Bible Timeline · About 1010 to 970 BC

David Becomes King and God Promises an Eternal Throne

After Saul died, David ruled Judah from Hebron, then all Israel from Jerusalem, which he made his capital. He brought the ark to the city, and God promised that David's throne would last forever. David's sin with Bathsheba brought deep sorrow, but his repentance gave us Psalm 51.

Read it in the Bible: 2 Samuel 5:1-12 2 Samuel 6:1-23 2 Samuel 7:1-29 2 Samuel 11:1-12:25 Psalm 51:1-19 Luke 1:32-33

David became king of Israel about 1010 BC, after Saul died. He ruled Judah from Hebron for seven and a half years, then captured Jerusalem and ruled all Israel from there for thirty three more, until about 970 BC. He brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem, and God made him a promise that changed history. David's family would rule forever. That promise, in 2 Samuel 7, is called the Davidic covenant, and the New Testament says it is fulfilled in Jesus. David also fell badly with Bathsheba, and his honest repentance is one reason the Bible calls him a man after God's own heart.

How Did David Become King?

David had been anointed years earlier as a teenager, but he waited. He refused to kill Saul even when he could have. When Saul died on Mount Gilboa, the tribe of Judah made David king at Hebron. The other tribes followed Saul's son Ish Bosheth, and there were years of conflict. Eventually all the tribes came to David.

David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. 2 Samuel 5:4

He reigned seven years and six months in Hebron over Judah, then thirty three years in Jerusalem over all Israel and Judah, 2 Samuel 5:5.

Why Did David Make Jerusalem the Capital?

Jerusalem was a Canaanite fortress held by the Jebusites. It sat right on the border between Judah and the northern tribes and belonged to neither, which made it a smart choice for a king trying to unite a divided nation. It was also built on a hill with steep sides. The Jebusites were so confident that they told David even the blind and lame could keep him out. David's men got in anyway, likely through the water shaft, 2 Samuel 5:6 to 8. David captured the fortress of Zion, and it became known as the City of David.

How Did the Ark Come to Jerusalem?

David wanted God at the center of the nation, so he set out to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. The first try went wrong. They carried it on a cart instead of on the shoulders of the Levites as God's law required, and when the oxen stumbled, a man named Uzzah reached out to steady it and died, 2 Samuel 6:6 to 7. David was angry and afraid and left the ark at a nearby house for three months.

The second time they did it God's way, and David worshiped with everything he had.

And David, wearing a linen ephod, danced with all his might before Yahweh, 2 Samuel 6:14

His wife Michal, Saul's daughter, watched from a window and despised him for making a scene. David's answer was basically, I was dancing for God, not for you, and I will get even more undignified than this, 2 Samuel 6:21 to 22. Generations of worship leaders have quoted him since.

What Is the Davidic Covenant?

Once David was settled in his palace, something bothered him.

he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 2 Samuel 7:2

David wanted to build God a house, a temple. That night God told Nathan no. David's son would build the temple. Then God turned it around. David would not build God a house. God would build David a house, meaning a dynasty, a royal family line.

And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 7:12 to 13

Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:16

Solomon built the temple, but Solomon died. David's line ruled Judah for about four hundred years until Babylon ended it in 586 BC. So how could the throne last forever? The prophets said a future son of David would come and reign without end, Isaiah 9:7. That hope is the root of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah.

What Happened With David and Bathsheba?

In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 11:1

That last line is the warning sign. David was where he was not supposed to be. From his roof he saw a woman bathing, Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his most loyal soldiers. David took her, and she became pregnant. He tried to cover it up by bringing Uriah home, but Uriah was too honorable to sleep in his own house while his fellow soldiers were in the field. So David had him placed at the front of the fiercest battle and left to die.

God sent the prophet Nathan, who told David a story about a rich man who stole a poor man's only lamb. David exploded in anger at the rich man. Then Nathan pointed at him.

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! 2 Samuel 12:7

David did not make excuses. He confessed.

Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.” “Yahweh has taken away your sin,” Nathan replied. “You will not die. 2 Samuel 12:13

God forgave him, but the consequences were real. The baby died, and trouble tore through David's family. His son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar, her brother Absalom killed Amnon, and later Absalom led a rebellion that drove David out of Jerusalem. When Absalom was killed, David wept, O my son Absalom, 2 Samuel 18:33. Yet God's grace was also real. David and Bathsheba's next son was Solomon, and Jesus' family line runs through him, Matthew 1:6.

What Is Psalm 51?

The heading of Psalm 51 says David wrote it after Nathan confronted him. It is one of the most honest prayers ever written.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. Psalm 51:17

David's name is in the titles of 73 psalms, including Psalm 23, Yahweh is my shepherd. He also organized the music for worship that his son's temple would use. Many scholars think some of those psalms were written later in his name. Tradition holds that many came from David himself.

Did King David Really Exist?

For a while some scholars doubted David was a real person. Then in 1993 and 1994, archaeologists at Tel Dan in northern Israel found pieces of a stone inscription in Aramaic. It was carved by an enemy king of Damascus, most likely Hazael, in the 800s BC. It boasts of defeating a king of Israel and a king of the House of David. Most scholars read that as David's royal family, which makes it the earliest widely accepted mention of David outside the Bible. The Tel Dan Stele is in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The Archaeology page on this site has more.

How David Points to Jesus

The very first verse of the New Testament calls Jesus the son of David, Matthew 1:1. Before Jesus was born, the angel Gabriel told Mary exactly whose throne her son would sit on.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!” Luke 1:32 to 33

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, David's hometown. Crowds shouted Hosanna to the Son of David. And in the last chapter of the Bible, Jesus calls Himself the Root and the Offspring of David, Revelation 22:16. God kept His promise. The forever King came from David's line, and unlike David, He never needed to pray Psalm 51 for Himself. He became the reason we can pray it and be forgiven.

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Questions People Ask

What is the Davidic covenant?

It is God's promise to David in 2 Samuel 7 that his family line and throne would last forever. Solomon would build the temple, and a descendant of David would reign without end. The New Testament says this is fulfilled in Jesus, Luke 1:32 to 33.

How long did David reign as king?

Forty years, from about 1010 to 970 BC. He ruled Judah from Hebron for seven and a half years and all Israel from Jerusalem for thirty three years, 2 Samuel 5:4 to 5.

What did David do with Bathsheba?

David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and when she became pregnant he arranged for Uriah to die in battle, 2 Samuel 11. The prophet Nathan confronted him, David repented, and God forgave him, though the consequences hurt his family deeply.

Is there evidence King David existed?

Yes. The Tel Dan Stele, found in northern Israel in 1993 and 1994 and dated to the 800s BC, mentions the House of David. Most scholars accept it as the earliest reference to David's dynasty outside the Bible.

Why is David called a man after God's own heart?

Samuel used the phrase in 1 Samuel 13:14, and Paul repeated it in Acts 13:22. David was far from perfect, but he loved God, worshiped Him wholeheartedly and repented honestly when confronted with his sin.

Sources

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