Introduction

Introduction
A "Man in Full"
The British would call him “a man in full.” David, the Old Testament’s supremely attractive, yet enormously flawed, hero, is simply larger-than-life. He is a fierce warrior and a sensitive poet, a passionate worshiper and a raging sinner, a loyal friend and a conniving scoundrel. At his best, David simply radiates goodness, providing a model of godly manhood unsurpassed until we meet the Lord Jesus himself. At his worst, he supplies us with the Bible’s soberest warnings about the possibility and life-altering consequences of sin among those who have walked nearest the Lord.
Yet even in his darkest moments, David shows us how God makes great saints out of guilty sinners, through the grace of repentance and by oceans of blood-bought mercy. David’s story, which this book follows, teaches us to praise Yahweh as the One who “redeemed my life out of every adversity (2 Sam 4:9; 1 Kings 1:29).”
Yet even in his darkest moments, David shows us how God makes great saints out of guilty sinners, through the grace of repentance and by oceans of blood-bought mercy. David’s story, which this book follows, teaches us to praise Yahweh as the One who “redeemed my life out of every adversity (2 Sam 4:9; 1 Kings 1:29).”
David's Rise
Many of us know the headlines of David’s career, but may be less familiar with the details of 2 Samuel. The early chapters (1–10) pick up where 1 Samuel left off, with David rising to the kingdom through humility, integrity, and patient faith in God. Here is David at his best and brightest, an imperfect man who is nevertheless “alive to God (Rom 6:11),” and thus vibrantly different from everyone around him. In turn, God establishes David’s steps up the long, steep climb to his destiny. As king, David presides over Israel’s age of Camelot: “ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them, like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth (2 Sam 23:3–4).”
David's Ruin
The brilliance of David’s early reign leaves us unprepared for his tragic fall, detailed in the book’s middle chapters (11–20). Like two kings before him, Saul and Adam, humble David exalts himself to the place of God, and brings down ruin on himself, his family, and his kingdom. At his lowest point, David’s own son, Absalom, rises against him. We find David, now at age 70, in a familiar position: betrayed and abandoned, hunted by enemies, fleeing into the wilderness, with nothing to rely on but God. But in his desperation, the old king’s faith revives, and he is delivered.
David's Redemption
The final chapters (21–24) portray a David wrung out like a dish rag and limping to the end of his long, stormy, magnificent life. He does so leaning on the One he has learned to call “mine:” “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 and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies (2 Sam 22:3–4).” In 2 Samuel, David shows us what it means to make our way through the real world, upheld by God’s covenant love. By the end, I pray that we will all know what it means to call this God “mine.”
I am grateful to look back on all those who have helped me to understand and apply 2 Samuel through the years, especially Dale Ralph Davis, Eugene Peterson, and Tommy Nelson. But it was my wonderful mom and dad who first read David’s stories to me, and so gave me a friend with whom I have been walking ever since. Thank you!
I am grateful to look back on all those who have helped me to understand and apply 2 Samuel through the years, especially Dale Ralph Davis, Eugene Peterson, and Tommy Nelson. But it was my wonderful mom and dad who first read David’s stories to me, and so gave me a friend with whom I have been walking ever since. Thank you!
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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
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