TEEN TREE 
OF LIFE
God’s Goodness
Part 8
May 23, 2021
Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called Rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1 JOH 1:9: If we confess [name] our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
As we learned last week, because of his strong faith and deep love for God, David was considered by God to be a man after His Own Heart. Another reason for this was that David knew God and His Word which He magnifies above His Own Name. David himself wrote about this in PSA 138:2 (The Passion Translation): I bow down before your divine presence and bring you my deepest worship as I experience your tender love and your living truth. For your Word and the fame of your name have been magnified above all else! He knew the importance of God’s Word and so should you!
David also wrote about the importance of obeying and following God’s Commands. This is so important in our Christian Walk, too. Look at what he wrote in PSA 119:47–48 (New International Readers Version): I take delight in obeying your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands that I love. I do this so that I may think deeply about your orders. It might be difficult for new believers in Christ to understand David’s “delight” in following orders but as you mature, you’ll understand the freedom and peace it brings.
Although his life was marked by seasons of great peace and prosperity, it also included times of fear and despair. But throughout his life, David was keenly aware of God’s Goodness, and relied on it in times of adversity and prosperity, and never forgot to thank Him for all of it.
The Message Bible Translation of PSA 100:4, says so much about David:
On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.
Don’t you think this translation sounds like something that a young boy who stood up to the nine-foot Goliath would say?
Defeating Goliath marked the beginning of David’s life as a warrior. Wherever Saul sent David, God went with him, and he had great success. David loved God’s Law and sought to follow it exactly. He is one of the greatest role models for Christians, especially today in a world in which so many people don’t want to obey laws – let alone God’s Word. Still, despite many bad life choices and extremely sinful living, that amazing, young boy grew up to be king!!
Look at 2 Sam 5:1-5 (The Message Bible): David was thirty years old when he became king and ruled for forty years. In Hebron he ruled Judah for seven and a half years. In Jerusalem he ruled all Israel and Judah for thirty-three years. Before long, all the tribes of Israel approached David in Hebron and said, “Look at us—your own flesh and blood! In time past when Saul was our king, you were the one who really ran the country. Even then God said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel and you’ll be the prince.’” All the leaders of Israel met with King David at Hebron, and the king made a treaty with them in the presence of God. And so they anointed David king over Israel.
During Saul’s reign, Jerusalem was captured, and the Ark of the Covenant was in Judah. When David became king, he retook the fortress of Zion (which became known as the City of David), conquered Jerusalem, and returned the Ark to the city. As king of Israel, David won numerous battles and made Israel a formidable nation, expanding its territory and military might, all while pointing his people to God. And God’s Goodness!
As we get ready to look at David’s son Solomon and God’s Goodness as it relates to his life, let us finish looking at his father with one of his Psalms:
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
You have made sure that children and infants praise you.
Their praise is a wall that stops the talk of your enemies.
I think about the heavens. I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars that you have set in place.
What are human beings that you think about them?
What is a son of man that you take care of him?
You have made them a little lower than the angels.
You placed on them a crown of glory and honor.
You made human beings’ rule over everything your hands created.
You put everything under their control. They rule over all flocks and herds and over the wild animals. They rule over the birds in the sky and over the fish in the ocean. They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
PSALM 8 (New International Reader’s Version)
Remember that, as a young boy, David was responsible for watching his father’s sheep. It was common back then for the family’s older child (rather than an adult) to stay with the sheep through the night. So, it is safe to say that David would have had plenty of opportunities to look up at the night sky, while he was shepherding his father’s flocks, out in the pasture lands surrounding Bethlehem.
With that in mind, look at Verse 3: I think about the heavens. I think about what your fingers have created. I think about the moon and stars that you have set in place. Can’t you envision a young David, looking up at the vast star-filled sky? Imagine what the stars and the moon looked like to him? Even today, with all the city lights in our way, the stars and the moon are such an amazement! With such love and faith in God at such a young age, maybe the spark of the idea for this Psalm started way back then!
In Verse 4 David wrote: What are human beings that you think about them? What is a son of man that you take care of him? With these words, David describes his total understanding of God’s Infinite Goodness! He knew how Good God is, way back when he was a 15-year-old, taking on Goliath. Throughout his life, he never forgot that God The Father has the highest admiration for all of mankind. And we should be confident of that, too. Never forget that God is always thinking about you – not because of who you are, or what you do, but because of Who He is – Perfect Goodness!!
If you look at David’s life, you will recognize that there were many parallels in his life to that of Jesus Christ. Both were born in the humble town of Bethlehem. Both were of low estate on earth, having no rank to boast of, and no wealth. Both were shepherds — David cared for sheep and The Lord Jesus Christ cares for humankind, whom He calls His Sheep! Both were/are kings. David subdued his foes and had a kingdom stretching from shore to shore. Jesus was born a King and has an everlasting Kingdom.
Sadly, by the end of King David’s extraordinary life, he had lost touch with Israelite society and lost political control, as well. By then, David had fathered many sons (approximately 20) and one of them, whose name was Adonijah, attempted to take over as king. Adonijah’s mother was Haggith, David’s fifth wife. After the death of another of David’s sons (Absalom), Adonijah became the rightful heir to the throne. But David’s wife Bathsheba had other plans for who would become king and they included her own son, Solomon.
{to be continued}