God Establishes His Anointed as King Over All Israel (2 Samuel 5)
If you have a piece of Canadian currency, say a ten dollar bill or a loonie, you’ll see the image of our Queen, Queen Elizabeth II. In fact, for most, if not all of us, she’s the only monarch that we’ve ever seen on Canadian cash and coins. There may be one or two people here this morning who can still remember seeing the portrait of King George VI on our currency. Queen Elizabeth II began to reign on the day King George died, February 6, 1952 – over 57 years ago. That was the official beginning of her reign, but her coronation ceremony didn’t take place until June 2, 1953. So, the vast majority of us have never witnessed the coronation of a Commonwealth monarch. Though we can’t be sure whether it will be King Charles or King William, I’d say that it’s almost certain that most of us will eventually see such a coronation in our lifetimes.
A coronation is a big deal. With pomp and circumstance, a man or woman takes the throne of a nation and begins to reign. It’s an event of great magnitude, a solemn yet glorious day. This is the sort of event that we witness in our text for this morning. After years of struggle and difficulty, after years of being on the run and being persecuted by Saul, David finally comes to be king over all Israel. We’re going to see that this was God’s doing.