15 May 2014 - as promised
Then he removed him and raised up David as their king;
of him he testified,
I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart;
he will carry out my every wish.
David has an amazing heart. He is a man after God's own heart. God's priorities are his priorities. He loves God and God's people with profound dedication. Most of the time he even manages to put them before himself. Because of this he can more truly say to God, "You are my father, my God, the Rock, my savior" than anyone who lives before him. His heart and his life show the DNA of God.
But David is just a prelude. His life, while good, is marred by sin. He repents quickly, showing again the goodness of his heart, but even ignoring that fiasco his reign still ultimately ends in death. He is still only human. Even though he is so good we see that his reign is still temporary. It still calls out for something more.
From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.
David's life is a preview of the love which Jesus displays even more perfectly when he washes the feet of his disciples, the love which comes not to be served but to serve. It is the love which gives its life as a ransom for many. David shows us how good goodness can be in order to teach our hearts to long for that goodness in an even more perfect and enduring way. We see how good it is our hearts realize that it is still meant to be even more.
John the Baptist is quick to say of himself, "I am not he" so that we can fully hear Jesus when he steps on to the scene.
From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.
Jesus is the one for whom humanity waits. He is the only one that can fully embody the goodness for which David teaches us to long. This is because, far more than David, Jesus can call God his Father (cf. Wis. 2:16). Like David, like ourselves, he is tempted. But unlike all before him he does not sin (cf. Heb. 4:15). He has the same sympathy for the rest of us that David has. But since he doesn't fall into these snares himself he is able to lift up the rest of us. Like David, he is made the head of God's kingdom. But unlike David, "of his reign there will be no end" (cf. Luk 1:33). Finally, we find the goodness for which we long. "No one is good but God alone" (cf. Mar. 10:8) which is why this can only be "I AM" himself. Finally in him we find the place where our hearts can dwell secure. In every other thing and every other person no matter how very good they might be there is always an underlying current of anxiety because we know that we will eventually experience a failing of that goodness or the sadness when it ends. In Jesus, the Son, the great I AM himself, we can finally know rest. This is the deep truth of which the book of Hebrews reminds us when it says that "there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (cf. Heb. 4:9). This is the rest we can have because, in Jesus, God definitively says "My kindness is established forever".
So let us receive Jesus and the one who sends him. He is our resting place. To that end he tells us that we must also receive the messengers he himself sends to us. His messengers are no mere preludes as David is. Instead they bring us very presence. To reject them is to reject Jesus himself. To persecute them is to persecute him. They share in the divine Sonship in a way that even David does not. Through the Holy Spirit they cry out "Abba! Father!" (cf. Gal. 4:6, Rom. 8:15). And, perhaps frighteningly, we share in this authority to the degree that we receive it. Which means that we can't stop at receiving the messengers of Jesus. We can't stop at receiving Jesus or even the Father who sends him. We must go out and make him known! This rest, this peace, is not just for us. If we try to grasp it so closely we will lose it. We can only keep it if we give it away.
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
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