The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than
we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve; Pour
down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our
conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy
to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our
Lord. Amen
Scripture Texts
21 And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22 And
Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. (Ruth 4:21-22)
1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul,
seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil,
and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have
provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go?
if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee,
and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to
the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint
unto me him whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the
LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem….. (1 Sam 16:1-4)
David was, in so many ways, typical of Christ in his identifying
characteristics that we shall be limited on making long expository commentary
and lean more firmly upon specific Scripture texts and points to conserve space
and meaning. Just as Ishmael was not the intended Seed of Promise from Abraham,
but Isaac, neither was the first King of Israel, Saul, in the true line of that
Seed, but David. The seed-line would pass through Jesse to David who would
typify that coming King of Kings in Jesus Christ. Let's examine the early
calling and background, first, of David for its relationship to that of Christ.
Both
David and Jesus had their nativity in Bethlehem (Heb: the House of Bread and
Praise). …I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have
provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if
Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and
say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the
sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto
me him whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake,
and came to Bethlehem…(1 Samuel 16:1-4) Bethlehem is called the City
of David in Scripture. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out
of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is
called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
(Luke 2:4, and many other passages)
Both
David and Jesus came through the genealogical line of Jesse. 22 And
Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David. Both genealogies in the
Gospels of Matthew and Luke record this fact. We see Paul make reference to the
fact of Christ as coming from the root of Jesse: And again, Esaias saith,
There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles;
in him shall the Gentiles trust. (Romans 15:12) There are many other
references in Scripture to confirm this fact, but I forego the mention for sake
of brevity.
David was King of Israel whose beginning was under humble circumstances. David
was a shepherd boy at the time of his anointing. Jesus Christ was King of Kings
and had his nativity in humble surroundings. David was a shepherd boy while
Christ was the Good Shepherd and Shepherd King. (John 10:11 & Psalms 23)
David was, except in his adulterous affair that led to murder of Uriah, a man
after God's own heart. And when he had removed him, he raised up unto
them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have
found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall
fulfil all my will. Of this man's seed hath God according to his
promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus (Acts 13:22-23) Of
course, Jesus was not only a man after God's own heart, but Jesus
actually had the Heart of God!
David was a prophet and king: Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre
is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had
sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne (Acts 2:29-30
Jesus was prophet and king: "Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem,
and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
"And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and
all the people." (Luke 24:19) Jesus IS King of Kings: That
thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the
blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords. (1
Tim 6:14-15, and others)
David began his reign as anointed king at age thirty. David was thirty
years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. (2 Sam
5:4) Jesus was thirty years old when baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit
to begin His ministry. Now when all the people were baptized, it
came to pass, that Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was
opened, And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove
upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved
Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about
thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph.
(Luke 3:21-23)
David surrounded himself with mighty men: These be the names of the
mighty men whom David had – then follows a list of courageous men and
their exploits. (2 Sam 23:8) The Lord also surrounded Himself with mighty men
of courage – the Apostles.
David was confronted with many enemies, some openly so, and other secret
enemies who were capable of betrayal. Even David's own son (Absalom)
rebelled against his father to destroy him. And it came to pass,
while they were in the way, that tidings came to David, saying, Absalom hath
slain all the king's sons, and there is not one of them left. (2 Sam
13:30) Absalom later waged a full scale revolt against his father as recounted
in 2 Samuel. Jesus also faced many enemies, both public and secret. In fact,
Jesus' own bosom friend and table guest betrayed Him for thirty pieces of
silver. I speak not of you all: I know
whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth
bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. (John
13:18) Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat
of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me (Psalms
41:9)
David was sought after in his youth by King Saul to destroy him. Jesus, too, in
His youth was sought by King Herod to destroy Him. David was king of fleshly
Israel of the Hebrew nation. Christ is King of the true and spiritual Seed of
Israel forever – both Jews and Gentiles.
The
Psalms of David contain David's words, but mysteriously also do they contain
the Words of Christ. The Messianic Psalms have direct applicability to Christ.
Psalms 22 is such a Messianic Psalm that describes, in its first half, the
sufferings of Christ on the cross; and in its second half, the glory of His
resurrection.
We
cannot help but be amazed at these signs and characteristics that an omniscient
God has placed in the particular persons of His own choosing in antiquity to
point to that coming glorious Son of God who would fulfill the reality of
promises made to the Fathers. Do you believe these to have happened by
coincidence of nature? Can you not point to many seeming `accidents of life'
wherein you can know that it was God's Hand all along that was your Guide and
Mainstay? We may all say with the Maiden of the Wilderness, HAGAR:
And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou God
seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore
the well was called Beerlahairoi (Heb: well of the Living One
who seest me); behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered. (Gen
16:13-14) Do you not know that there is the Living One that seest YOU,
too, even in the Wilderness of Life?
