Will David Be King of Israel Again?

“And when he had removed [king Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
Acts 13:22 ESV

I know of four passages that say that David will be king of Israel again. Some people think the references are types, meaning they refer just to Jesus. And yes, Jesus will reign over all the earth.

And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
Zechariah 14:9 ESV

¹⁶Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths. ¹⁷And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
Zechariah 14:16-17 ESV

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4 ESV

But I have come to think they are literal, meaning that David will be king of Israel again. Here are the four Scriptures. Note that in three of them God and David are mentioned separately, indicating to me David is not Jesus!

²⁰“Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²²I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.”
Ezekiel 34:20-24 ESV

²⁴“My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. ²⁵They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. ²⁶I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. ²⁷My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Ezekiel 37:24-28 ESV

⁸“And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off your neck, and I will burst your bonds, and foreigners shall no more make a servant of him. ⁹But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.”
Jeremiah 30:8-9 ESV

⁴For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. ⁵Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
Hosea 3:4-5 ESV

See, overall David was successful.

³²And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Hebrews 11:32-34 ESV

³⁶“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷but he whom God raised up did not see corruption.”
Acts 13:36-37 ESV

⁷⁰He chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹from following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his inheritance.
⁷²With upright heart he shepherded them
    and guided them with his skillful hand.
Psalms 78:70-72 ESV

And success in this life is rewarded in the next.

²²“And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”
Matthew 25:22-23 ESV

¹⁶“The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ ¹⁷And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’”
Luke 19:16-17 ESV

¹²“Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Revelation 22:12-13 ESV

We will be ruling under Jesus.

⁴John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, ⁵and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Revelation 1:4-6 NKJV

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ²through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. ³No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Revelation 22:1-5 ESV

Therefore it makes sense to me that David will again rule over Israel. 😊

Jesus is coming very, very soon. Be ready!

⁴But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. ⁶Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-6 NKJV

³²“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! ³⁴Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. ³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Matthew 24:32-35 NKJV

³⁴“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. ³⁵For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:34-36 NKJV

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Comfort From David’s Story

“‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”
Acts 13:22 NKJV

The story of David is for our benefit

Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Corinthians 10:11 NASB

¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV

The Bible is overwhelming positive about David

Paul says this about David in Acts.

²¹“Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.²²And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”
Acts 13:21-23 ESV

David is also mentioned in “The Hall of Faith.”

³²And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.
Hebrews 11:32-34 ESV

David is mentioned in the book of Revelation

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ”
Revelation 3:7 NKJV

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
Revelation 22:16 ESV

Jesus commended David for breaking the law when he and his men were hungry.

³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?”
Matthew 12:3-4 ESV

This is what God said about him through the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite.

³⁰Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes ³²(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did.³⁴Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’”
1 Kings 11:30-39 ESV

Ahijah the prophet spoke this from God about David to Jeroboam’s wife.

⁶But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another? For I am charged with unbearable news for you. ⁷Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over my people Israel ⁸and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, and yet you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart, doing only that which was right in my eyes, ⁹but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back, ¹⁰therefore behold, I will bring harm upon the house of Jeroboam and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both bond and free in Israel, and will burn up the house of Jeroboam, as a man burns up dung until it is all gone.”’”
1 Kings 14:6-10 ESV

The next chapter reveals more about David.

Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.²He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father.⁴Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem,⁵because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
1 Kings 15:1-5 ESV

David is mentioned in one of my all-time favorite Bible chapters, Isaiah 55.

³Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.
⁴Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
    a leader and commander for the peoples.
Isaiah 55:3-4 ESV

God chose David.

Cutting David some slack

Like everyone else, David came from a dysfunctional family. When Samuel came to anoint the next king of Israel, his father Jesse “forgot” him.

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” ²And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” ⁴Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” ⁵And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord‘s anointed is before him.” ⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹²And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:1-13 ESV

I don’t know the circumstances of this verse…

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
Psalms 27:10 ESV

Sins, Possible Sins, Shortcomings

Adultery and murder

David, Bathsheba and Uriah. 2 Samuel 11

No copy of the law?

