We continue to creep along in the 32nd verse of Hebrews chapter 11 where we see specifically 6 different names listed here as people of faith. We have looked at 4 of these and now we come to the last two mentioned. We will take each of these last two in separate studies because of the contents that they both have in their life. These last two that we will study is listed here as David and Samuel. Hebrews 11:32 says And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I recount Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, as well as David and Samuel and the prophets.
For this study we will look at David to see what caused the writer of Hebrews to include him as a man of faith. Just like the other 4 listed in this verse before him, David does not have any information attached to his name in our Hebrews text so we will go into the Old Testament, to the original stories to see what great faith David had throughout his life. As we approach this study on David we will look at his life a little different than we have some of the others simply because there is so much that we could talk about concerning the faith that David had. We of course have David’s failures as a husband, king and person through acts of sinful desires that led to adultery, lies, evil plans and murder but we will not focus on those because it is not those sins that David is known by but rather his faith in God.
Let’s look at some details of this great man of faith as we look at our first point.
1.By faith David displays PATIENCE.
Look with me at 1 Samuel 24:4-7 Then the men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good in your eyes.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 And it happened afterward that David’s heart struck him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of Yahweh that I should do this thing to my lord, the anointed of Yahweh, to send forth my hand against him, since he is the anointed of Yahweh.” 7 And David tore his men to pieces with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.
I start here with the patience of David to show the faith he had in God because it is this that shows his true character. There are times in David’s life that we could definitely see bad decisions, impatience and the lack of concern for others but overall David had extreme patience to not take the throne when he had the opportunity. To build to the point I want to make, we will take a journey backwards in the life of David at a time of when he was in the age range of 10 to 15 years old.
The first king of Israel who was Saul, had been disobedient in the battle with the Amalekites, you can read about this in 1 Samuel 15. It was this act of disobedience that brought about the rejection of Saul being king over Israel. Even though God had rejected him as king, the people were still committed to Saul for many more years. He would not give up his throne but stubbornly pushed against what Samuel had spoken to him concerning this rejection from God.
This led God to anoint another king who we know as David. We see this anointing of David in 1 Samuel 16:1-13 but it would not be until 15 to 20 years later before David would actually ascend on the throne as king. Through these years many different things happen that we will look at in some detail but his patience is what I want to focus on here.
First we see that David becomes Saul’s armor bearer/personal musician to soothe Saul’s temper. This led him to become a mighty warrior after his defeat of Goliath that we will look at a little deeper in another point. David prospered as a great warrior which led to Saul’s jealousy. This jealousy is what started to fuel Saul’s anger and suspicion towards David concerning the throne. Saul made David a commander where he would not be seen as much by the people but this did not change his prosperous achievements. In fact this led the people to love him even more.
No matter the many attempts to make David look bad or to look like a failure, God always made David succeed. In all of what was happening God was with David and David had faith in God. David knew that he was anointed king but he did not seek to take the throne his own way. Saul tried to trick David, kill David and chased David until his last breath. But through it all David did not put his faith in his own ability to kill Saul but in God to allow him to be on the throne when God decided it to be.
David wrote many Psalms that we could use to show his faith in God in such difficult circumstances but for this study I want to look at portions of Psalm 59. In this Psalm, David clearly is crying out to God for deliverance from the men of Saul that is actively chasing him down to kill him. Psalm 59 starts out with these words in verse 1-2:
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from workers of iniquity
And save me from men of bloodshed.
David speaks of the ongoing, day after day hunt for his life from these men. Yet in spite of this constant turmoil David continues to have faith in God.
Psalm 59:9-11 says Because of his strength I will watch for You,
For God is my stronghold.
10 My God in His lovingkindness will approach me;
God will let me look triumphantly upon my foes.
11 Do not slay them, or my people will forget;
Make them wander about by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, our shield.
Even though there seems to be no end in sight from these men that seek his life, David continues to have faith by showing his patience in the situation.
Psalm 59:14-17 says They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
15 They wander about for food
And growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength;
And I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning,
For You have been my stronghold
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.
During this time we see back in the verses we read from 1 Samuel 24:4-7 that David had the opportunity to kill his enemy and take what many would say was rightfully his, that is the throne of Israel. He had many other opportunities as well but refused to do things his own way. He waited in patience for God to defeat his enemies and give him the promises that was given to him. In this David had patience and it is this that shows his faith in God.
This was just one aspect of his faith and now we will look at one more for this study. The truth is we could probably spend several studies looking at the life of David and the faith he had but we will look now at just one more in our next point.
2.By faith David PROSPERS.
Look with me at 1 Samuel 18:14 that says And David was prospering in all his ways, and Yahweh was with him.
*There is nothing that David did that can be attributed to his own goodness or power. When David faced the giant Goliath, he did not go in his own ability but rather in the power of God. David’s strength did not rest in his own ability but rested in the source of his abilities who is God. When David heard Goliath taunting the men of war from Israel, he was offended that someone would think that they could come up against the people of God. David says in 1 Samuel 17:26b For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the battle lines of the living God?”
David again when he is being questioned before Saul about his ability to go against such a great warrior as Goliath says in 1 Samuel 17:36-37a says Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has reproached the battle lines of the living God.” 37 And David said, “Yahweh, who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Then finally in this great story when David is being taunted by Goliath he says in 1 Samuel 17:45-47 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have reproached.* 46 This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
As we know, David kills Goliath with just one stone that struck Goliath in the forehead. David did not claim power in his own strength, he did not look to be applauded because of something he was able to do on his own but placed his trust in God. Now as I mentioned before we know that there were times when David did this in his life but those times only ever brought turmoil and punishment from God. When David went in the power of God, solely for the glory of God then his way was prosperous.
Many times we see said of David that he prospered(1 Samuel 18:5),that he was prospering in all his ways(1 Samuel 18:14), that he was prospering greatly(1 Samuel 18:15), that his name was highly esteemed(1 Samuel 18:30) but this was always because of God working in David.
In fact 1 Samuel 18:28a says Then Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David.
The fact is that David knew that it was God that had given him this power. Even when confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin with Bathsheba, he did not make excuses but owned his sin. David said in 2 Samuel 12:13 “I have sinned against Yahweh.”
He knew his power came from Yahweh but his weakness was his own. David prospered not in his own strength but only in God. I want to close with sharing the words of David from another Psalm that we have of his. These words can be seen from either Psalm 18:1-50 or 2 Samuel 22:1-51. The 2 Samuel account says in verse 1 And David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
This is only listed as a heading in Psalm 18 but this really gives us insight to David’s view of the victories over his enemies.
Psalm 18:1-6 says
He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, my strength.”
2 Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encompassed me,
And the torrents of vileness terrified me.
5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called upon Yahweh,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
This shows us that David knew who it was that gave him these victories. He continues in Psalm 18:14-19
He sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and threw them into confusion.
15 Then the channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O Yahweh,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But Yahweh was my support.
19 He brought me forth also into a broad place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
Then finally at the end of this Psalm he says in Psalm 18:46-50
Yahweh lives, and blessed be my rock;
And let the God of my salvation be lifted high,
47 The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.
48 Who delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh,
And I will sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great salvation to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
To David and his seed forever.
The life of David reflects for us a person that even through sinfulness, selfishness and trouble that he continued to know that the ultimate source of his strength only rested in God. Once again we look at David as some extra-ordinary person but just like him, we sin, we are selfish and we face trouble. It is in those times that prove the reality of whether or not you are a man or woman of faith as David was.
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