King David in Bible
The Old Testament had numerous inspiring stories about significant characters. King David is among such characters in the bible, and his name meant beloved. His character was influential in both the old and new testaments of the bible. King David’s life was documented in the Old Testament but there are several references to his character in the New Testament. He was the lastborn to Jesse and was born in 1040 BC.
This character had such an outstanding character that God called him a man after his own heart. There are occurrences in the bible that proof his remarkable faith in God. One of these events is the fight that David had with Goliath, a giant. David developed his reverence to God while growing up as a shepherd (Steussy 53). He would spend all his time alone with sheep and learnt to speak to God in ways that other human beings could not. Later in his life, King David created the famous Psalms that suggest his closeness to God. Most of these Psalms in the bible are a proof that King David had extreme reliance on God that in turn made to love him (Kirsch 59).
Several sources explain the success of King David throughout his life in the bible. This does not imply that he was the perfect of them all. King David had the following challenges before he achieved the level of greatness that most people know him for (Freedman 53). He was a fugitive at some point in his life. His father-in –law Saul wished to kill King David, but God’s favor protected him. Another challenge in King David’s life was his infatuation with Bath-Sheba. The infatuation led David to plan for the death of Uriah to inherit Bath-Sheba. After all the challenges David sort for forgiveness of the wrongs committed to God and the people he was ruling (Linafelt 80).
The decision to ask for public forgiveness displays another admirable character of David. His acceptance of responsibility made God to love him even more than before. After the forgiveness, King David engaged in intense prayers that further strengthened his relationship with God. From the psalms in the bible, it is evident that King David was also thankful for occurrences in his life. Obedience and patience are other significant traits that people learn from King David (Steussy 53).
Certain critics imply that the physique of King David was not extremely fascinating. He has short and had red hair. None of the sources on David describes him as handsome. He had exemplary musical skills; he could play the flute and the harp in pleasing ways. The bible confirms that King David was a descendant of Jesus. He also had exemplary war skills that made him carry armories for his nation’s army (Steussy 59).
It would be wrong to consider King David a superman because of the greatest achievements that he had. He was just human but chose to be extremely close to God. The following are the roles played by King David that are not relevant to the bible. The first one is a father, husband and friend to his children, wives and diplomats respectively. He was also a politician, a factor that contributed to having many wives. His predecessors forced their respective daughters to marry King David (Freedman 93).
Work Cited
Bible Stories & Activities: David: Ages 7-11. Teacher Created Resources, 2007. Print.
Freedman, David N. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York: Doubleday, 1992. Print.
Kirsch, Jonathan. King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel. New York: Ballantine Books, 2001. Print.
Linafelt, Tod, Claudia V. Camp, and Timothy K. Beal. The Fate of King David: The Past and Present of a Biblical Icon. New York: T & T Clark, 2010. Print.
Steussy, Marti J. David: Biblical Portraits of Power. Columbia, S.C: University of South Carolina Press, 1999. Print.