¹⁸“Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. ¹⁹And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, ²⁰that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 NKJV

I don’t see evidence in the Old Testament than any king did this. IMO it would have been mentioned.

Too many wives?

The law says this.

¹⁴“When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ ¹⁵you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. ¹⁶But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ ¹⁷Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.”
Deuteronomy 17:14-17 NKJV

Per 1 Chronicles, David had at least seven wives, and more than one concubine.

Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess;²the third, Absalom the son of Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah the son of Haggith; ³the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah.

⁴These six were born to him in Hebron. There he reigned seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. ⁵And these were born to him in Jerusalem: Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon—four by Bathshua the daughter of Ammiel. ⁶Also there were Ibhar, Elishama, Eliphelet, ⁷Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁸Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet—nine in all. ⁹These were all the sons of David, besides the sons of the concubines, and Tamar their sister.
1 Chronicles 3:1-9 NKJV

David had at least ten concubines, because that is how many he left behind when he fled from Absalom.

Then the king went out with all his household after him. But the king left ten women, concubines, to keep the house.
2 Samuel 15:16 NKJV

Was 17 women too many? Maybe not, but perhaps it set a bad example for Solomon, whose heart was led astray.

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— ²from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. ³And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. ⁴For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. ⁵For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ⁷Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
1 Kings 11:1-8 NKJV

However, perhaps 17 wasn’t too many from God’s point of view.

⁷Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ⁸I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ⁹Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”
2 Samuel 12:7-9 NKJV

You decide.

Wife Michal?

“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, ²when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, ⁴then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.”
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 NKJV

IMO David broke this law, at least in “spirit.” After killing Goliath David married king Saul’s daughter Michal.

Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
1 Samuel 18:27 NKJV

Saul later gives Michal to another man.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
1 Samuel 25:44 NKJV

David takes her back, seemingly by force.

¹³And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” ¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal,whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.
2 Samuel 3:13-16 NKJV

Sin? Make up your own mind.

Family strife

And King David longed to go to Absalom. For he had been comforted concerning [his son] Amnon, because he was dead.
2 Samuel 13:39 NKJV

¹³And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.”¹⁴Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
2 Samuel 15:13-14 ESV

⁵Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.⁶His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.
1 Kings 1:5-6 ESV

Passover

¹⁴“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”

²⁴“You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. ²⁵And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. ²⁶And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord‘s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.
Exodus 12:14, 24-27 ESV

… but long after David …

²¹And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²²For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah.²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.
2 Kings 23:21-23 ESV

Feast of booths

The law says this.

^{39 “}‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴²You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Leviticus 23:39-43 NKJV

However, much after David’s time:

So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there was very great gladness.
Nehemiah 8:17 NKJV

Transporting the ark

¹⁰“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. ¹²You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. ¹³And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. ¹⁵The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.”
Exodus 25:10-15 NKJV

But David moved it on a cart.

²And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. ³So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. ⁴And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

⁶And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.
2 Samuel 6:2-7 NKJV

Murder?

“On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.”
Deuteronomy 17:6 ESV

… but David did this …

After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. ²And on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul’s camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. ³David said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I have escaped from the camp of Israel.”⁴And David said to him, “How did it go? Tell me.” And he answered, “The people fled from the battle, and also many of the people have fallen and are dead, and Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead.” ⁵Then David said to the young man who told him, “How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?” ⁶And the young man who told him said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. ⁷And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ⁸And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ ⁹And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.’ ¹⁰So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. And I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord.”

¹¹Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.¹²And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword. ¹³And David said to the young man who told him, “Where do you come from?” And he answered, “I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite.” ¹⁴David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord‘s anointed?” ¹⁵Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. ¹⁶And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord‘s anointed.’”
2 Samuel 1:1-16 ESV

See, David had lied too.

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?” ²And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. ³Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.” ⁴And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women.” ⁵And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?” ⁶So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.
1 Samuel 21:1-6 ESV

Yet David wrote this is Psalms 101.

No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
Psalms 101:7 ESV

David’s Strengths

Repenting

This is a great Psalm of David.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

51 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
    blot out my transgressions.
²Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
    and cleanse me from my sin!

