The Anointed Shepherd King
Introduction: The Lag Time of a Promise
The promises of God are more certain than the rising of the sun, but they rarely operate on our preferred timetable. Between the anointing and the appointing, between the prophecy and the fulfillment, there is almost always a period of testing, waiting, and proving. David was anointed as a boy in his father's house, a ruddy shepherd chosen over his more impressive older brothers. But he did not step immediately from the sheepfold to the throne room. He first had to face Goliath, serve in Saul's court, befriend Jonathan, flee for his life, live in caves, lead a band of malcontents, and even serve a foreign king. After Saul's death, he was still not king over all Israel. He was made king over his own tribe, Judah, and had to endure seven years of a bloody civil war against the house of Saul.
This is God's ordinary pattern of providence. He makes His man before He makes His man king. He forges character in the crucible of affliction before He grants the crown of authority. Our modern world is allergic to this kind of process. We want instant results, push-button success, and leaders who have never known failure or hardship. But God's economy is different. He values the long, slow work of sanctification. And so, when we come to this chapter, we are not witnessing a mere political consolidation. We are witnessing the public, national confirmation of a promise that God made decades before, a promise that has been tested and tried in the fires of adversity. The people of Israel are finally catching up to the Word of God.
What we see here is the establishment of a righteous, covenantal monarchy over a unified people. But as with all things in the Old Testament, this is a shadow, a type, a pointer to a greater reality. The story of David's ascension to the throne in Hebron is a preview of the ascension of the Son of David to the throne of heaven. The principles established here, kinship, divine calling, covenant faithfulness, are the very principles of the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Text
Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and Yahweh said to you, 'You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.' " So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David cut a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; then they anointed David king over Israel. Now David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
(2 Samuel 5:1-5 LSB)
The Basis for Allegiance (vv. 1-2)
The delegation from the northern tribes comes to David with a three-fold basis for their submission to his rule. This is not a groveling surrender; it is a reasoned, theological, and covenantal declaration of allegiance.
"Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel; and Yahweh said to you, 'You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.'" (2 Samuel 5:1-2)
First, they appeal to kinship: "Behold, we are your bone and your flesh." This is the language of family, of covenant solidarity. It echoes the words of Adam concerning Eve and the words of Laban to Jacob. They are not submitting to a foreign conqueror; they are uniting under their brother. This is foundational. A true king is not an alien ruler, but one who shares the nature of his people. This points us directly to the incarnation. The eternal Son of God became our bone and our flesh, taking on our nature so that He could be our perfect King and Kinsman-Redeemer (Hebrews 2:14-17). He is not ashamed to call us brothers.
Second, they appeal to David's proven competence. "Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led out and brought in Israel." They remembered his military victories. They remembered his leadership. Even when he was a subordinate to a jealous and failing king, David's faithfulness and skill were evident to all. God does not call men to leadership without equipping them, and He often makes that equipping visible to all. David had a track record. He had been faithful in the small things, and now he was being entrusted with the entire kingdom. This is a rebuke to all forms of Gnostic leadership that rely on some secret knowledge or hidden calling. True leadership is demonstrated in faithful, public service over time.
Third, and most importantly, they appeal to divine revelation. "And Yahweh said to you, 'You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.'" They are finally submitting to God's Word. Their allegiance is not ultimately based on blood relation or on David's resume, but on the fact that God had chosen him. All legitimate authority flows from God. Their recognition of David is a recognition of Yahweh's sovereignty. Notice the language God uses: "You will shepherd My people." The king is not an owner, but a steward. The people are not his, but God's. The model for rule is not the tyrant, but the shepherd, who leads, feeds, protects, and cares for the flock. This is the very title Jesus takes for Himself: "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11).
The Covenantal Ceremony (v. 3)
The allegiance of the people is then formalized in a solemn, sacred ceremony.
