Video Transcript: The Golden Years

Although the prophet Samuel resisted Israel's desire to have a king like the  other nations had, he was impressed and optimistic when he saw the man the  Lord had chosen. Samuel said, there's no one like him. Speaking of Saul, no  one like him among all the people, but his appraisal. It was later replaced by  bitter disappointment when Saul failed to obey the Lord in crucial matters. Even  so, Samuel will mourn for Saul until God told him to stop and to anoint a son of  Jesse as Saul's successor, David would eventually preside over the beginning of what I'm calling the golden years in Israel. David was probably around age 15,  when anointed for his office. But although the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully  upon him at that time, it would be another 15 years before he actually ascended  to the throne. And more than more than half of that time, David was a man on  the run from Saul, who was trying to kill him. That's one reason that he is seen  as a type of Christ, a type of Jesus who, despite being anointed by God, for His  ministry of reconciliation and authority, talk to about having no place to lay his  head. Another sense in which David has been seen as a type of the Messiah is  in his willingness not to seek revenge against his oppressors. David was not as  consistent in this attitude as Jesus would be, and yet he was mostly content to  wait for God's timing. Over the years. On the run from Saul, he had more than  one chance to take Saul's life, but refuse to do so. As he told his men on one of  these occasions don't destroy him who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed,  and be guiltless. As surely as the Lord lives, David told them, the Lord Himself  with strike him or his time will come and he will die or he will go into battle and  perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed I  Samuel 26:9. David's time finally came with Saul's final defeat by the Philistines. At this point, the way was open but not entirely smooth for David to ascend to  the kingship of Israel. At first, David was accepted only by his own tribe, Judah.  The other tribes advocated for a relative of Saul. And there was a civil war that  followed that which lasted more than seven years with David growing ever  stronger. And the house of Saul represented at the end by Ishbosheth, growing  weaker and weaker eventually Ishbosheth was killed by some of his own men.  And that paved the way for David's ascent to the throne of of all the tribes of  Israel. So David was then 37 years old, and he would reign over Israel and  Judah for another 33 years. David's reign was very significant for the growth of  Israel into a strong nation. It's noteworthy that he regularly inquired of the Lord  before he began a new endeavor. Clearly, he did not want to repeat the willful  disobedience of Israel's first king. One of David's first acts as King of the United  Israel was to attack the Jebusites stronghold of Jerusalem, which to this point  had been considered impregnable. But David managed to take the city perhaps  it was by way of the shaft that supplied it with water, we don't really know.  Afterwards, he built a palace for himself and continued to improve the city's  defenses. And Jerusalem Ever After became known as the City of David.  David's next great victories were over the Philistines who had assembled and 

forced to take him down. But Israel's army defeated them and successive battles each time after David had inquired of the Lord and receive the assurance that  the Lord would deliver the Philistines into his hands. No doubt it was Because  David knew himself to be so dependent on the Lord's help that he longed to all  the while to bring the preeminent sign of God's presence, which was the Ark of  the Covenant, from where it resided at Kiriath-jearim to his capital in Jerusalem.  David finally took 30,000 men to do this the sign of the Ark's great importance,  but the transfer in a cart pulled by oxen did not go off without a hitch at one  point, one of the priests accompanying the Ark reached out to steady it, and was struck dead for his violation against the holiness of the Lord. Scripture says that  David was both angry and afraid. Because of this. He had been trying to honor  the Lord. But he knew that he bore some guilt for failing to take seriously  enough the authority and directions of God in how this sign of His presence, the  Ark of the Covenant was to be transported. And so he left the Ark for three  months in the home of Obed-Edom, whom we're told that the Lord blessed while the ark was there, David made another attempt to get the Ark into Jerusalem  this time, the Levites carried it on his shoulder on their shoulders, while David  dance before the Lord with all his might and a great crowd of Israelites  exuberantly shouted for joy, and played their trumpets. And watching was one of David David's wives, Michal, a daughter of Saul who is said to have despised  David in her heart when she saw him dancing and celebrating. Mind you this  was no mere marital squabble, but implies a profound religious difference  between David and his wife, who neither who shared neither his heart for God  nor his desire to see the Lord at the center of Israel's life. For her scorn, Michal  was banished from the marital bed and suffered one of the worst fates that could befall a woman of Israel, she had no children, to the day of her death. But once  the Ark of the Covenant had arrived in Jerusalem, David wanted to do more, he  wanted to build a suitable home for it. The place where the Ark had been  housed, the tabernacle had been constructed long before in the time of Moses,  but apparently, the tabernacle was no longer in service. Besides that it had been built for a nation on the move. And David now wanted to build a permanent  home for the Ark of the Covenant, as a demonstration of his commitment to  keep the Gup to keep God at the center of Israel's life. It was a commendable  desire and a good commitment. The prophet Nathan recognized it as such and  told the king that he was sure that the Lord approved of David's desire wasn't  long However, before Nathan had to come back to David with revised  instructions. God confirmed through Nathan that he did want a house but he had his own ideas of what the House would look like and who would build it for him.  And it wasn't going to be David. In fact, God turned things around for David  telling him that he was going to build David a house instead, it would be a house in which the king would no longer be disturbed and oppressed but would have  rest from his enemies. The house that God was talking about, of course, was a 

