This is an excerpt from my sermon series on Hope.

If you have gone to church anytime at all, you have certainly heard of King David. You may remember the story of Uriah too.

Let’s look at both to connect the dots here on how we learn about hope from David.

David is the shepherd boy who is foretold to become the King of Israel.

1st & 2nd Samuel tell David’s story… as do 1st & 2nd Chronicles. Over 50 of the Psalms are attributed to David.His son Solomon, also mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy, is credited with the Proverbs and the Song of Solomon.

Let’s just briefly look at David’s story… very much in summary…

David is a key figure in the history of Jesus and, therefore in our history. His story is our story.

David, again, starts out in life as a humble shepherd boy. He is foretold to become the King of Israel and, when given the opportunity, takes a stand against a giant named Goliath of the Philistine camp.

David armed with hope… a sling and a stone. Kills the giant. He becomes a hero.

David is called into the service of the King, King Saul. Saul eventually becomes very jealous of David. At one point, he chucks a spear at him. David lives on the run. Saul pursues him for years.

After waiting over two decades, David becomes King of Israel.

He has an affair with a woman named Bathsheba. She gets pregnant and, to try and cover up his sin, he plots to have her husband, Uriah. He succeeds by having Uriah put in the front lines of the battle where the fighting is worst… then, orders the other warriors to pull back and leave Uriah to perish.

Eventually, David’s act of sin is found out. From Bathsheba, David births a son, Solomon.

Most of us don’t realize that King Solomon, the wise, is born from this act of deceit… adultery and murderous plot… we completely forget that this story is also a part of the lineage of Christ.

Again, hard to say “God could never forgive me for what I’ve done…” when we realize that the great great great great… however many generations… great grandfather of Jesus Christ was guilty of adultery and a murderous plot against an innocent man… a plot to seduce his wife and cover it up.

In that, we find truth for all… we see integrity in the story… and it gives us, all of us sinners a hope in the future.

David’s sins get found out. And he pays a heavy price for it. Partially at the lost of moral authority in his family, he finds himself on the run again. His son Absalom plots to kill him and David finds himself on the run for another half a decade or so.

Look… David’s life is marked by war and battle and sin and deceit and despair… so much going on… yet… also victory and righteousness and faithfulness and despite the battles and turmoil and ups and downs… we know David had hope.

We know because, of the Psalms which David wrote, several are in direct response to the challenges he faces.

Rather than say he is an example of hope, I think we can learn a lot about his hope and his perspective when we let him speak for himself. So, let’s just look at some of the Psalms David wrote in this new context… understanding what he was enduring while writing.

Open your Bible and read the following Psalms in light of this story. As you do, try to put yourself in David’s shoes.

• Psalm 57 – written while on run from King Saul
• Psalm 51 – written in response to his adultery with Bathsheba
• Psalm 3 – written when he fled from his son Absalom
• Psalm 23 – written despite all of this chaos

Is the message of hope not clear here? It permeates David’s writings.

Likewise, it challenges us to see that we can have hope despite the battles we face in life.