Jesus: The True & Better David

"He bowed the heavens and came down." (Psalm 18:9)

I'm spending time searching for Christ through David's voice in the Psalms. This morning I was in Psalm 18, which is an eruption of praise for salvation.

"I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help.." (Psalm 18:3-6)

God saved David. The hand of Saul did not crush him and he was spared from his enemies. David trusted and sought refuge in the LORD, and his Lord responded with victory. God was making David into the King of Israel, however his journey to the throne was filled with the threat of defeat at the hand of his enemies.

We need to be like David, we need to trust God with a David-like trust. Our enemies are pursuing us, tempting us and threatening us with comfort and security apart from God. As Tim Keller says, "The only way we'll ever be like David, is to see the One to whom David points to. The real and better David, Jesus."

Jesus took the words of David as his own in the New Testament. Throughout Psalm 18, we hear a calling out to God in distress, crying for help, and then an answer from the LORD.

"From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears ... He bowed the heavens and came down." (Psalm 18:6,9)

We can see Jesus, the real and better David. God made David the King of Israel by rescuing him from his enemies. God enthroned Jesus forever by delivering Him over to the enemy. Just think about how the mocking declaration above the cross "This is the King of the Jews" (Luke 23:38) revealed the reality as Christ sits on David's throne forever.

Jesus trusted his Father completely through death at the hands of his enemies, so that He could rescue his enemies from their sins.

"For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." (Romans 5:10)

In the eyes of God, I am the enemy who wanted to kill David. I need a God who saves the enemy at the expense of the innocent. The gospel of God's grace gives us just that. David's enemies were defeated while David was spared, Christ was slain while His enemies were spared.

"And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)