dynasty, the greatest honor that a king of David's day could have imagined. And  furthermore, as God went on to tell David, his offspring, David's offspring would  sit on a throne that lasted forever, and his offspring would build the house for  God that David had wanted to build that astonish David who exclaimed, who am I, oh, Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far. And then David continued with a prayer to God that expressed his gratitude and  extolled the Lord's goodness and asked him to keep forever the promise he had  made, so that God's name would forever be held in the highest esteem and that  everyone would confess that the Lord Almighty was God over Israel. This is a  very significant chapter in the Old Testament and one with multiple fulfillments,  which we'll come back to in the lecture from Paradise loss to the eternal temple.  Well, the next chapter, so II Samuel 8-10 Describe David consolidating his  power over the surrounding nations. Normally, for a king of this time and place  this would also have included killing off all the previous king's descendants, so  that there will be no possible rivals to the throne. But for the sake of his  friendship with Jonathan, David Did Not only did not kill the last of Saul's  descendants Mephibosheth he brought him to Jerusalem to be treated like one  of David's own sons. It was a laudable act, and one that by contrast, makes the  next story about David. All the more disgusting. Chapters 11 and 12. Describe  David's affair with Bathsheba and the aftermath of it. In the middle of, of David's  great successes and blessings is this disgraceful example of the depths to  which even someone who is described after a man as a man For God's own  heart can fall. David was tempted sexually, his temptation gave rise to lust,  which then resulted in adultery. And afterwards in the attempted cover up of  Bathsheba's pregnancy and finally, to the murder of Bathsheba's husband Uriah. All of this would not have been so unusual for an oriental king who could do  pretty well as he pleased, but was especially disgraceful for a king who wanted  to serve the Lord God, and who served at the head of a nation called to that  same purpose. This story gives a pretty clear picture of the progress of sin as it  grows into a monster, and of the wages of sin, the aftermath, both for the sinner  and for the innocent people affected by it. Notice that Bathsheba was probably  innocent in the whole affair, since she could not have refused the king's  advances. But David did not get away with this, it became clear that God saw  and judged him when one consequence was that the baby of their union died.  Another consequence was God's announcement that he would bring calamity on David's household. And to David's credit, he repented. The depths of his misery  and regret are seen in Psalms 32 and 51. In his mercy, God did eventually bring  one piece of good or the whole mass of birth of another son, Solomon, but the  very next chapter then begins with a recitation of of other calamities that fell on  David's family. One of David's sons raped his half sister, and for it was killed by  her full brother Absalom. As a result, Absalom had to be exiled David had to do  it, but he grieved over Absalom's absence. General Joab connived to resolve the

