King David

David The kingdom of Israel at the time of David
RELATED TOPICS	Solomon, Bathsheba, Goliath Psalms
SERMONS, ESSAYS AND OPINIONS	* Easton's Bible Dictionary entry on David
CONTENTS

David was one of the most famous kings of Israel. He was the son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. He trusted God and overcame Goliath, the Philistine. He became the most famous king of ancient Israel and was succeeded by his son Solomon. He is credited with writing the Psalms.

The significance of David's reign

Not only was David very significant for the people of his day, but also for the nation of Israel is succeeding generatios. Through David God's faithfulness to both the nation of Israel and to David is revealed. It was during the reign of David that all of the land promised to Abraham (in Genesis 15) finally came into the hands of the Israelites (2 Samuel 8). God remains faithful to David, showing his love and forgiveness even when David made terrible mistakes.

David was also a role model for the people of Israel, and in some ways was considered an ideal king. Unlike his son Solomon, David remained faithful in his worship of God by never accepting or worshipping foreign idols.

Under David Jerusalem became the capital city of Israel.

David in light of the New Testament

2 Samuel 7:16 records the covenant that God made with David, where God promised to establish an everlasting kingdom through David's heirs: "Your throne shall be established forever". Although David did unify the kingdom around his government, after his death it split up, and the southern part of the kingdom that remained in his children's control lasted for 400 further years. In the New Testament, Jesus is shown to be the Son of David who fulfilled that promise of establishing an ever-lasting kingdom, although not an earthly political kingdom as people may have expected, but rather a kingdom of people who have been forgiven by Christ.

Links

• sharingknowledge.org - Psalms of David
• sharingknowledge.org - Prayers of David
• sharingknowledge.org - David's early years
• sharingknowledge.org - David's reings as King
• sharingknowledge.org - Praying using the Psalms of David

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