The Life of King David | 3 Ancient Lessons for Modern Living
king david
Even if you didn’t grow up in church, you’ve probably heard about King David. David and Goliath? Maybe you heard about his friendship with Jonathan. Or maybe you’ve heard some of the PG-13 stories from his time as king.
King David is one of the most famous figures in the Bible. But beyond the Sunday School stories, there are some surprising lessons we learn from David’s life that can make our lives better today.
Here are 3 surprising ancient lessons for modern living – from the life of King David.
#1 Leading When You’re Not in Charge
Have you ever thought “I would do so much better if I were in charge”?
Unless you’ve made it to a place where you’re in complete leadership over all parts of your life, you probably are in places where there are authorities over you, whether they are capable or not.
David knew about waiting to be in leadership. In fact, he knew he was going to become king long before he took the throne. While he waited, he watched Saul become a worse and worse king.
It’s easy for us to put off faithfulness or good leadership. It’s easy to put off being a harder worker, caring for people around us, or making personal improvements until we get the promotion, finish school, or get married.
But David was faithful before he was trusted with authority, before anyone recognized his leadership, and when he was under authorities that were doing a bad job.
Check out this 15 minute bible study on how David was faithful before he was in charge.
#2 You Can’t Afford to Not Slow Down
When is the last time you had an entire day off, without any obligations? Are you guilty of checking your work email from bed?
How many times do people ask how you are doing and your response inside is, “honestly, I’m exhausted”?
We all know we are living in a stressed out, fast paced world.
David modeled a life of finding space to slow down. He was a shepherd first, which granted him time to be away from chaos and reflect on his life and God. But even after becoming king, we see the importance of getting space to slow down.
Maybe you’re really good at that fast-paced life, and your capabilities have accelerated your career and you’re finding yourself busier than you’ve ever been.
Jesus modeled a busy life, but he never modeled a hurried life.
Here are 3 ways to slow down
Designate the first hour of your morning to be screen-free. Removing the distraction and stimulation of our phones and computers can increase creativity, decrease anxiety, and give us space to reflect on God and our lives.
Read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. He writes that “Jesus lived a busy life, but he never lived a hurried life.” This book gives a new vision for a life that, while still busy, can find space for a richer life.
Cut one obligation from your life. It’s easy for us to fill our lives up with lots of good things, but be so full that we can’t dedicate ourselves to a few great things. Maybe this means investing in fewer but deeper friendships. Or limiting the number of extra-curricular activities you or your kids are in, in favor of some family time on the weekends. Conduct an audit of how you spend your time throughout the week, and determine what needs to get your best yes.
Check out this 15 minute Bible study on the life of David that talks about slowing down.
#3 When you get successful, you are in the most danger.
There are a few dangers that we see in David’s life around success.
We resist change
Change is an inevitable part of life, but when things start going well for us, we start to focus more on trying to keep things the same, rather than be willing to get on board with where God is doing something new.
We try to hold on to our comfortable salaries, cities of choice, and friends we like. We become
most concerned with holding on to what we like. But change from God has to be accepted and moved on, or you will find yourself in the way. We find ourselves suffering the painful consequences of standing in God’s way.
We get unfocused.
The second danger of success is that we stop remembering that God was behind it and that he still has something for us to do.
We find David in 1 Samuel 11 in the palace… in “the time when the kings go off to war.” Translation: he’s stayed home when he should’ve been out with his armies. We find him on the roof of the palace, looking over the city and down into the courtyards of the homes – probably not by accident. He sees a beautiful woman, brings her to his home, gets her pregnant, and ultimately orders her husband killed to cover up for his wrongs.
David got comfortable. He got complacent. He forgot where he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to do.
Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.
When we get successful, we’re at our most danger of growing distracted and making poor decisions.
What is biblical manhood really supposed to look like? And is masculinity inherently toxic? Let’s unpack it in this new MIDWEEK @ Your House Series “Toxic Masculinity”. New episodes released every Wednesday at 8am, starting July 6!
Be the man God created you to be.
What is biblical manhood really supposed to look like? And is masculinity inherently toxic? Let’s unpack it in this new MIDWEEK @ Your House Series “Toxic Masculinity”. New episodes released every Wednesday at 8am, starting July 6!