situation this is described in chapter 14, with a result that Absalom was allowed  to return, but he could not have personal contact with David for two years. But  far from being grateful for permission to return to Jerusalem, Absalom started to  undermine his father and conspired to take over his father's throne, he gathered  so many supporters to himself that David's life was in danger again. Finally,  David had to flee Jerusalem. Although it was dangerous for anyone to help them at this time, Absalom had had so much support that conspiracy was so well  organized. Mephibosheth sent his servant with donkeys and provisions to help  David's party. David also received assistance from his chief adviser, Hushai,  who had pretended to defect to Absalom's side, Absalom took Hushai's advice  that he not pursue David immediately, but wait for further support among the  Israelites before he finished them off. It was this action that gave David a chance to regroup and eventually defeat Absalom's forces David's power was  consolidated again. Perhaps he gave himself too much credit for this, whether or not that was a reason. David undertook an action that appears to have been  motivated by pride, his action to take a census of the fighting men of Israel. It's  not clear to us why this was an act of disobedience, but that it was, is indicated  both in I Samuel 24:1 and the parallel account in I Chronicles 21:1. The first  account emphasizing that nothing can happen without God's permission says  that the Lord incited David to take the census. The Chronicles account putting  the inspiration for this evil act where it belongs, says Satan incited him. General  Joab warned the king not to go through his census but David wouldn't listen.  And the people of Israel paid the price for his sin when a plague sent by God  struck down 70,000 Israelites. God's anger was assuaged finally, when David  built an altar to the Lord and sacrifice to burnt offerings and brought fellowship  offerings to accompany his prayers for mercy. As David neared the end of his  life, the question of who would succeed him became more pressing. Everyone  probably knew that he had earlier promised that Solomon would be the next king but unaccountably David had delayed making it official. So another son of David, this time, Adonijah made his cause or the case for the kingship by arranging for  his own coronation. Understandably, he did not invite Solomon or his mother.  But Bathsheba heard of Adonijah's plans and went to David to remind him of his  promise concerning Solomon. And at this time, David arranged a coronation  ceremony for Solomon to Crown Him as King, and he died. David died shortly  afterwards. Scriptures assessment of David is generally a good one, calling him  a man after God's own heart and saying that he died at a good old age I  Chronicles 29:28 tells us having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor a one of  Israel's later kings, Jeroboam was told you have not been like my servant David  who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. And Jeroboam's son got essentially the same message with  this qualifier, doing only what was right in my eyes, except in the case of Uriah  the Hittite. Now, although David obviously had significant failures in his life, 

Scripture focuses on his heart and his readiness to repent when called to task  and also on his concern for Bill building the temple of the Lord. In fact, these are the things David emphasizes in his last charge to Solomon. He told him, and  you, my son, Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve Him with  wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every  willing heart and understands every desire and every thought. This is from I  Chronicles 28:9-10. David goes on. If you seek Him, He will be found by you.  But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. Consider now for the Lord has  chosen you to build a house as a sanctuary be strong, and do the work. For his  part, Solomon heeded his father's advice pretty well, at least in his first year as  king, I Kings 3:3 says that Solomon showed his love for the Lord, by walking  according to the statutes of his father, and then offers this exception except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. All in all, however,  God was quite pleased with Solomon, he came to him in a dream and told them, ask for whatever you want me to give you. What Solomon asked the Lord for  show that his priorities were right. He didn't ask for wealth or long life, but  instead, for a discerning heart, that is wisdom. Ruling God's people was an  immense responsibility, but Solomon knew it would be possible, as long and  only as long as he had the Lord at his side. And God honored his request. And  so it was that Solomon soon became known worldwide for his wisdom. Read a  little bit from I Kings 4 beginning at verse 30 says Solomon's wisdom was  greater than all the wisdom of the men of the East, all the men of the east and  greater than all the wisdom of Egypt, and its fame spread to all surrounding  nations. He spoke 3000 Proverbs, and his songs numbered in the 1005. He  described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of  walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish, man of all  nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world  who had heard of his wisdom. After Solomon had been reigning for about three  years and began to build a temple of the Lord, he collected materials from all  over the world, brought skilled workman from the entire country, and spent lavish sums of money on a great temple for the Lord God, to show the object of his  and his country's devotion. The temple which was built on the same general  plan as the tabernacle took seven years to build. And it was when it was  completed, the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the Holy of Holies. And the  result, when that happened, reminded people of the glory cloud that had  accompanied that completion of the tabernacle centuries before. I Kings 8:11  says the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud for the  glory of the Lord filled his temple and then followed sacrifices such as had never been seen before. For 14 days, all of Israel offered sacrifices to the Lord their  God, including 22,000 cattle 120,000, sheep and goats. It was a time of great  unity and celebration in the land the people were devoted to God's service.  Afterward Solomon undertook other projects Ecclesiastes 2:4-6 describes some 

of the Solomon says, I built houses for myself and planted vineyards, I made  gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs  to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and have  other slaves who are born in my house, I also owned more flocks and herds  than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed gold and silver for myself and  the treasure of kings and provinces I became greater by far than anyone in  Jerusalem before me. In all this, he says, My wisdom stayed with me. These  were the golden years of Israel's monarchy, after a poor start by Saul, David had laid the foundation and Solomon built upon it. The key to enjoying God's are  continuing to enjoy God's favor would be how well Solomon heeded the Lord's  warning given to him at the time the temple was dedicated. This warning that he  and his people must never turn away and serve other gods, or else Israel would  be cut off from the land and even this magnificent temple would become a heap  of rubble. How Solomon did with that mandate is part of the story for next time.