King David
From Conservapedia
- It has been proposed that this page, King David, be titled, "David".
King David playing the harp (Domenico Zampieri 1581-1641)
King David was the second king of Israel from 1010-970 BC.
With God's help, he defeated Goliath, the champion of the Philistines. Later he captured Jerusalem, which he made the capital city. David greatly extended the borders of Israel which he ruled as a united kingdom.
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Before becoming King
David was the son of Jesse and was "the least of his father's household". He was brought into King Saul's household to play the harp to calm Saul's nerves, which had been increasingly troubled since he had sinned against God and was told by Samuel that the kingship would be taken from him and given to another by God. David had been a shepard who protected his sheep from wild animals. He witnessed all of the warriors of Israel cower before a great Philistine giant, Goliath who would taunt them daily. David, a mere boy in the eyes of people who had no military training, stood up and accepted Goliath's challenge. Saul offered him his armor, but David declined. David slew Goliath with a sling stone and cut off his head, mustering the armies of Israel to rise up and scatter the Philistines. Saul became jealous of David and what he had accomplished, especially when he heard the people singing "Saul has slain his thousands, and David, his tens of thousands."
David continued to play the harp for Saul, but it did not have the same affect. One day when David was playing Saul threw a spear at him to try to kill him; it missed. With the help of Saul's son Jonathan, who was David's best friend, David fled the palace and went into hiding. David joined up with the Philistines at one point, but only as a ruse where he actually attacked their living areas without them knowing it. David was pursued by Saul and his armies and took flight. One night he could have killed Saul, but refused to do it, instead taking a piece of his garments to let him know what had happened. Saul was contrite that evening, but soon continued to pursue David and his followers. David continued to grow in strength while Saul became weaker. Finally, Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle with the Philistines. David grieved and became king of Judah. David continued to clash with the house of Saul until Saul's son Ish-Bosheth was murdered in his own bed and the killers took the head to David seeking a reward. They were executed for killing their king.
David as King
David greatly expanded the borders of Israel, defeating every foe he faced. However, his own life was not without controversy. He lost his child due to his adultery with Bathsheba; one of his sons Absalom killed his brother Amnon after he raped and discarded his sister Tamar; later Absalom rebelled against David and forced him to flee. David took back his throne, but Absalom was killed even though David had ordered his life to be spared. David also had to live through a revolt by Sheba, but he too was vanquished. Furthermore, because David sinned in taking a census of the land, 70 thousand people fell to pestilence. And yet through it all, David was called a man after God's own heart, due to his true and deep grievings for his wrongs. In fact, Scripture records that"David did [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any [thing] that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite."[1]David wrote most of the Psalms in the Bible including the famous Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd
David died after ruling 40 years, 33 of them in Jerusalem, and set up his son Solomon as his successor. David was not allowed to build the temple because he was a man of 'blood' (a military commander), but his son could. David was part of the lineage of Jesus.