³For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
⁹Hide your face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.
¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and renew a right spirit within me.
¹¹Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalms 51:1-12 ESV

Knowing forgiveness

The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
Psalms 7:8 NKJV

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Psalms 17:3 NKJV

²⁰The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²²For all his rules were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
²³I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
²⁴So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
Psalms 18:20-24 ESV

Vindicate me, O Lord,
For I have walked in my integrity.
I have also trusted in the Lord;
I shall not slip.
²Examine me, O Lord, and prove me;
Try my mind and my heart.
³For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes,
And I have walked in Your truth.
⁴I have not sat with idolatrous mortals,
Nor will I go in with hypocrites.
⁵I have hated the assembly of evildoers,
And will not sit with the wicked.
Psalms 26:1-5 NKJV

⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10 NKJV

Mature thinking!

¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Philippians 3:12-15 ESV

Ruth?

How did David have the “spiritual guts” to eat the unlawful-for-him showbread? Perhaps it was the example of his great-grandmother Ruth, who was from Moab. The law is clear – no Moabites!

³“An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation none of his descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord forever, ⁴because they did not meet you with bread and water on the road when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. ⁵Nevertheless the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. ⁶You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.”
Deuteronomy 23:3-6 NKJV

Yet Ruth was from Moab.

Now they took wives of the women of Moab: the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth. And they dwelt there about ten years.
Ruth 1:4 NKJV

Ruth chose to follow the Lord.

¹⁶But Ruth said:

“Entreat me not to leave you,
Or to turn back from following after you;
For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.
¹⁷Where you die, I will die,
And there will I be buried.
The Lord do so to me, and more also,
If anything but death parts you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17 NKJV

She married Boaz, and David (and Jesus) have some of her DNA.

¹³So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son. ¹⁴Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a close relative; and may his name be famous in Israel! ¹⁵And may he be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, who is better to you than seven sons, has borne him.” ¹⁶Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her bosom, and became a nurse to him. ¹⁷Also the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “There is a son born to Naomi.” And they called his name Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

¹⁸Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; ¹⁹Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; ²⁰Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; ²¹Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed; ²²Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.
Ruth 4:13-22 NKJV

I have done a little shepherding. One has lots of time to think while you are watching over sheep. Perhaps that is part of how David developed his faith in God. Perhaps David spent hours meditating that though God was against the Moabites as a whole, He was perfectly happy with a Moabitess who chose to follow Him wholeheartedly, even to grafting her into the children of Israel.

Conclusion

David sinned, but he was forgiven. God wrote good things about David in His Word after David died. For those of us who believe in Jesus, God has good things to say about us too. Selah – Pause and Ponder!

³If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Psalms 130:3-4 ESV

Jesus is coming very, very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

David Did Not Keep the Passover?!?

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
1 Samuel 30:6 ESV

Josiah was one of the last kings before Judah was taken captive to Babylon, and he was a very, very good king.

Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
2 Kings 22:1-2 ESV

And the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people joined in the covenant.
2 Kings 23:3 ESV

Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
2 Kings 23:25 ESV

But reading about Josiah last night this passage made me stop and think.

²¹And the king commanded all the people, “Keep the Passover to the Lord your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” ²²For no such Passover had been kept since the days of the judges who judged Israel, or during all the days of the kings of Israel or of the kings of Judah. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah this Passover was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem.
2 Kings 23:21-23 ESV

Huh? What? King David did not keep the Passover?!? That seems something too big to miss in the law!

¹⁴“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”

In this 2019 post I describe how David did not keep the Feast of Booths or transport the ark of God correctly.

How Well Did David Know The Law?

Yet I’m not being critical of David. In fact I’m grateful the Bible records David’s shortcomings. David knew how to repent from sin.

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

More importantly, perhaps, is David knew when he was forgiven and he acted like it. The 3rd of each month when I read Psalms 18 this passage makes me pause and think, “You, David?” Maybe I should start reading this passage as part of my daily communion!

David understood mature thinking: Forget the past and press on!

¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.
Philippians 3:12-15 ESV

Despite his flaws, God used David mightily. For example, David wrote at least 53 Psalms. His life got him a mention in the Hall of Faith, and God calls David ‘A man after my heart.‘

“And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
Acts 13:22 ESV

The whole story of David in the Bible gives me hope. God forgives and uses flawed people, and I certainly fit in that category.

This is a great habit.

Jesus is coming very, very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

David’s Mother Did NOT Die Giving Birth to Him

“Blessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.”
Proverbs 8:34 ESV

The story of Samuel anointing David king is in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 16.

It is strange that David was not included in Jesse’s sons who met with Samuel, but had to be summoned separately. When I was a young believer I either read in a book or heard in a sermon that perhaps the reason Jesse treated David differently from his other sons was David’s mother died giving birth to him. The book or pastor said that the Bible doesn’t say David’s mother died in his childbirth, but if she did that could explain Jesse’s attitude towards his son David.

I thought about this idea from time to time reading about David, but I never came to my own conclusion. This verse in a Psalm of David doesn’t make much sense if David’s mother died when he was born.

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
but the Lord will take me in.
Psalms 27:10 ESV

Recently a part of 1 Samuel 22 “jumped out” to me. It is from the time David is running and hiding from king Saul.

³And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” ⁴And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold.
1 Samuel 22:3-4 ESV

David’s mother was alive! The notion I heard or read ~40 years ago that she died in childbirth was not true!

But how did I not notice this years ago? I have read the Bible through many times. Clearly I need to keep reading, as this is proof I have missed things. “Daily” is a good interval for Bible reading. 😊

³²“And now, O sons, listen to me:
    blessed are those who keep my ways.
³³Hear instruction and be wise,
    and do not neglect it.
³⁴Blessed is the one who listens to me,
    watching daily at my gates,
    waiting beside my doors.
³⁵For whoever finds me finds life
    and obtains favor from the Lord,
³⁶but he who fails to find me injures himself;
    all who hate me love death.”
Proverbs 8:32-36 ESV

Jesus is coming very, very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

What God Says About David He Says About You and Me, If We Believe in Jesus

“‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”
Acts 13:22 ESV

Like everyone in the Bible except Jesus, David had sin. The worst was David committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband Uriah the Hittite. But I think the Bible records other sins of David, detailed in these posts.

Did David Sin By Having Many Wives?
How Well Did David Know The Law?
Is King David in Heaven? On Divorce and Remarriage

Of course, make up your own mind about these other possible other sins of David!

Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
Acts 17:11 BSB

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 NASB

But after David dies the Bible is overwhelmingly positive about him. Jesus commended David for breaking the law when he and his men were hungry.

This is what God said about him through the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite.

³⁰Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. ³¹And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes ³²(but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), ³³because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and they have not walked in my ways, doing what is right in my sight and keeping my statutes and my rules, as David his father did. ³⁴Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of David my servant whom I chose, who kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵But I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes. ³⁶Yet to his son I will give one tribe, that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen to put my name. ³⁷And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. ³⁸And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. ³⁹And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’”
1 Kings 11:30-39 ESV

Ahijah the prophet spoke this from God about David to Jeroboam’s wife.

The next chapter reveals more about David.

Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah.²He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴Nevertheless, for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem,⁵because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.
1 Kings 15:1-5 ESV

David is mentioned in one of my all-time favorite Bible chapters, Isaiah 55.

Paul says this about David in Acts.

²¹“Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”
Acts 13:21-23 ESV

David is also mentioned in “The Hall of Faith.”

³If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
Psalms 130:3-4 ESV

Jesus is coming very, very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Did Jesus Approve of David’s Lie to Ahimelech the Priest?

I came across another example of a person lying in the Bible while working on this post:
“This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

I had read the passage many times, but it had never “struck” me like that before. Lying is serious, as Revelation 21:8 teaches.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
Revelation 21:8 KJV

Yet there are many examples in the Bible where people lied and apparently God approved of their lies. For example consider the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah. They disobeyed Pharaoh, lied to Pharaoh, and were blessed by God for fearing Him. They refused to murder babies.

