DAVID: WHY WAITING TO RULE ISRAEL

(Message by Tanny Keng)

1. Why did David have to wait to take over the throne from Saul?  Did it have anything to do with Atonement and the sins of his fathers? a) Like the rest of us he suffered most of his life because of his own sins (adultery with Bathsheba, murder of Uriah her husband, and generally not disciplining his children ). However, the long waiting to become king of Israel had little to do with the sins of his fathers. Rather, before God blesses someone or gives them authority of any kind, He tests them over a period of time to see if they will be worthy of the blessing or calling. God looks on the heart of man and not on the outward appearance, as he re-iterated to Samuel when he was told to anoint a new king: "Now the Lord said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons."   "And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." But the Lord said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you." So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, "Do you come peaceably?" And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.  "So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!" But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' " (1Samuel 16:1-7 NKJV)  b) As near as we can tell, from the time that Samuel anointed David king until the time he was actually inducted into office, there was a period of at least seven years. During that time, God tested him, who was almost continually taunted and harassed by Saul. God eventually concluded that He should not have chosen Saul to be king over Israel because Saul was not obedient to God's commands. Though he continued to have many trials during his lifetime, he became the greatest king of Israel, ruling for forty (40) years (from 1010 to 970 B.C.) then dying at the age of seventy. He will eventually rule over the twelve tribes of Israel in the coming new world under Jesus Christ:. "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.   "DAVID My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant DAVID shall be their prince forever. " ' " (Ezekiel 37:21-25) c) And each of the twelve apostles will likewise rule over one of the twelve tribes of Israel in the coming new world (Matthew 19:28; Luke 22:28-30).

The End ...