CSSA 1-2-24 - DAVID - THE KING

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49. DAVID - THE KING

"Then came all the tribes of Israel to David... and they anointed David king over Israel"

Aim

To show how God's promise to David that he should be king was fulfilled.

Synopsis

For many years David was an outcast, hunted by Saul through the hills and deserts. He had few friends, except for men who were hunted like himself. For the good he had done Saul, the king returned evil. These were days of great sadness, but in all his troubles David learned to rely on God. In the Psalms he writes of the faith which helped him to wait patiently for God to rescue him. (Some of these Psalms are: 34, 54, 56, 57, 59, 63.) It is good for us to learn this lesson of faith in God, and reading those Psalms will help us to do so.

2 Samuel 2:1-4; 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 13

DAVID IS CROWNED KING OF JUDAH: 2 Samuel 2:1-4

Saul and Jonathan both died in the same battle against the Philistines on Mt. Gilboa. David mourned for them both, but he knew that the time had now come for him to return to Israel and be king. Saul had always made his own decisions when he was king, without asking God's help or advice, but David was a different man. He was now 30 years old and had lea/ned many valuable lessons, both as a young shepherd looking after his father's sheep, and after that as a soldier and leader of men. It was God who had sent Samuel to anoint David king more than ten years before. So it was God that David now turned to for advice: "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" he asked God and God told him to go to Hebron. At last his days of exile from his own country and the hillsides of Bethlehem, which he had loved as a lad, were over.

So David came to Hebron with his family and the men who had remained faithful to him over the years when he had fled from Saul. There at Hebron the men of Judah anointed him king of Judah. God had already shown that this was the man He chose, when He sent Samuel to anoint him at his father's house. Now Judah had a God-fearing and courageous king -one who had learned faith, patience, kindness and wise leadership during the troubled days of his exile. For seven years and six months David ruled Judah while the other tribes refused to have him as their king. At the end of that time, he was anointed king over all Israel (2 Sam. 5:1-3). At last, his patient waiting for God to fulfil His purpose was rewarded. Soon God gave him Jerusalem for his royal city and honour ki the eyes of the surrounding nations.

JERUSALEM, DAVID'S ROYAL CITY: 2 Samuel 5:6-10

After David had been anointed king over all Israel, he went to take the city of Jerusalem (at that time called Jebus) from the Jebusites. They were one of the tribes of the Canaanites, whom God had told Israel to destroy. However, this city had for 400 years defied the armies of Israel. Joshua had slain its king, but had not conquered the city. A long time before Joshua, Melchizedek , priest of the most high God, who blessed Abraham, had lived in this city, which at that time was known as Salem (Gen. 14:18-19). David wanted it for his royal city, as the capital of Israel, and for a place of rest for the ark of the Covenant which the children of Israel had carried with them on their wanderings through the wilderness many years before.

Jerusalem was built on a hill and protected by high walls. In it, the Jebusites felt safe. So, when they saw David's army around the city, they laughed and mocked (v6). David promised that the man who was brave enough to enter into the city and take it for him, would be captain over his army (v8). Then Joab, one of the bravest of David's soldiers, made his way secretly into the city by an underground tunnel which brought water up into the city from the spring Gihon outside. It was a long tunnel ending in a narrow shaft, like a well, that went straight up into the fortress above. Water was drawn up from this well in a bucket into the city. It was certainly very difficult and very dangerous, but Joab succeeded and David made him captain over his army. God was with David as before and his army took the city. From that time on it was called "The city of David". David built a palace for himself there and many other buildings. "And David went on, and grew great, and Yahweh God of hosts was with him" (v10).

TRAGEDY THROUGH IGNORING GOD'S WORD: 1 Chron. 13

Since its return from the Philistines, the ark of the Covenant had never been put back in its place in the Tabernacle. David now wished to give it a special place in the midst of Israel in Jerusalem. So he made a new tent for it on Mount Zion. Then he asked the help of all the leaders of Israel to bring the Ark to Zion (vv 1,2). A new cart was made especially to carry the ark. The sons of Abinadab, Uzza and Ahio, drove the cart out of their father's house in a procession towards Jerusalem. "And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets" (v8).

