-23
David’s slow rise to power begins with him being brought into the inner workings of Israel’s power structures.
- How did God work events to bring David into Saul’s inner court?
- What does this allow to take place for David?
David and Goliath
Read 1 Samuel 17:1-11, 24-26, 31-53
“six cubits and a span:” The Masoretic Text shows Goliath being about 10 feet tall. The Greek Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls (4QSam), and the historian Josephus (Antiquities 6, 171) all list Goliath as “four,” which predates the texts, which comprise the Hebrew Masoretic Text. The best evidence points to Goliath as 6-1/2 feet tall, which was still colossal for men of the ancient world, who did not possess the height of most men today.
- What happens between Israel and the Philistines?
- Discuss: How does David’s victory point to the victory from the jaws of defeat for us by Jesus?
Sirach 47:2, 4-5:
As fat is selected for the peace offering, so David was selected from the sons of Israel…. In his youth did he not slay a giant, and remove reproach from the people, when he took in his hand a stone for the sling and struck down the boasting of Goliath? For he called on the LORD, the Most High, who gave strength to his right arm to defeat a man mighty in battle, to exalt the power of his people.
Saul, His Family, and David
Read 1 Samuel 18:1-4
- What develops between Saul’s son, Jonathan, and David?
Read 1 Samuel 18:7-9
- How does Saul handle David’s victories?
Read 1 Samuel 18:17, 28-29
- Whom does David marry and why?
- How does this backfire for Saul?
Read 1 Samuel 19:1-7
- What does Saul try to do to David?
- Who stands up for David. What results?
Read 1 Samuel 19:8-17
- What again happens?
- This time, who chooses to help David?
Read 1 Samuel 19:18, 23-24
- What does David do?
- Besides Saul’s children, Jonathan and Michal, who else intervenes for David through Saul?
Jonathan later comes to the aid of David. They meet while David is a fugitive after Jonathan risks his life to save David.
Read 1 Samuel 20:41-42
- What does Jonathan’s word to David reveal?
In a stroke of divine irony, an enduring friendship develops between David and Jonathan, the crown prince and heir apparent. The man who stands to lose everything if his father’s dynasty ends becomes the best friend of the man who stands to gain everything if he establishes a new kingdom.
Jonathan, however, chooses the right instead of the wrong, being an obedient servant of God instead of fighting to retain his sovereign rights and political power. Convinced of his father’s murderous intentions toward David, he swears a covenant of family friendship with David, which will yield fruit for generations to come (1 Samuel 20).
