Interesting facts often lie in the out of the way places that you don't often visit. Here are my 5 favourite facts about David, that I didn't have a clue existed.
1. His mother was a role model for his spiritual walk.
There are two Psalms which refer to her:
~ "Truly I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains." Psalm 116:16
~ "Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did." Psalm 86:16
2. On the topic of parents when David had to flee from Saul, fearing for his parent's safety, he approached the King of Moab and ensured that his parents could live there for as long as it was necessary. Don't forget that David is the grandchild of Ruth, as in the book of Ruth, so there is Moabite blood in the family.
1 Samuel 22:1 and 3 "David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?" So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold."
3. David didn't just give the people the gift of the Psalms and how to worship God in holiness, he also taught them the Torah (Word of God) and was persecuted for it. Spiritual leadership is considered to be one of the functions of an Israeli King. They key Scriptures are Psalm40:8-10 and Psalm 59, especially verse 11, but you need to read the full Psalm to understand it.
"I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart."
I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, Lord,
as you know.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly." Psalm40:8-10
David had a huge heart for his people's spiritual walk, and put up with a lot of fierce payback, for speaking out about God.
"But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
"Is this the one who relies on the LORD?
Then let the LORD save him!
If the LORD loves him so much,
let the LORD rescue him!" Psalm 22:6-8 and 22:22
"I will proclaim your name to my brothers.
I will praise you among your assembled people."
Many of the Psalms in which David pleads for God to deal with his enemies justly, don't only refer to David's need to keep his throne and be safe. For David, as he was God's anointed king, for him to be deposed would be for God's will to be thwarted. For David to lose his throne early, would be for him not to have completed the Lord's full purpose for his life. Thus it is acceptable that he should call down God's judgement. An example of this is Psalm 17, a prayer of David.
Scriptures which include David's encouragement for others to praise God are many, but includePsalms 29:1-2, 32:11 and 66:1-4, which is considered to be David's because of the style.
4. David states in Psalm 119:54 (again, thought to be David's) that the Word of the Lord has been the theme of his songs. If you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, then turn straight to Psalm 1 to start reading, you will see how heavily the laws that God handed down through Moses, colour his work. Rabbis have been known to tell people that if you don't want to study Torah, study the Psalms because you'll still learn the laws of God.
"Your decrees are the theme of my song
wherever I lodge.
In the night, Lord, I remember your name,
that I may keep your law.
This has been my practice:
I obey your precepts." Psalm 119:54-56
Another favourite worth noting is Psalm 119:143: "As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands." (New Living Translation)
5. Before he died, we are not sure just how long, he gave all his personal wealth to help fund the building of the temple. Find me another member of any royal family, from any point in history, who has ever done that. His passion for God and desire to see the temple built was that strong. Without the temple, David knew that people would continue to worship on the high places, where the pagan gods were also worshipped. God needed His own house.
"And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. I am donating more than 112 tons of golda from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silverb to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the LORD today?" 1 Chronicles 29:3-5
For the full story see 1 Chronicles 22, then 29:1-9. In verses 29:6-9, we can see how David's giving inspired others to give.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on King David, please have a meander through the King David Project Facebook page, our web site and our blog, "Masada Rain." The blog houses many useful resources on studying, David plus bits and pieces of information which don't neatly fit into article form. Please ignore dates and use the search feature to find what you want. The web site has resources on David's family tree, life and the Psalms. All content is creative commons and non-profit. Sharing of the project's work would be deeply appreciated.
Masada Rain Blog: https://masadarain.wordpress.com
The project web site: http://cateartios.wix.com/kingdavidproject
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fromdespairtodeliverance
"From Despair to Deliverance: the King David Project," is a non-profit ministry, that seeks to make the life of King David easy to understand and relevant, so that believers gain inspiration and comfort from the life of King David. The project is jointly run by Cate Russell-Cole and Catrine O'Conroi, Christian writers from Brisbane, Australia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This article by Cate Russell-Cole is under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Written in Australian English.
