David Anointed King of Israel
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
2 Samuel 5:6-10
10 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who said to David, “You will not come in here, but the blind and the lame will ward you off” – thinking, “David cannot come in here.”
7 Nevertheless, David took the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.
8 And David said on that day, “Whoever would strike the Jebusites, let him get up the water shaft to attack ‘the lame and the blind,’ who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore it is said, “The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.”
9 And David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David. And David built the city all around from the Millo inward.
10 And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.
What a history for the city of Jerusalem. First spoken of in Genesis 14 when referring to Melchizedek, whom I believe was the Lord Himself, all the way to becoming the city of God, the geographical focal residence of God on earth.
Of course, there were times the city contained somewhat less glorious inhabitants.
As the tribes of Israel entered the land, they were instructed to take the land. All the land, with the strongholds throughout the area. Future Jerusalem was a city that had not been taken.
Judah attempted to take Jebus in the early times of the judges.
Judges 1:8 And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire.
You have to hand it to the tribe of Judah for the attempt, for the city is considered to be a very easily defendable city, but it turns out the nation could not keep the city under their control.
Judges 1:21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.
This is amazing since once taken, the city’s own defense would be in the victor’s favor. Yet the nation could not maintain dominance of the city.
Over 400 years had to pass before a king would take control of Jerusalem, a king who saw the importance of the city, not only as a stronghold, but also as a unifying location for a capital city. Hebron, David’s current capital was far to south now that the northern tribes were joined the kingdom, and Jerusalem became the city David had eyes for.
And David took the city.
But I don’t suppose David’s motivation for taking the city of Jerusalem was only strategic, political and covenantal related. There may have been a bit of motivation supplied by the very Jebusites themselves. Referring to David’s army as men who couldn’t fight disabled soldiers is a fairly significant slap in the face to David. That alone is enough for David to teach the Jebusites a lesson, and while the world watched David gain power, taking Jebus became a necessity!
David took the city unconventionally, for if I understand the passage, the defeat of the Jebusite’s came by stealth, ingenuity and out of the box thinking. A water stack was to be used to gain access for a small band of men to enter and attack the inhabitants. A bit reminiscent of the attack on Babylon by the Persians hundreds of years later, as they took the city of Babylon by entering through a river. But I digress.
David took the city, and David kept the city. Jerusalem, the city on a hill, became the city David would rule from, the city the Temple would be built in, and the city that would be the focus of all things spiritual in the nation of Israel.
But it would also become the city Israel would loose to Babylon 400 years after David’s victory.
In the last days of Jerusalem, Jeremiah echoed the sentiment of the Jebusites, turning the insult onto the city itself. Jerusalem was unable to defend itself, though strategically positioned, against the disabled Chaldean (Babylonian) soldier coming against it.
Jeremiah 37:10 For even if you should defeat the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men, every man in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.’”
Jerusalem, though a easily defendable city, could be taken by the cripple and disabled. What a insult to the mighty city of David, and yet, as we venture through the Old Testament prophets, we see the continual sliding of Jerusalem from David’s pinnacle to Jeremiah’s day.
Never would the city rise to the heights of glory as in the days of David and his son Solomon. Even after the Babylonian captivity, the city never found strength and power in the region.
Jerusalem became a regional capital for a portion of Israel, primarily Judah and Benjamin, with the 10 northern tribes lost to the Assyrian assault many years previously.
And the temple, though rebuilt, did not contain the Ark of the Covenant, and the nation, what was left of it, could never claim the presence of God residing among them.
Jerusalem was a hollowed out city when compared with the former day’s of glory. It never ascended to it’s former glory, until one opportunity – one Person entered it’s gates.
David’s Son, Jesus the Messiah entered the gates of Jerusalem, and proclaimed the kingdom of God to be present. Not just the kingdom of Israel, but the kingdom of God! Jesus, the Greater Son of David entered the “City of Peace”, declared His Kingship and offered Jerusalem a glory greater than David’s.
We know what happened. Although given the greatest opportunity it had ever been granted, Jerusalem chose poorly, and rejected the King. A generation later, it fell to the Romans, and great was the fall of it. A horrendous and tragic end for what was once the “City on a Hill”.
The kingdom of God though continued, growing exponentially, beyond the geograpic limitations of a small city under the control of Gentile nations.
We also have opportunities provided in our lives. Some opportunities, like David in seeing the stronghold of Jerusalem, need unconventional methods to overcome.
Some opportunities, like hearing the voice of God, simply need open ears and a willing heart to accept.
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