Kingdom Come

“the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart…because thou [Saul] hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.” (I Samuel 13:14)

What commandment is this?  It cannot be any one of the commandments given to the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, which include “Thou shalt not kill” and Thou shalt not commit adultery“, both of which David transgressed.

” I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.” (Acts 13:22),

And what is YHVH’s Prime Directive Will? For man to take dominion!

I grew up in your basic Baptist church with a list of “Thou shalt not…” As long as you abstained from sexual immorality, drinking and drugs, and dancing, you were a righteous person. It’s not that you went to hell because you committed these sins, it’s that the commission of these sins proved you never seriously asked Jesus to come into your heart in the first place.

I know everyone doesn’t think like that, but there’s no question that a certain self-righteousness permeates Christianity, consigning “for all have sinned” to degrees of sinfulness of which the lesser sort are easily overlooked. Like pride in one’s good behavior.

In my lifetime I’ve discovered that the people who are the most ashamed, most regretful, most sorrowful, most aware of how far short they’ve fallen, are most appreciative and grateful of God’s mercy and aware of the price paid to redeem them and most committed to reflecting God’s light and love in a dark world.

And David is the prototype of the repentant sinner, and through that process, becomes the prototype redeemed son of God, fulfilling all God’s will for mankind.

“And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said…the rich man…took the poor man’s lamb…And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die…because he had no pity.

And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man...

And David said unto Nathan,

in utter contrast to Saul’s response to Samuel

I have sinned against the LORD.

And because he repented of his sin]

Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme

especially in heaven claiming that the Judge of the Earth is unjust, transactional, gives preferential treatment just like the false gods

the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die

Presaging the death of his penultimate son, Jesus, who dies for the sins of the world

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the LORD, and worshipped:” (II Samuel 12)

He accepted YHVH’s justice as righteous.

God doesn’t treat us as passive, entitled, spoiled children shielded from trouble, naming and claiming our heart’s desire.

His Spirit’s control provides the opportunity for us to develop, through experience and testing, into great heroes of faith whose names are memorialized forever and whose courage and actions inspire others to emulate us as true sons of God, identified with God.

“Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh / identified with you…and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus; where the Jebusites were, the inhabitants of the land. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, Thou shalt not come hither. Nevertheless David took the castle of Zion, which is the city of David. And David said, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. [no doubt thinking of Jonathan.]

• So Joab the son of Zeruiah went first up, and was chief.

These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom, and with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel…

• Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time. 
• Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. He was with David at Pasdammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. And they set themselves in the midst of that parcel, and delivered it, and slew the Philistines; and the Lord saved them by a great deliverance. 
• Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines’ garrison was then at Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, that is at the gate! And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD. And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest. 
• Abishai the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three: for lifting up his spear against three hundred, he slew them, and had a name among the three. Of the three, he was more honourable than the two; for he was their captain: howbeit he attained not to the first three. 
• Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear like a weaver’s beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and had the name among the three mighties. Behold, he was honourable among the thirty, but attained not to the first three: and David set him over his guard.  (I Chron 11:11-47)

Destroying the enemy is not the only thing that David and his heirs do. The point of destroying the enemy is to rescue the oppressed peoples of the world from the greatest enemy – sin’s captivity and loss of freedom in this life with the consequent eternal death.

“Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand [standard practice for a Greek audience] said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people...

• he raised up unto them David to be their king...
  • Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, YHVH’s Savior [Jesus]:..

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins [through] repentance.” (Acts 13:22-24)

Which man? The identity is blurry – David or his seed / heir / legacy Jesus?

Paul is most evidently laying a trail of logic that God’s forgiveness of sins, proven by God’s treatment of David when he repented, has been carried down through David’s seed Jesus.