By Stuart Powell
David was a man in pursuit of God’s heart. He submitted his life to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit during his teen years. He desired to build up God’s kingdom. Later, he planned to build a temple unlike any other among the nations. Its design was in harmony with the pattern divinely revealed to Moses generations earlier.
God, however, refused David this honor. Before he died, David shared with the chosen son, Solomon, the new plan God had revealed to him.
David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever’” (1 Chronicles 22:7-10).
Because the blood of God’s judgment against the faithless Canaanites and Philistines was on David’s hands, God desired a different king—one whose hands wouldn’t be stained with the life blood of God’s judgment against sinful people—to build a permanent temple for his Name. God planned for a man whose hands delivered peace to the land.
We gather at this time to remember the Son of David—Jesus—who died with blood-stained hands. They were not stained from the battles against flesh-and-blood sinners. The blood-stained hands of the Son of David we celebrate are a reminder of the payment God made for the redemption available to all humanity.
As you eat the bread and drink the cup, remember the peaceful hands of God’s Messiah, sacrificed for our sin. The Son of David who is still building God’s glorious temple today.
Stuart Powell lives outside of Terre Haute, Indiana, where he serves with the North Side Christian Church.
Author: Christian Standard
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