Reflections on the Life of King David

More is written in the Bible about King David than any other person with the exception of Jesus. His story is told primarily in the books of Samuel and again in 1 Chronicles. The first section of Reflections on the Life of King David collates the events recorded in the two accounts. An attempt is made to put the events in chronological order and to assign an approximate date to them. The second section is a series of reflections on significance of those events for people in both his day and ours. A final brief section explains the reasoning behind the adopted chronological order and the assigned dates.

When God chose David to be the king of Israel, He said, “I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.” David inspired Israel in battle, established Jerusalem as the capital of their nation, and focused their hearts on God with his psalms. Then just as he was defeating the last of the nation’s enemies, he committed a series of horrible sins which nearly destroyed him. He repented and recovered sufficiently to make extensive plans for the temple his son would build and to reorganize the priests and Levites in religious and judicial roles which would endure to the time of Christ. Finally, when “he had served the purpose of God in his own generation,” he “fell asleep and was laid with his fathers.” (Quotations are from Acts 13:22 and 36 in the English Standard Version.)