David’s Writings

David as the Man with the Very Heart of God
David is a fascinating character. By no means is he perfect, and yet he is described in 1 Samuel 13:14 by Samuel himself as a man after the very heart of God. Samuel says, “the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart” and this is reiterated in Acts 13:22 by Paul is a speech in which David is described as a man after the heart of God who will do the will of God. And that is why David is described as a man after the heart of God, precisely because he did whatever God wanted him to do and, on the occasions that he sinned, and sometimes grievously, he repented once his sins were pointed out to him. How he regretted his behaviour and turned his heart back to his Heavenly Father! 

David as the Picture-Type of Jesus
David’s very unusual life is explained to us in detail in the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament part of the Bible, courtesy of the Jewish writers who were careful to record every detail in the historical development of the Jewish nation. David is the Shepherd-King of Israel, and both as the shepherd on the hillside, caring for his earthly father’s flock, and later as king over the nation, leading his Heavenly Father’s people, he is a picture-type of Jesus with whom he shares Bethlehem, the City of David, as his birthplace. Indeed, Jesus is born in the physical line of descent from David, a direct connection through ancestry from Jesus back to David.

Come into the New Testament scripture and, in Mark 12, Jesus is described as “the son of David.” In that scripture, Jesus quotes from one of the great psalms of David, Psalm 110, to illustrate how David was inspired by the Holy Spirit as a musician and writer of these inspirational songs that we call “psalms.” James Montgomery in his own wonderful hymn, written in 1821, declares “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, Great David’s greater Son!” In John 10:11, Jesus says of himself, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” Yes, David is the forerunner, the picture-type of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Shepherd-King of Israel.

It is the New Testament that reveals the light of the gospel of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. Gloriously it is the New Testament that shares the gospel, the good news about Jesus and the gift of eternal life, and it is, therefore, the New Testament that sheds the light of the gospel on to the pages of the Old Testament, thereby enabling us to see David as a picture-type of Jesus. Well, if David had the heart of God, there can be no person better to be that picture-type.

Looking at the story of David, we learn that God prepared him from those early years as a shepherd-boy to be the king over His chosen people, Israel.  David developed his compassionate heart as a shepherd, entrusted by his earthly father to care for the sheep, to guard the sheep and to protect the sheep at all costs. Back in those days, it was the practice of the shepherd to lie across the entrance to the sheepfold and to become, in fact, the door of the sheep. Fast forward some 1,000 years and we see Jesus saying in John 10:7, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” Again, David is the forerunner picture-type of Jesus.

Why David Rose to Be King of Israel
When I examine David’s rise from obscurity —where nobody knew about him and even his father initially chose not to introduce him to Samuel — to kingship through which he is acknowledged to be Israel’s greatest-ever king, I am reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 16:10, “He who is faithful in very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.” It was because David was faithful in all his duties as a shepherd-boy that God raised him up to be King of Israel.

God could be confident that David would display those same characteristics that he had displayed as a shepherd in the role of king.  God wanted him to be the shepherd-king, indeed the servant-king and, knowing that David possessed a humble heart, God knew that David was the right person for that role.

Throughout the New Testament, the writers all give credence to the principle that humility is the basis for exaltation.  In Philippians 2:8-9, Paul illustrates this principle through the life of Jesus who humbled himself to death on the cross, only to be highly exalted by God through resurrection and ascension to the highest place possible at the right hand of God sitting in the heavenly places. In 1 Peter 5:6, Peter exhorts us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time He may exalt us. So, there is something of the heart of God in David’s humility and this explains his dramatic rise from literally such humble beginnings to become King of Israel.

David’s psalms are written from the depths of his heart. They tell us about his inner nature, his spirit, the spirit that bears witness to the Holy Spirit of God and reveal, therefore, his profound connection to God. The psalms do, in fact, reveal multiple admirable qualities in David: yes, humility in Psalm 62:9 but also a profound devotion to God in Psalm 4:7; praise and deep gratitude to God in Psalm 9:1; a wonderful love for God in Psalm 18:1; a reverence for God in Psalm 18:3; a faithful heart in Psalm 23:6; a repentant heart in Psalm 25:11; a trust in God in Psalm 27:1 and an obedient heart in Psalm 119:34. Remember that all of these psalms come from the heart of David the musician, resounding from within the very depths of his spirit!

David, the Model for Our Lives Today
For those of us who find ourselves in positions of leadership, David is the model to follow, and for any person seeking to live the Christian life in the victory to which we are called, David is a mighty inspiration, whether that be in his defeat of his foe, Goliath, or in his victories in battle or in the restitution in his personal life after he repented.

David applied the lessons of authority that he had learned over the sheep to his kingship. The heart and spirit that drove his life came from the heart of God. But always remember that David is the servant-king, the only way to exercise true kingship and to live any genuine life as a child of God. The Christian life is one of service and it is different from the world’s way. David was successful as shepherd and as king not through haughty or domineering imposition but because, as we are told in 1 Samuel 16:13, at his anointing “the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.” That is the key lesson — David was successful because the Lord was with him.

