Eastertide

April 14, 2020

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32

For David says concerning him,
“I saw the Lord always before me,
   for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
   moreover, my flesh will live in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
   or let your Holy One experience corruption.
You have made known to me the ways of life;
   you will make me full of gladness with your presence.”

‘Fellow Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,
“He was not abandoned to Hades,
   nor did his flesh experience corruption.”
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all of us are witnesses. –Acts 2:25-32

My Bible study group just finished an in-depth study of the life of David as we explored the Bible books of I and II Samuel. One thing I think we all agreed, David was fully human. He was also at most times fully engaged in living his life, whether tending sheep, playing the harp, dancing with all his might before the Ark of the Covenant, leading an army, sinning, or repenting of sin.

Because of David’s historical significance in the evolution of Israel as a powerful nation, Israel projected him, the anointed king of Israel, as the forerunner of the expected Anointed One–the Messiah, who was coming to save Israel. In Peter’s discourse quoted above, he draws from poems attributed to David in 2 Samuel 22:6 and Psalm 16:8-11, where David celebrates overcoming the onslaughts of death in battle as Peter references Jesus’s resurrection.

While not perfect, David had a rich and meaningful relationship with God from his youth. We, too, are called to such a relationship as we rise to follow Christ in building a world ruled by love as our ancestors in faith, those Disciples who picked themselves up at Pentecosts and initiated Christ’s purpose that is still our purpose today.

Prayer: Lord, grant us the courage to face each day with the common goal of loving like Jesus did until the whole world knows and lives that love. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.