FAITH || Lesson 28 

FAITH

Text:  Hebrews 11

Lesson Twenty-eight – V.32

Examples of the ancients who were commended for their faith: (Cont’d.)

DAVID [Part 2]: V.32 – And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets,

David’s reverence for the LORD led to his zeal for the honor of the LORD and His people. 

(a) See 1 Samuel 17.  (Note V.10-11, 16, 22-25 – ¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”  ¹¹On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

¹⁶For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

²²David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and greeted his brothers.  ²³As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.  ²⁴When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.

²⁵Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his father’s family from taxes in Israel.”

Contrast V.26, 32 – ²⁶David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

³²David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”)

(b) See 1 Chronicles 13 – (V.1-4 – David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds.  ²He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us.  ³Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.”  ⁴The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people.)

However, verses 5-13 give details of the tragedy which occurred because they disobeyed the command of the Lord.  Note:  Numbers 4:15 – “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites are to come to do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the Tent of Meeting.

Numbers 7:9 – But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible.

Compare 1 Chronicles 15:1-3, 11-15, 25-26 – After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.  ²Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD chose them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before him forever.”

³David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to the place he had prepared for it.

¹¹Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites.  ¹²He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.  ¹³It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” ¹⁴So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.  ¹⁵And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

²⁵So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom, with rejoicing.  ²⁶Because God had helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams were sacrificed.)

[V.15 – And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.  Let us thank the Lord that He is instructing us to heed James 1:22 – Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.]

(c) See 2 Samuel 7 – (V.1-2 – After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ²he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”)

1 Chronicles 28:2 – King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.

I made plans to build it – See 1 Chronicles 22.

Note 1 Chronicles 29:1-5 – Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the LORD God.  ²With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God–gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble–all of these in large quantities.  ³Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:  ⁴three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, ⁵for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?”

Let us thank the Lord that He is using this lesson to urge us to emulate David’s zeal.  Romans 12:11 – Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.