Story 24
David, Solomon and the Temple
1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2 Samuel 2:4-7; 7:1-16;
1 Kings 1:29-1 Kings 7:51; 1 King 11:1- 12:20
The Bridge: After he told Saul that God would remove him as king, “Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul” (1Samuel 15:35).
The Story:
- “Now the LORD said to Samuel, ‘How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons’” (1Samuel 16:1). This family was from the tribe of Judah. Jesse had eight sons.
- Jesse had each of his seven oldest sons go before Samuel. Samuel thought Eliab, Jesse’s oldest, was the one. “But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1Samuel 16:7). The same thing happened to the remainder of the seven (1 Samuel 16:8-10).
- Samuel asked Jesse if he had any other sons. Jesse said he had a younger boy, David, who was out in the field tending the animals, and Jesse sent for him. When David returned home and Samuel saw him, “the LORD said, ‘Arise, anoint him; for this is he’” (1 Samuel 16:12). When Samuel anointed him to be king, God’s spirit came mightily upon him (1 Samuel 16:13).
- David became one of the greatest warrior kings ever. He defeated a Philistine giant named Goliath and led His people to victory over all his enemies (1 Samuel 17-19). Because David loved the Lord, God told David that through him He would fulfill His promise to send one who would save the people and rule forever (2 Samuel 7:16, cf. Jeremiah 23:5-6). King David wanted to build a temple for God, but God told him that since he had been a man of war, his son Solomon would build it (2 Samuel 7:1-16).
- After King David died, his son Solomon began his reign ruling in the wisdom of God (1 Kings. 3:9, 4:29). He built a glorious temple which was similar to the plan for the tabernacle that God gave Moses (1 Kings 6:1-38). However, over time, Solomon allowed the temptations of the world to cause him to stray from God (1 Kings 11:4). After Solomon’s reign, the nation of Israel was split into two kingdoms; Judah and Israel (1 Kings 11:1-12:20).
How does what God did in King David’s life relate to our Salvation?
