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Sinner and saint. Poet and warrior. Lustful and repentant. King and shepherd boy. Humble and willful.
Humorous and tearful Faithful and rebellious. Hunter and preserver. Builder and destroyer. Wise,
eloquent, organized-foolish, babbling, disoriented. Joyful, morose. Biblical author, friend of God,
future king ofIsrael forever!
avid is all these and much more.
Few men have held such an out–
standing place in the historical
.._-~~.---•
record.
l f
there is another who is
more q uoted than the sweet
psalmist of Israel, perhaps
it
is the like-hearted man
Jesus, who is the God who cherished David.
How can a man of so many contradictions be a "man
after [God's] own heart"? (Acts 13:22.) Because "men
judge by outward appearance, but I look at a man's
thoughts and intentions"
(1
Sam. 16:7,
The Living Bible,
used throughout article).
Whence carne this ancestor of our Lord who became
the most outstanding king of Judah-lsrael, and who is
promised that kingship forever in the resurrection? A
man whose great-grandmother was Ruth, a woman of
Moab. A man who was almost overlooked by Samuel
because he was the inconsequential , not-yet-grown
eighth son of Jessie. When Saul became kjng, David was
a mere youth herding sheep in the field. But since God
even keeps track of sparrows, David rose from the hope–
less eighth-son position in a relatively obscure family in
Israel to become king- forever!
Outside of Bethlehem, in the hills of Judea , David
entertained himself as best he could while he watched
his father 's flock. Little did he realize then that he was
learning vitallessons not only to be used in later life, but
lessons which men throughout all succeeding history
could draw from. Plucking on an instrument which was
probably the crude forerunner of the guitar. he com–
mitted to memory the first notes of anthems to be played
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in God's Temple- a Temple not yet dreamed of, much
less built.
Small deeds of boybood heroism executed in the pro–
tection of hjs father's flock presaged major battles fought
to build a kingdom. Clever ruses he employed lo outwit
beasts of prey and bandits alike served him well
throughout forty years or more of palace intrigue, in
dealings with wi ly enemies wi thin and without, assassins
nurtured in the bosom of his own family !
A sense of compassion and tenderness grew in him as
he noticed how completely dependent his father 's s heep
were on his guidance and care. A desire to commit to
memory the lessons learned led him to put together
small poems- later to be expanded into one of the most
cherished portions of the Word of God. the Psa lms !
Complete Trust in God
deep !ove of God's natural cre-
A
1
ation built into him a strong sense
of organization and design, a de–
~-PÍIIIII
..-•
sire to be creative as was his Cre-
1
At
ator. From these beginnings carne
the design of the Temple of God. left to David's son
Solomon to build, and so, unfortunately called "Solo–
mon's Temple." But it was David who designed the
Temple and established standards of measurements and
weights. David organized the courses of Levitical priests
who would serve in the Temple, and made the plans for
hundreds of singers to give their praise to God with his
words and his music. He even , believe it or not, was
responsible for the basic financing and selection of mate-
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978