God Calls David

Last week, we heard the call of Samuel, the prophet judge. Since his calling, Samuel has led the people in prophetic justice and helped them find a king, Saul. But Saul does follow God’s directions, and so we find the Lord speaking with Samuel once more, directing him to find a new king for Israel.

1 Samuel 16:1–13 NRSV

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is now before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

What is a king?

Supreme. Head of state. Popular leader. Benevolent? Tyrannical? Unquestionable. Ultimate power.

Throughout many cultures, the kingship is tied to lineage. We see this in Great Britain, as King Charles follows his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in the monarchy. The Windsor line controls the crown of Britain. After Charles will likely be King William or, perhaps somehow, King Harry. So kingship, or monarchy, flows from a blessed family line.

An important aspect of kingship that we see in the Hebrew Scriptures is that, at least with David and other “good” kings of Israel, they are divinely appointed. They are the ones YHWH chooses. From Jesse’s line, God has chosen one of the sons to be king. Because YHWH is in charge of who will reign in Israel, this concept carries on into subsequent kingships. When Israel is flourishing, it is said that the king has God’s favor. When the nation divides or struggles, it is said that the people and the kings have turned away from YHWH.

Last week, we talked about how God called Samuel to be God’s prophet and arbiter. Samuel was called to step into the role of priest over Israel and, therefore, serve as the mouthpiece for God’s direction on who they should follow. It is Samuel who anoints King Saul, the first King of Israel. Saul was a man of strong stature, experienced leader, the kind of quintessential king. But Saul’s kingship does not stay faithful to God’s direction and Saul loses his divine stamp of approval very quickly. While Saul has victory in some of his battles as a military leader, he does not obey God’s instructions in full, sparing the King of the Amalekites and ffering sacrifices in violation of the Torah law.

It’s in the context of Saul’s betrayal of God’s direction that Samuel is charged with finding a new king. This is our story today.

David’s reign is far from perfect. He ignores God’s commandments at times and leads the people of Israel astray. He is well known for using his political position to take the woman Bathsheba in his desire and orchestrating her husband’s death in battle. But he is also the first in the dynasty of Israel who is able to bring unity and cohesive leadership that they have longed for.

We look to David as a divinely appointed king. Not because of his standing or accomplishments. But because of the status of his heart.

Of course, these words from Psalm 51 ring to us of God’s design and purpose for David. It is David who desires a clean heart and renewed spirit.

Psalm 51:10–14 NRSV

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

I know that many of us bristle at the language of kingship. Especially in the United States of America, we have had strong historic resistance to the concept of monarchy and kings.

A few years back, the amazing musical production, Hamilton, retold the story of the founding fathers of this nation and their protest against King George of England.

In the opening number, My Shot, Alexander Hamilton riffs, “We are meant to be, a colony that runs independently. Meanwhile Britain keeps [dumping on us] endlessly. Essentially, they tax us relentlessly, Then King George turns around, runs a spendin’ spree. He ain’t never gonna set our descendants free, so there will be a revolution in this century.”

Early American history has long been framed as a protest against monarchy and the formation of a different kind of government, one without kings. This plays out in the earliest versions of the presidential office, where George Washington yields his position in 1797 after his 8 years in the role. Another fabulous number from Hamilton features George Washington singing about how he’ll teach the American public how to say goodbye. And King George marvels at how the Americans just keep replacing their leader — can you even do that?

Free, democratic societies, are most commonly founded upon this idea and principal: ultimate power, vested in one person alone for all time, does not go well. As I grew up, the idea of modern kings and queens was taught as something of a novelty, at best, and a potential for outright tyranny or totalitarianism at worst.

Of course, I’m sure many of you see where I’m about to take us next. Yesterday, across the country, there were protests in all 50 states, with marchers waving signs that read “No Kings.” Early estimates this morning say that upwrds of 5 million people participated in these peaceful protests, lifting their voices to speak as a nation that still does not want a king.

Back in June, I was invited to speak at our city’s first “no kings” protest, as a community clergy leader. I was honored with this task, but also felt very challenged as to how to faithfully articulate a Christian understanding of kingship, in opposition to modern and ancient examples of kingship.

As a Christian, I have also been raised to think of Jesus as King. The trajectory of the Scriptures point to a final reign of Jesus on the Throne of God — the king above all Creation. Kingly language is all over the Bible, especially in how Jesus talks about God’s reign over all creation and coming again in glory.

So when I spoke at the rally in June, I felt the urge to say that while we don’t have earthly kings, we belong to a King and a Kingdom — where there is a Good King, Jesus, and we, all, together, belong as his subjects or family.

But this language is so problematic. In our modern times, we don’t abide kings, so why would we worship King Jesus? Isn’t there a better way to talk about God’s authority than to simply picture God ruling over us all on a throne?

