A Study Of David

The Treasured King
by Jeff Middleton
Wyatt House Publishing, 399 Lakeview Drive West, Mobile, Alabama 36695. 2017.  229 pp. Pb, ISBN 978-0-9977422-7-5, $14.95.
www.wyattpublishing.com
www.TheTreasuredKing.org 

There have been countless studies and commentaries on the life of the Old Testament, King David. Author Jeff Middleton has taken the life of David, from the time he was a shepherd to later years as a king, and arranged the major points into study points. Jeff Middleton is a founding member of the Biblical Marriage Institute and has degrees from Guilford College and studied at Harvard University. He also worked with IBM.  So why choose King David for the subject of a book? It began with Middleton’s Bible study on “David the Shepherd,” and progressed from there. David had his faults, but God did choose him to be a king. 

“The Treasured King” has 14 chapters, each with questions at the end, for either personal reflection or group study. This is a readable book with each chapter focusing on a certain area. In “Victory In The Valley” (Chapter Two), David triumphed over Goliath, who had physical strength), but David had God’s strength.  Later, David’s life as a king was marred by tragedy, and it was his fault for wanting Bathsheba. When the prophet Nathan pronounces those words, “You are the man,” David’s world changed in an instant. (Chapters Eight and Nine.) 

What I found interesting, and in the material, I have read about King David and Bathsheba, the consequence of sin also has the death of their first child. However, the author, here. does not put this into the book, but goes from this part of David’s life to David as an older man, with sons who rebel against him. 

As Jeff Middleton writes, “The principle that ‘we reap what we sow’ is consistent throughout Scripture and it still applies to our culture today…. a lot of times the very problems that we go through can be traced to bad decisions that we made.” In studying the life of King David, we see his decisions and the consequences. We can also look at our own lives and see, perhaps, a hasty decision and the situation that did not go right.” In a group study or private contemplation, “The Treasured King” will have questions you can ask and also ponder for your own life. 

The author takes one of David’s Psalms, The 23rd Psalm (Chapter 13), and comments on the separate lines from “The Lord is my shepherd” to “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” An ending fit for a king. 

Copyright 2018 Marie Asner