CHAPTER 25
THE SECRET OF KING DAVID’S SUCCESS
David was not strong in the flesh, as a matter of fact he was probably a puny adolescent when he was chosen by God to be king, but he was spiritually head and shoulders above every man in Israel, aside from perhaps the Prophet Samuel. What did God see in David’s heart that he did not see in the hearts of his brothers, or in the hearts of any other boy or man in Israel? I believe David was singing God’s Word, in order to memorize it, even when he was a boy. I believe singing God’s Word was an old tradition long before King David was born, but David was singing songs using God’s Word when he was still a boy as a memorization technique. David spent his days following his father’s sheep, playing his lyre, and singing God’s Word to himself. Why do I believe that?
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN THE EVIL SPIRIT FROM GOD WAS UPON SAUL, THAT DAVID TOOK AN HARP, AND PLAYED WITH HIS HAND: SO SAUL WAS REFRESHED AND WAS WELL, AND THE EVIL SPIRIT DEPARTED FROM HIM.
I SAMUEL 16:23
Why would an evil spirit flee from Saul just because David played a harp? I am pretty sure the evil spirit would not have fled if David was playing the boogey woogy blues. I believe David had set God’s Word to music. David was singing God’s Word! David was full of God’s Word and he was a mighty spiritual warrior when he was still a boy. Latter David would write and sing about his relationship with God in the Psalms:
THY “STATUTES” HAVE BEEN MY SONGS IN THE HOUSE OF MY PILGRIMAGE.
PSALM 119:54
THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MINE HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE.
PSALM 119:11
David sang and memorized God’s word because he had a revelation that it would help him mature spiritually and help him not to sin against God. Hiding God’s Word in our hearts will also help us not sin against God. David knew that memorizing God’s Word would strengthen his spirit. David knew the story of Joseph. He understood that Joseph would rather suffer wrong than sin against God and in the end Joseph was the deliverance of Israel. When David was a boy, Israel was being dominated by the Philistines living on the coasts of Israel and David also wanted to be the deliverer of Israel. Do you want to deliver your family, friends and acquaintances from sickness and poverty and oppression of all kinds? Start memorizing and speaking the Word of God!
THE LAW OF THY MOUTH IS BETTER UNTO ME THAN THOUSANDS OF GOLD AND SILVER.
PSALM 119:72
Why was the law of God’s mouth better to David than thousands of gold and silver? I believe it was because David knew that faith in God’s Word was the source of all his blessings. David realized that knowing God’s Word was the source of all his fame and fortune. I am sure that King David knew the Book of Joshua very well:
THIS BOOK OF THE LAW (TORAH) SHALL NOT DEPART OUT OF THY MOUTH; BUT THOU SHALT “MEDITATE” THEREIN DAY AND NIGHT, THAT THOU MAYEST OBSERVE TO DO ACCORDING TO ALL THAT IS WRITTEN THEREIN: FOR THEN THOU SHALT MAKE THY WAY PROSPEROUS, AND THEN SHALT THOU HAVE GOOD SUCCESS.
JOSHUA 1:8
MEDITATE - 1897. haw-gaw’: a prime root; to murmur (in pleasure or anger); by implication to ponder: - imagine, meditate, mourn, mutter, roar, X sore, speak, study, talk, utter. (The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, James Strong, LL.D., S.T.D., Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984.)
Meditate is the exact same word that David uses in Psalm 1:2. David understood that hiding the Law of God in his heart (memorizing God’s Word) would pay dividends that were both temporal and eternal. He understood that God is the creator and that God is the author of all good things. There would not have been a Solomon without a David. If you have a reference Bible, you may notice that much of the wisdom of Proverbs comes directly from Psalms. Where do you think the great wisdom and the great riches of Solomon came from?
BOTH RICHES AND HONOUR COME OF THEE, AND THOU REIGNEST OVER ALL; AND IN THINE HAND IS POWER AND MIGHT; AND IN THINE HAND IT IS TO MAKE GREAT, AND TO GIVE STRENGTH UNTO “ALL”.
I CHRONICLES 29:12
This verse from 1 Chronicles is part of the speech that King David made after he anointed Solomon as king over Israel. David understood that it was God who gave him riches, strength, and honor, it was God who made David great, and it was God who made David King over Israel.
King David understood, and he greatly desired for Solomon to understand, that God could and would give riches and honor and greatness and strength to ALL if they would only understand why God had chosen him over all his brethren. God wants to bless everyone who will memorize, obey, hear, and speak his Word with authority. Speaking and believing God’s Word is the ordained avenue of success in the kingdom of the spirit and in the physical world. Speaking and believing God’s Word is Walking in the Spirit. Listen to the wisdom of King David, the Sweet Psalmist of Israel.
THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MINE HEART (MIND), THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE.
PSALM 119:11
WITH MY LIPS HAVE I “DECLARED” ALL THE JUDGMENTS OF THY MOUTH.
PSALM 119:13
I WILL DELIGHT MYSELF IN THY STATUTES; I WILL NOT FORGET THY WORD.
PSALM 119:16
O HOW LOVE I THY LAW! IT IS MY MEDITATION ALL THE DAY.
I HAVE MORE UNDERSTANDING THAN ALL MY TEACHERS: FOR THY TESTIMONIES ARE MY MEDITATION.
PSALM 119:99
I UNDERSTAND MORE THAN THE ANCIENTS, BECAUSE I KEEP THY PRECEPTS.
PSALM 119:100
THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET, AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH.
PSALM 119:105
THE ENTRANCE OF THY WORDS GIVETH LIGHT; IT GIVETH UNDERSTANDING UNTO THE SIMPLE.
PSALM 119:130
I REJOICE AT THY WORD, AS ONE THAT FINDETH GREAT SPOIL.
PSALM 119:162
MY TONGUE SHALL SPEAK OF THY WORD: FOR ALL THEY COMMANDMENTS ARE RIGHTEOUS.
PSALM 119:172
I have more understanding than ALL my teachers? I understand more than the ancients? If we did not know King David’s story, we might think he was awfully full of himself, but because we do know how David started out, as a simple shepherd boy, and how he ended up as the king of one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, and that he was greatly beloved by God, we know King David was not full of himself, he was full of God’s Word!