Of all the saints whose stories fill the pages of Scripture, David lived through the most striking, varied, and instructive experiences. His life contains trials and temptations you won't find combined in any other ancient saint—and that's precisely what makes him such a powerful type of our Lord.

David knew the struggles of every station in life. Kings have their troubles, and David wore a crown! The peasant has his cares, and David held a shepherd's crook! The fugitive has his hardships, and David hid in the caves of Engedi! The commander has his battles, and David found the sons of Zeruiah too hard for him. The psalmist was tested by his friends as well—his counselor Ahithophel betrayed him. "The one who ate bread with me has lifted up his heel against me." His worst enemies came from his own household: his children were his greatest affliction.

The temptations of poverty and wealth, of honor and reproach, of health and weakness, all tried their power upon him. He faced attacks from without to disturb his peace, and battles from within to mar his joy. David no sooner escaped one trial than he fell into another; no sooner emerged from one season of despondency and alarm, than he was again brought into the lowest depths, and all God's waves and billows rolled over him.

This is probably why David's psalms are such universal treasures to experienced Christians. Whatever your frame of mind, whether ecstasy or depression, David has exactly described your emotions. He was an able master of the human heart because he had been tutored in the best of all schools—the school of heartfelt, personal experience.

As we are instructed in that same school, as we grow mature in grace and years, we increasingly appreciate David's psalms and find them to be "green pastures."

My soul, let David's experience cheer and counsel you today!