Here is a picture of David. Let us see why he was God's chosen king.
David was 14 generations from Abraham, through the tribe of Judas. He was the youngest of all the sons of Jesse who lived in Bethlehem(I Sam. 16:10-11). In the culture there at that time, the oldest son had the highest honor & all born afterward honor grew less.Because of this, David is the last one an man would have choicen to become king of Israel. But God looked onto the heart and saw a heart full of faith in him (I Sam. 16:12 &13). Let us look at that now.
As we said, David worked as a shepherd caring & protecting his Father's flock when he was a young man (I Sam. 17:34-36). Then the Prophet, Samuel came and anointed him to become king at a later date (I Sam. 16:12 & 13). Soon afterward, Saul was toremented often by a demon. It was discovered that music helped calm King Saul down, So Saul sought for someone to come to play & sing for him. Then he would go home to tend the flock (I Sam. 16:14-23).
One day, his Father, Jesse sent David to take food to his three oldest sons who were fighting with King Saul. While there, David heard the words that a Phillistine named Goliath as he spoke a challenge. Goliath said that if just one man would come and fight him & win, that they would let all the Israelites go their way unharmed. Sounds easy enough, huh? But there was one problem. That problem was that Goliath was a very big & tall man. Just looking at him made all the men in the Israelite army ran & hid from him for fear of being killed by him.
Well, David was there to hear & see all of this. He asked the men of Israel's army why no man would go and fight Goliah. When the army gave excuses. This upset David for he had faith that God would make sure that victory would be won here. In his anger, he told them, "Well, if you will not fight him, I will!" When word of this got to King Saul, he sent for David. King Saul questioned him to see if what the others said was true. Hearing & seeing David's faith, he tried to put his own armor on David. But it was much too big for young David. So he took it off, and took up the weapon that he was use to, his sling When King Saul spoke of his doubt that David could win. David spoke of all the times that God had helped him kill the many dangerous animals in the past while protecting his sheep. Hearing and seeing David's faith, King Saul tried to put his own armor on David. But it was much too big for young David. So David took it off had took up the weapons he knew how to use, his staff, a sling and five smooth stones. He approached Goliath and spoke again of his great faith in the God of Israel, then he shot a single stone into the forehead of Goliath. With the help of God, that stone killed Goliath(I Sam. 17). After that, David became a man of war who fought and won many battles for the God of Israel. Why? Because of his faith in God.
When the time was right, God made David King over Judah for 7 1/2 years(II Sam. 2:11) and King over Israel 40 years & he reined over both for 33 years(II Sam. 5:1-50. As king he did a lot of good things for the kingdom. To this day, he is seen as one of Israel's greatest kings.
David's love of God made him to want to build a house for God. But God would not let him do so, because he was a man of war. But God did allow David to get things together & prepared for his son, Solomon to build when he became king.
But let us not turn a blind eye away from the fact that he did not always act as God would have had him act. As great as he was in building the city of Jerusalem & protecting Israel he had his faults. He loved the ladies and had very many wives. His love for a certain lady named Bath-sheba burned inside of him to the point that he thought that he just had to have her. So he sent for her and committed adultery with her. When she was found to be expecting his child, David tried to cover the sin up by having her husband, Joab brought home from off of the battlefield. When Joab refused to lie with his wife, David set up a plot & had Joab killed in the line of duty. So you see, he had his faults.
But when God sent a prophet to reveal his sin to him. David repented & God forgave him. We know this because God allows a son that David had with Bath-sheba after they are married to become King of Israel & God allowed that son, named Solomon to built the temple of God. Another way we know that God forgave him is that God choose to have him be in Jesus' linage & listed in the great hall of faith (Heb. 11:32).
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