¹⁵Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; ¹⁶and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. ¹⁸So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”

¹⁹And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”

²⁰Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty. ²¹And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
Exodus 1:15-21 NKJV

For more examples of apparently God-approved lying please see this post:
When Lying is Ok – Updated

I looked up this Scripture researching the Sabbath post. In it Jesus gives approval of David and his men breaking the law by eating the showbread, the bread of the Presence as the ESV renders it.

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. ²But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” ³He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: ⁴how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?”
Matthew 12:1-4 ESV

I looked up the story in the Old Testament. It happens when David is running for his life from king Saul. In verse one the priest Ahimelech is afraid. David tells Ahimelech a complete lie in verse two.

In Matthew 12 Jesus approved of David and his men eating the showbread. Does He also approve of David telling the lie to Ahimelech? Did David lie to try to protect Ahimelech? Possibly. In the next chapter Ahimelech and 84 others were killed by Doeg the Edomite on king Saul’s command. David feels responsible.

²⁰But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David. ²¹And Abiathar told David that Saul had killed the priests of the Lord. ²²And David said to Abiathar, “I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have occasioned the death of all the persons of your father’s house. ²³Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”
1 Samuel 22:20-23 ESV

At the start of 1 Samuel 21 David lies to Ahimelech. He ends the chapter deceiving Achish the king of Gath by pretending to be insane.

¹⁰And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. ¹¹And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,

‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”

¹²And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. ¹³So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. ¹⁴Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? ¹⁵Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”
1 Samuel 21:10-15 ESV

David lied and deceived, yet he wrote this in Psalm 101.

No one who practices deceit
shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
shall continue before my eyes.
Psalms 101:7 ESV

Jesus approved of David and his men eating the showbread, but did He also approve of David’s lie to Ahimelech? I don’t have a clear understanding yet. Thoughts?

Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

David and God’s Forgiveness

I have been thinking a lot about David recently. Although the Bible records many of David’s sins, overwhelmingly the Bible is positive about David. For example, Paul’s summary of David’s life from Acts 13 is: A man after God’s own heart and a forefather of Jesus. That’s very positive indeed!

²⁰“After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. ²¹And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ²³From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus— ²⁴after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.”
Acts 13:20-24 NKJV

David is listed in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith.

³²And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
Hebrews 11:32-34 NKJV

Jesus commended David for breaking God’s law when it was appropriate.

Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. ²And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”

³But Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴how he went into the house of God, took and ate the showbread, and also gave some to those with him,which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?” ⁵And He said to them, “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Luke 6:1-5 NKJV

Yes, David is a Bible hero, despite his adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her husband Uriah. Here are posts describing other times I think David missed the mark. David, His Wife Michal, and God’s Grace, How Well Did David Know The Law?, Did David Sin By Having Many Wives?

David was a flawed person like all of us, yet he is in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. Why? In my current meditations two reasons stand out. First, David was good at sincerely repenting of sin. Many of us identify with David in Psalms 51.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
¹³Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.
Psalms 51:10-13 NKJV

Second, David really, really, really understood that when God had forgiven him, he was truly FORGIVEN. These Psalms by David impress me every month.

The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
Psalms 7:8 NKJV

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Psalms 17:3 NKJV

²⁰The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²²For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
²³I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
²⁴Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
Psalms 18:20-24 NKJV

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
¹²As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father pities his children,
So the Lord pities those who fear Him.
¹⁴For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
Psalms 103:11-14 NKJV

I still have much to learn from David’s good examples. 😊

Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Is King David in Heaven? On Divorce and Remarriage

There is a teaching going around that if you are a Christian who is divorced and remarried, not only will you miss going in the rapture, you will miss heaven. The teachers of this doctrine use several Scriptures, but these are two main ones.

³¹“Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
Matthew 5:31-32 NKJV

⁹Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 NKJV

But is divorce and remarriage really the unforgivable sin? Here is the Old Testament law on divorce and remarriage.

Is king David in heaven? Yes, I believe he is.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.
Psalms 23:6 NKJV

Yet in my opinion he broke the law on divorce and remarriage. After defeating Goliath David married king Saul’s daughter Michal.

Then Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife.
1 Samuel 18:27 NKJV

Saul later gives Michal to another man.

