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rials to build this most expensive structure ever erected
by mankind!
With time on his hands whi le lending the fiocks, and
with solitude and peace in the Judean hills, David read
and reread the first five books of what we call the Bible
(the only ones that were " Scripture" at the time, along
with Joshua and a portian of the book of Judges, and
possibly Job). He took endless hours to med itate, exam–
ine and absorb the laws of God. "O how love
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thy law!
It
is my meditation a ll the day," he wrote.
As much as the tlock of sheep trusted in him, he
reali zed th a t, of and by himself, he was as he lpless as his
flock in the world of his day. Perhaps the most vital
lesson he learned from this was complete trust in God,
whatever might befall ; trust as a child with his parent, as
a s heep with the shepherd. The kind o f trust Jesus later
gave as a qua lification for the Kingdom of God:
"1
teU
you as seriously as
l
know how tha t anyone who refuses
to come to God as a little child will never be a llowed
into his Kingdom" (Mark
JO:
15). The kind of trust that
finally carne to fruition in that most beautiful psalm we
a ll remember, the twenty-third!
Tears and laughter, bravery and fea r, humility and
pride, anger and compassion, gentleness and ferocity.
David was a fighter and a poet, one who could pluck a
ha rp as adeptly as he could wield a sword, a very human
person who made small and great mistakes, who accom–
plished small and great monuments of word and deed, a
boy and man, acquainted with sin personally and very
personally understanding repentance as the mos t pow–
erfu l contact man has with God. David is a comfort to
all of us, a cha racter covering the broadest spectrum of
human shame and human accomplishment.
A LiHie History
avid: murderer, plotter, adulterer.
David: repentcr, sain t, author
of Scripture, king forever. And
..._-~~
..--• most importa n! of a ll : "A man
after God 's own hea rt" !
Let's get to know this man better. Let 's wea r his shoes,
get inside his head , inside his heart, lea rn the lessons he
learned, and somehow perhaps become a person after
God's own heart in so doing!
Let's go slowly and savor the en tire experience. Hope–
fully we will digjust deep enough to prime further study
and understanding. Hopefully we will improve our con–
cept of humanity, our contact with God, our comprehen–
sion of the world a round us, within us, a nd the world
tomorrow- God's Kingdom to come. Hopefully we wi ll
gain a grea t friend and come to love David as God
does- and in so doing come to love God Himself and
our fe llowman as David did, and as Jesus commands in
His "new" commandment! Hopefu lly we will develop
"the heart of God"!
Let's sta rt with the world into which David was born,
understand the time in which he lived: the political
turmoil. the primitive conditions. the brotherly bickering
among the twelve tribes of God's na tion Israel. the
misundcrstanding of how God directs and deals with
human beings and how He dealt with th a t misunder–
standing.
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978
Israel had escaped Egypt in the fa mous Exodus four
centuries befare David. Israel (all twelve tribes) had
escaped the thralldom of Egypt to become a nation
under Moses, but because of a rebellious att itude on the
pa rt of the Israelites, they wandered for forty years in
the wilderness of Sinai. Moses died and Joshua took
qver. The "conquest" of the promised land proceeded
slowly and imperfectly. The separa te tribes lost cohesion
as a na tion, fell to bickering among themselves, accepted
the local inhabitants and the ir gods and los t their id en–
tity as a na tion.
"Give Usa King"
undreds of yea rs passed . One
tribe a fte r ano ther was olfered an
opportunity to cement together
...__. . ...._. the nation, but each Judge (as the
book of Judges tells) only brought
a tempora ry surcease in his local arca from the domina–
tion of strong política) enemies left free in the land after
the original "conquest."
When David was born, Israel was still not a reality.
Wa rring tribes struggled to maintain their identity. Sur–
rounding small nations maintained their stranglehold on
dilferent tribes of the twelve (thirteen, counting Levi)
that made up " Israel." Mo re powerful centers to the
south (Egypt) and to the north (Syria) domina ted what
was in between. Life for the uno rga nized tri bes of Israel
was touch and go. Unity was unheard of. J udah was the
most powerful tri be of the twelve.
Thc only cohesive factor among them was Samuel,
who saved the light of the truth from going out in Israel
as a child serving in the Tabernacle. His influence. as the
last of a long line of J udges in Israel. was the most
binding of a ll . Yet, the people of Israel complai ned.
They looked around them at the more successful na tions
who had unity, kings, a form of national government;
and they complained to Samue l.
'
Samuel was dist raught. He felt he had failed some–
how. He felt rejected by his fellow Israelites. "'Give usa
king like all the other nations have,' they pleaded. Sam–
uel was te rribly upset and went to the Lord for advice.
'Do as they say,' the Lord replied, 'for
l
am the one they
are rejecting, not you- they don' t want me to be their
king any longer. Ever since
1
brought them from Egypt
they have continually forsaken me and followed o ther
gods. And now they are giving you the same lrealmenl.
Do as they ask. bul warn them about wha t it will be like
to have a king! '" (I Sam. 8:5-9.)
Samuel told the people:
"'l f
you insist on having a
king, he will conscripl your sons and make them run
befare his chariots; sorne will be made to lead his lroops
into battle, while olhers will be slave labore rs; they will
be forced lo plow in the royal fi elds. and ha rvesl his
crops without pay; and make his weapons and chariot
equipment. He will lake your daugh te rs from you and
force them lo cook and bake and make perfumes for
him. He will take away the best of your fields and
vineyards and o live groves and give them to his friends.
He will take a tenth of you r harves t and dislribute it to
his favori tes. He wi ll demand your slaves and lhe finest
of your youth and will use your animals for his personal
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