Suddenly the oxen stumbled and Uzza put out his hand to steady the ark. Instantly God struck Uzza and he died there beside the ark. You can imagine how the singing and dancing stopped and the people were shocked and afraid that such a thing should happen in the midst of their rejoicing. David was horrified. What had gone wrong? God smote Uzza "because he put his hand to the ark" (vlO). According to God's law no-one must touch the ark but those appointed to do so € the sons of Aaron (Num. 4:15). In their eagerness to bring the ark to Zion, everyone had forgotten the vital thing € to ask advice from God. They had not read in the Book of the Law what God required. God had given special instructions about how to carry this most holy piece of the Tabernacle's furniture. The ark should not have been carried on a cart at all, not even a new one especially made for it. God had said that two poles were to be slipped through rings on each side of the ark and it was to be carried in this way upon the shoulders of the Levites (Num 4:15). Uzza's death was a warning to all of the importance of learning and doing the will of God. David realised this, as we learn from 1 Chron. 15:12-13.

At the next attempt, about three months later, all went well because God's word was obeyed. This time the Levites of the family of Kohath carried the ark. As it was brought to Mount Zion and placed in the tent David had prepared, all Israel rejoiced with singing and dancing.

LESSON FOR US

Times of trouble teach us how much we need God.They teach us to rely on Him for help and protection. This is why we are told in God's Word, that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Such troubles teach us to "commit our ways unto the Lord and trust also in Him", knowing that He will bring to pass good for us (Psa. 37:5-7). But it is not only in times of trouble and sadness that we must turn to Him. We are glad to be able to do that, because we know that He can always help. God wants us to turn to Him even in times of happiness and rejoicing. If David had first looked at God's Word and learned what God had wanted, the procession to Jerusalem with the ark would have been happy all the way.

Let us remember then, to read God's Word every day to learn what we must do to please Him, as well as to seek help and strength and comfort.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

David waited many years from his anointing until at last he was made king. In this he showed great patience even when his life was in danger as it was many times. He trusted that God would do all He had promised, but in His own time. David's great descendant, Jesus Christ, also waited long and patiently for God to fulfil His promises. God had promised before his birth, that he would receive David's throne and rule over Israel (Luke 1:31-33). He lived a perfect life and suffered patiently, but died without receiving the fulfilment of the promise. He trusted God to raise him from the dead and then, at the times appointed by God, to send him back from heaven to the earth and receive and rebuild the kingdom of David (Acts 3:20-21).

David knew that God had chosen Jerusalem as a place "to put His Name" (Deut. 12:5). "Yahweh hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation" (Psa. 132:13). This was why David was so anxious to take Jerusalem from the Jebusites and to bring the ark of God to rest there. David made Jerusalem his capital city and the Lord Jesus Christ later called it "the city of the great king" (Matt. 5:35). It is from Jerusalem that Christ will rule the world. People from all nations in the earth will go up to Jerusalem to worship and to learn God's laws (Isa.2:2-4; Psa.48:l,2). The return of Jews to the land of Israel and especially to Jerusalem reminds us that the time of Christ's return is very near (Luke 21:24-28).

What greater happiness can we have than to live in the kingdom of God on the earth, with the Lord Jesus Christ as a wise and just king, showing kindness to all the people. Psalm 72 tells us of all the blessings of that kingdom. If we obey God now and believe His word, that will be our blessing - life eternal in the earth (Rev. 5:9-10; Rom. 2:7).

QUESTIONS

Short Answers

How long did David have to wait from the time when Samuel anointed him until he was crowned king of Judah?
After Saul's death what did David do before going to Hebron?
Over which tribe did David first become king?
How long was David king of Judah?
What city did David take from the Jebusites?
How did Joab get into the city?
What had David forgotten to do before moving the ark?
Why did God kill Uzza?
Who carried the ark when it was safely taken to Zion

Detailed Answers

Tell how Jerusalem was taken from the Jebusites
Tell the story of the two attempts to carry the ark to
What lesson do we learn from the tragedy that happened the first time the ark was moved?