[Note: Numbers in square brackets are Scripture references listed at the bottom of this post. You might benefit by first reading the verses listed in those references.]
How
Did David Enter The Picture?
The
Israelites desired continuity in leadership to keep them repeating a
pattern of idolatry, sin, oppression, and deliverance.
God
designated Joshua to follow Moses as the leader of Israel [1], but
when Joshua died, he had no designated successor. This left a vacuum
in the nation's leadership [2].
With
no single leader, the people drifted into idolatry. This opened the
door to other forms of sin. Ever notice that the first few of the
Ten Commandments deal with worship? (No other gods; No graven
images; Do not take God's name in vain; Observe the Sabbath) Many
pagan religions incorporate sin into their rituals and practices.
The substitution of pagan worship for true worship opened the door
for other forms of sin.
Sin
weakened the people to the point that one of their enemies came in
and oppressed them.
Of
course the Israelites didn't like being oppressed, so they called out
for God to send them a deliverer. He answered their prayer and sent
someone to lead them back to the right path, and to lead them to
victory over their enemy.
But
when that leader died, the leadership vacuum returned. This opened
the door for idolatry and sin to come back in, and then another enemy
came in to oppress them. So, they again cried out for another
deliverer.
They
wound up repeating that cycle again and again [3].
Those deliverers
that God sent were called judges. You can read their stories in the
Book of Judges.
Now
Samuel was the last judge of Israel [4].
When
Samuel got old, he appointed his sons to help him judge the people.
But his sons did not follow his righteous path [5].
The
people recognized the danger they faced. If Samuel's sons took over
when he died, they would return to the old cycle of idolatry, sin,
and oppression. They didn't want that!
To
avoid that, the people thought that if they had a king like other
nations, then they would have the continuity of leadership that would
keep them on the right path.
So,
they pressured Samuel to ask God to give them a king. Samuel
resisted, because he thought they were rejecting his leadership. But
God told him that they were rejecting Him, because He was to be their
king. But He knew that they would insist on a human king, so He
wrote into the Law the rights of the king, and their obligations to
the king.
So,
God told Samuel to anoint them a king [6]. That king was Saul
[7, 8, 9].
Saul
was okay at first [10], but God soon rejected him for disobedience.
After his first
act of disobedience, God tells Saul through Samuel that his kingdom
will be taken away from him and given to a man after God's own heart
[11, 12].
Saul's second act
of disobedience was more serious and brazen. Saul was supposed to
completely destroy the Amalekites; men, women, children, and even
livestock! (I take that to include pets!)
But
Saul kept the king of the Amalekites alive, and the best of the
livestock. To justify his disobedience, Saul planned to sacrifice
the livestock [13].
Not
only that, Saul built a monument to himself [14]. He thought he had
done a good thing! But he was now overtaken with pride, and had set
himself on a path he was not going to repent from.
Because Saul was
not going to change, God had to reject him as king of Israel.
God
sends Samuel to Bethlehem to anoint David as the next king of Israel.
Now, when he went to Bethlehem, he didn't know who he was going to
anoint. The only things he knew was that the man would be one of
Jesse's sons, and he would be God's king [16].
What
Did David's Introduction Tell Us About Him?
To
answer this question, we have to look at 3 people: David, his oldest
brother Eliab, and Saul.
When
Samuel tells Jesse that he has come to anoint one of his sons, Eliab
is the first one presented. He appears first because he is the
oldest. In most ancient Asian cultures, the oldest is always favored
over the younger. Oldest sons usually receive most of the father's
inheritance, and are also given more responsibility as they grow up.
Now,
Eliab's appearance and stature so impressed Samuel that he assumed
that Eliab was God's choice.
Let's take a
closer look at Eliab and Samuel's reaction.
Eliab's impressive
appearance meant that he was good-looking, probably even handsome.
Eliab's impressive
stature meant that he was tall and muscular.
Eliab developed
his muscles through hard work on his father's estate.
We
can assume that Eliab had handled his responsibilities well, because
if he had done anything to disgrace himself, Jesse would not have
presented him first.
We
also know from later passages that Eliab was a soldier in Saul's
army. Because he was used to handing responsibility, he was probably
given a leadership position.
To
summarize, handsome, tall, muscular, hard-working, responsible,
leader-of-men Eliab looked like king material. No wonder he
impressed Samuel so much!
Why
did God reject Eliab, even though he looked like king material?
