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Commentary on Mark 7:1-13

A group of self-righteous scribes and Pharisees come to Galilee from Jerusalem to observe Jesus. Obviously, word has reached Jerusalem about what Jesus has been doing up in Galilee. They immediately notice that Jesus and his disciples do not observe some of the “traditions of the elders”, especially with regard to the washing of hands before eating. These traditions were a body of highly detailed, but unwritten human laws, which the scribes and Pharisees regarded as having the same binding force as the Law of Moses. Paul admits to having been a fanatical upholder of these traditions (see Gal 1:14).

It is hard not to come to the conclusion that many of these observances were originally based on practical experience. Eating without washing one’s hands could be a source of sickness, although they knew nothing about germs or bacteria. Because sometimes it could be diseased, eating pork made some people seriously sick, so the meat was banned altogether. But in order to ensure these hygienic requirements would be observed, they were linked to a religious sanction. Violating them was not just bad for your health, but a violation of God’s will. In the thinking of the Jewish leaders, to ignore them was to disobey God.

Clearly Jesus was not against the washing of hands as such, even as a religious observance. What he was against was the legalism by which the mere observance of some external actions was equated with being a devout lover of God. He quotes from the prophet Isaiah:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching human precepts as doctrines. (Is 29:13)

The real commandments of God, like unconditional love of the neighbour, are neglected in favour of what are purely human traditions. Jesus illustrates the hypocrisy involved by showing how some supposedly devout people got around the basic responsibility of respect for parents (which the Mosaic law demanded) by claiming that they had consecrated all they owned to God and the Temple, while in fact keeping it for their own use. The Corban (or Qorban in some translations) was a way of supposedly making a gift to God by an offering to the Temple, but in such a way that the donor could continue to use it for himself and not give it to others, even needy parents. This is like the story about the pastor who said, “Each week I throw all the collection up in the air for God. What stays up, he keeps; the rest comes to me”.

We sometimes meet Catholics who confuse the essential service of God with some religious rule. They judge people by whether they eat fish on Friday or not. They piously go through all kinds of devotional exercises, but their conversation is full of gossip and destructive criticism of others.

Others get tied down by scruples (“Did I say my penance after Confession?”) when the more important question would be, “Did I change my behaviour?” or “How did I keep my promise not to repeat the same sins?” Some ask: “Did I observe the full hour of fasting before Communion?” when the more important issue would be, “Does my going to Communion bring me closer to God and make me a more loving person with others?”

There can be a bit of the Pharisee in all of us, and that is the real subject of the teaching today. We will be judged by the depth of our love and nothing else.

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Commentary on 1 Kings 8:22-23,27-30

Having asked for wisdom in governing, Solomon now prays for himself and all the people. He begins with the covenant principle of mutual faithfulness—God towards his people, the people towards their God. God’s kindness to his people flows from the covenant made with Moses at Sinai, but it is conditional on their faithfulness. This is the core of the covenant agreement. In this passage there are two applications: Yahweh has kept his promise by the building of the Temple; may he keep it also in preserving the stability of the dynasty.

Solomon makes his prayer publicly in the presence of all the people. He begins by indicating the uniqueness of the God of Israel. No other god has acted in history as has the God of Israel, performing great miracles and so directing the course of events so that his long-range covenant promises are fulfilled. Yahweh has kept his promises to the people, who for their part are faithful to him with their whole heart. Of course, the second part is not completely true; the Old Testament is full of incidents where the people violated their side of the covenant. In particular, Yahweh has honoured his promises to Solomon’s father, David, and their fulfilment is seen in the Temple, which David had been told would become a reality in Solomon’s reign (this last statement from v24 is not in today’s reading).

Solomon then speaks in wonder at how a God, for whom the heavens themselves are not big enough, can contain himself within the confines of the Temple that Solomon has built in his honour:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!

This is an idea which some of those who followed Solomon in later times tended to forget.

The construction of the Temple and the appearance of a visible manifestation of the presence of God within its courts could, and did in fact, give rise to the idea that God was irreversibly and exclusively bound to the Temple in a way that guaranteed his assistance to Israel, no matter how the people lived. Solomon, however, had recognised that, even though God had chosen to dwell among his people in a special and localised way, he far transcended being contained by any created thing, however magnificent.

Solomon concludes his prayer by begging God to continue to watch over the Temple and to listen to his prayers and those of all the people “when they pray toward this place”. When an Israelite was unable to pray in the Temple itself, he was to direct his prayers towards the place where God had pledged to be present among his people.

In our churches, too, we can wonder how the God of the whole universe can be so specially present in our tabernacles. This is a marvellous source of comfort for us and we should use all the opportunities we can to ‘drop in’ for a visit and ask Jesus to be part of our lives, our work, our families, our day.

