With this in mind, we need to continue with a template – a biblical pattern.
David
God’s General.
According to the Bible, David grew up in the rugged Judean hills around the Israelite town of Bethlehem, a few miles south of what was then the Canaanite stronghold of Jerusalem. At the time, Israel was threatened by other peoples in the region, especially the Philistines, who occupied the Mediterranean coastal plain to the west.
David was the youngest of eight sons of Jesse, a farmer and sheep breeder of the Israelite tribe of Judah. David likely spent much of his boyhood tending his family’s flock. One day he was summoned from the fields by the prophet Samuel, who anointed him king of Israel while Saul was still king.
As a youth, David distinguished himself as a musician and warrior. David believed and trusted in the God of his father’s Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Known for challenging and defeating the giant Goliath, he gained the attention of King Saul, for whom he played the harp and fought the Philistines. However, David’s popularity amongst the people aroused the king’s jealousy. After Saul tried to kill him, David fled and became a leader of outlaws. When Saul died, David became king.
As Israel’s second king, David built a small empire. He conquered Jerusalem, which he made Israel’s political and religious centre. He defeated the Philistines so thoroughly that they never seriously threatened the Israelites’ security again, and he annexed the coastal region. He went on to become the overlord of many small kingdoms bordering Israel.
However, famous for killing Goliath, he also forged a new way of worship. He was considered as a New Testament worshiper in the Old Testament. Moses’ tent of meeting had a curtain to hide the Holy of Holies from the people, but the tabernacle that David built, had no such partition. Access to the presence of God was unhindered. Worship without hindrance was new, unheard of at the time. Acts 15 says “with this the words of the Prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After these things I will return, And I will rebuild the tabernacle of David which has fallen, And I will rebuild its ruins, And I will restore it”.
He leaves a legacy, for it is in the tabernacle of David that we learn how to worship and praise God with joy and spirit.
David becomes the second to make the list.