Bible Study - 1 Kings 2:1-12

12th July

1 Kings 2:1-12. The death of David, and an overview of his life

The story of David is surely one of the most romantic in history.

It is the story of a shepherd boy of Bethlehem who won the favour of a king, and then lost it; who had to take to the hills and caves as an outlaw, where he formed a band of men which became the most effective fighting unit Israel had ever had. For a brief spell he joined forces with the Israelites’ arch-enemy, the Philistines.

After the death of Saul, David became king and succeeded in uniting the twelve feuding tribes, and in subduing various aggressive neighbouring tribes. He ruled over what became known as the United Kingdom of David, but he died a bitterly disappointed old man.

During his eventful life, David was responsible for the death of many, some in battle, some in cold blood, but there was one particular deed which was to haunt him all his days, and that was the treacherous killing of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba.

From his boyhood, David had been an enthusiast of Yahweh (the Lord), passionately devoted to a personal Being who loved him and who had given him all he had. His dearest wish was to bring the Ark of the Covenant from the tabernacle in which it had been housed since the years in the wilderness, and place it in a temple, a magnificent Temple meet for his God.

The tragic irony of the life of David is that that one despicable crime against an innocent man, a loyal officer in his army, brought about his nemesis. When he began to make preparations for the building of a temple, he was opposed by Nathan, a minor prophet, a nobody. Why would the most powerful man of all Israel abandon his ambition to build God’s temple at the behest of such as Nathan?

David’s adultery with Bathsheba was common knowledge, and scarcely merited a raised eyebrow, but David’s guilty secret, the truth about how Uriah had met his death in battle, had somehow been discovered by Nathan, who used that knowledge effectively against his king.

David, unlike most of his friends and enemies, died in his own bed, attended by Bathsheba’s son Solomon, whom he exhorts to walk in God’s ways (1 Kings 2:3), but the extent of his bitterness is revealed by instructions he issues that certain of his old enemies were to be hunted and slaughtered.

It is little wonder that the minstrels and story-tellers of Israel delighted to tell of his deeds.

Prayer

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:5).