If we look at the scriptures that speak of the time when David finally became king, we see that he had been anointed, or appointed, at a young age (possibly age 17), chosen, and designated to be the next king quite a few years before he actually came to the throne as ruler over the nation. There are lessons for us in his story.

After King Saul failed to obey God (See 1 Samuel 15), the Lord regretted that Saul was king. He sent the prophet Samuel to find a man after God’s own heart. God purposed to find a man after His own heart to be king over His people.

1 Samuel 13:14 “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.’”

This man after God’s own heart would be a picture, a forerunner, or type of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and his kingdom would be a type of God’s kingdom in the earth.

So two things are established here:  1. God looked for a man after His own heart to lead His people, and 2. That person would have an everlasting kingdom. Jesus came from the lineage of David. He is the one the scriptures speak of that connects the two kings and their kingdoms.

David had been chosen to be king before he destroyed Goliath. The prophet Samuel came and appointed David as king, but David didn’t immediately ascend to the throne. This is a foreshadowing of our hidden King Jesus: he does not force His will on men. He must be accepted by men before He will visibly rule.

King Saul became very jealous of David because of his popularity with the people, and tried to kill him. Because of that, David was forced to flee into the wilderness. While David was in exile, men began to come to him. They were drawn to him in support of him. They became his mighty warriors. There are many parallels in David’s life to our Messiah Jesus in Old Testament history.

The young David, not yet king, and his men went through many trials and tribulations in the wilderness. They became battle-hardened men as they encountered much wickedness, both from enemies and from Saul and his people.

Then Saul was killed and his son Jonathan was also killed, the one who would have been Saul’s heir. David was recognized as king by only one tribe, Judah. David reigned from Hebron over Judah for seven years and six months. One of Saul’s sons was made king by the people to rule over the rest of the nation. But that son died, and then the elders and tribes of the rest of Israel came to David and made him king over the rest of the tribes of Israel.

David did not make war against these tribes to force them to recognize him, although he knew he was appointed to be king over the entire nation. He never usurped the authority of Saul or the will of men. This is a lesson to us. David gave the people time to come to the knowledge that he was the appointed king…just like Jesus Christ does.

He waits for us… But as the world is spiraling into ever darker, more evil times, the pressure is on all of mankind to make a decision. Will you remain in the kingdom of darkness or will you choose to come into the light and the kingdom of God, to the place of rescue provided by Him? He loves you, and He is waiting for you to choose Him.

John 3:17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Isaiah 25:9 “And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”