“David.
“Jesse’s youngest son. Youthful shepherd of Bethlehem. Giant-slayer. Teenaged king-elect. Composer of psalms. Saul’s personal musician. Jonathan’s closest friend.
“He rose from hunted fugitive to Israel’s king. And he fell from champion in battle to aged and troubled monarch.
“David — a man of glorious triumph, yet great tragedy. Uniquely gifted, but human to the core; strong in battle, but weak at home. Why are we drawn to study his life? Because David isn’t a polished-marble personality. He is blood and bone and breath, sharing our struggles of spirit and soul.”
Chuck Swindoll begins one of his studies of David’s life with those words. David is one of the most remarkable men to have ever lived. He is the only one in Scripture to be called “a man after God’s own heart.” He is mentioned more than any other Old Testament character in the New Testament. One of his psalms is among a small handful of the most well-known passages of Scripture. He was a great poet and musician, a courageous warrior, and a national statesman.
Yet he was a man of great vulnerability, and so very much like us. He was anything but perfect, falling from the pinnacle of his kingdom into the depths of sin.
Among the events of his life that we shall examine are the following:
· His anointing: As a teenager he was anointed to be king of Israel after the failure of Saul, Israel’s first king, to remain true to God.
· His music: Chosen as the future king, he served as an attendant to Saul, offering up music to calm the soul and soften the heart. He would go on to write music that still touches hearts through the words of his psalms.
· His triumphs: Among his greatest triumphs was his victorious confrontation with the giant Goliath. He saved his nation for the first time, but it would not be his last. He shows us how to walk with God in the battles of life.
· His failures and repentance: His adultery was one of the great personal failures of history, yet he repented and found his way back to God. He shows us how to respond to our sin.
That is just a taste of his remarkable life. He also battled jealousy, revenge, conflict, sorrow, and triumph. There is something for everyone to learn from in his life.
If you want to live with a heart for God, you really need to meet this man. We need to do more than just read the stories of his life in the Old Testament. We need to see his successes and failures and ask how his experiences can help us have a heart for God like he did. So, we will examine his life this summer and learn from him how we can have hearts that remain true to God and that are on fire for God.
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