David the King

David is the paradigm of the good king in the Old Testament. His kingship recalls that of Adam in the Garden of Eden, and yet it points toward the King of kings, Jesus Christ.

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Adam was the first king and steward of the rightly ordered Garden of Eden. He was called to govern the garden according to God’s mind and purpose, but by allowing negative influences to wreak havoc on Eden, he did not fulfill his kingly responsibility. Long after Adam, David emerged as the definitive king who would restore order in the Garden and bring the world under the lordship of God. But like Adam, David fell, and his reign ushered in a succession of compromised kings and rejected prophets. But God promised a son of David who would realize the fullness of Israelite kingship...but whose actual reign defied expectation.

King David causes us to look back toward Adam’s kingship and forward toward Christ the King, seeing Christ as the fulfillment of the Davidic line and the realization of the Kingdom of God on earth. In David the King, Bishop Barron helps us to understand this pivotal figure in light of the first king and the King of kings.

The video-based study program can be experienced individually or in a group. Groups meet for seven 90-minute sessions to explore the Davidic themes of kingship in the Old Testament and their fulfillment in Christ. Each session includes video viewing and small group discussion of the Study Guide questions. Participants read the commentary in the Study Guide and prepare the questions before the small group discussion.

This preparation can be done either before or after they view the video, as the Commentary in each lesson is very detailed. The Study Guide Commentary was written by Dr. Jacob Wood, associate professor of Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, under the direction of Bishop Barron.

In addition to the Commentary, each section of the study guide includes “Questions for Understanding" based on Bishop Barron’s video presentation, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Each section also includes “Questions for Application" that help you connect the material to your own life and experience.

The Leader’s Kit provides essential resources for lay discussion leaders, including the DVD, study guide, facilitator guide, answer key, Bishop Barron’s book 2 Samuel, and 10 booklets, Called to Kingship, that illustrate how all the baptized are called to be kings of their own environment.

Leaders can also register for a free training webinar which teaches the best ways to run an effective David the King study group.

Lesson One: “Introduction”

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6

Lesson One: “The Law of the Gift”

Opening up the first and second books of Samuel, Bishop Barron tells the story of Hannah, the mother of Samuel who was a great prophet and an instrument of God’s selection of Israel’s first king, Saul, and their second king, David. Hannah is barren and pleads with God to give her a son. When he does, she consecrates her son to the temple, giving away the gift she so much desired. This is the law of the gift – “your being increases in the measure you give it away.”