God's Covenant with King David

by Fr. John Granato  |  03/10/2024  |  Words from Fr. John

My Dear Friends,

For three weeks we have been discussing Salvation History, beginning with Adam, followed by Noah and Abraham and last week Moses. Today we discuss King David and the covenant God makes with him. David is the youngest son of Jesse and a shepherd. When Samuel the prophet met with Jesse, he introduced to Samuel every son but David. Yet it was not until he asked Jesse to call David that God picked David to be the one to enter into the covenant. David was described as a youth, ruddy in appearance.

David desired Michal, the daughter of King Saul, but to get the hand of Michal in marriage, David needed to bring to Saul one hundred foreskins of the Philistines. Saul made David do this because Saul was jealous of David and David’s prowess as a warrior. David succeeded and eventually married Michal, yet the jealousy of Saul remained until the very end of Saul ’s life. To David’s credit, he continued to honor Saul and always called him God’s anointed. Saul was king of Israel while David was king of Judah.

When Saul died, David became king of all the tribes and united the 12 tribes under his reign. After reigning for seven years over Judah, he was king for 33 more years over all the tribes. David is a fascinating individual in Salvation History, and it is his direct descendant that would be the one to rule as king forever, this descendant being Jesus, who was believed to be the son of Joseph, but on reality is the Son of God. David did have many flaws and committed some grave sins, yet he sought repentance and was faithful to God, receiving God’s mercy. It is commonly understood that David wrote many of the psalms in the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament. He was the greatest of all kings, until, of course, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Happy Laetare Sunday. God bless.