This post is written by Leslie Hudson and is published as a companion to Unit 11, Session 1 of The Gospel Project for Adults Vol. 4 (Summer 2022): From Unity to Division.
I’ve been teaching youth Sunday school for almost twenty years. I’ve walked beside hundreds of young men and women, helping them learn to love, seek, pursue, obey, and run after God. Often my class will prove itself to be quite critical of the Bible’s shining characters: “How could Moses be a murderer?” “Why did Abraham lose patience with God and marry Hagar?” “Did Sarah really laugh at God when He promised her a son?” They’re shocked at the rampant sin of God’s chosen people. Every time we head down this road, I use one of my all-too-famous quotes: “Aren’t you glad your life isn’t being chronicled for the Bible?”
I know I am. I’m also glad I’m a child of the 80s and 90s, before cell phones and digital pictures and the fear that everything I’m doing is being recorded for posterity. (But that’s another post for another day.) I’m glad no one saw the pride in my heart when I stepped on stage. I’m glad no one saw the unkind words I said to my sister when we were little—and not so little. I’m glad a writer didn’t detail the fear in my heart when I wondered if God would really come through.
King David, the Wonder Years
In light of that thought, as we begin a multi-session series of lessons on David, I’ve begun imagining King David reading these words at the end of his life. We’re not exactly sure who wrote 1 and 2 Samuel, but we can be sure he was one intimate with the private, personal, and royal life of David. Like grabbing my teenage-years journal off the bookshelf, I’m sure David would have held the scroll in his hand, shaking his head: “Oh, young David, what could I say to help you here? Would you believe me if I told you how you’d go too far? How you’d mess up? How you’d throw yourself at the feet of God over and over again, in praise and in worship and in confession?”
Reading Through King David’s Life
Another approach I’m taking—and I invite you to join me—is reading through the psalms of David as I study his life. From statements of faith such as, “The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need” (Ps. 23:1), to gut-wrenching confessions like, “I was guilty when I was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5), David was transparent in his sin, honest in his worship, and fully dependent upon his God for healing, restoration, and power. Again, I don’t want my descendants picking up my old prayer journals and seeing my desperation as I poured out my heart in my old journals, but that’s basically the insight we have into David’s life with the psalms.
I’m excited to read through David’s biography (1 and 2 Samuel) and journals (Psalms) side-by-side. I’m excited to consider his stories with grace, again thanking God that my life is not in His chronicles for all to see, even knowing that God sees it. I’m excited to consider these passages with the eyes of a middle-aged woman and considering how I’d want my story written. Maybe I would do just like the writer portrayed David: show all human frailties in contrast with our amazing, loving, forgiving, merciful, powerful God.
Leslie Hudson loves her mornings of silence, coffee, and Jesus; not in that order. She lives with her husband and kids in White Bluff, Tennessee, where they raise blueberries, figs, and bees. She loves to spend her free time reading, writing, journaling, and helping others know and follow Jesus.
Beverly Offutt says
Where is the leader training for July 3, 2022?