David is Crowned King because God Keeps His Promises

Israel and Judah have no king. Saul and his sons died in battle. David asked the Lord if he should move his family and all his men and their families into one of the towns in Judah. The Lord told David to move to Hebron which is in Judah. All of the families settled in the towns of Hebron and there they anointed David King over all Judah.

David’s first order of business as King over Judah was to send his blessing to the men who buried Saul. He encouraged them because of the kindness shown to Saul. Even though Saul was mean to David, David keeps showing love.

Saul had a commander over his army named Abner. After Saul’s death, Abner took the only living son of Saul, Ish-Bosheth, and placed him as king over Israel.

This became a difficult time for Judah, Israel, and David. The nation was divided. There was the side of David which was Judah and the side of Saul’s son, which was Israel. The people fought. When people of the same nation fight against each other, we call it civil war. Many years ago this country, the United States had a civil war.

War between brothers is sad and can become bitter. This civil war that David fought was difficult and lasted a few years. During this struggle, David and his men grew stronger but Israel and Ish-Bosheth grew weaker.  God prospered David because of His promise to David to become king over the whole nation. This was God’s plan to place David on the throne over all of Israel and Judah.

Abner, commander of Israel’s army changed his mind and wanted David to be king of all Israel. He made a pledge with David and all was well between them. Joab, the commander of David’s army was angry with Abner and didn’t trust him. Joab did a terrible thing—he killed Abner. David found out and mourned Abner’s death. He openly cried for the mighty warrior and would not eat all day. David didn’t punish Joab but he let the Lord do it and he predicted suffering for Joab and his family.

All the people saw David’s innocence in the matter and they grew to love David more. Everything David did pleased the people. Soon, all Israel wanted David to be their king.

Finally, they anointed David king over all Israel, as the Lord promised a long time ago when he was a lad. Remember when Samuel anointed David, just a boy, with oil? The Lord chose David. It took years to fulfill that promise but David became king over all Israel and Judah. The Lord kept his promise that David would become king and his family line would live forever.

About 500,000 mighty men of valor came to support David. There was a problem. Another group of people, Jebusites, lived in the capital city of Jerusalem. Saul had let these people invade and take over this city. David through his men easily conquered them. David set up his ruling kingdom there and Jerusalem became known as the City of David. They rebuilt the city. David became more and more powerful because the Lord was with him.

In a nearby country, Tyre, Hiram, the king, heard of David. Hiram sent gifts of carpenters, stonemasons, and cedar logs for David to use in making a palace. This showed David that the Lord had established him as king and exalted his kingdom for the sake of God’s people.

David obeyed the Lord and asked the Lord for guidance. The Lord prospered David. His kingdom became great and was well known throughout the world.

The Lord chose David and his family line for the Messiah to come. The Messiah is Jesus Christ the Lord. Years after David lived, Jesus Christ came to pay the penalty for our sin. You can read about that here

 

Please memorize this verse in either version:

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will not do? Or has He spoken, and will not make good? NKJV

Numbers 23: 19 God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? NLT