King David
In the Old Testament reading this evening (1 Samuel 16:1-13) we had an introduction to David, someone who would go on to play a crucial part in the history of Israel even to the present day. Few people have had such influence.
Looking to preach about David, I spoke to Helen – newly ordained, just having finished her studies, I expected some great wisdom when I asked what she knew about David – she replied, ‘he suffered from constipation !’ When I enquired further she said, ‘He must have suffered from constipation because he sat on the throne for so long !’
When we think of David, one of the things we think about was that he was a king. We may also think of him as a shepherd, a poet who wrote so many of the Psalms, a killer of the giant, Goliath, and of course an ancestor of Jesus. But alongside that stands another man – a betrayer, a liar, an adulterer and murderer.
David was a complex character, a man of many different characteristics, both good and bad, and in that knowledge we recognise the normality of someone who could be any one of us. For many, who would argue that the Bible was written with an agenda, portraying its important characters as heroes, David blows this argument completely. Why would a great king, someone upon whom so much of the nation of Israel would be built, be described in such detail, with faults at least as great as any of his triumphs.
In this evening’s reading we have an introduction to David as he is anointed with power from God by the prophet Samuel. It was the beginning of a ministry that would see him killing Goliath, moving in and out of King’s Saul’s Palace, winning battles against the Philistines and playing the harp to soothe the king’s increasingly irritable moods. He established a strong friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan and married Saul’s daughter, Michal.
Saul however became jealous of David, and David had to go into hiding. Despite Saul’s hatred, David sought no revenge, and when Saul and Jonathan were both killed in battle David felt genuine sadness. He inherited a tiny kingdom, the small southern tribe of Judah. Showing some of his great tactical skills, and his trust in the power of God, he took the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, and made it his capital.
He moved the Ark of the Covenant there, thereby establishing both a religious and political centre. He wanted to build a Temple in Jerusalem but was discouraged by the prophet Nathan who says that rather than building a Temple, God will in fact establish an eternal dynasty, something, unlike the Temple, that can never be destroyed by mankind.
Sadly, as so easily happens, power, at times, corrupted David. He became greedy and selfish, committing adultery with Bathsheba, and having her husband killed, being just two of his many failings. From that time on, though he would see great power in his building of the nation and uniting of different groups, he would also have problems…
Many of these would involve his own family, which was torn apart by crime and rivalry. A son, Solomon, was born to Bathsheba, and Solomon would eventually succeed David, but another son, Absalom, would seek to kill David, in what became a family civil war – yet when Absalom died, as he had been with King Saul, David was genuinely heartbroken.
Eventually David, unusually for any sort of leader at that time, was able to die in his own bed, but his legacy continues. It continues in the complicated political world of Israel today, but it also continues for us all, because David, in so many ways, could have been any one of us.
He was a hero but an incredibly flawed hero, but he was a man who knew and trusted the power of God, a man who sought not to run from the consequences of his sin, but who knew real forgiveness for that sin for which he showed real remorse.
Like David, each one of us, must recognise the times when we get things wrong, and we must humbly approach God for forgiveness, with a genuine desire never to repeat our failure. If we do that, then God is faithful to us. He will, like he did with David, understand our weakness, and though we may face the consequences of our sin, we will know the true forgiveness and peace of God.
And so, from David, we learn a lesson of repentance, but we also learn of a man who was always willing to be honest with God – in his Psalms we hear of praise, but we also hear of anger and torment and sadness. God wants to know all of our feelings, good, bad or even indifferent.
And of course, there is the anointing of David in the first place, which we heard this evening. He wasn’t an obvious choice of God. He was the youngest of a family, and in many ways, one of the least likely choices, but that didn’t matter to God, because God saw not the outward appearance but the heart of David.
In that heart he saw a man ready to trust and follow God… God’s love would constantly surround David, as it does each one of us, and God had great plans for him even though he was fully aware of the frailties of David’s character. He had these plans because he knew that in spite of his failings, David’s heart was in the right place. He would make many mistakes, but each time he would seek forgiveness from God, expressing genuine remorse, and each time he would learn from his mistakes, mistakes which he wouldn’t repeat.
David's greatness was not in his bravery, even though he was very brave. It was not in the battles that he won, even though he won many. It was not in the glory of his reign, even though he had his share of glory. It was in his willingness to submit to the will of God and to humble his heart in repentance when he sinned.
