David Character Bible Study Background and Lessons

Name: David

Meaning of name: Beloved

Ancestry and family life: 

1 Samuel 17:12 – Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.

David was the eighth son of Jesse. It was likely he also had several sisters (just from the odds) which aren’t mentioned because they wouldn’t have been

 considered by Samuel to anoint as the next king.

Ruth 4:17 – And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Jesse was the grandchild of Boaz and Ruth, making David Ruth and Boaz’s great-grandson. That would mean that the story of Ruth takes place near the end of the time of the judges. Ruth was a Moabite who converted and placed her faith in Yahweh. The fact that she was in David’s line (and Jesus’) reminds us that salvation is available to all, even the Jews. Ruth’s position as a close relative of David’s foreshadows the fact that David’s descendant, the Messiah, would bring salvation to the world.

When and where he lived: David’s hometown was the city of Bethlehem.

Luke 2:4 – And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.

Bethlehem was eventually nicknamed “the city of David”, after the town’s most famous historical figure and resident. David lived not long after the end of the period of the judges. That was one of the darkest times in Israel’s history as people did whatever they pleased. There was no government, no rule of law. People rebelled against the Lord.

Judges 21:25 – In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

David was born sometime around 1040 B.C. This date is likely reached by tracking back the kings of Judah and Israel from their countries’ respective exiles to Assyria and Babylon in 727 B.C. and 597 B.C.

Some secular scholars dispute David’s existence. They claim that there is no archaeological proof of this era in Israel’s history. However, the Bible wins out against these claims over and over again. A Moabite stone has been found in the 1800s dating back to around 840 BC. It is called the “Mesha Stele.” It is witness to many aspects of the Biblical record. Thirteen Biblical locations are mentioned. It refers to Yahweh. Most notably, it refers to the “House of David.”

Before Saul, Israel was a loose federation of tribes. Sometimes they helped each other and worked together and sometimes they didn’t. At times they also had civil wars. Under Saul, the tribes were united and became the kingdom of Israel.

Training and occupation:

David was a true “rags to riches” story. His humble beginnings were as a shepherd. He eventually became king. In between, he was often a fugitive running for his life from Saul. Those times of being an outcast and a shepherd gave him a closer personal connection to the people and the land. A royal born as a royal never knows what it is like to struggle. They don’t have to work for their food. They cannot identify with the plight of the commoner. David could. These years helped prepare to be a king after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14).

God intended that time in the fields to give David humility and help him learn to rely on God.

2 Samuel 7:8 – Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

In addition, David was a very capable musician and song writer. Evidently, he filled much of his time watching sheep with playing the harp. This reminds us to redeem the time. We still greatly benefit from David the musician by his Psalms. Fully half of the Psalms were written by him.

• Shepherd – 1 Samuel 16:11, 17:20, 17:34-35.
• Musician and armor-bearer – 1 Samuel 16:16-21
• General – 1 Samuel 18:16
• King – 2 Samuel 2:4, 2 Samuel 5:2-3

Place in history: Who is mentioned in the Bible more than anyone else?

The answer is, of course, Jesus. But David is a close second. David is mentioned in the Bible 983 times. He was the second and most beloved king in Israel’s history. David was one of several individuals God made a special covenant with. The covenant God made with David and his descendants is seen in 2 Samuel 7:8-17 and is referred to as the Davidic Covenant, the key features being God’s continual protection of David, being like a Father to him, and preserving his kingly line throughout history.

It is the promises of this Davidic covenant that Jesus comes to fulfill. The Jews living at the time of Christ recognized that a descendant of David would come as a Messiah. He would save Israel and reign over her. Thus the title, “Son of David” was used for this Messiah. People used this title for Jesus more than ten times. Even the blind knew He was shouting out “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38)

Forty chapters in 1 Samuel through 1 Kings deal with David and many more in Chronicles and Kings give another look at David’s life. These chapters are filled with rich and in depth narrative about David’s life, both his weaknesses and strengths. This is roughly the same amount of material as covers the life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph combined. Clearly God has inspired this record because there are many lessons we can learn from David’s life both about people and about God.

