Life of David Lesson 1

The Tender Warrior : The Life of David

Volume 1

Tapes by Dr. David Jeremiah

I Samuel 8-15—Overview

With comments by Dr. Jim Baxter

Amazing Grace Sunday School Class

Evangel Assembly of God, Valdosta, GA

October 3, 2004

David was the 8^th son and was called “David, the Beloved.” Many men have been named David in the years since he lived.

David is well-known because of the context of his life—the times in which he was born. The nation of Israel had been in decline fro 500 years. The people asked Samuel, the prophet, to give them a king to judge them. First Saul was the king of Israel. Saul was nice-looking and had many good attributes, but he was not successful because he did not completely obey God. Saul was stubborn and would not repent. God was sorry that He had made him king. Then God sent Samuel to Jesse’s house to find the next king.

David had been minding his own business—out tending the sheep. His family didn’t think enough of David for him to be in the house when Samuel came to anoint the next king. David was still out in the field with his sheep. David’s family was important to him. David is mentioned in the New Testament more times than any other person. The complete life of David is given in the Bible. 62 chapters of the Bible are about David’s life.

He was a charismatic person. He was not very large but was strong and athletic. I Samuel 16:12 gives a description of David. He looked different from other Israelites. He had large and liquid eyes and beautiful hair—possibly lighter colored or reddish.

He is a person that people can identify with. He was a charmer with the women. He wrote a #1 song that was sung after his adventures at war. He can use a sling, a staff, and play a harp.

All Israel loved David. He was a man for all seasons: a king, a soldier, a poet, a musician, and an athlete. He was very creative. He wrote 73 psalms in the Bible. He started ‘hymns.’ He wrote some of the psalms while he was a shepherd boy. David could look up and see God’s creation in the daytime and at night. He also wrote about his depression and discouragement in his psalms or songs.

Jim’s comments: Exodus 4:22

Judy had been upset because God wanted to kill Moses.

Here’s the story: Moses was on his way to ask Pharoah to let God’s people go. Moses’ wife would not let Moses son be circumcised. God was going to kill Moses because his son was not circumcised. So Moses’ wife circumcised her own son and touched Moses’ feet with the foreskin. Moses was spared because of this obedience.

Moses had sinned. God does not overlook sin—even in Moses.

It doesn’t matter if you are King David or Moses; sin is not overlooked by God. He holds everyone to the same standard. We must repent of any sin in our lives. God will get our attention by allowing bad things to happen in our life. But that doesn’t mean that every bad thing that happens is because of sin. We’re all human. We mess up. God expects us to be obedient. If we do what God wants us to do, we get the same reward as the great men of the Bible. We must keep ourselves free from sin and let God use us. We are rewarded by how faithful we are in the job that God has given us to do. We have different jobs in our lives. We can look forward to hearing Jesus say, “Well done, you good and faithful servant.” What really counts is whether we please Jesus or not. We must fulfill God’s will for our lives. We must do what God wants us to do with our lives. We are now learning from David the good things to emulate and the bad things to stay away from.