David was crowned king twice while living in the city of Hebron, the then main city of Judah, located south of Jerusalem (1; 2 Samuel 2:1-4). Only Judah crowned him at first. He was king of Judah in Hebron for seven years and six months. David’s second crowning was for all Israel. (1-3; 2 Samuel 5:1-5) All Israel attended the second crowning. Yet, before David reigned, he lived a very hard and troubled life. He had many misfortunes and setbacks.
David was the youngest of many brothers, a runt probably born from an illegitimate conception. His brothers and his parents thought little of him, giving him the most unwanted family job, watching sheep. (1 Samuel 16:1-3)
When Israel went to war, he was not sent while his older brothers were because his family didn’t think much of his abilities. (1 Samuel 17:14, 28) After David became a successful warrior, Saul, the king of Israel, tried repeatedly to kill him. David eventually had to go into exile and live in caves and the shabby desert town of Ziklag. Ziklag was outside Israel’s territory. (1 Samuel 27:6)
Year after year, David had to struggle to find food and shelter. He lived a miserable life for most of his life before he became king of Israel. Through all this, David did not lose faith in God. He prayed continually and wrote many now-famous psalms. The subject of his psalms concerned the Lord and his trust in God. David, through hardship, grew in faith and in character.
No matter year and year, when life is filled with misfortunes and setbacks, I should be only concerned that my master asks me every day, “Did you live true to your conscience today? Did you act in the character of Christ?”