God
looked into Eliab's heart, and saw something there that disqualified
him from being king.
What
God saw in Eliab's heart was a potential for the same kind of pride
that brought down Saul.
Saul
was also handsome, tall, muscular, responsible, and a leader-of-men
[7]. Those characteristics can lead to pride, the kind that makes
one arrogant enough to believe he or she don't have to listen to God,
and so the person winds up disobeying God's instructions.
The
main difference between Eliab and David was in their hearts. Eliab's
confidence was in himself. David's confidence was in God.
How
did David develop his confidence in God? Through worship!
When
David first appears, he is Jesse's youngest son, who is out tending
sheep when Samuel visits [17]. He tended sheep, because Jesse could
trust David to do only that job.
We
know from the passage that follows that David was a skilled and
anointed musician. He was called on to play music for Saul when he
was troubled by an evil spirit. When David played, the demon would
leave [18].
David
developed his musical skill the same way any musician does –
constant practice and playing. He preferred music over work, so he
probably didn't pay much attention to his duties when he was assigned
a job to do.
I'm
sure Jesse was greatly concerned about this. In the culture of the
that time and place, most people worked on the family estate. Most
of those estates had crop lands to be worked, livestock to be fed and
tended, and the harvests from both had to be converted into food,
clothing, or other useful items. Very few estates had need of a
musician.
But
tending sheep is a job that David could do, and he could still play
his music while he did! I can just picture David as a youth,
watching over the sheep and strumming his harp, and singing worship
songs to the Lord. David wasn't just playing and singing to
entertain himself, he was worshipping God!
Constant
Worship Was David's Source Of Strength As a Warrior, And Throughout
His Life
As
I have already mentioned, David played anointed music, probably
worship music, to relieve Saul's demonically tormented soul. That is
one example of the role of worship in David's life, but we can see
more.
Many
of the Psalms that David wrote are based on his experiences as a
warrior.
When
David finally ascended to the throne of Israel, building the Temple
was his top priority. But God would not let him build it, because he
was a warrior, a man who had spilled much blood [21, 23, 28, 32].
But
David made as many preparations as he could for the Temple:
He
stockpiled materials for the construction [29, 31, 33].
He
organized the priests and Levites for Temple service [34].
He
compiled the Book of Psalms. (He didn't write all of them, but he
started compiling them into a single volume.)
He
brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and placed it in a
section of the city that was the old city of Jebus, which became
known as the City of David [20, 25].
He
erected a tabernacle for the Ark, and he organized singers and
musicians for continuous worship before the Ark. This became known
as the Tabernacle of David [26, 27].
To
show the extent that David would go to worship God, he included 3
Gittiths in the Book of Psalms.
Never heard of a
Gittith? They are mentioned in the Bible, but a part that few ever read,
and even fewer take the time the search it out.
Look
in you Bible – your hard copy Bible, the electronic versions might
not have this in the right place, at Psalm 8. Between the chapter
title and the first verse, you will see a note like this:
For
the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
That
note is part of the text, but not part of the psalm. Many psalms
have notes like this, and they usually have background information
about the psalm, or instructions for the choir director.
The
notes for Psalms 8, 81, and 84 mention the Gittith.
Scholars are not
exactly sure about the Gittith. Two possibilities are that the
Gittith is a musical instrument, or a style of music.
The
only thing scholars are sure of is that the Gittith comes from Gath. Gath! A city of the Philistines! Hometown of Goliath!
How
did David hear the music of the Philistines?
He
might have first heard it the day he confronted Goliath. If he did,
he probably didn't hear enough to learn much about it. After all, he
was dealing with a giant issue at the time!
But
later on, while Saul was pursuing David, he hid out with the
Philistines in the city of Gath [19]. While he was there, I'm sure
he had enough time to learn more about the Gittith.
David recognized
good music when he heard it. And the Philistines must have had some
good music for him to want to learn it and play it, despite the kind
of things the Philistines would sing about. You can probably imagine
what kind of subjects they sang about, and the kind of words they
used.
Now,
consider Psalm 8. It is one of the most beautiful psalms, and it
contains a Messianic prophecy. This psalm was sung directly before
the Ark! Philistine music was used in the very presence of God!
In
short, a Gittith is a “saved” song, one taken from the world and
converted to use in the Kingdom of God.
One
Final Note About The Tabernacle Of David
Amos
prophesied that the Tabernacle of David, representing open worship
before God's manifest presence, would be rebuilt, or restored [35].
