David’s hills and valleys

David lived in the Middle East about 3,000 years ago. There is an account of his life in 1 Samuel 16 to 1 Kings 2 and in 1 Chronicles 11-29 of the Bible. And David wrote many of the Psalms. The hills and valleys in his life are shown in the graph.

Hill: King Saul disobeyed God by making a burnt offering to God, something that only a priest was meant to do (1 Sam. 13:8-14). Because of this God had chosen a new king over Israel. The prophet-priest Samuel declared that David was the future king (1 Sam. 16:13).

Valley: David’s oldest brother “burned with anger at him” (1 Sam. 17:28).

Hill: David killed the Philistine giant Goliath (1 Sam. 17:50).

Valley: King Saul was “very angry” with David and attempted to murder him with a spear (1 Sam. 18:8, 29). Saul was David’s enemy until he died.

Hill: The king’s son Jonathan helped protect David from Saul.

Valley: Saul tried to kill David again (1 Sam. 19:9-16).

Then there were many valleys and hills not shown on this graph as Saul pursued David across Israel …..

Hill: Finally, David spared Saul’s life when he creeped into his camp and borrowed his spear (1 Sam. 26:1-25).

Valley: The Amalekites captured his town of Ziklag while David and his men were away (1 Sam. 30:1-6).

Hill: David destroyed the Amalekites and recovered what they had taken (1 Sam. 30:16-20). Soon after Saul was killed in battle and David was anointed king over Judah.

Valley: Then there was a long war between Saul’s army and David’s men (2 Sam. 3:1).

Hill: Then David became king over all Israel (2 Sam. 5:3). He captured Jerusalem and made it the capital. And God promised him a lasting dynasty and gave him victory over all his enemies (2 Sam. 7:11 – 8:14).

Valley: David committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed in war. Then God disciplined him – the baby died (2 Sam. 12:13) and three of his sons died violently. It took two years for David to return to fellowship with the Lord via confessing his sin.

Hill: David had another son, Solomon who would build the temple in Jerusalem (2 Sam. 12:24). David prepared the plans for the temple (1 Chron. 28:1-21- 29:9).

Valley: David mourned after there was incest and murder in his family (2 Sam. 13:1-39).

Valley: David’s son Absalom conspired to take over the throne (2 Sam. 15). So, David escaped from Jerusalem. But Absolom died in the conflict. And David mourned the death of his son. David returned to Jerusalem, but the nation was still divided.

Hill: Before he died, David made Solomon king of Israel (1 Ki. 1:28 – 2:12).

So David had plenty of hills and valleys.

Lessons for us

When David was a fugitive hiding from Saul and his men, he still respected Saul as the king of Israel even though he had opportunities to kill him. This shows his humility and his strong trust in God. This humility and trust gave him resilience.

David committed adultery and murder. But he confessed his sins and repented and described the benefits of this in Psalm 32 and 51. Likewise, when the Jews were in a big “valley”after the Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah called them to confess and repent of their sin and rebellion against God (Lam. 3:40-42). Unconfessed sin affects our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Whereas confession enables resilience.

Unlike the kings before (Saul) and after (Solomon) him, David recovered from his failures. Let’s follow his example of conviction, confession, and repentance which provides forgiveness, restoration and resilience.

David wrote, “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me” (Ps. 23:4NLT). This pictures a shepherd taking his sheep through a dark ravine where predators might lurk. He acknowledged God’s protection as he “walks through” a difficult situation. Awareness of God’s protection enables resilience.

Written, July 2023

Also see:
The dangers of backsliding
Failure isn’t final