Cate's King David Project web site: http://cateartios.wix.com/kingdavidproject
Masada Rain Blog: https://masadarain.wordpress.com
1. His mother was a role model for his spiritual walk.
There are two Psalms which refer to her:
~ "Truly I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother did;
you have freed me from my chains." Psalm 116:16
~ "Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did." Psalm 86:16
2. On the topic of parents when David had to flee from Saul, fearing for his parent's safety, he approached the King of Moab and ensured that his parents could live there for as long as it was necessary. Don't forget that David is the grandchild of Ruth, as in the book of Ruth, so there is Moabite blood in the family.
1 Samuel 22:1 and 3 "David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there From there David went to Mizpah in Moab and said to the king of Moab, "Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me?" So he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold."
3. David didn't just give the people the gift of the Psalms and how to worship God in holiness, he also taught them the Torah (Word of God) and was persecuted for it. Spiritual leadership is considered to be one of the functions of an Israeli King. They key Scriptures are Psalm40:8-10 and Psalm 59, especially verse 11, but you need to read the full Psalm to understand it.
"I desire to do your will, my God;
your law is within my heart."
I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, Lord,
as you know.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
from the great assembly." Psalm40:8-10
David had a huge heart for his people's spiritual walk, and put up with a lot of fierce payback, for speaking out about God.
"But I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned and despised by all!
Everyone who sees me mocks me.
They sneer and shake their heads, saying,
"Is this the one who relies on the LORD?
Then let the LORD save him!
If the LORD loves him so much,
let the LORD rescue him!" Psalm 22:6-8 and 22:22
"I will proclaim your name to my brothers.
I will praise you among your assembled people."
Many of the Psalms in which David pleads for God to deal with his enemies justly, don't only refer to David's need to keep his throne and be safe. For David, as he was God's anointed king, for him to be deposed would be for God's will to be thwarted. For David to lose his throne early, would be for him not to have completed the Lord's full purpose for his life. Thus it is acceptable that he should call down God's judgement. An example of this is Psalm 17, a prayer of David.
Scriptures which include David's encouragement for others to praise God are many, but includePsalms 29:1-2, 32:11 and 66:1-4, which is considered to be David's because of the style.
4. David states in Psalm 119:54 (again, thought to be David's) that the Word of the Lord has been the theme of his songs. If you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, then turn straight to Psalm 1 to start reading, you will see how heavily the laws that God handed down through Moses, colour his work. Rabbis have been known to tell people that if you don't want to study Torah, study the Psalms because you'll still learn the laws of God.
"Your decrees are the theme of my song
wherever I lodge.
In the night, Lord, I remember your name,
that I may keep your law.
This has been my practice:
I obey your precepts." Psalm 119:54-56
Another favourite worth noting is Psalm 119:143: "As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands." (New Living Translation)
5. Before he died, we are not sure just how long, he gave all his personal wealth to help fund the building of the temple. Find me another member of any royal family, from any point in history, who has ever done that. His passion for God and desire to see the temple built was that strong. Without the temple, David knew that people would continue to worship on the high places, where the pagan gods were also worshipped. God needed His own house.
"And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his holy Temple. I am donating more than 112 tons of golda from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silverb to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the LORD today?" 1 Chronicles 29:3-5
For the full story see 1 Chronicles 22, then 29:1-9. In verses 29:6-9, we can see how David's giving inspired others to give.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more information on King David, please have a meander through the King David Project Facebook page, our web site and our blog, "Masada Rain." The blog houses many useful resources on studying, David plus bits and pieces of information which don't neatly fit into article form. Please ignore dates and use the search feature to find what you want. The web site has resources on David's family tree, life and the Psalms. All content is creative commons and non-profit. Sharing of the project's work would be deeply appreciated.
Masada Rain Blog: https://masadarain.wordpress.com
The project web site: http://cateartios.wix.com/kingdavidproject
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/fromdespairtodeliverance
"From Despair to Deliverance: the King David Project," is a non-profit ministry, that seeks to make the life of King David easy to understand and relevant, so that believers gain inspiration and comfort from the life of King David. The project is jointly run by Cate Russell-Cole and Catrine O'Conroi, Christian writers from Brisbane, Australia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This article by Cate Russell-Cole is under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Written in Australian English.
Cate's King David Project web site: http://cateartios.wix.com/kingdavidproject
Masada Rain Blog: https://masadarain.wordpress.com
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