This post is more advertisement than devotional, but we want you to be prepared for our next sermon series and related writings. These will be on the biblical character King David, and we are entitling it “DAVID: Wearing the Crown, Carrying the Cross.”

As a series description:

Everyone loves a good underdog story.  Tales of people whose determination confounds their doubters.  Yet we only remember the stories where the underdog turns out to be the hero.  And no one ever feels like a hero when they’re in the midst of battle.  Today’s world is one of struggle, fatigue.  You’ve traded in your childhood dreams of being the hero, and would give anything to settle for “getting by.”  Your budget is stretched, your heart is strained. 

David was the ultimate underdog.  Born the misfortunate son of a Bethlehem farmer, David would eventually rise to become King over all Israel.  But the journey to the throne would take him through a path that felt far from royalty.  And in this way, his journey points to a truer, better king, a King who would emerge from Bethlehem to ascend to the agony of the cross.  Both men—Jesus and David—remind us that sometimes the crown of glory comes only after a crown of thorns.

David is a guy we can relate to. He comes from humble beginnings, like most of us. He is a very flawed person, like most of us. But he has a profound heart for God, like most of us… like most of us?… like some of us?

With all of his commendation in Scripture and his life blessings, David lived a hard life. Though it would be through his lineage that the Savior would come, he dealt with an unbelievable array of sorrows. Circumstances were often unjustly against him, and he shot himself in the foot multiple times with his own sin nature getting the best of him.

Yep, we can relate to this guy.

And in spite of it all, he was called a man after God’s heart.

So, be with us on Sunday for the first of eight weeks of teaching, and do check in on weekdays for our total of 38 devotionals on David – reading through sections of 1^st and 2^nd Samuel, some of 1^st Kings, and a few Psalms and other passages as well. This story is full of practical applications of timeless truth.