Brenda Fossum, Duluth, MN says, On Palm Sunday, my 5-year-old niece, Stephanie, sat on my lap while we listened to the pastor’s sermon. He described Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem and how the crowds cried, "Hosanna, Hosanna!" At that, Stephanie perked up and began to sing, "Oh, Hosanna, now don’t you cry for me!"
Just to set it straight, it’s “Hosanna” and it comes from a Hebrew word that means “save!” This morning is Palm Sunday, and Hosanna is one of those words that it’s good for us to understand rather than ignore. And the person we’re going to be looking at this morning is one we need to understand too. To get to him, I want you to consider some other familiar passages alongside our text this morning.
Luke 2:10-11
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
About 1,000 yrs. before that night, in Bethlehem, Samuel the prophet came to the house of Jesse, sent by God to anoint the person who would become the next king of Israel. Jesse brought in his 7 oldest sons, and God said none of them were the one He had chosen.
1 Samuel 16:11
So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
It was David. Samuel anointed him with oil and left.
Meanwhile, back in about AD 29, Jesus is approaching the climax of His earthly ministry.
Luke 9:51
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
About 1000 yrs before, a young shepherd boy named David was the only one among the armies of Israel who was brave enough to confront the giant Goliath. Goliath fell dead. It was the start of a warrior’s career, and the end of one giant’s career.
While, back in AD 29, Jesus’ friend Lazarus falls ill. Jesus is late in getting to him, and Lazarus has been dead 4 days by the time Jesus arrives at the home in Bethany. Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave alive in front of many witnesses. It amazes many, and angers Jesus’ enemies.
About 1000 yrs before, David was no longer in the good graces of King Saul. Saul was jealous of him, and even set out to hunt him down and kill him. David did a lot of running from Saul in those days, but God took care of him. Eventually, Saul was killed in battle.
Back in AD 29, Jesus is staying at Bethany 6 days before the Passover Feast. He sets out for Jerusalem, and sends ahead a couple of His followers:
Matthew 21:1-16
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, ’See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’"
About 1000 yrs before that, David was established as a warrior and king. Among the many cities he conquered was a city of the Jebusites called Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 5:9
David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David.
Just east of that city, in AD 29, Jesus came riding in on the foal of a donkey. People followed behind Him, and others came out when they heard He was arriving. It was a kind of spontaneous parade. People placed their cloaks in the road, or cut down palm branches and laid them along the parade route. We usually call it the “Triumphal Entry.” We tend to ignore what Lk records – that as Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, He was crying over the city. God had predicted through Zech.
Zechariah 9:9 (HCSB) Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
The only thing that approaches the profoundness of God in the flesh, lying in a manger as a helpless baby, is King Jesus, entering the Holy City to complete His great mission, seated on a donkey, apparently led by its mother.
About 1000 yrs before, in the great city of Jerusalem, King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem with much celebration. David also made some major mess-ups. We can’t downplay what he did. He committed adultery and then entered into a complicated plot to try to cover it up. Ultimately, he had the woman’s husband killed. King David was confronted with his sin and confessed it to the Lord. He repented, and asked God make him clean again.
As Jesus was riding into Jerusalem in AD 29 or so, it’s not by mistake that the people are crying out,
Matthew 21:9
The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
Mark 11:9-10 …"Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" "Hosanna in the highest!"
Luke 19:38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Around 1000 yrs before, God had made a promise to King David.
2 Samuel 7:16
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’"
Granted, “forever” in the OT sometimes meant “for a very long time.” But today we’re looking at “forever” in the eternal sense. In fact, listen to what God says,
Jeremiah 33:20-22 - "This is what the LORD says: ’If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, then my covenant with David my servant--and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me--can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.’"
No wonder the people are excited about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem! No wonder they were talking about the “coming kingdom” of their father David. They’re excitement makes the Pharisees indignant. “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” they tell Him.
For all that David did right and for all he failed at 1000 yrs before, God had this to say about him:
Acts 13:22b …’I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
A man after God’s own heart – a man whose real concern was what God wanted. No wonder God wanted him to be king.
Acts 13:23 "From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.”
Luke 1:32 - He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem that day was important because it was Jesus, the Son of David, coming into the City of David, to take up the throne of David as His own, forever. Not an earthly throne, but a spiritual throne that has no end.
Now, what’s so remarkable about David that his name is showing up all over the ministry of Jesus? 40 Chapters of the Bible are about him and his life, and then there are at least 73 Psalms that he wrote. Abraham is mentioned in the Bible 230X; Moses is mentioned 847X. David’s name appears over 1000X in the Bible.
There’s no sense in fighting his significance. So, this morning, Palm Sunday, we’re going to look into the life of David, the son of Jesse, as a person who encountered God and was “forever changed” because of it.
When you read the life of David, it becomes more apparent that God didn’t randomly choose him. He chose David because David was “a man after God’s own heart.” What God wanted – that’s what he wanted. David loved God; he pursued justice; he was used by God to write many of the Psalms; he wanted to build a temple for God.
He also chose him as a person who would undergo a lot of changes – so much so that it was obvious that it was God Who was at work in his life and not just himself.
• God changed him from a shepherd to a king.
• He went from being a little, no-respect gopher to being an instant hero in the army.
• He went from being the least in his family to being ruler of the nation.
• And after he messed up, a word from God prompted him to go from being a murderer and adulterer to someone asking God for a pure heart.
