A great King keeps us waiting for the Greatest King. 2 Samuel 5:6-12
6 The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion-which is the City of David.
8 On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”
9 David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. 10 And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.
11 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for Davi d.12 Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
What a man! In a scene of valiant triumph, King David turns up in Israel’s history with impressive style. You can’t help but feel excited as you imagine standing in Israel’s shoes; it wasn’t long ago that you were living in the dark times of the judges. You had been constantly vulnerable to attack, and you saw the devastating brokenness wrought by sin as “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). But now! Your hero arrives: David, who became more and more powerful because the Lord God Almighty was with him (v 10).
Can’t you feel a sense of hope rise in your chest as you behold your hero who can do what seems impossible? Visions of your future suddenly change: you’ll finally be safe, protected and provided for.
Our hopeful vision of great King David is soon shattered. We’re meant to feel a sense of disappointment when we’re given a glimpse into the everyday choices that our hero makes in his personal life: And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem … (2 Sam 5:13). David’s affair with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of Uriah (2 Sam 11) wasn’t a one-off slip-up, but a culmination of his everyday choices. It left such a scar on the great king’s reputation as Israel’s hero, that it even gets a mention in Jesus’ family tree (Matt 1:6).
God promises to raise up a greater hero whose kingdom would last forever (2 Sam 7). We meet the Greatest King in Matthew’s gospel – This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David… (Matt 1:1). King David seemed impressive, but King Jesus comes and does the impossible: All the things we get wrong, Jesus got right. Through the humiliation of the cross, King Jesus rescues us from our greatest enemy of sin and death. Can’t you feel a sense of hope rise in your chest as you behold your hero who doesn’t stay dead, but rises again? With a hero like that, you can face all the wrongs you see in you and in the world around you. Even while you still live in a world that feels broken, you know that King Jesus is the Hero whose kingdom will last forever, your ultimate safety, protection and provision are secured in Him.
Head: What do you learn about David in this passage? How does David point forward to Jesus?
Heart: What’s one way you experience the brokenness of the world? How does knowing Jesus as the Greatest King change the way you feel about those things?
Hands: Do you know someone who is experiencing the brokenness of the world at the moment? How could you encourage them to find comfort in King Jesus? What’s one practical thing you could do to ease some of their pain?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please steady my heart with the assurance that you can be trusted today, because you are the Greatest King who triumphed over sin and death for me.
A song to listen to: See the Man https://open.spotify.com/track/4tgRkPJmV1B00YmJjyPRIT
Mel Dehnert
This Grow Daily was originally posted as part of the God With Us – Matthew series. During the School Holidays we take the opportunity to look back at the Grow Dailys over the years.