Often, I think back to that Sunday School wall all those years ago and how the picture of David inspired me. Although that building no longer exists in the village in England where I lived as a boy, the picture of David is etched on my mind. One day in eternity I trust that I’ll meet David and tell him just how much his life has inspired me. And above all, of course, I thank the Lord Jesus, the one with whom I converse every day and to whom all Holy Scripture points as the Lord of lords and King of kings, the supreme Servant-King and the Lord and Saviour of my life, my Friend guiding me along life’s path just as God did with David.

With absolute certainty, I can say that reading books has enabled me to develop my cultural appreciation, my spiritual perspective, my understanding of politics, economics and international relations, and my commitment to my own health and fitness. Indeed, over the decades, books have helped to develop and refine my belief system and core values and put them into practice with a positive effect to benefit me and others.

My experience is that the books that we read help create the mental environment that renews our minds and enables us to realize our dreams. Books expand our vision by allowing us to enter into other worlds, to explore different mindsets and to improve our lives by helping us decide the paths along which we choose to travel. When I first met Susan, in the very first conversation that I had with her, she was promoting her trilogy book set on superfoods, high-level nutrition, which foods to include and avoid in your diet and her delicious plant-based recipes. Although I had already been a vegan for some 12 years, by embracing her dietary advice, I have experienced nothing short of a revolution in nutrition and my whole health through a massive boost to my energy levels and well-being. I have chronicled the impact on my health and fitness levels in my forewords to her excellent books, Invest in Yourself with Exercise, Choose To THRIVE, Be The Change and others. These books are overflowing with gems of wisdom about maintaining excellent health and empowering your life. As a point of interest, after first meeting Susan, I made it a literary priority to somehow secure a copy of every book that Susan had ever written, the impact of her writing and teaching was, and continues to be, so influential on my life.

The Power of Books for the Realization of Our Dreams
Let me share some further examples with you from my own life. As a young boy in primary school, I would often go into the art room where there was a wonderful collection of books in bold colours with inspiring covers. One day, a book entitled Britain, published by Batsford, caught my attention with a beautiful photograph on every right-hand page of an interesting place in Britain with a brief concise description on the left-hand page. The photographs within included famous gardens, cathedrals, stately homes as well as beautiful coastal scenes and wide open breathtaking moorlands. At my request, that next Christmas, my parents kindly bought this book for me as a gift, and I poured through the pages in every spare moment at my desk in my bedroom, dreaming of seeing these wonderful places. I even wrote a poem (which I still keep to this day) about Britain, inspired by this book, long before I had visited the places photographed.

 

The reality is that all these years later I have visited all these places, whether through business trips, speaking invitations or my many hill-walking expeditions or family holidays. I have realized those dreams that were inspired by the vision that book created in my mind, showing me all the richness and diversity of the landscape of the British Isles.

When, at age 11, I won my place to go to the local grammar school, Hanley High School, and later still, at age 18, when I won my place to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, more worlds opened up to me – and again it was through reading books. It was impressed upon me during my first week at Oxford that you “read” for a degree.

At that time, I wanted to see the world and now I have visited nearly 40 countries, again primarily through business trips or speaking invitations, as well as holidays. Reading books helped me formulate my vision and imprint that mindset of “I can do it!” in my subconscious so that the opportunities arose for me to see this magnificent world with all its cultural diversity and at the same time be of service to businesses and to communities.

For another example, from my late teens, the American frontier fascinated me, and I wanted to know the secrets that had spurred the dramatic growth of America, so I read the books that would reveal those secrets to me and give me the knowledge and understanding that would strengthen my own abilities to progress my life. I wanted to understand the development of America, its origins, its politics, its cultures, its geography and its people. I was truly captivated by the concept of the American Dream which I discovered and learned about through reading. It was books that developed my knowledge and expanded my horizons that inspired my ambitions and now, as well as my home in England, I also have a home in West Los Angeles.

It really is, therefore, no coincidence that I met Susan almost ten years ago on one of her visits to London and we have subsequently developed and cofounded our own publishing company, Books To UPLIFT, as well as many other various ventures together. These achievements are the manifestation of the dreams that were inspired by reading books and the answers that I sought out and found through reading and then thinking about the inspiration and the understanding that came to me through reading.

My Home Library
During my time at Oxford I noticed that all the university teachers had their own library of books which, on occasions, I had the opportunity to peruse. I determined that I would build my own home library, and, over the decades, I have built an impressive collection of all kinds of books from all genres. Purchasing books from all over the world during my travels is one of my great passions.

Upon graduation, I decided to fill my mind with all the best literature and, therefore, my periods of respite from the development of my professional career and evening study were spent reading the great English-speaking authors of history. These included the pristine perfection of Jane Austen’s use of the English language; the traditions of Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence in reflecting the vicissitudes of nature in their provincial characters; the sheer masterpieces of the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare; the wonderful narratives and character depictions of Charles Dickens and many other works. Add to that the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, John Milton, John Dryden, George Herbert, John Donne, Robert Herrick and the vast repertoire of English-speaking poetry and my library was expanding by the day.

