David Battles Old Age

Still another shadow was to gather over the last years of David.

He had reached the age of threescore and ten.

The hardships and exposures of his early wanderings, his many wars, the cares and afflictions of his later years, had sapped the fountain of life.

Though his mind retained its clearness and strength, feebleness and age, with their desire for seclusion, prevented a quick apprehension of what was passing in the kingdom, and again rebellion sprang up in the very shadow of the throne.” We shall address that threat, but first, we consider David’s old age.

The book of 1 Kings opens with a description of David’s health prior to moving on to cover the reign of Solomon. At the age of seventy, David was “older at the time of death than any other Hebrew king of whom the record has been preserved. His life had been difficult and trying. Hardship, suffering, exposure, and sorrow had worn down a constitution once robust, and now the king found himself robbed of his strength and greatly enfeebled.” The fact David had led an active outdoor life no doubt benefited him.

And his reliance upon God removed much stress from both mind and body. Yet old age comes to us all unless sudden death or terminal illness intervenes.

While David did not suffer from dementia or any decline in mental acuity, a strenuous life had taken a toll on bone and muscle. David’s circulation could not produce enough heat to warm his body. His physicians suggested he seek a young girl as his nurse.

There was nothing sexual in this suggestion.

Perhaps a shared bed might ease his pain.

“The maiden selected was not merely to assist in providing life and vitality to the ailing monarch but also to act as nurse and attendant, to stand before him for the performance of such duties as would serve the comfort and health of the king.” “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).