Opinion of the Kings of the United Monarchy 2: David

[The Mikado]

Hopefully this one will get more attention than my poor, neglected Saul poll.  Hopefully, my adding of a brief synopsis will help.  I should've done this for Saul.

David, son of Jesse of Bethlehem, member of the Judah tribe, was anointed by King by Samuel instead of one of Jesse's six older sons.  Saul, still King, took David as a harp player, unaware that David was destined to be king.  David developed a deep friendship with Saul's son Prince Jonathan, and was the only Israelite brave enough to fight the Philistine champion Goliath.  Saul, increasingly suspicious of David, set an impossibly high bride price on his daughter Michal of 100 Philistine foreskins: David brought back 200 and married Princess Michal.  After two failed murder attempts by an unhinged King Saul, David and his band fled Israel and Judah and joined the Philistines(!) in the high places.  Brave Jonathan and his father were slain fighting the Philistines, and David became King of Judah.  Saul's other son, something-baal (not going to look it up right now) was murdered, and David became King of Israel as well.  David's tawdry love live (google Abagail) began to show after David regained the Ark of the Covenant.  After Michal berated him for letting the women see his privates while dancing for joy, David essentially stopped talking to her.  David gained the City of Jerusalem from the...Jebusites?  Is that right?  It's been a long time.  Anyway, let's see.  Joab, David's general, has Abner killed.  There was a census, and the LORD sent down a plague.  Oh, yeah.  Absalom, one of David's sons, killed his half-brother A...something...for raping their sister Tamar.  Absalom flees, and David forgives him and lets him return.  In the meantime, David sees a beautiful woman bathing, and orders her brought to him.  Bath-sheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, becomes pregnant.  David orders Joab to have Uriah on the front lines and Uriah dies in battle.  Nathan the Prophet tells David off, uses a cool parable, and tells David that though he won't die, his child by Bath-Sheba will.  Sure enough, the child does die, David conceives another one, named Solomon, or replacement.  Absalom revolts, and Saul's grandson joins him.  Absalom beds 10 of his father's concubines.  Absalom ends up hanging by his long hair from a tree, and Joab sticks a spear in him: don't grow your hair out, kids.  David gets a young concubine, but doesn't touch her.  David dies, and Solomon becomes king.

Did I miss anything?  Oh, yeah.  The LORD promises that David's line shall reign over Israel and Judah forever, though he later amends the promise to just Judah due to the bad behavior of Rehoboam.  And he wrote some of the Psalms, supposedly.

[Smid]

King David expanded Israel to it's largest area as a Kingdom, he wanted to build the Temple (although God said no, because he was a man of war), he was a man after God's own heart, and God was happy enough with him to decide that his lineage would lead to Jesus.

He made a few mistakes, but overall he was a successful king. I definitely view him favourably.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Hopefully this one will get more attention than my poor, neglected Saul poll.  Hopefully, my adding of a brief synopsis will help.  I should've done this for Saul.

Though David had his faults, his fervent repentance gave him favor with God.  And it's God's judgment of David that matters, not yours.

[The Mikado]

Hopefully this one will get more attention than my poor, neglected Saul poll.  Hopefully, my adding of a brief synopsis will help.  I should've done this for Saul.

Though David had his faults, his fervent repentance gave him favor with God.  And it's God's judgment of David that matters, not yours.

Fine.  I'll be far more interested next week in your opinion of Solomon, he of the 700 wives and 300 concubines, about whom the Bible's far more ambivalent than it is with it's condemnation of Saul and praise of David.

[Swing low, sweet chariot. Comin' for to carry me home.]

Hopefully this one will get more attention than my poor, neglected Saul poll.  Hopefully, my adding of a brief synopsis will help.  I should've done this for Saul.

Though David had his faults, his fervent repentance gave him favor with God.  And it's God's judgment of David that matters, not yours.

Fine.  I'll be far more interested next week in your opinion of Solomon, he of the 700 wives and 300 concubines, about whom the Bible's far more ambivalent than it is with it's condemnation of Saul and praise of David.

The bible is not "ambivalent" about Solomon at all:  "Jesus is greater than Solomon." (Mat 12:42; Luk 11:31)

[JSojourner]

I struggle to decide which of the Biblical characters I most emulate in terms of my own flaws.  I certainly have King David's wandering eye.  (But I don't think I would have the lady's fella sent to his death.)  Yet I also have St. Peter's utterly annoying tendency to lecture God on how things should be done.  I know better, after all.  @@  Ugh.

Thankfully -- what Jmcfst so rightly points out is that David (and Peter) were guys who knew that they were made of dust.  (Psalm 103 is such a comfort when I don't measure up.)  Or, if the temporarily forgot, they quickly came to terms with the fact when convicted of sin.  Hope that is the case with me, as well.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Psalm 23 makes it positive.