A Good Life

Did David live a good life? As I studied 1 and 2 Samuel, I saw how rocky David’s life was. He was hot or cold for God. He obeyed and disobeyed God’s Laws. He did what God instructed or he took matters into his own hands. Saul chased him all over the countryside as he sought to kill David. Other enemies, including his own son, Absalom, attacked David. He suffered the loss of children. He suffered separations from wives. He was moody and often depressed. He was indecisive leading to continuing troubles. Eventually, like all of us, he grew old and feeble. This sounds like a rocky life to me.

1 Kings 1:1 says, “King David grew old, the years took their toll, and he couldn’t get warm even when they covered him with bedclothes.” Commentator, Tom Bradford, indicated that David might have been “prematurely old” due to a lifetime of stress, living in the wilderness, and consequences of his lifestyle. “Grew old” can also be translated, “lost his vitality.” However, Bradford also says that “toll” has a positive connotation that indicates that David lived a “meaningful life.”

It’s not a matter of living a long life that really matters. A person can live a long time but have only a few noteworthy days. David’s life had many noteworthy days, although not all for positive reasons. He lived a full life in the time he had. He may have become prematurely old because of his struggles in his soul. He may have had a “soul sickness” due to living in frequent disobedience to God. He was still recognized by God as a man after God’s own heart, but David’s choices led to many stresses that ruined his vitality.

This is true for many people today. Even though they profess to be Christians, their hard lives due to their choices leads to a soul sickness that ages them beyond their years. I’ve known many people who are alcoholic and profess to know God, but who continue to make the choice to drink. I understand it’s a disease and quite possibly genetic, but there’s still a choice about whether or not to pick up that first drink. Those who continually make the harmful choice suffer many losses and live with much stress. Many of them look much older than their chronological age.

It is not for me to judge how their hearts are with God. Looking at David’s life, it is hard to see how he was committed to following after God. Why and how could a person who professes to love and serve God live such a miserable life? I don’t know the answer to that; what I know is that it is possible. All we have to do is look at David.