We can’t deny it’s remarkable how God changed David, but we still need to ask – What does this have to do with me? The next time you read about David, or the next time you see the connection being made between Jesus and David, I want to remember what David and all his changes means for you and for me:
It give us…
I. More Reason to View Life in the Framework of God’s Eternal Plan
Some of the people shouting praises to Jesus that day would turn around and shout for His crucifixion in less than a week. They were looking for a military leader to come in and free the nation from Rome. God had a much bigger plan. They should have figured that out too.
Too often we live our lives with no appreciation for the big picture of what God is doing. A good day is a day when things mostly go right, and a bad day is when they don’t. But our lives are bigger than just one day.
I doubt that David could fully appreciate how being a shepherd was preparing him for other things. Still, David himself recalled the way that God had enabled him to rescue sheep from the mouth of lions and bears, and it made him brave enough to face a 9 foot giant. In the framework of God’s plan, this Philistine giant needed to be stopped, because he was defying God.
David’s ability as a soldier and leader helped establish the nation of Israel among the Canaanite nations. He didn’t get to build the temple, but David’s military work prepared the way for his son to build it.
And who would have predicted that 1000 years later, in Bethlehem, a man named Joseph would have to show up for the census declared by Caesar because he was of the family line of David? Who could have predicted that his wife would have her 1st born while they were there?
What’s happening in your life right now that you may not understand until later? What difficulty are you struggling through that may be preparing you for something great that God has in store to do with you? David’s life gives us another reason to step back and consider what God’s planning. Rather than fretting over everything we’re going through, maybe we need to spend some time out in the field considering what God is doing, and reaffirming our trust in Him to help us through it.
David’s changed life also gives…
II. An Example of How God Takes Ordinary People and Uses Them To Do Great Things
When Samuel first went to choose a son of Jesse to be the next king, he must not have been thinking this way. First, he saw Eliab. “Surely this must be the man!” he thought.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Abinadab. Nope. Shammah. Nope. 4 other brothers. Nope, nope, nope, nope. “Is that it?” Samuel asks. Well, there is one more, the youngest, but he’s out watching the sheep. In other words, “to us, he just doesn’t matter right now.” Really? Tell me, this morning, if I had listed Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah, would you have been able to tell me they were David’s “also ran” brothers? David was ordinary in the eyes of his family members, but God was looking at his heart, and in that heart, God saw a man who was willing to care about what God wanted, not just to please himself.
There have been plenty of ordinary people that God used to do great things – slave children, fig-growers, tax collectors, fisherman, shoe salesmen, and baseball players, to name a few. Most of them are people who aren’t seeking to be famous. It just happens that they make themselves available to God, God takes them and starts to do amazing things through them.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your ordinary-ness this morning, take heart. God’s not going to choose you for special ops because you’re the tallest or the most beautiful, the strongest or the most educated. Remember Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah.
Give God your simply devoted heart and let Him decide what great things He wants to do through you.
David’s change also is…
III. A Reminder of the Danger That It’s Possible to Fall Away
Not all of David’s change was good.
He wrote many Psalms. He was made strong in battle. He was loved by his people. He was married. There’s no good reason that David decided to commit adultery with Bathsheba. It’s easy to look back on it after the fact and list everything that led up to it. That’s not my goal here. I simply want us to be amazed at the way it’s possible even for a man after God’s own heart to sin horribly. The possibility of falling away is always hanging around like a scavenger outside. Once in a while we need to be reminded of that.
If falling away wasn’t possible, we wouldn’t have so many NT warnings about it. If falling away wasn’t possible, there wouldn’t be so many examples of people who did. If falling away isn’t possible, then why is our adversary the devil walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour?
It doesn’t matter how much you’ve grown in Jesus. Don’t stop now! Let David’s life serve as a warning to us that the most godly people among us are in danger of falling away.
But the good news is that David’s life is also…
IV. An Assurance That God Accepts Back People Who Fail Him
David himself was told the story of what he had done. Only, he didn’t realize the story was about himself, and he blurted out “The man who did this thing deserves to die!” “You’re the man!” Nathan told him.
2 Samuel 12:13
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
If you turn to Ps 51, you can read David’s prayer of repentance over what he had done. Some of you here this morning need to read that prayer out loud and realize that God forgave David, even though his sin was so horrible. God doesn’t want us to sin any more, once we accept Him, but we still make wrong choices. What are we supposed to do? You and I have an advocate.
1 John 2:1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
I know there are people who struggle with forgiving themselves. You need to be reminded that the father of the prodigal son threw his returning son a party, because he was lost, but was then found. You need to remember that if a shepherd with 100 sheep has one get lost, he leaves the 99 to go hunt for the one, and when He finds it, he rejoices! If you’ve wandered far away from God, I’ve got good news for you this morning: He’s exactly where He always has been. He’ll accept you back just as surely as he accepted David back.
God was able to make David’s life story into a success story that God used for His glory. In fact, when people looked at Jesus and wondered if He might be the Messiah they said, “Could this be the Son of David?” (Mt 12:23)
Conclusion:
Some years back, Ray Bolz wrote a song about David called “Shepherd Boy.” The chorus was
But when others see a shepherd boy God may see a king
Even though your life seems filled with ordinary things.
In just a moment He can touch you and everything will change
When others see a shepherd boy God may see a king
I hope this morning you’ve had at least a glimpse of how amazing God’s plan is. What’s even more amazing is that you and I are a part of it…
