Before we look at the account of how David made Jerusalem the religious centre of the kingdom, as well as the administrative centre from which he ruled, we shall refer to information given in 2 Samuel about David's achievements in the firm establishment of the kingdom of Israel. Chapter 5: 17-25 describes briefly how David succeeded in breaking the power of the Philistines after the years of war in which the Philistines had nearly destroyed the Israelite settlement of Palestine. The brevity of this account of what was clearly a major campaign reminds us that the writer of Israel's history was not primarily concerned with the political history of his people, but with their religious and spiritual history. In the first part of chapter ~ we have seen David established as God's choice as king of all Israel, and with the Lord's help David will bring peace and stability to Israel, but exactly how the Philistines were driven out of the areas they had occupied does not seem important to the writer. It would seem that the Philistines were driven right back into the coastal strip and confined to the cities there. We do not know how long it took David to accomplish this, but in view of the confusion which existed before David finally became king over all Israel the campaign against the Philistines was clearly a priority in the early years of his reign.

In chapter 8 there is a detailed list of various military victories which David had during his reign, and which indicates to us how he established the geographical boundaries of the kingdom of Israel. He successfully defeated armies of the neighbouring nations of Edom, Moab and Ammon, as well as those of the Syrian states to the north, and the Amalekites of the desert. Many of the years of David's long reign must have been spent in fighting those who challenged the growing power of the kingdom of Israel, but by the later years of his reign, the rule of David was firm over a state whose boundaries extended far beyond the area first taken by the Israelites under Joshua. David established Israel as the most powerful state of that time in the Middle East.

Unfortunately, as David grew old, serious rivalries developed in his own family, which was large as David was a polygamist. One of his sons, Absalom, tried to seize the kingship from David and the civil war which ensued did not end until Absalom was killed by one of David's commanders. The tribe of Benjamin, from which Saul had come, also showed opposition to David at one time. In spite of David's great achievements as a brilliant military commander, a shrewd administrator and politician, and the founder of a dynasty which lasted for four hundred years, David's personal life was not blameless and the family rivalries which marred his old age could be blamed on his desire for many wives. The Biblical writers present us with an extraordinarily honest portrait of Israel's great king, showing us his failures as well as his great achievements,' and in both failures and achievements we come to -understand his relationship with his God.