You will be safe with me
Part of a series on David and Jesus
…because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Hebrews 7:24-27 (NIV)
History is full of power hungry rulers, prepared to sacrifice millions of lives to cling onto that power or to expand empires. Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Hitler – all conquests built on the deaths of their enemies, and also the deaths of their own people who had no choice but to commit themselves to their rulers’ ambitions. Forty million people are estimated to have died as Genghis Khan expanded his empire; over 70 million died in six years of fighting in the 2nd World War. There are modern equivalents – and it has always been so. About 3,000 years ago King Saul was prepared to see his kingdom – God’s people – torn apart, the fabric of society shredded, as he neglected everything in pursuit of David. This extended even to the slaughter of 85 priests, their families, and the complete destruction of their city.
This is resonant of another Saul – later to become the apostle Paul – who passionately pursued Christ’s followers and the early converts to ‘the Way’ (Acts 9:2), capturing and imprisoning them. He was spurred on by unquestioning loyalty to an old regime – a regime that with Christ’s final sacrifice had become obsolete: it had passed away. His namesake, from over a thousand years before, was desperately hanging on to another old regime that, with the anointing of David as king, had also passed away.
King Saul, when he ordered Doeg to kill the priests (1 Samuel 22), destroyed the structure of a society that had the priesthood as an intermediary between the earthly and the heavenly. The ongoing sins of the people were forgiven every year when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, offering a sacrifice for their sins. The suffering Jesus experienced before his atoning death was an attempt by evil to remove the one who would be the intermediary between us and God. He pleads our cause in heaven. His sacrifice covers our sins. Without him we have no dialogue with heaven.
God ensured that one priest survived and David took him in, saying the comforting words, “Stay with me; don’t be afraid…You will be safe with me” (1 Samuel 22:23). Jesus reflects this when he says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” We have a perfect priest who is not subject to death, ‘…because Jesus lives forever…’ (Hebrews 7:24)
In Psalm 52, David tracks through his raw emotions after learning of the horrific genocide at Nob. The priests were helpless victims, never being part of the army, never having learned the skills of war. They would have had few ways of defending themselves. Their destroyer, Deog, personifies evil: lurking in the shadows, ready to step in to do the unthinkable, cosying up to those in authority.
Prayer
Loving Father, we can pray with David as he resolves his grief and anger at the end of Psalm 52, ‘…I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.’ Amen.
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Study by: Maggie Mitchell About the author: |
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Local congregation:
GCI Market Harborough
9 The Point
Rockingham Road
Market Harborough
LE16 7QU
Meeting time:
Sunday 4.00 pm
Local congregational contact:
Sinead Henderson
Email: sinead.henderson@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church