Who Is King David?

I may have told y’all before that King David is my favorite Bible hero. Have I also confessed that I love Richard Gere movies? One of the ways I enjoy “researching” biblical characters is by watching movies or reading other novels about the characters I’ll be portraying in my fiction. It often helps me delve more deeply into the culture and time period.

When I discovered Richard Gere had, during his early acting days, played the role of my favorite Bible character…well, no brainer!!!!

But…I was soooooo disappointed. 😥 Then I realized–how could anyone live up to the King David I’d created in my mind?

So, let’s take a look at some biblical Truth, historical facts, and some educated fiction. I’ve discovered such interesting things about King David during my research, that I hope you’ll be excited to read the first book in my new series, King David’s Brides. Brave: The Story of Ahinoam, releases October 1, 2024!

Biblical Truth:

David’s Early Life:

We first learn of David’s importance when he’s mentioned as a descendant of Ruth and Boaz (Ruth 4:17, 22). We hear nothing more of him until Samuel the prophet anoints David as Israel’s new king. Plot twist: he’s only a boy tending his father’s sheep and King Saul still sits on Israel’s throne (1 Sam. 16).

Soon after David defeats the Philistine giant, Goliath, using only a sling, a stone, and a faith bigger than Israel’s army (1 Sam. 17). David becomes more beloved than Saul, so the king becomes murderously jealous and spends the rest of his royal life trying to kill David ben Jesse (1 Sam. 18:29).

David became a fugitive, hiding from King Saul and his assassins in the Judean desert for approximately 6-8 years. During this time, he marries two women:

1. Ahinoam, the Jezreelite (Jezreel being a small village in the Judean hill country–Joshua 15:48, 56)
2. Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel (1 Sam. 25)

After the second time David spares Saul’s life, he flees Israel’s borders with his six-hundred-man army, their families, and David’s two wives. They find sanctuary in the city of Gath, which was Goliath’s hometown (of all places! 1 Sam. 26-27).

David’s Early Reign:

While in the land of the Philistines, the King of Gath (Achish) gave David the role of Governor over the town of Ziklag and allowed their army/families to live there (1 Sam. 27). When the Philistines marched into Israel’s northern territory, King Saul’s army engaged them in battle. Saul and three of his sons–including David’s best friend, Jonathan–were killed.

After an undisclosed amount of time, David, his army and their families moved out of Ziklag and into Hebron, a town within David’s family tribe of Judah. Soon after, David was anointed Judah’s king, and he reigned in Hebron for seven years.

Since my current series, King David’s Brides, will only cover the first two years of David’s reign in Hebron, I’ll stop here and sum up a little of the interesting research I’ve discovered while writing the first book, Brave.

Historical Fact:

Looking More Deeply at King David’s Psalms:

We know from Scripture that David was a gifted musician. His harp/lyre playing soothed Saul’s torment for a time and proved a comfort to David while he fled from Saul’s assassins. Today, many of David’s songs/psalms turn my heart to heaven when nothing else can focus my scattered thoughts.

I’d often wondered the exact number of Psalms David wrote. Historians and biblical scholars disagree (as they do on most things), so I searched Google images with, “Authors of Psalms” and found the graph below at the neverthirsty.org website.

CLICK HERE if you’d like to see a listing of the Psalms timeline on BibleHub.com. The Psalms I’ve quoted–or had David or others sing to Yahweh–in the story of Brave are:

• Psalm 59
• Psalm 56
• Psalm 34
• Psalm 57
• Psalm 52
• Psalm 54
• Psalm 18
• Psalm 63

Watch for a FREE Psalms Bible study coming to YouVersion closer to Brave’s release in October!

The Tabernacle During King David’s Reign:

We also know from Scripture that David loved to worship. The Bible tells us that after David fled Saul’s murderous threats, he went first to the Tabernacle and high priest at the city of Nob. The high priest recognized David and asked why no one had come with him. Doesn’t that infer that David was a frequent worshiper at the Tabernacle with others?

After David left, a villainous Edomite told Saul that the high priest had aided David’s escape. Saul slaughtered all the priests at Nob and their families–except one.

The son of the high priest, Abiathar, escapes and finds David and his army in the wilderness. Abiathar serves as Yahweh’s high priest in King David’s court until he betrays David’s son, King Solomon. But what happened to the Tabernacle? Several resources agreed with this explanation:

After Saul has the city and the priests destroyed (I Samuel 22), we later see the tabernacle has been set up in Gibeon (approximately 5 miles northwest of Jerusalem) during Zadok’s tenure (I Chronicles 16:39-40). It appears that with two high priests serving at that time, Zadok seems to have been fulfilling his duties at the original tabernacle built by Moses in Gibeon while Abiathar served in Jerusalem. Even after Abiathar was relieved of his duties as high priest by Solomon, we see King Solomon going to Gibeon to sacrifice there at the original tabernacle in II Chronicles 1:3. (The Tabernacle and Ark of the Covenant by Wayne D. Turner From BibleTrack)

King David reigned seven+ years in Hebron (2 Sam. 2:11) before he and his men conquered the Jebusite city of Jerusalem (2 Sam. 5:6-15). Could David’s desire for the military fortress of Jerusalem also have been motivated by its proximity to the original Tabernacle only a morning’s walk away?

Educated Fiction:

I’ve had multiple people email me (or comment on social media) and ask why I would ever write about King David. They then list the looooong list of his faults and usually end with this question:

Why would God make a adulterer and murderer the honored ancestor of Jesus?

I have two answers to this question which I hope you’ll see fleshed out in ALL FOUR BOOKS in the King David’s Brides series:

Answer #1:

God chose King David to show that no matter how terrible the sins, if a man’s heart turns back to Him in repentance, God will ALWAYS show mercy and steadfast love. If you decide to read all the Psalms David is credited with writing, do a word search on “steadfast love.” David knew he was a screw-up. He knew the countless times Yahweh had forgiven him better than anyone! Which meant he knew better than anyone about God’s steadfast love.

Answer #2:

God chose King David because he was Brave enough to show the world his ugliest self during those early years when Saul chased him. Read the psalms, y’all!!! It’s as if David wrote in his journal and then published it on every social media platform–for everyone and forever. I journal, but I’m burning them before I die. No one gets to see my ugly!

So the next time we’re tempted to criticize King David, consider the “man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). Here’s a twist straight from the Bible and following the timelines of Saul’s reign and David’s projected birth. Samuel spoke those words to King Saul when Yahweh stripped away Israel’s throne–before David was even born.

Sometimes Truth and facts are proven even more powerful than fiction!

Today’s Question:

• What information about King David made you pause and say, “Hmmm,” today?

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