Crowning A New King
As we stand in the midst of a contentious election year, perhaps you have been made aware that a change of leadership will always have consequences. This message is blared out to us repeatedly. If you vote for a certain candidate, it will affect your pocket book for the better or worse. If you vote for the other candidate it will in some way affect the stability of your rights either positively or negatively. And though hyperbole is an abundant commodity in elections, it is true that the policies a politician enforces will affect your life. When the candidates are diametrically opposed, those consequences are profound.
In the early days of its Kingdom Era, Israel found itself with two such starkly different candidates for the throne. One was granted to the people as they chafed under the leadership of God; his name was Saul. The other’s name was David and God declared that he was the king chosen on His behalf. (I Samuel 16:1) He was God’s choice because His heart was after God’s own heart. (I Samuel 16:7) This was in complete contrast to Saul who increasingly rebelled against God’s will to follow his own self-interests.
From humble beginnings God brought David to the throne. He became such an important figure that he is the second most written about character in the Bible. The only person who was written about more than David was Jesus. This is because David stood as a type of Jesus, the Shepherd-King who was to come. Time and again David is presented as a foreshadowing of the promised Messiah. We see David as the anointed king, the shepherd of Israel, the righteous sufferer and in II Samuel 7:12,13 God made with him a covenant that his descendant would sit upon the throne forever. Ezekiel, prophesying about Jesus, evoked David when he said, “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd.” (Ezekiel 34:23)
So, as we study the story of David, it prepares us to understand the reign of King Jesus. Over the next five weeks we will consider what happens when we accept Jesus as King of our life.
RESOURCES:
Articles
https://bibleproject.com/articles/david-whats-big-deal/
Songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvDSG4s5FJw
Video