at Hillsdale College, March 28. 2019
featuring
Ben Cuthbert, Pastor of College Baptist Church
Adam Rick, Rector of Holy Trinity Parish and College Chaplain
Bob Snyder, Assoc. Pastor at Countryside Bible Church and Lecturer in Religion

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In this lesson we conclude our series on King David, looking at the period after the consolidation of his reign in Jerusalem. During this period, there's a significant shift in the narrative, with a focus now on David's mistakes and failures. Despite the contrast with the earlier period of David's live, it is in this season that we learn what David is truly made of, and why God esteems him so highly. Even in his weakness, he is humble and vulnerable before God, completely abandoned to his will through faith in his goodness. We also explore briefly the deep insight into David's heart and his brand of faith so pleasing to God by looking at the psalms. In all these things and more, we see how God through David prepared the world for the arrive of his Son Jesus, the heir of David, who looks so often like his ancient ancestor. This is at the last the highest tribute God pays to David, who becomes the most significant foreshadow of Christ in all the Old Testament.

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In this lesson, we look at King David's rise from harassed fugitive to king of all Israel. We see how God protected David even from himself while he lived in exile, preventing him from staining his hands with blood and giving grounds to the accusation of regicide and usurper. This dynamic is especially explored in his interaction with Abigail, and his non-presence at the final battle where Saul and Jonathan are killed. David also has clean hands in the destruction of Saul's house in his interactions with Saul's chief commander Abner, Ish-Bosheth ben Saul, and Mephibosheth ben Jonathan. Finally we see the climax of David's exaltation in his conquest of Jerusalem and procession into the capital with the ark. In the latter episode, we see David's humility before God, as he learns from his mistakes.

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In this lesson we dive into the life of King David, Fr. Adam's favorite figure from the Old Testament.

Two quick caveats about our time with David:

1. Unlike our study with the Joseph, in which we were able to go into some depth on most every passage about the Patriarch, we will not be able to be as thorough with David. His life is the focus of two whole books of the Bible, First and Second Samuel, and three days is not nearly enough time to pay attention to everything. In a similar reason, we will not be able to spend hardly any time on the Psalms, over a third of which David is said to be the author. Our focus will be primarily on David's heart toward God.
2. The story of David is way bigger than David. To him is given the Messianic line, the promise of an eternal heir who will be God Incarnate, Jesus Christ. For that reason, David looms large in the overall story of salvation, and we will not be focusing as much on that aspect of his life. Again, we will be spending our time focusing on the man himself, and what we can learn from him about faithfulness to God.

That said, in this lesson, we look at David's contest with Saul, and what that tells us about the kind of faith that God admires. We begin with David's anointing by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16, and we conclude with David on the run, hiring himself out as a mercenary to Achish, king of the Philistines, in 1 Samuel 27.

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The below file is an audio recording of the devotional study Fr. Adam led for the Hillsdale College InterVarsity Spring Break Mission Team on Monday night, March 11, when Holy Trinity Parish hosted them for dinner, worship, and teaching.

The focus text for the study was Romans 12:1-2. Of additional interest is Charles Taylor's magnum opus, "A Secular Age."
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Audio File: