By the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Of all the saints whose lives are recorded in the Word, David’s life is the most varied in experience and the most striking and instructive in character. In his history we see trials and temptations not seen, for the most part, in the lives of other saints of old. Thus, he is all the more indicative of a type of our Lord.

David knew the trials of all classes and conditions of men. Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown; peasants have their cares, and David once held a shepherd’s staff; wanderers have many hardships, and David lived in the caves of En Gedi; and a warrior has his difficulties, and David found the “sons of Zeruiah . . . too strong for [him]” (2 Sam. 3:39). The psalmist also suffered trials due to unfaithful friends, such as his counselor Ahithophel, who conspired against him. Thus, David wrote: “Even my close friend . . . who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9). Yet his worst foes were those of his own household, for his children were his greatest affliction.

The temptations of poverty and wealth, honor and reproach, health and weakness all tested their power on David. He had temptations from without to disturb his peace and temptations from within to sour his joy. He no sooner escaped one trial before falling into another, no sooner emerged from one period of despondency and fear before being taken again to the lowest depths, with all God’s waves breaking over him.

This is probably the very reason David’s psalms are so universally the delight of experienced Christians. Whatever our frame of mind, whether elation or depression, he precisely described our emotions. He was a true master of the human heart because he had been tutored in the best school of all — the school of heartfelt personal experience. And as we are instructed in the same school, maturing in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David’s psalms, finding them to be “green pastures” (Ps. 23:2).

My soul, may David’s experience cheer and counsel you today.

By the pen of Jim Reimann:

One beautiful aspect of God’s Word is that we see the frailties of many of the prominent characters. Knowing they were people like us gives us the ability to relate to them. It also helps us relate to the Lord who used them in mighty ways in spite of their frailties. Thus, we can confidently say, “He can use me as well!”

David, “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14), nevertheless became an adulterer and a murderer. Yet that is not the end of the story. Due to God’s grace and forgiveness, the Lord promised: “One of your own sons . . . will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever” (1 Chron. 17:11 – 12).

Paul said,

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9 – 10

Like David, “that is what some of [us] were. But [we] were washed, [we] were sanctified, [we] were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 6:11).