By Shuxun, Italy

David was a king who was greatly venerated and supported by the Israelites.

At the mention of David, many of his brave deeds come to my mind: He killed the giant Goliath by slinging a stone at him; he bravely went out to battle and won every battle; he praised Jehovah God with the psaltery and harp. … But I also remember his blemish—killing Uriah and taking his wife Bathsheba by force.

How should we view David? What about him is worth us emulating?

David’s Repentance

After David killed Uriah and took Bathsheba by force, God’s righteous disposition came upon him. The Bible records God’s attitude toward David, “Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house; because you have despised me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife” (2 Samuel 12:10). In the face of God’s punishment for him, David was willing to accept it and submit to God, and furthermore he urgently prayed and repented before God, asking God to give him mercy. He prayed to Jehovah God, “Return, O Jehovah, deliver my soul: oh save me for your mercies’ sake. … all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears” (Psalms 6:4-6). David felt deep remorse for the error he had committed. Every day he confessed his sin and repented before God, and prayed and fasted. The words “all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears” reflected his degree of remorse. From this we can see his true repentance.

The Bible also records, “Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he got no heat. Why his servants said to him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in your bosom, that my lord the king may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not” (1 Kings 1:1-4).

From the verses, we can see that when King David was old, he couldn’t get warm while sleeping, and then his servants brought a very beautiful young girl to his bed to join him under the quilt and keep him warm. But King David didn’t move near her. It is clear from the fact that David’s transgression offended God’s disposition, but after understanding this he could thoroughly repent and change, and so in his whole life he only committed adultery once. We must say that according to his identity and position, it could not have been easy for him to do so. This precisely proves that his faith in God was real and that he had a heart of revering God. And he didn’t dare to despise God’s words again and didn’t want to dishonor God’s name again. It is because of his true repentance before God that he won God’s mercy and tolerance toward him, and God no longer remembered his transgression.

However, seeing that God approved David, many of us do not understand it and have a prejudice against him, for we think that David once committed adultery, and took another’s wife by force and killed her husband. It must be said that we don’t know David’s nature and substance. Although David committed adultery, yet after repenting, he didn’t seize other women again, and he remained unmoved even when a beautiful young girl lay in his bosom. Therefore, we can see that David thoroughly repented in this aspect. As far as his substance is concerned, David was a good person. It can be said that from ancient times up till the present, there’s been no king in the world better than David on this point.

Compared with David, I feel ashamed. David only committed this error once, and he could thoroughly repent and didn’t commit it again all his life. Yet as for ourselves, we pray to the Lord and repent with our lips when we commit sins. But when we encounter the similar environments again, we still cannot help but sin and disobey God, living in the cycle of committing and confessing sins. It shows that our repentance only stops at words, and we do not have a heart of fearing God and do not use our actual living out to prove our repentance as David did. So, David’s true repentance is indeed what we should emulate.

David Built the Temple

The Bible says, “Furthermore David the king said to all the congregation, ... and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for Jehovah God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of my own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house. … Why David blessed Jehovah before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be you, Jehovah God of Israel our father, for ever and ever” (1 Chronicles 29:1-10).

David showed the most consideration for God’s will, and his wish during his lifetime was to build a temple for Jehovah God. When he saw that after people were corrupted by Satan, they often committed sins, worshiped Satan, and worshiped idols, he contemplated building a temple for worshiping God, so that more people could come before God and worship God. David had a heart that reveres God and loves God. He gave every care to God’s will, and he could worry about God’s worries and think about what God was thinking about, and truly paid a price. From the records of the verses, we can see that he used all his heart and effort to prepare all things for building the temple, and donated all of his wealth. Although David couldn’t see the temple finished in his lifetime, he told his son Solomon to continue with his wish that he hadn’t fulfilled all his life, and finally the temple was built.

Obviously, what David had done was in order to show consideration for God’s intentions, and to satisfy God and worship God. Such a person, who was considerate of God’s intentions and had a place for God in his heart, could bring all people before God, so how could God be displeased? Just as in a family, when a sensible child sees that his parents suffer too much, he ponders in his heart: When can I grow up? When can I do something and share their worries? Seeing that the child is thoughtful, the parents will feel joy. Every time God does a stage of work, God needs people who can bear God’s commission and spend for God to cooperate with Him. David was such a person.

I have understood why God said that David was in accordance with His will: In one regard, he had true regret and repentance after he committed sins; in another regard, he showed the most consideration for God’s will, wholeheartedly building the temple for God, and leading all people to worship God. Therefore, he was one whom God liked and who was most compatible with God’s intentions. I will follow David’s example, have a heart of fearing God, and not do things to willfully commit sins to resist and dishonor God, paying attention to repenting and changing and glorifying God with my practical living out. Moreover, I am willing to give every care to God’s will, spread God’s gospel, and bring more people before God.

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