Salvation Belongs to the LordSample

The Spiritual Crisis

David faced a political crisis when Absalom proclaimed himself king. No kingdom could afford two kings upon its throne. David faced an existential crisis with his life under threat. However, David’s greatest crisis was spiritual. The office of Israel’s king was a spiritual office. The kings of Israel were personally ordained and anointed by God (Psalm 2:6-7). Thus, the kings were servants of the LORD (2 Samuel 7:8). Israel’s first king, Saul, however had been rejected by God. God removed Saul as king and gave the kingdom to his son-in-law, David, because Saul disobeyed God’s commandments (1 Samuel 13:14; 15:23, 28). Likewise, the revolt against David from within his own family was seen by the public as God rejecting David for his sins, just as he had rejected his predecessor.

When David was fleeing, he was met on the road by Shimei, a member of Saul’s family. Shimei cursed David saying, “The LORD has avenged on you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, your evil is on you, for you are a man of blood” (2 Samuel 16:7-8). Shimei’s words echoed what the people of Israel were saying of David’s soul, that there is no salvation for him in God. It seemed that God had not only rejected David as King but had also wholly abandoned him. The people considered David as outside the covenant of God and under judgment for his sins. They believed David to be beyond the grace of God.

In the affliction of David, we see a portrait of the afflictions of Jesus. Jesus, as the greater Davidic King, was condemned to die by his own people. They rejected Jesus as the King of the Jews (John 19:21). His disciple, Judas, joined in the Satanic mutiny and betrayed the Son of God. As Jesus hung on the cross, the people taunted, “He saved others; he cannot save himself” (Matthew 27:42). For Jesus, there was no salvation. He was left to die. He was truly rendered as outside the covenant of God, under judgment for the sins of the world. In Jesus’ death, we have life. In his anguish comes our joy. In his forsakenness is our acceptance. In Christ’s condemnation comes salvation for our souls. Jesus’ affliction is God’s answer to man’s spiritual crisis.