1 Chronicles 29:26-30--The Death of David

1 Chronicles 29:26-30
English Standard Version
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The Death of David
26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel the seer, and in the Chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the Chronicles of Gad the seer, 30 with accounts of all his rule and his might and of the circumstances that came upon him and upon Israel and upon all the kingdoms of the countries.

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We have reached the end of the book of 1 Chronicles, and it ends with a short summary of the reign of King David (the main character in 1 Chronicles).  He was king (according to God) for 40 years, but he spent 7 of those years ruling from Hebron (the capital city of the tribe of Judah).  It was only after the death of Saul that all twelve tribes officially recognized David as their king, and he reigned over all of Israel from Jerusalem.

The statement about dying "at a good old age, full of days, riches and honor" lets us know that he experienced all the blessings of the Law that were promised to the people for obedience to the LORD's covenant mediated through Moses.  He was "a man after God's own heart," and yet he was not perfect, and our heart longs for an even better king who could be completely just and have not just long life and prosperity, but also peace (for David's reign was filled with war on every side as the LORD used him to destroy the enemies that Israel had not destroyed in the time since Moses, Joshua and Caleb).

If we want even more detail on the life of David, the people are pointed to the chronicles of Samuel and Nathan and Gad (apparently prophets and seers kept some official records of the life the king and the nation).  We have some of these records in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, but we have to trust that even though we don't have all the records of all the prophets and seers, we have everything that God intended for us to have in the biblical cannon.  There is nothing missing that we need to look to add, nor is there anything there that we need to change or update.  Everything we need for today is there because God provided it to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit--it is the very Word of God.  It is our duty to read the Word and then obey what we read and lead others into obedience (just like David did).  Then we too will be a man or woman after God's own heart and we might also experience the blessings of obedience, but more importantly, we will experience the new lift that comes about by repentance and being born again as part of the new and better covenant that comes through Christ.