"So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David cut a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; then they anointed David king over Israel." (2 Samuel 5:3 LSB)
This is not a simple coronation party. It is a binding, legal transaction. The "elders of Israel," the legitimate representatives of the people, come before their king. And what does the king do? He "cut a covenant with them." This is crucial. David's rule is not absolute; it is constitutional. It is bound by the terms of the covenant, which itself is under the law of God. This establishes a monarchy limited by law, a government of laws and not of men. David binds himself to rule them justly, and they bind themselves to follow him faithfully.
And where does this happen? "In Hebron before Yahweh." God is the witness, the party of the first part, and the enforcer of this national covenant. All political arrangements, if they are to be legitimate, must be made in submission to God. Politics is not a secular, godless space. For a nation to prosper, its leaders and its people must conduct their affairs "before Yahweh." Any political covenant that ignores God is a conspiracy destined for the ash heap of history.
Then, and only then, "they anointed David king over Israel." This is his third anointing. The first, by Samuel, was prophetic. The second, by Judah, was regional. This third anointing is national and public. It is the visible sign of the spiritual reality that God had ordained. The oil symbolizes the setting apart of the king for his office and the empowering of him by God's Spirit for the task. This is a picture of our King Jesus, who was anointed not with literal oil, but with the Holy Spirit without measure at His baptism, commissioning Him for His public ministry.
A Reign of Divine Fullness (vv. 4-5)
The inspired historian then gives us a summary of this momentous reign, marking it with numbers that are theologically significant.
"Now David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. At Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah." (2 Samuel 5:4-5 LSB)
David begins his reign at thirty years old. This was the age of full maturity, the age when a man was considered to be in his prime. It was the age when the Levites began their full service in the tabernacle. It is no coincidence that our Lord Jesus, the greater David, began His public ministry when He was "about thirty years of age" (Luke 3:23). This is the age of readiness, the divinely appointed time to begin the great work.
He reigned for forty years. In Scripture, forty is the number of completion, of a full generation, often associated with a period of testing followed by victory. Moses was on the mountain for forty days. Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Jesus was tempted for forty days. David's forty-year reign signifies a complete, divinely ordered era of rule. It was a golden age for Israel, a period of stability and power that was the high-water mark of the nation's history.
Finally, the reign is broken into two parts: seven and a half years in Hebron over Judah, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem over the unified nation. This shows us the progressive nature of God's plan. God did not give David everything at once. He tested his faithfulness with one tribe before giving him all twelve. This is a pattern for us. As Jesus taught in the parable of the talents, the one who is faithful in a little will be entrusted with much. God grows His kingdom and His people incrementally, from a small beginning to a great fulfillment. The move from the regional capital of Hebron to the central capital of Jerusalem, which David would soon conquer, represents the establishment of a central, unified government and a central place of worship for all of God's people.
The Greater David on the Throne
This entire chapter is a portrait of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The tribes of Israel came to David because he was their kinsman, a proven leader, and God's chosen one. How much more should we come to Jesus? He is our true bone and flesh through the incarnation. He is the proven leader, the Captain of our salvation, who defeated sin, death, and the devil. And He is the one to whom the Father has said, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage" (Psalm 2:7-8).
David made a covenant with his people before Yahweh. Jesus has cut a New Covenant with us, not with the blood of animals, but with His own blood. By this covenant, He has bound Himself to be our faithful King, and we are bound to be His faithful people. His throne is not in Jerusalem on earth, but in the heavenly Jerusalem, at the right hand of the Father.
David's reign unified a divided nation. Christ's reign unifies a divided humanity. In Him, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile has been torn down, creating one new man, the Church (Ephesians 2:14-16). He is gathering a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation.
The promise to David took a long time to be fulfilled, but it was certain. The promise of Christ's total dominion over all the earth may seem slow in coming, but it is just as certain. He is reigning now. He is putting all His enemies under His feet. The day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The tribes of Israel finally bent the knee to David in Hebron. Our job, as the Church, is to announce to all the tribes of the earth that the Son of David is on His throne, and to call them to come and joyfully bow the knee to Him, their true Shepherd King.