Menu

2 Samuel 23:2 – The King is Coming

If we were to judge the future of Christianity based on how things have been going lately, we could well conclude: the future’s looking grim. But what does God tell us to base our confidence for the future on? On how things are going now? Or on his promises? In these verses, David gives us a glorious vision of the future, and it’s based not on circumstances, but on God’s promises. It’s an example for us. If we rely on what we can see with our eyes, we’ll have plenty of reason for discouragement. But what do we see if we look to God’s promises? And particularly his promises about Jesus Christ, which is what David is holding on to here? We have Jesus’ own words: ‘I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it’. We have the book of Revelation which can be summed up in three words: ‘The Lamb Wins’. This confidence we can have about the future comes not simply from man, but from God himself. That word ‘oracle’, which we have twice in v1, is a word that occurs lots and lots of times in the prophetic books. So it flags up that this is a prophecy. And in fact, in Acts chapter 2 the Apostle Peter calls David a prophet. Acts 2:30: ‘Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ’. In verse 2 of our passage David makes the massive claim that ‘the Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue’. And so God himself is the one telling us to fix our eyes on the one who is coming.

Now unlike David, we live in the days after Jesus has been born, crucified and resurrected. And yet our faith is still a forward-looking faith. All that the OT prophesied about Jesus wasn’t fulfilled at his first coming. Some of it was – but for the rest of it, we’re going to have to wait until his second coming. And these verses are God himself telling us to keep our eyes on Jesus and not give up. No matter how well or badly things are going now. At the times when we just don’t understand what’s happening in our lives, remember: The King is Coming. That certainty should put a spring in our step and strength in our bones.

Question

  1. How should we judge the future?

Prayer Points

  1. Give thanks that Christ is reigning over all.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.