Bible Study - King David - Reflections

13th July

Reflections on these studies for our walk with God

I really value the input of over 20 people to these studies. They have helped me to see how other members of our church view David. I personally find the account of David as gripping as any work of fiction—with the added value that it actually took place.

David is presented to us as a rounded character. Despite all his faults, David is presented to us by the Biblical writers as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), in contrast to the disobedient King Saul.

David was concerned to build an earthly kingdom that would last as long as time. Everything that I read about David makes me want to ask, What does this mean to me, as a believer in Jesus, the one who invites us to be part of God’s eternal kingdom?

The life of David includes so many of the great themes of daily life:

the positive ones of awareness of God, courage, trust, loyalty, shrewdness, care for the weak, respect for what God has set in place and so on;

The negative ones, such as murderous anger, jealousy, lust, betrayal, treason, living with the effects of disobeying God’s commandments, and so on.

David may have come to a personal sense of peace when Bathsheba’s baby died, but he had to live with the consequences of his adultery and arranging the death of Uriah. Someone who has caused death by dangerous driving may come to a personal sense of forgiveness, but still has to live with the consequences of devastating another family. Only God’s grace can help us do that.

In Psalm 51, traditionally connected with David’s adultery with Bathsheba, we find an expression of despair at the writer’s sinfulness: Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. (Psalm 51:5)

I find an echo of that in Romans 7: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! (v.15, 21, 24, 25)

The Biblical writers give us a picture of David, tired and dispirited, at the end of his life. He could rejoice that his family line would continue, but he personally was weary because of politics, conspiracies, betrayal and the consequences of his own human weakness.

As Christians we know that we live in God’s power and grace, and that there is something far greater to come—something beyond our imagination or conception—something really to rejoice about.

Martin Collins