But Saul had given Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was from Gallim.
1 Samuel 25:44 NKJV

David later takes her back, essentially by force IMO.

¹³And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” ¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish.
2 Samuel 3:13-15 NKJV

I realize the circumstances are different, but it seems to me David broke this part of the law.

So if David is in heaven, as I believe he is, divorce and remarriage cannot be the unforgivable sin.

John Fenn has an excellent two-part series on divorce and remarriage. He explains Jesus’ meaning in Matthew 5 very well.

John Fenn, Part 1, What Bible says about divorce and remarriage

John Fenn, part 2 What the Bible says about divorce and remarriage

Pastor Sandy has a brief discussion towards the end of yesterday’s message, starting at about 1:11:28.

“Greatest High Watch Season Ever!” 4/27/22

I believe God’s statement in the second chapter of the Bible is still true. 😊

And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Genesis 2:18 NKJV

Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

Learning From David

Paul wrote that we are to learn from the Old Testament. (Some of Paul’s letters would become part of the New Testament.)

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Corinthians 10:11 NKJV

Reading through Psalms every month I get to think about the life of David. It is true that the Old Testament records several of David’s faults. (David, His Wife Michal, and God’s Grace, How Well Did David Know The Law?, Did David Sin By Having Many Wives?) But to be fair, David may not have had the best upbringing. In 1 Samuel 16 God sends Samuel to Jesse to anoint one of Jesse’s sons king of Israel. When Jesse assembles his sons to meet Samuel, he leaves David out taking care of the sheep. 😦 There is also this intriguing verse from a Psalm of David.

When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the Lord will take care of me.
Psalms 27:10 NKJV

But David also did many things right. He is listed in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith.

Jesus commended David for knowing God well enough to know when breaking God’s law was acceptable.

David was good at repenting. I remember singing a chorus based on David’s Psalm 51 in Lutheran churches when I was growing up.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalms 51:10-12 NKJV

But the thing that really impacts me every month about David is how well he understood that when God had forgiven him, he was forgiven!

The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
Psalms 7:8 NKJV

You have tested my heart;
You have visited me in the night;
You have tried me and have found nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.
Psalms 17:3 NKJV

David had a great understanding of what John would write centuries later in 1 John 1:9. I am blessed by thinking about David’s life.

I get a lot from reading Psalms every month. 🙂

Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.

David, His Wife Michal, and God’s Grace

Reading through the Old Testament this year, I noticed something new about the life of David. One of the incentives for killing the giant Goliath was to marry king Saul’s daughter. David kills Goliath and marries Saul’s daughter Michal. But David has to flee from Saul, and Saul gives Michal to another man. Later David demands her back, breaking up what was apparently a happy marriage.

¹³And David said, “Good, I will make a covenant with you. But one thing I require of you: you shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come to see my face.” ¹⁴So David sent messengers to Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, saying, “Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.” ¹⁵And Ishbosheth sent and took her from her husband, from Paltiel the son of Laish. ¹⁶Then her husband went along with her to Bahurim, weeping behind her. So Abner said to him, “Go, return!” And he returned.
2 Samuel 3:13-16 NKJV

The new insight part one: Though David didn’t initiate the divorce of Michal, he was in fact divorced from her and sinned by taking her back.

(Even if this wasn’t sin for David, he did commit adultery with Bathsheba and kill her husband Uriah. That was sin.)

The new insight part two: God’s grace and forgiveness is incredible, because David is listed in Hebrew’s Hall of Fame of Faith. God uses flawed people.

Thinking about these things, I realized anew that God is quick to forgive when we repent. He wants to use us, though we are flawed, sinful people.

³If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
⁴But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
Psalms 130:3-4 NKJV

Jesus is coming very soon. Be ready!

Has the rapture happened?
   You can still be saved and go to heaven!
---
Are you following God's plan for your life?    
   You should.
     Your plan is not going to work. 
     It is a really, really bad plan. 
     Please come to Jesus to escape your plan! 

Most people are WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

Jesus is coming.
   Are you ready to meet Him?
   Give your life to Jesus Christ.
   Time is running out.