The Son of David

The simple and profound beauty of the Old Testament is the invitation to flip through the crinkled, slightly water-damaged pages, and have my eyes opened enough to see Christ, all He is and always has been, through the blurred glimpses of prophets prophesying of Him, the psalmists singing of Him, and ordinary people encountering Him. To see dimly the promises of God as they were, and to see the bright fruition of them as they are now in the heart of Jesus, the Lord.

Earth's timeline, since the day its King arrived in humble glory, has been divided into a before and after, separated by a short, thirty-three year in-between, the light that is the coming of Jesus.

Today we are going back to the before, a time in which the friends of God stood on the edge of hopeful expectations for the future that their God held. No man in the Bible, though still a fuzzy shadow, made the coming of Jesus as clear as David did, through his life full of pursing, falling, repenting, suffering, and constant singing.

There is a reason that God chose David, a man of many failures and many faults, to share His bloodline when He came as a man to pay for David's own bloodied hands.

There is a reason that the Creator of all things, King of all kings and Lord of all lords, would choose to sit upon the throne of a human man, David, whose heart was bent and affected to its core by the sinful nature of the world surrounding him. But David tried, and God loved. This is a good summarization of humanity, and yet- even in our failure to try, God still loves. The heart of Abba is inseparable from love, every bit of the endless expanse of the presence of our God is consumed like a fire by love. Passionate it is, it comes gently through Jesus.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28–30

The Son of David and the Son of God (what an inconceivable combination!)- to have a heart that swelled with the compassion of His Father, to have the blood of a king- a king who tried limply to pursue the heart of God- blood that was spilled out upon the cross, a marker that anyone who ever is one after God's own heart again, anxious to draw near, will have a place to come and be clean, to come and be washed by a greater blood, a blood that purges every ounce of failure, that strengthens those who tremble and fall.

David, a man after God's own heart. David, who finally found that heart in Jesus- a man who held the heart of the Father and had David's blood pumping in His veins.

You are drawn near, child of God, by the blood of Christ Jesus. Blood that is human, mingled through centuries with David's shortcomings, and blood fully divine, able to purify every corner of dark out of every heart it touches.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. - Ephesians 2:13

David knew in part the plans of God, as His word came through Nathan the prophet:

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. 'The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son...I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” -2 Samuel 7:5-17

God's promise to David: I will build you a house. After years of David begging for the ability to build his God a dwelling place, God responded with:

I will build you a house. David's own hands were too dirty to do this.

And so the Lord, steadfastly faithful, built this promised house in a greater way. In Jesus, there was a Kingdom that drew near to the ones broken, the ones feeling forsaken, the ones sick. A home built on calvary that was nailed out of the wood of the cross, a horizontal plank of wood extended outward with His outstretched, open arms, bloodied as they were, and His welcome encompasses every lonely and weary heart that doesn't wish to beat outside of the heart of God ever, ever again.

Even upon the cross- there was a come. Even in the depths of blinding misery and pain and loneliness the arms of Jesus were open, as we always find Him.

In a sense, David's prayer was answered in a poetic way only the Author could write. It was David's own flesh and blood that hung upon the wood. But Jesus' hand did not hold a hammer nor any tool to construct this house, but instead, it was His very hands that held the nails. Almost as if, He was the home. And precisely, He is. David's own hands were too dirty, and yet his Son's were pure and able to purify. His Son's was able to construct this home.

Don't you know that God cannot dwell within a simple structure made by human hands? But we find our Home within the heart of Christ, our safe harbor that could never be earned, and yet His hands were nailed like a house built, yet His arms outstretched. A place has been built for you, don't you know?

Our hearts cry out in response in sync with the song of David:

"Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: 'Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!'" - 2 Samuel 7:18

Who am I?

Who am I?

Who am I?

Rather, who is this Father that can love in such a way? This King, with all the power of life and death in a mere whisper, in a thunderous roar; near Him is the most dangerous place in all creation, the most terrifying and striking, and yet within the depths of His heart is exactly where He built a home for me.

This place, built of bloodied wood and nails. This place, the safest place I could ever be.