It has been sad for me in recent years to see the demise of many small book stores in my original home town of Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, and throughout England as well as in Los Angeles. The smaller, privately-owned bookshops have been great sources for the development of my home library over the years. However, it is my belief that the actual concept of a book in the traditional sense and the joy that comes from the book cannot ever be replaced by computer book readers like Kindle. To me, there will always be something magical about owning, holding and reading a real book, maybe annotating that book, working its pages in my mind for digestion, assimilation and critical appraisal and making it truly my own and part of the record of my passage through life.

There is a very precious portion of my home library that is comprised of books that are gifts to me from my mother and father. The book entitled Britain that I mentioned earlier is one of them. They were both committed to the education of their children and nurtured my own particular fascination with books and my desire to learn. Another example is Francis Turner Palgrave’s The Golden Treasury, a magnificent anthology of poetry which my mother bought for me in 1975, a work that continues to inspire me to this day. These books were gifts, and books will always offer the opportunity to make a treasured gift to another person. In my view, acting as a gift is one of the many express purposes of a book. In recent years, Susan has gifted me books about health, alongside her own-authored books, opening up another treasured part of my home library.

Why the Bible is My Favourite Book
This brings me to my favourite book of all, the Bible, which has its own illustrious history in the production of its multiple translations, although that is the subject for another day. When I study the Bible, I work primarily with the Revised Standard Version that I bought myself some 40 years ago when at university, the King James Authorised Version that my parents bought me on passing my first music examination and the New International Version that Susan bought me some years ago. I find all these translations invaluable to my understanding. Together, these three translations, sometimes combined with the Amplified Version, give me a full appreciation of the meaning of any given verse and enable me to track back, as necessary, into my New Testament Greek dictionary for the precise meaning of a word.

As a Christian, I believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and, therefore, contains the wisdom of God. For me to grow as a Christian, I choose to learn the wisdom keys that the Bible teaches, and I believe that by following the commandments and ordinances of the Bible and believing on the promises, my trust in God is secure. The Bible is different from any other book. Even when I close my Bible, it is still speaking to me from the scriptural verses that have taken root within my heart. By studying the Bible on a daily basis, I am equipped to address matters relating to any aspect of life that may emerge during the course of the day because the answer is already in my heart from all that I have learned from decades of Biblical study.

I am often asked how to know the will of God. Alternatively, people sometimes tell me that they are praying to know the will of God. Well, this is how I see the matter – God tells us his will through the Bible and, as a spiritual rule of thumb, we should first search the Holy Scriptures for the answer and then pray for that answer to be manifested in our lives. Even if the answer is not immediately obvious through our reading of the Bible, keep reading, keep immersing yourself in the verses, believing that the answer is there, and it will emerge in your spirit. I practice what I call “Bible-praying” which is praying with the Bible open and allowing the Word of God to seep into my spirit so that my spirit can bear witness to the Holy Spirit of God.

Needless to say, the Bible is the book that is dearest to my heart and which I love the most. The advice I give is this – whatever your knowledge of the Bible, simply believe that it is true and submit yourself to its pages and it will speak to you like no other book. It will enrich your life and guide you into all truth and love. Also, it contains lots of stories of interesting lives, all chronicled for us by the Jewish writers, from Abraham as the father of the nation, to Joseph with his coat of many colours, to David, the shepherd-boy who was anointed by God to be king, through to the great adventures of the apostles in the Book of Acts and much more, including books of wisdom, books of love and real advice for the everyday issues of modern life.

Most supremely, though, the Bible has precedence in my life because it tells me through the gospel stories about Jesus, His ministry, His wisdom and His eternal life-giving presence in our lives. Remember, the Bible is the Word of God, literally God’s words given to us to guide us along life’s way for a fulfilling and abundant life. Reading the Bible is like reading the mind of God. It is the wisdom of God to provide the answer to all of life’s questions and then, through the Spirit of Jesus, we are given the power to overcome any obstacle that may come our way.

To conclude, these are some verses from the Bible that inspire me.

Psalm 37:4
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart”

Psalm 51:6
“Behold, you desire truth in the inward being; therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart.”

Romans 8:8
“All things work together for good to and for those who love God.”

Romans 12:12
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God…”

 

Final Thoughts
Choose to become a book reader, too — for knowledge and understanding, for wisdom and insight, for enjoyment and delight — and make sure that you exercise discernment in the books you choose to read. Remember that books can become your friends, a fact of which I am particularly mindful when choosing the books to take with me on my travels.

As the name implies, our publishing company, Books To UPLIFT, was established to host and feature the enriching, empowering and, yes, uplifting books written by Susan Smith Jones. I encourage you to make some of Susan’s books your friends. They will enhance your life. I have shared with you a fraction of my life’s journey in the power of books and how they have enriched, empowered and uplifted me. Our commitment at Books To UPLIFT is to continue that tradition.

Welcome to our website and our array of books for you to select some for your experience and enjoyment along your own life journey.