I Chronicles 11:3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.    

    Every year in the fall, my school had student body elections. Before the voting, we would have an assembly and the hopeful presidential candidates would give a speech. I always looked forward to this to see how they would handle the pressure. There were, of course, good ones and painful ones. But most interesting to me were the speeches full of promises about what the new president would do if elected. The promises ranged from the impractical to the nonsensical. They were trying to appeal to students' desire to have what they wanted, rather than to have a leader. 

    Saul had been the king of Israel but God had declared him unfit for the position. That didn’t cause Saul to step down nor did it cause the people to remove him. He did ultimately meet his end on the battlefield. Supporting Saul was no longer an option and, in time, the elders came to David. Now they were ready to support him as king. (After they had exhausted all other options.) 

    David had been chosen by God years before, but the people weren’t ready to accept him. Now, finally, they came. And David simply made a covenant with them. He accepted them into his kingdom and accepted their declarations of him as king over them. He may have been tempted to punish them for waiting so long to accept him as king. Or, he may have been tempted to make them grovel, but he did not. 

    David’s actions on that day point to the ultimate King: Jesus. Jesus has been declared King by God. But He waits for people to come to Him and declare Him their King. When they do come to Him, they have generally exhausted all other options as king over their lives including themselves. Yet, He never turns us away for taking so long to make the right choice. He never makes us grovel and do penance for having the insolence for trying so many other options before coming to Him. He takes us as we are, and makes a covenant with us. 

    Jesus is the King. His resurrection was the ultimate exclamation point and proof of all that He said. Now, He sits on His throne in heaven waiting for men and women, boys and girls, to finally answer the call of the Holy Spirit and accept Him as King of their lives. And when they do, they enter His kingdom with joy!

 

Blessings,     

Pastor Russ