At the same time, we can reflect that Jesus’ sacramental presence in the tabernacle is a reminder of his real presence in all the people we meet and in all the experiences we have. Every person, every place, every experience is a sacrament of God’s loving presence. Even when we are far from any church, Jesus is close to us. Let us be close to him.

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Commentary on Mark 6:53-56

In last Saturday’s Gospel reading, we saw Jesus and the Twelve landing at a remote place by the lake shore to spend a day of quietness and reflection. But as soon as they disembarked, they were met by a huge number of people for whom Jesus, as their Shepherd, was filled with the deepest compassion. After teaching them at length, he arranged with his disciples for the 5,000 people there to be fed.

After this, the disciples were sent off in their boat to Bethsaida. On the way, they ran into a huge storm. In the middle of it, Jesus appeared walking on the water. When he got into the boat and commanded the wind and the waves, there was total calm. In our weekday readings from Mark, these two scenes are passed over at this point (but we will be reflecting on them at another time).

Today we have a passage summarising what Jesus was doing for the people. It indicates the tremendous hunger of the people to be healed and made whole by Jesus. The people recognise him immediately and go everywhere to see him, bringing along those in need of healing. Jesus, in turn, was visiting towns and villages. The sick, strong in their faith, only asked to be allowed to touch the edges of his outer garment, and everyone who touched him was healed and made whole.

Let us pray that our influence on others at home, at work, and elsewhere may have a truly healing effect.

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Commentary on 1 Kings 8:1-7,9-13

As we begin today’s reading, Solomon has completed the building of his magnificent Temple as a permanent dwelling place for the Lord. The building is described in 1 Kings (chapter 6), and we are told it took seven years, not really very long by the standards of the time for what seems to have been a very large structure. Many of Europe’s great churches took much longer to complete.

Chapter 8, from which today’s reading is taken, describes the dedication of the Temple and the installation there of the Ark of the Covenant. At the instructions of King Solomon, the elders, leaders and princes of the people brought the Ark up in solemn procession from the city of David, also referred to as Zion. As we saw in a previous reading, David had previously brought the Ark from the House of Obed-Edom to Jerusalem, where it had been temporarily placed.

During the festival in the month of Ethanim, all the people of Israel gathered in the presence of Solomon. Ethanim was a month in the Canaanite calendar which corresponded to the 7th month of the Jewish year. The feast which took place in this month was that of the Tabernacles (or Tents). This was 11 months after the completion of the Temple and the 12th year of Solomon’s reign. This feast was an appropriate time for the transition of God’s dwelling among formerly nomadic (tent-dwelling) tribes to a permanent abode among a now settled people.

When all the elders had assembled, the priests then carried the Ark and the Meeting Tent with all the sacred vessels which were inside. The Tent of Meeting was where the Ark was kept. It was called the ‘Tent of Meeting’ from the days in the desert when Moses used to ‘meet’ there with Yahweh. Solomon and all the people were:

…sacrificing so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered.

The Ark was carried by the priests to its place beneath the wings of the cherubim in the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies in the Temple. These cherubim are described earlier, in chapter 6:23-28. The passage says in part:

In the inner sanctuary [were] two cherubim of olivewood, each ten cubits high. Five cubits was the length of one wing of the cherub and five cubits the length of the other wing of the cherub; it was ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other…both cherubim had the same measure and the same form…[Their] height…was ten cubits. He put the cherubim in the innermost part of the house; the wings of the cherubim were spread out so that a wing of one was touching the one wall and a wing of the other cherub was touching the other wall; their other wings toward the center of the house were touching wing to wing. He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

(Note: A cubit was about 0.45 metres or 1.5 feet.)

The cherubim had their wings spread protectively over the Ark, sheltering it and its carrying poles. Inside the Ark were just the two stone tablets containing the Law, which Moses had received from Yahweh on Mount Sinai and which Moses had placed there at Horeb.

As soon as the priests had left the Ark in the Holy of Holies, the place was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could no longer minister there:

…the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.

It was a clear endorsement of everything that had been done and a confirmation of his presence, just as a visible manifestation of the presence of the Lord had descended on the tabernacle at Sinai (see Ex 40:33-35).

Our reading finishes with a brief prayerful poem spoken by Solomon:

The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.
I have built you an exalted house,
a place for you to dwell forever.

The image of the Lord dwelling in a dense cloud is one often found in the Scriptures. And we see it in the Gospels during the experience of the Transfiguration (see Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36).

Solomon’s Temple was later replaced by the massive structure erected by Herod the Great. Today, except for the fragment of the Wailing Wall, it is no more, and in its place is an Islamic mosque.

But long before that, as Jesus died and said “It is finished”, the veil of the Holy of Holies, where the Ark was kept, was torn open to the common gaze. God was no longer present there. Instead, under the new covenant, signed in Jesus’ blood, he is now present in his people. The Temple now is not a building, but the community of disciples. And that is where we are both to find him and reveal him:

Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me. (Matt 25:40)

As Jesuit priest and scientist Teilhard de Chardin put it so beautifully, we are living in a “divine milieu”. God is in the very air that we breathe and in every person and experience that we encounter.

