There was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judg. 21:25). This is the opening song playing as the curtain is drawn back on 1 Samuel. Who will be the king that Israel truly needs? The people are on stage first. Saul’a tall, regal GQ model’receives the People's Choice Award to be king over Israel so they could be like the other nations. We know, of course, how Saul performs: he sacrifices impatiently; selfishly, he does not kill all the Amalekites; he is the taker of rash oaths and the butcher of priests. Like the judges, Saul can swing a sword, but he cannot obey the law. He is unable to lead the people in righteousness.
Next up, it is God's turn to choose a king of a different sort. Now God selects a boy, the youngest of eight sons, who is not even invited to the feast but is left out in the field to tend the lambs. This boy is unfamiliar with a sword, but he is accustomed to the slingshot and the harp. The Lord seeks out a man after his own heart’David. The difference between the people's choice and God's choice could not be starker. As Saul is hunting down David, the Lord's anointed, David will not harm a hair on Saul's anointed head. In all things, David obeys the Lord. He is not a tyrant to God's people, but a tender shepherd guiding in righteousness. So God grants David an everlasting kingship. David will eventually lie down with his fathers, but from David's house God will raise up a son. The Lord will be a father to this son, establishing his kingdom and throne forever. This son will construct a house for God; he is the temple builder. Reading through 1-2 Samuel, all our hopes for the king had been piled on David, but now God shifts these upon David's son. The Lord makes an oath that the son of David is the one. The son will be that perfect king to bear God's people to the glorious summit of Zion. Our eager expectations are teeming on the surface: Come, son, come quickly.
In fact, it is a good thing the Lord put our hopes on David's son. After his covenant in 2 Samuel 7, David's performance gets rusty: Bathsheba, Absalom, and the census. The gleaming armor of David tarnishes. So, with the excited giddiness of little children, we are singing Psalm 2 at the coronation of Solomon. The crowned king asks the Lord for wisdom and it is granted. The Lord tells Solomon, "If you will walk before me’¦doing according to all that I have commanded, and keeping my statutes and rules, then I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever" (1 Kings 9:4-5). If Solomon will be righteous, then he will be the king to bring the people into their inheritance.
And how graceful are the sage hands of Solomon! With erudite piety he delivers justice to Israel, and he instructs the queen of Sheba. His healing hands weave peace that covers the land. Shaded by vines and fig trees, every person eats and drinks and is happy. As Garrison Keillor says of Lake Wobegone, so it also now seems that Israel is a place where "all the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." The Lord gives Solomon rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune (1 Kings 5:4).
Then there is the exquisite architecture of the temple, seven years of fine masonry, carving of olivewood, and overlaying of nearly everything in gold. Like a jeweled diadem, the temple crowns Mount Zion. And as a crescendo, with all of God's people assembled in worship, the Glory of the Lord fills the temple. The fiery presence of the Almighty, enshrouded in cloud, takes his place above the cherubim. The Lord God of heaven and earth, Creator of all, and Redeemer of his covenant people, has come to dwell with his own. As readers we are drawn into the congregation. Our eyes squint at God's splendor. Our tongues let loose praises and thanksgivings: "The Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."
And yet, as we sing for joy, our eyes begin scanning the congregation. What do we see? There is a wife of Solomon, and then another wife and another: seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. The king's palace catches our gaze: it is bigger and more glorious than the temple. In the windows of Solomon's chateau, you notice the foreign gods that his wives brought with them. You peer across the Kidron Valley and there on the Mount of Olives are shrines to Chemosh and Molech. There are idols in Jerusalem. The people may be wealthy, but they work eighty hours a week. There is greed in the wisdom of Solomon. The mold of infidelity grows upon the obedience of the king.
Solomon is not the son. We sang Psalm 2 too soon. Solomon had his good points, but he was not righteous. The excitement over Solomon is dashed; our hope is delayed. The words of Scripture tell us it is good to wait upon the Lord.
Solomon was not that righteous son, but God's oath is sure. The royal heir will come. It is not today, and it may not be tomorrow, but God's covenant with David is unbreakable. And so like the Israelites who had to wait on the Lord, we wait. With one king after another, the righteous branch of David does not sprout and flower. After centuries of waiting and pent-up hope and expectation, you can imagine the elation of that young virgin when the angel tells her, "The child to be born of you will be called holy’the Son of God. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
With Mary the waiting stops and we behold our righteous king, Jesus Christ. We see him who bears us up on his righteous shoulders to the heavenly Mount Zion. Then we hear the sweetest words imaginable: "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man" (Rev. 21:3).
