The Faithful King:
David’s Tent
(Download this study here.)
By: Peter Bales
No. 5, November 26, 2023
The Israelites had rejected God and asked for a human king to lead them. They said they “wanted to be like all the other nations.” (See 1 Samuel 8) God let them have King Saul, but later rejected him because he was not following God’s ways.
Read what happened:
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Sam 13:14)
Here's what Paul says when he tells the story in Acts:
“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ (Acts 13:22)
HIS HEART
Those verses above said that David was a “man after God’s own heart.”
- What do you think that means?
- Can you think of any stories about David to illustrate how he had God’s heart?
One thing is for sure. David didn’t have God’s heart because he was perfect! In fact, David is pretty famous for his failures. David wanted to do things God’s way. Let’s look into this more…
HIS PLACE
Throughout the stories about David, he had a huge respect for God’s authority. He was anointed as king in 1 Samuel 16- yet Saul was still the king! In fact, David would have to wait for around 15 years before he would be made king. In the meantime, Saul wanted to kill David, and David was often running and hiding in the desert. Still, there were a couple of times when David had a chance to kill Saul (1 Sam. 24 & 26). Both times, David didn’t want to take his destiny into his own hands. He let God decide how to deal with Saul and move David into the Kingship.
- David KNEW that he was going to be king and Saul was trying to kill him. Why do you think he didn’t kill Saul when he had those chances?
- What are ways that we manipulate things to get our way, rather than trust God to take care of it?
- Do you think David should have done it differently?
HIS TENT?
David is known for being a passionate worshipper of God. The Ark of the Covenant represented God’s presence on earth. It had been taken by the Philistines in battle, then returned to a small village in Israel. David wanted to bring it to Jerusalem and did so with much dancing! Let’s read about it. READ 1 Chronicles 15:25-29.
- Why do you think David’s actions were so upsetting to people?
- What does this tell us about David’s heart?
READ 1 Chronicles 16:1-6
David pitched a tent for the Ark in Jerusalem and he appointed people to worship there. This is a different tent than the tabernacle where the sacrifices were done as required by the law. We see this in 1 Chronicles 16: 37-40. One tent is with the Ark in Jerusalem, and the other is in Gibeon, a city about 5 miles away!
There was something about David’s Tent that was in God’s heart. Later, the prophet Amos said that God wanted to restore David’s Tent (Amos 9:11-12). Then in Acts, James stands up during a council in Jerusalem and references Amos saying:
“After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things things known from long ago.” (Acts 15:16-18)
Consider:
- Who was able to come to David’s Tent? How is this different to the other tent?
- What do you think James meant, when he said God was restoring David’s Tent?
- What does God’s acceptance of David’s Tent show us about God’s Heart?
David’s Tent could also describe David’s household or family. God also restored David’s family line through Jesus! God is faithful. He is true to himself.
David caught a glimpse of it! But now it is fulfilled and available to us!