Weaknesses:

David was zealous for the Lord. God Himself described David as being a man after his own heart.

1 Samuel 13:14 – But now your [Saul’s] kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

However, David was not perfect. He a human like you and me. That means he was a sinner (Romans 3:23). We should not put a halo on him and exalt him as a perfect example. Neither should would vilify him and stone him post-humous. We should be reminded that God is gracious and forgives the sins of the one who repents. We should learn from his mistakes. We should follow his positive examples. And we should remember that God uses even flawed people.

Here are some of David’s significant weaknesses.

1.      Adultery – 2 Samuel 11

2.      Murder – 2 Samuel 11:14-27

3.      Poor father – 1 Kings 1:6, 2 Samuel 13:21

4.      Pride by ordering a census – 2 Samuel 24

5.      Didn’t check/punish Joab – 2 Samuel 3:39

6.      Too quick to judge – 2 Samuel 16:1-4. From this passage, we are reminded that it is important to get all the facts and hear from both sides before making a decision. This is applicable to teachers, bosses, and perhaps especially to parents with multiple children!

7.      Lack of discernment – 2 Samuel 19

Strengths:

1.      Faith – 1 Samuel 17

2.      Boldness – He fought a lion, a bear, and Goliath! (1 Samuel 17:37)

3.      Compassion – 2 Samuel 9:1-13

4.      Respect for authority – 1 Samuel 24:4-7, 1 Samuel 26:8-11, 2 Samuel 1:1-16, 2 Samuel 4:9-12

5.      Repentant – 2 Samuel 12:13, Psalms 51, 2 Samuel 24:17

6.      Humility – Psalms 86

7.      Prayer and Praise – Psalms 17, 2 Samuel 22, rest of Psalms

8.      Self-control – 2 Samuel 16:5-13

Important acts and events:

1. He defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17) – David did not trust in armor or weapons. David’s confidence was in God. His motivation was to defend God’s name and honor. He wanted to show to Israel’s enemies that God was the one true God. He also wanted to show the Israelites that they could be bold and didn’t have to hide in the shadows. God would be with them if they believed in Him. He fully believed that he would win. He believed this because he knew who would be fighting on his side.

Resource – Check out our in-depth study on David vs. Goliath.

2. He spared Saul’s life twice (1 Samuel 24, 26) – Saul became jealous of David’s popularity (1 Samuel 18:7) and attempted to kill him. On two occasions, David had opportunities to end Saul. Both times he spared his life.

3. He mourned Saul’s death. Saul was his enemy and had attempted to kill him. Most people in David’s position would have rejoiced to see Saul dead. David instead reflected on how Saul’s death would be felt by the whole nation. He chose to remember Saul’s good points. (2 Samuel 1) Showing compassion for his enemies was not a one-time occurrence either. When Abner (another enemy) died, David mourned him as well (2 Samuel 3:31-39). Again, when Ish-bosheth died, David punished his murderers (2 Samuel 4:1-12).

4. He did not take revenge on a man who cursed him (2 Samuel 16:5-14) – Sometimes it is the small things of everyday life that reveal a person’s character. One of these situations in David’s life is his encounter with Shimei. Here are a few excerpts from this story.

2 Samuel 16:5-7 – When King David came to Bahurim, there came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera, and as he came he cursed continually. And he threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David, and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And Shimei said as he cursed, “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man!

2 Samuel 16:9 – [Abishai said] Let me go over and take off his head.

2 Samuel 16:11-12 – [David said] Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.”

It takes a lot of humility in the moment to realize that God allows afflictions, disrespect, and even other’s curses in order to help us grow.

David did not allow anyone to punish Shimei. Why? He realized that God is sovereign. He realized that God may have sent this person to curse him. And he realized that God was watching his response and might reward him for responding in kindness and with self-control. This was not a time when David would have been a good or forgiving mood. He was fleeing from Jerusalem because his son revolted against him. He had every fleshly excuse to respond to Shimei in kind, but he restrained himself. This is much like Jesus who endured the lies and false accusations of the Jews without responding.

Reflect – Could you react like David?

Application – We will all face trouble-makers who were seemingly designed in a factory to get on our nerves. What can we learn from David about how to respond to such people?

5. He repented of his sin with Bathsheba (Psalm 51) – The worst sin of David’s life was his adultery with Bathsheba and subsequent cover-up. The story, however, does not end there. When David was confronted, he repented. Because of that, he found forgiveness.

Application – Your worst mistake does not need to define you. God’s grace can transform you and redeem you even from the worst of sins. But that mercy is only available to those who humbly repent and ask for it.

6. He brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6) – This event demonstrated his enthusiasm for serving the Lord.

7. He proposed the idea of building a temple for God and started preparing the project (2 Samuel 7). This demonstrated his desire to worship. He was using his power and position for the Lord rather than for Himself.

How he died: 

1 Kings 2:10-12 – Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

David died of old age after reigning as king for forty years.

Lessons from his life:

1. How did David make the list of the faithful in Hebrews 11?

When you look at some of the things he did including murder and adultery it could be hard to understand. Show me why you think God included David in this list? God forgives sinners. David was a sinner. When you consider the New Testament passages stating that hating someone in your heart is like murder to God and lusting after a woman in your heart is like adultery, we can see that we are all like David sinners before God. Because of David’s public position, his weaknesses are aired out like dirty laundry for everyone to see. Time and time again, we learn as we go through this list, that God forgives. Not one of these characters deserves to be on the list of the faithful in Hebrews 11 because of their own merit. Each is on it because God imputed righteousness to them as a result of their faith in Him.

That is comforting for us. God forgave David because he repented. Here is just a snipped of his prayer of confession. Notice how genuine David is.

Psalms 51:1-4 – Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

Application – There will be times when you sin and fall short. When that happens, come with humility to the throne of grace. When you confess from your heart, God will forgive (1 John 1:9).

2. God uses wilderness times to grow our character.

Hebrews 11:32-34 – And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Hebrews 11:38 – Of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

David was anointed as king while still a young man. He may have thought everything would go smoothly after this. But the result was, things got worse fast. The shepherd had to turn fugitive, spending around 13 years running for his life from Saul. Many of the places he ran were deep in the wilderness.

God was training the future king to learn to wait for the Lord’s perfect timing. There were surely many other things that God wanted to teach David in these wilderness years:

• A good king should understand his people, all of his people. By experiencing what it was like to live at the very bottom of the economy, David would have a deeper understanding of the struggles and needs of the common man. It would help him develop a heart of compassion for the poor and outcast as well as a sense of justice since he hadn’t received it.

Most of all, God taught David to depend on and trust in Him alone. David had to depend on God for everything, food, water, and just surviving. Total dependence on God is a very difficult and scary lesson to learn.

David wrote Psalm 63 while in the wilderness. From this, we can see his attitude and some of the lessons he had learned. Here are a few excerpts. 

Psalms 63:1 – O -God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Psalms 63:5-6 – My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night

Psalms 63:8 – My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

What beautiful sentiment! David had experienced the wilderness. His time there taught him that the Lord was more valuable than anything on earth. He had learned to cling to God instead of anything else.

One other benefit of the wilderness is that is a quiet place free from distraction to meditate on the Lord. Do you have those quiet times with the Lord built into your hectic schedule?

Application – Do you cling to people or do you cling to the Lord? People come and go. It is likely that many of your friends have  moved on. God hasn’t. Some of you are far away from your families and the support that they give. I believe God wants to use this time to teach us to cling to Him. While people come and go and sometimes disappoint, God never does. Fellowship with people should not replace our fellowship with God.