I opted not to draw out the theological approach to kingship in my words back in June. Rather, I focused on how the church must not become complicit with the powerful, for as history tells us, church collusion with power is not wise and leads to the suppression of prophetic, truth-telling voices, in favor of stately power.

Thankfully, many religious thinkers and theologians have found other ways to talk about the community of God. One simple example is that many folks, instead of talking about the “kingdom of God”, have been playful with the English word and withdraw the middle letter ‘g’ to make it “kin-dom” of God. This speaks more to our interconnected, interrelatedness, our mutual flourishing in community, than it does to authority and lordship over the people.

Another way we work with this “king” issue is to make it clear that no other kings meet the standard that Jesus the King sets. No King, but Jesus.

In many ways, this is drawn from biblical theology, which would argue that the stories of David and Saul and their successors, these stories all point to an ultimate King, a perfect King, who, as God directs Samuel in this passage, a king who God sees a pure and contrite heart. That the model of a king is not lordship, but humility. And ultimately, these Hebrew kings point to the true King, Jesus, who in his death undoes all powers of death and oppression, namely in this case, tyranny by kings.

In this line of thought, we say that the Scriptures all point to the Kingship of Jesus, the perfect lamb, the suffering servant, the anointed, blessed one of God. All of these things are fulfillments of their longing for a true king.

Alright, what does all of this mean for us?

We are clearly in a cultural moment where the concept of kingship is under question. So few are mystified by some kind of divinely appointed monarch. We all know that the way you get the crown is through marriage and progeny. In a sense, many of our modern kings are not seen as divinely appointed in their own individual right, but set as leaders because of who their family is. Dynasty.

In recent years, there was a popular show on HBO called Succession. I have to admit I haven’t watched a single episode, but I understand the premise: A wealthy businessman, with a large family, decides it is time to prepare for his retirement and begins a plan of succession to pass on his company. The children vie for the inheritance and the power. Things get messy. And this show was super popular — we love the drama of these kinds of stories.

In a very real way, this is a modernized example of a kingly transition. Not because of a person’s particular merit, or gifts, or strength to take the company into it’s next chapter, but because of blood and alliances — that’s how power is transferred.

Let’s take all of that in contrast to the story of Samuel, Saul, Jesse, and David. In a sense, God relents in this story. God gives the people what they want, for a second time, guiding Samuel to anoint a new king. But God has qualifications this time: God will look at the heart of the person, the inward way of being. While we might look at people on the surface, considering their stature, their accomplishments, their wealth — God looks at the inner things. Is this person wise? Is their motivation for themselves or others? Does this person care for the least of these, perhaps like sheep and a shepherd. These are God’s qualifications for leaders. Humility, courage, compassion, justice, even hope, perhaps.

Do we need a King?

A few years ago, I might have simply said, “yes, Jesus is the king above all kings and therefore the only one worthy of that title.”

But today my response needs to be a little more thoughtful.

Do we need a King?

If by king, we mean total leader, imbued with an unquestionable divine mandate to do as they please, a king that is not simply above the law, but IS the law, a king who gives decrees and mandates and orders from on high, but does not collaborate and engage with the people, then, no, I don’t believe we need a king.

But if we mean that we seek a leader who will be humble, who will admit their faults, as David so often was known to do, a king who knows the simple ways of caring for the weaker members of society…then perhaps the answer truly is “yes.”

Through the arc of the Scriptures, there is this unfolding idea of what God is truly like. Early examples move from the Cosmic God of Creation, to the angelic presence of messengers, to now, God’s spirit resting upon a human and decreeing their appointment as leader. If we believe God is a King, then we must believe that any earthly king is subservient to God’s way. And so true kingship, lordship, leadership, whatever you want to call it, true discipleship in God’s way gives us leaders who are servants, humble, wise, slow to speak, quick to listen, and who act for the wellbeing of all.

In my lifetime, I’ve yet to see a president, senator, king, or executive, match these qualifications in any form that even resembles the way of Jesus. Sure, there are glimmers. But all kings, all leaders, sure, even all pastors and ministers of the gospel, all of us who assume this position of leadership, must take stock of the nature of our hearts. And the people we serve (note, not the people we lead, but the people we serve) must also look to our hearts, our ways of being, to see whether God’s true authority rests upon us, or if we are merely a charismatic public presence who can command a room’s attention.

God sets before us the qualifications for the king. Humble, not flashy. Grounded, perhaps. Courageous, as we would see in the next couple of chapters of 1 Samuel, where David defeats the giant Goliath of the Philistines.

God calls David, not because he is the best or strongest, but because his heart is faithful. Will we demand this of our leaders? Will we seek to be pure and humble ourselves? Will we be kin, standing alongside one another in solidarity and hope, trusting that God our Creator, the Loving Mother, the Hovering Spirit, the Crucified King, knits us together as the kin-dom of God?

Amen.