We can be whatever God wants us to be if we are prepared to learn from David, to repent when we fail, to seek God’s will for us; if we are prepared to trust him and follow him wherever he leads, and if we are prepared to put our future in his hands – it’s a good choice, and if we want to enjoy the everlasting love, peace and joy of a relationship with God, it is our only choice. AMEN
Looking to preach about David, I spoke to Helen – newly ordained, just having finished her studies, I expected some great wisdom when I asked what she knew about David – she replied, ‘he suffered from constipation !’ When I enquired further she said, ‘He must have suffered from constipation because he sat on the throne for so long !’
When we think of David, one of the things we think about was that he was a king. We may also think of him as a shepherd, a poet who wrote so many of the Psalms, a killer of the giant, Goliath, and of course an ancestor of Jesus. But alongside that stands another man – a betrayer, a liar, an adulterer and murderer.
David was a complex character, a man of many different characteristics, both good and bad, and in that knowledge we recognise the normality of someone who could be any one of us. For many, who would argue that the Bible was written with an agenda, portraying its important characters as heroes, David blows this argument completely. Why would a great king, someone upon whom so much of the nation of Israel would be built, be described in such detail, with faults at least as great as any of his triumphs.
In this evening’s reading we have an introduction to David as he is anointed with power from God by the prophet Samuel. It was the beginning of a ministry that would see him killing Goliath, moving in and out of King’s Saul’s Palace, winning battles against the Philistines and playing the harp to soothe the king’s increasingly irritable moods. He established a strong friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan and married Saul’s daughter, Michal.
Saul however became jealous of David, and David had to go into hiding. Despite Saul’s hatred, David sought no revenge, and when Saul and Jonathan were both killed in battle David felt genuine sadness. He inherited a tiny kingdom, the small southern tribe of Judah. Showing some of his great tactical skills, and his trust in the power of God, he took the Jebusite city of Jerusalem, and made it his capital.
He moved the Ark of the Covenant there, thereby establishing both a religious and political centre. He wanted to build a Temple in Jerusalem but was discouraged by the prophet Nathan who says that rather than building a Temple, God will in fact establish an eternal dynasty, something, unlike the Temple, that can never be destroyed by mankind.
Sadly, as so easily happens, power, at times, corrupted David. He became greedy and selfish, committing adultery with Bathsheba, and having her husband killed, being just two of his many failings. From that time on, though he would see great power in his building of the nation and uniting of different groups, he would also have problems…
Many of these would involve his own family, which was torn apart by crime and rivalry. A son, Solomon, was born to Bathsheba, and Solomon would eventually succeed David, but another son, Absalom, would seek to kill David, in what became a family civil war – yet when Absalom died, as he had been with King Saul, David was genuinely heartbroken.
Eventually David, unusually for any sort of leader at that time, was able to die in his own bed, but his legacy continues. It continues in the complicated political world of Israel today, but it also continues for us all, because David, in so many ways, could have been any one of us.
He was a hero but an incredibly flawed hero, but he was a man who knew and trusted the power of God, a man who sought not to run from the consequences of his sin, but who knew real forgiveness for that sin for which he showed real remorse.
Like David, each one of us, must recognise the times when we get things wrong, and we must humbly approach God for forgiveness, with a genuine desire never to repeat our failure. If we do that, then God is faithful to us. He will, like he did with David, understand our weakness, and though we may face the consequences of our sin, we will know the true forgiveness and peace of God.
And so, from David, we learn a lesson of repentance, but we also learn of a man who was always willing to be honest with God – in his Psalms we hear of praise, but we also hear of anger and torment and sadness. God wants to know all of our feelings, good, bad or even indifferent.
And of course, there is the anointing of David in the first place, which we heard this evening. He wasn’t an obvious choice of God. He was the youngest of a family, and in many ways, one of the least likely choices, but that didn’t matter to God, because God saw not the outward appearance but the heart of David.
In that heart he saw a man ready to trust and follow God… God’s love would constantly surround David, as it does each one of us, and God had great plans for him even though he was fully aware of the frailties of David’s character. He had these plans because he knew that in spite of his failings, David’s heart was in the right place. He would make many mistakes, but each time he would seek forgiveness from God, expressing genuine remorse, and each time he would learn from his mistakes, mistakes which he wouldn’t repeat.
David's greatness was not in his bravery, even though he was very brave. It was not in the battles that he won, even though he won many. It was not in the glory of his reign, even though he had his share of glory. It was in his willingness to submit to the will of God and to humble his heart in repentance when he sinned.
We can be whatever God wants us to be if we are prepared to learn from David, to repent when we fail, to seek God’s will for us; if we are prepared to trust him and follow him wherever he leads, and if we are prepared to put our future in his hands – it’s a good choice, and if we want to enjoy the everlasting love, peace and joy of a relationship with God, it is our only choice. AMEN
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