Bible Character Spotlight: David Part 1

 

David is probably neck and neck with Moses as the most important character in the Old Testament. His story starts when he was a young boy and follows right out of the story of Samuel, the last character we put under the spotlight. While 1 Samuel does not delve too deeply into David’s character as a young boy, it is worth noting and understanding how godly David was even as a young boy. Many of the verses from the book of Psalms were written by David throughout his life including when he was still fairly young. One of David’s psalms is probably one of the most well known sets of verses in the Bible.

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. - Psalm 23

One thing this and the other Psalms tell us about David was that he was a faithful person. God recognized that and, through Samuel, chose David even though, at the time, David seemed like an unlikely choice. When Samuel was sent to find King Saul’s replacement, God gave him the following instructions:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7

Samuel found David who was the youngest of his father’s sons. David was a shepherd not a warrior, but God still selected him even if that meant that David would wind serving and eventually fighting for Saul. At first, David’s role was just to soothe Saul by playing the lyre (once again we see evidence of David’s musical talent), but eventually David was introduced to combat. That introduction came in dramatic fashion and has gone on to be a very well-known Biblical story.

The Israelites were at war against the Philistines again. This time it was the Philistines who had a seemingly superhuman soldier, Goliath, a giant among men. No one in the army of the Israelites wanted to fight Goliath.

Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. - 1 Samuel 17:10

At this time, David was not a soldier. He did not even serve Saul full time. He split time between tending to sheep back home and playing for Saul. He eventually arrived on the scene while Goliath was making his challenge. While everyone else in Saul’s army cowered from the very thought of fighting Goliath, David resolutely declared that he would accept the challenge. Saul was understandably shocked by David’s words and rejected the idea at first, but David said the following:

But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” - 1 Samuel 17:35-37

There we see it, David’s faith. It wasn’t something new that just popped up at the moment of truth. It was something that had been crafted and tested even while he was working what some might have thought was a tamer job. David had no doubt that God would protect him because he already knew that God had protected him in the past. It seems simple, but we have to remember that time after time in the stories preceding David’s that the Children of Israel doubted and questioned God despite God helping them every bit as much as He had helped David. David wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill follower of God. He was a paragon. His faith could not be questioned and, as a result, he was rewarded when he managed to take down the mountain of a man, Goliath, with nothing more than a sling and a stone.

Many understand that the story of David and Goliath is about faith in God and just how powerful it can be, but we have to put the story in perspective. It wasn’t the pinnacle of David’s achievements. It was just the first.  We have to put that event in the proper context of the part it played in David's life just like we have to understand the significance of the events in our own lives.  Sometimes we see the big feat that God had to achieve just to bring us to Him, and we fixate on that. In doing so, we may miss out on the fact that God continues to work miracles throughout the rest of our lives.

We see that concept play out in David’s story. His defeat of Goliath brought him respect and renown, which are undoubtedly good things.  Unfortunately, his feat also led to David being the object of Saul's fear and jealousy. Saul and everyone else could see that David was a true man of God. and David’s connection to God brought him success and prominence.

In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him. When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns. - 1 Samuel 18:14-16

Saul offered David his daughter in marriage and treated David like a beloved servant, but increasingly he just wanted to be rid of David. First, he tried to set David up in a scenario where David would die in battle against the Philistines, but David found nothing but success when challenged. Eventually, Saul tried to kill David himself.

But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape. - 1 Samuel 19:9-10

When he failed to do the deed, Saul sent others to kill David on multiple occasions, and those attempts failed too. The thing Saul didn’t get was the lesson he should have learned when David defeated Goliath. David was faithful to God, and God was faithful to David. God protected David from the Philistines, and he would protect David from Saul. Saul eventually learned that lesson, but by the time he did, it was too late for him. David’s star continued to rise as he found more and more success, while Saul went from king to a pariah. David would have been justified in killing Saul after everything Saul did to him, but that was not his way. David knew not to touch God's anointed. David spared Saul multiple times. He knew he didn’t need to get vengeance because he knew the Lord had his back. In the end, David claimed his role as king and Saul wound up taking his own life. David had proven to be the better man and would go on to be a better king, but that doesn’t mean he was perfect. In fact, to some extent, David’s time as king can be wrapped up in the well known phrase “the bigger they are, the harder they fall.” We’ll see that during the next spotlight.

Chris Lawyer
Image Courtesy of triz-journal.com