The Davidic Covenant (4th Sunday of Advent)

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This passage from the Second Book of Samuel recounts the establishment of the Davidic Covenant, which one of a long series of covenants God made with His people. These covenants were made with key figures in Biblical history, such as Abraham and Moses, and now, God is making one with David. This comes after David has secured the Israelite throne from his predecessor, king Saul. Having consolidated his rule and secured Israel's borders from foreign threats, David decides that he wants to construct a temple for the Lord, although it will ultimately be his son Solomon who accomplishes it.

Seeing his piety, God makes a promise that David's dynasty would last forever. In this passage, we see God making a series of promises detailing what He would do for David. He promises to be a Father to the future kings of Israel. He further states that when these kings go astray and become disobedient, God would chastise them severely, but would not take away the dynastic succession from them. This is important to keep in mind when reading the later Old Testament stories, as we do indeed see many of David's descendants (including his son, Solomon) going astray, and God inflicting various punishments on them, yet they continue to rule as God's rightfully appointed monarchs.

Ultimately, one man would come out of David's line, and that man would sit on David's throne forever. That is, of course, Jesus Christ. Although He does not rule over an earthly kingdom, He is said to have a kingdom that will never pass away, as our Gospel reading affirms:

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end. (Luke 1:32-33)

Thus, under the new covenant, we see that the promise God made to David finds its ultimate fruition. The eternal kingdom comes to us when Christ was born in Bethlehem, and will be fully manifest when He comes again on the last day, and ushers in the New Jerusalem.

J. Luis Dizon