With all the drama of elections taking over the airwaves and social media, the drama comes with it. The fate of the cosmos hinges on which candidate will temporarily hold power. Meanwhile, the Lord sits enthroned in heaven and laughs, because he rightly holds them in derision (Psalm 2). God’s kingdom is forever; King Jesus wins.
King David’s song in 2 Samuel 22 concludes by pointing us back to the supremacy of God’s Kingdom over all others. It is God who establishes the kingdom, God who provides the power for victory, God who populates the kingdom, and God who guarantees the kingdom. That was true of David’s kingdom, and it is even truer for Jesus’ kingdom, which will never end.
So far, David’s song has spoken of God’s great power to intervene for his servants, and that God is faithful to his character to ultimately bless those who seek after him and his righteousness. David’s song now draws these themes together, revealing themselves in the victory of God’s Kingdom.
Firstly David points out how it is God who establishes the kingdom. It is God, the rock, who made David’s ways blameless, made his feet like those of a deer and secured him in high places (vv.32-4).
It was also God who trained David for war (v.35). God gave David his shield of salvation, made him great, and made his path easier to walk (vv.36-7).
Because of God establishing his kingdom through empowering David, David was enabled to win. He was able to pursue his enemies and destroy them utterly (vv.38-9). God equipped him with strength for the battle, causing his enemies to flee, so he could beat them into dust (vv.40-43). His enemies may have looked for someone to save them, but there was nobody to answer, and God did not answer them (v.42). Everything he was able to accomplish was because of God’s power.
Thirdly, it was God who populated David’s kingdom. God delivered David from strife within his kingdom, uniting his people under his rule (v.44). More than that, “you kept me as the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me” (v.44). David was not just one among many, but was the greatest of those around him.
He was so great that foreigners came bowing in fear to submit to David’s rule, gave up their opposition and surrendered their fortresses to him (vv.45-6). They became subject to his reign.
It is only God who exists and lives, and is the strong foundation on which David relied for his salvation (v.47). He is the God who gave David vengeance against those who betrayed him, saved him from his enemies, and delivered him from violence (vv.48-9).
Because of God’s goodness and faithfulness to David, in establishing and populating David’s kingdom, David proclaimed that he would “praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name” (v.50). David’s praise would not just be local in scope, whether confined to Jerusalem or even all Israel, but global in scope. God’s Kingdom was not a localised event, but something with global consequences.
Finally, David concluded his song with an expression of his belief that God guarantees the kingdom. “Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (v.51). God saves his king, and demonstrates his always faithful covenant love to his anointed ruler, whether that is David or his offspring. Because God is always faithful to his promises, this is a surefire guarantee of the kingdom.
This final verse is the key to our understanding of this passage in the greater scope of God’s story of salvation. God promised that God would show his covenant love to his anointed leader, of the line of David, forever. That promise finds its fulfilment in Jesus, a descendant of David, who was the promised Anointed One whose life was sinless where even David’s fell so thoroughly short.
Jesus’ kingdom is one of truly global consequences. Fulfilling the promises God made through the Prophets that God’s Kingdom would ultimately overcome all worldly empires, Jesus’ kingdom covers all the earth. Everywhere Christians gather, there Jesus reigns. One day, Jesus will not just reign over the congregations of his people, but over all of Creation.
This kingdom is not one fought and won through election campaigns or military battles, but through God’s power and work through the Gospel’s proclamation. It does not require our strength. Even the abilities and words we have to proclaim the Gospel are given by God. And even though it may seem like God’s enemies have the upper hand at times, God will ensure their downfall and Christ’s victory over all his enemies.
God’s victory is inevitable. Only God has the power and ability to accomplish his will and ensure the victory of his anointed one, Jesus, to reign eternally over all Creation.
Let us give up our own little empires and serve and worship Jesus, the Anointed King. His kingdom is forever.