James referred to it at the Jerusalem conference where church leaders
dealt with the issue of Gentile believers needing to be circumcised
[36]. As far as I know, it is the only thing from the Old Testament
era that is prophesied to be restored before Jesus returns.
SCRIPTURES
[1]
Num. 27: 18 – 23; Deut. 34: 8; Josh. 1 Joshua was anointed to
follow Moses as the leader of Israel.
[2]
Judges 2: 6 – 13 Joshua's death left a vacuum in the leadership
of Israel.
[3]
Judges 2: 14 – 3:8; 21: 25 Without continuity of leadership,
Israel sunk into a cycle of sin and deliverance.
[4]
1 Sam. 7 Samuel becomes the last judge of Israel.
[5]
1 Sam. 8: 1 – 3 Samuel appoints his sons as assistant judges, but
they don't follow his righteous ways.
[6]
1 Sam. 8: 4 – 9, 22 The people ask for a king; God tells Samuel
to appoint them a king.
[7]
1 Sam. 9: 1 – 2 Saul was a choice man, the tallest and most
handsome man in Israel.
[8]
1 Sam. 9: 15 – 17 God shows Samuel that Saul is His choice for
king.
[9]
1 Sam. 10: 17 – 24 Saul appointed king.
[10]
1 Sam. 11 – 12 Saul does his job as king.
[11]
1 Sam. 13: 7 – 12 Saul's first act of disobedience.
[12]
1 Sam. 13: 13 – 14 Saul's kingdom to given to a man after God's
own heart.
[13]
1 Sam. 15:1 – 9 Saul's second act of disobedience.
[14]
1 Sam. 15: 12 Saul built a monument to himself.
[15]
1 Sam. 15: 20 – 21 Saul tries to justify his disobedience by
blaming the people.
[16]
1 Sam. 16: 1 – 7 Eliab rejected for what was in his heart.
[17]
1 Sam. 16: 10 – 11 Jesse's seven oldest sons rejected. David was
out in the pasture tending sheep.
[18]
1 Sam. 16: 14 – 23 David plays music to relieve Saul's torment.
[19]
1 Sam. 27: 1 – 7 David hides from Saul in the land of the
Philistines.
[20]
2 Sam. 6 David brings the Ark to the city of David – the old city
of Jebus, now part of Jerusalem; Ark placed in the Tabernacle of
David.
[21]
2 Sam. 7: 1 – 13 David's desire to build the Temple is rebuffed
and put off onto Solomon.
[22]
1 Kings 3: 15 Solomon offers burnt sacrifices before the Ark, near
the Tabernacle of David in Jerusalem.
[23]
1 Kings 5: 1 – 12 Solomon and Hiram, king of Tyre, form an
alliance; Solomon confirms that David was not allowed to build the
Temple because of his many wars (v. 3); Hiram to provide materials
for the Temple.
[24]
1 Kings 8: 1 – 11 Ark taken from the Tabernacle of David to the
Temple.
[25]
1 Chron. 15 Ark brought up to Jerusalem, to the City of David –
the old city of Jebus. (Parallel to 2 Sam. 6)
[26]
1 Chron. 16: 1 – 7 Ark placed in the Tabernacle of David; singers
and musicians organized to continually worship before the Ark.
[27]
1 Chron. 16: 37 – 42 Continuous worship before the Ark.
[28]
1 Chron. 17: 1 – 15 David's desire to build the Temple rebuffed
and put off onto Solomon. (Parallel to 2 Sam. 7: 1 – 13)
[29]
1 Chron. 18: 8 – 11 David sets aside materials for the Temple.
(Parallel to 2 Sam. 8: 9 – 12)
[30]
1 Chron. 21: 18 – 30 David's altar in Jebus. It might have have
been near the Tabernacle of David. (Parallel to 2 Sam. 24: 18 –
25)
[31]
1 Chron. 22: 1 - 5 David prepares for the Temple's construction.
[32]
1 Chron. 22: 8 David prevented from building the Temple because he
shed much blood.
[33]
1 Chron. 22: 14 – 16 David describes to the people his
preparations for Temple construction.
[34]
1 Chron. 23 – 26 David organized priests, Levites, singers,
musicians, recorders (secretaries) for Temple service.
[35]
Amos 9: 11 – 12 Prophecy to rebuild the Tabernacle of David.
[36]
Acts 15: 13 – 18 James quotes the prophecy of Amos to rebuild the
Tabernacle of David.