How great it would be if we learned to say, “My soul thirsts for you…because your steadfast love is better than life.”

Take a deeper look at David’s wilderness years and how it applies to us.

2. Opportunity does not equal permission.

David had the opportunity to kill Saul on multiple occasions (1 Samuel 24, 26). Saul was separated from his guards and easily within David’s grasp. Many of his followers even encouraged him to do it. Saul was trying to kill him for years. Few people would have blamed him for it. But he did not have permission to do it. 

In today’s world, technology has given us the opportunity to do many things never even dreamed about before. The internet makes almost any manner of sin easily accessible, anonymous, and at our fingertips. But this doesn’t mean we have permission to do those things.

Few people would have blamed David for killing Saul. Saul was trying to kill him. David had already shown great patience and self-restraint. Most would argue he was fully justified in killing Saul. It would have practically been self-defense. But God would not have been pleased. And His opinion is worth more than everyone else’s combined.

Instead, David chose to wait patiently for God’s timing. This is the commitment David made.

1 Samuel 24:10 – ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’

3. Do not let ministry or work keep you from paying attention to your family.

David was certainly a busy man. He was the general of his countries’ army. It was up to him to decide whether or not to go to war, prepare for the war, and strategize. He was the top judge in the land. People from far away would bring their disputes to him and ask him to settle it. He had many responsibilities. Unfortunately it seems that these responsibilities became his priority. David was certainly rich enough that he could have hired any number of baby sitters, nurses, tutors, and educators for his children to get the top education in the land. But these things are not a replacement for a dedicated father.

David apparently never rebuked his children or set clear boundaries for them.

1 Kings 1:6 – His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom.

Even when his children sinned egregiously, though he was angry (2 Samuel 13:21) he did little to stop them.

David apparently spoiled his children, giving them whatever they wanted. When they had conflicts or sinned it seems he swept it under the rug and ignored it instead of dealing with it (like in the case of Amnon). You might think that his kids would grow up loving their daddy who gave them everything they wanted, but this wasn’t the case. Absalom for example rebelled against David. Another son, Adonijah, tried to usurp the kingdom as well. It seems that some of David’s children grew up resenting him. And this reveals a major flaw in the world’s logic. According to the world, spanking your children will push them towards resentment and bitterness towards you. But actually the opposite is true. If children have clear boundaries and know there will be consequences for going outside of these boundaries, it gives them a sense of security and well-being. Make your family the priority over everything else except for God. Ask your children, “why have you done so?” Communicate with them. Understand them. Help them to understand their own hearts and correct them and discipline them when necessary.

4. Everyone needs to listen to counsel, even kings (2 Samuel 19) –

In this case, David’s emotions were blinding him to the very serious situation around him. He loved Absalom deeply and his soul was grieved to know that he had died, and that he died without a relationship with the Lord. As a parent, there is nothing worse. David’s strong emotions prevented him from seeing that his followers were going to leave him because of his attitude. David was not objective and not thinking clearly or looking at this clearly. That is very understandable. And that is why it is so important that someone whom he trusted come alongside and tell him to wake up! Joab gave wise counsel. In this case, David didn’t ask for it, but he needed it. To David’s credit, he listened and followed Joab’s advice.

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

Application – You should seek counsel especially when your objectivity is blurred because of strong emotions about an issue. This often happens during guy/girl relationships especially though there are many other cases. You should build strong relationships and let your close friends in Christ know that you are open to their input. This certainly requires humility to be willing to listen. At the same time, it requires a certain boldness to say what needs to be said.

Reflect – What is one key lesson you learned from the character of David that you can apply to your own life?

Character Studies E-book – If you found these character studies helpful, get our Character Studies E-book, with 8  practical lessons on important Bible heroes of the faith.

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