Who is King?

Sermon

When we read this text, we are immediately drawn to the obvious declaration that the Davidic narrative has been preparing for: David is King of the United Kingdom of Israel. In texts prior to , we see that David is first named King of Judah, but it is Ishbaal, Saul’s son, who is given rule over Saul’s kingdom. Abner, who became a powerful name in Saul’s house, made a covenant with David, defecting his allegiance, and is soon struck down. Ishbaal was killed soon after. Within no time at all, all twelve tribes are leaderless, and so they present themselves to David at Hebron, a city south of Jerusalem, without much power to bargain for themselves. In his defection from Saul, Abner promised David all of Israel, but he died before he could deliver on that promise. Without Abner, the tribes come to David almost as if they were begging him to rule over them. They appeal to two arguments in order to convince David. The first being, “Look we are your bone and flesh.”

claiming to be of David’s bone and flesh.

We have at least four interpretations of flesh in our Scripture. It can refer to the whole person, mind, body, and soul. It can refer to the sinful nature of a person. It can refer to the sin actions of a person. It can refer to the unity between one person and another. This final meaning seems to be what is implied here. Under Saul, Israel was less a nation than it was a haggle of tribes, rivaling and warring against each other. But as the prospect arises that David should be named king over Saul, they come together. They profess that David was their true leader even while Saul ruled. They have long stood in both strength (bone) and weakness (flesh) with David. The second argument, “it was you.” Walter Brueggeman, renown OT scholar, makes notice that the “you” here is emphatic, as if to say, “You, it was you! You led out Israel and brought it in! You shall be shepherd and ruler over Israel!” The texts of Samuel have built the tension between Saul and David to make the distinction clearer, almost certainly being subject to literary interpretation during the transcription process, but the reality was that David was Saul’s most formidable warrior. It would follow logically for many, then, that David should be the successor to Saul, even apart from YHWH’s anointing.

Equally beneficial to David’s right of kingship is his identity as a shepherd boy earlier in the Samuel account. The connection between shepherd and king has long been understood in Jewish thought, as a king should be able to nurture, guard, feed, and protect his people, as does a shepherd for his sheep. It is this metaphor that provides the bookend imagery for David’s historic rise: shepherd boy to shepherd king. We know, however, that while David’s rise was historic, his fall was equally interesting, and it leaves David as an ambiguous character in the history of Jerusalem; while he was a man after God’s own heart, and the inheritor of a covenant promise that is fulfilled with Jesus, he also experiences great shame in texts we will hear from Tim and Mat in the weeks to follow. It is this aspect of David I wish to make mention of this morning.

We live in a political climate that currently makes many of us wish that we did not have certain rulers in place. The thought of our nation ever begging for a king or queen is something that I feel is foreign to us. And yet, here we are, reading the Biblical accounts of people desperate to be led, and we cannot ignore it. I think that there truly is an aspect of our humanity that does long for guidance. People search for it in places like the God we worship as Christians, as well as the gods and idols at work in our world. An interesting example was found by pastor Tim a few weeks ago. Tim and I often play games together during the week with some of our friends. In just the second week, there was one person missing from our game night, and in just one week’s time he had somehow become the de facto leader of our group. When he was absent, the rest of us seemingly struggled to take initiative or discern what to do next in our game. The construct of “leader” was established without even saying a word. We see this at work in our world on sports teams, in company structures, and in our churches. We can easily identify our named leaders, but we can just as easily find our influence in people without a title or designation that would name them as “leader.”

It is not surprising, then, that Israel’s tribes would clamor for a leader like David. Proven soldier, rooted in God, handsome even though he was not the strongest. Sounds like a great candidate for King. And yet, Israel was flawed in their wanton desire for David as King. Not because David was wrong, but because Israel was wrong. They asked God for a king long before David, and this was never the plan. As it reads in , “the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you.’” Israel asking for a king to rule them was a direct assault on God’s plan to Israel. Samuel himself would confirm this later, in : “I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

It is important to note here that God was not surprised here. It isn’t as though God was simply throwing a tantrum at this request; “How could you?! You will regret this!” Instead, God foresaw this and God’s Scriptures tell of this truth. instructs Israel that, when they do ask for a king, pick one the Lord chooses, not one they choose. It was God who sent Aaron and Moses, then the judges, then Samuel, to lead God’s people. But Samuel’s sons did not follow God’s ways, so the tribes panicked and decided that this was the way to go. But again, I will say that I do not think God takes issues with Israel’s desire for a king. Where God takes issue is that God was to be replaced by one of God’s creation. God blesses Saul to be prince of Israel, and Samuel anoints Saul as that prince, but the crowds shout “Long live the king!” The crowds take the title of prince, or son of the King/Queen, and name Saul king. Saul was a son of God, and was blessed by God to be prince, an office of principal rank in the ancient world. The crowds have gone the step too far, as YHWH knew they would. They have taken the blessing from God and turned it sour.

We know how poorly Saul performed as King, and we will hear how David struggled after becoming King as well, and I find that the reason for this is none other than that they are filling a role they were never meant to hold. But there was one deemed worthy. One that was there from the beginning. One that was with the Creator in creation. One that was with the Spirit that floated over the depths. One that would wear a crown not of metal valor but of mocking vines. Our worship today has reflected strongly upon that One of whom I speak. Jesus is not only the Prince of Peace, but the King that rightfully restored the kingship back to God. This is an aspect of restoration missing from much of what I’ve heard preached about Jesus. If Jesus’s death did not reconcile the throne back to the Godhead after humankind stole it, then that death would be insufficient in restoring our relationship to him, and we would ultimately remain under the rule of the Law of man, and not under the freedom of the Son of Man. Jesus brings the Creator God back to the foreground of creation, and once again, as it should be, God is restored as King and Queen over God’s creation. Jesus has ushered in the beginning of a full restoration of the Kingdom back to Earth.

If we look at David’s response during the judgment of his sins at the hands of Nathan, I think we can say that David is aware of his place at the hand of God. He submits to God’s authority in a text that we will miss during August Sabbath, and for his submission, God promises him that his family line will always reign as king over Israel. Those of us who have the Gospel According to Matthew have the luxury of tracing back an abbreviated genealogy that traces from Abraham to David to Jesus. Jesus is the fulfillment of this promise, as He still reigns as King with the Godhead.

While not a perfect metaphor for the coming of God’s domain, I once heard Tim Green, Old Testament professor at Trevecca, describe it in this way.

It is in the human nature that we desire guidance in this world. We may not desire to submit to that guidance, but in our conscious and subconscious workings, we establish hierarchy after hierarchy that is riddled with misinterpretations of this desire. Fortunately, we have a way to submit to a guiding force that although requires great sacrifice, promises great and eternal reward. This desire to be led is far too often corrupted, misunderstood, and even demonized. Our culture preaches independence and submission to none. But our Creator God designed us this way so that we might put God in that position, in order that we might inherit every good and righteous thing God would will for us to have.

He said to imagine a train pulling into a station. The conductor car has arrived, just as the Kingdom has, but the entirety of the train has not finished docking at the station. This train carries with it all those that are with God, and those who are waiting are those not yet with God. Once the train fully docks, each person’s “ticket” will be evaluated to determine if they are allowed to remain as the Kingdom comes.