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Commentary on Mark 6:30-34

The Twelve came back from their mission full of excitement at all they had done and taught. Jesus now told them to withdraw for a while for reflection and rest. This is what Jesus himself used to do. Large crowds were still mobbing Jesus and perhaps some of the Apostles too, so much so that they did not even have time to eat. This could have been a real time of temptation as the Apostles began to glory in their new-found power and the resultant fame and popularity.

We also see here once more the balance in Jesus’ life. He was so available to all those in need, the poor, the sick, the outcasts, but there was a limit to his availability. He knew when he needed to get away, to renew contact with his Father and to recharge his batteries (see Mark 1:35-37).

Some people are too self-centred. They have a very poor awareness of other people’s needs and do not bother to meet them. On the other hand, there are those who need to be needed. Their need is to have people looking constantly for them, but the result can often be ‘burnout’ or breakdowns. There are times when we have to learn to be able to say ‘No’ without feeling guilty.

So Jesus and his disciples take off in a boat to a solitary place where they will be left to themselves. Rather, that is what they thought they did. But the people saw them leaving and had a good idea where they were headed. While Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake in a boat, the people hurried along the lake shore. When Jesus stepped out of the boat, he was again faced by a huge crowd.

Jesus quickly decides that this is a time for availability. He is deeply moved by the people’s need; they were like lost sheep in need of a shepherd’s guidance. The people’s persistence in coming out to a desert place echoes the people of Israel in their wanderings. Here, Jesus is the Shepherd of the New Israel. So he begins to teach them. Their first hunger was spiritual. They needed to understand what Jesus stood for and why he did the things he did. There is a Eucharistic connection here and in what follows (the multiplication of loaves), and the teaching corresponds to what we now call the Liturgy of the Word during the Eucharist.

The story illustrates well the balance in Jesus’ life. As he did himself, he urges his disciples to retire and reflect on the meaning of what they are doing. Otherwise they may become active for activity’s sake, or for other less worthy motives. At the same time, in this particular situation, Jesus sees that a response is called for. The day of reflection is abandoned, and the people in their great need are served.

Let us learn, through careful discernment, to do likewise—to do the right thing at the right time.

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Commentary on 1 Kings 3:4-13

Today we have our first reading on King Solomon. It tells of the source of Solomon’s proverbial wisdom. The second part of the chapter, which we will not be reading, tells the story of that wisdom in action when Solomon solved a dispute between two women over which of them was the real mother of two children, one living, one dead.

We are told today that Solomon goes to Gibeon to sacrifice. Gibeon lay to the northwest of Jerusalem and was in the territory of Benjamin. At the time of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, the Gibeonites tricked Joshua and Israel into a peace treaty. The city was subsequently given to the tribe of Benjamin and set apart for the Levites. David avenged Saul’s violation of the Gibeonite treaty by the execution of seven of Saul’s descendants (see 2 Sam 21:1-9 and Monday’s reading of this week).

The reason for Gibeon’s importance was the presence there of the tabernacle and an ancient bronze altar. These must have been salvaged after the destruction of Shiloh by the Philistines. There Solomon made a huge offering of 1,000 holocausts. Later, the tabernacle will be moved to the new temple that Solomon will build in Jerusalem.

While still in Gibeon, the Lord tells Solomon in a dream to ask for anything he wants. Before the time of the prophets, dreams were one of the main channels by which God communicated with people. But in the New Testament, we also see Joseph being spoken to by God three times in a dream (Matt 1:20; 2:12 and 2:22), and there is the vision of Peter in Acts (10:10-16). It is not clear what the distinction would be between a dream and a vision.

In response to God’s command, Solomon praises the Lord for all that had been done through his father David. And these favours continue by God’s seating a son of David on his throne. But Solomon is very young and knows little about administration. The birth of Solomon is generally placed in approximately the middle of David’s 40-year reign, meaning that Solomon was about 20 years old at the beginning of his own reign, and hence lacked experience in assuming the responsibilities of his office.

Moreover, he is king of a very large number of people, “so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted”. Something of an exaggeration, of course, but from the small beginnings of a single family living in Egypt, the Israelites had increased to an extent approaching that anticipated in the promises given to Abraham and Jacob.

Solomon, therefore, asks the Lord to give him “an understanding mind” so that he can rule with equity and distinguish right from wrong. He prays for wisdom in practical affairs. It is a generous request, made not for himself, but for the benefit of the people over whom he rules.

The Lord is deeply pleased that Solomon has not asked for what Near Eastern rulers traditionally looked for: long life, great wealth, the destruction of enemies. He had asked for wisdom, for deep insight into what is true and good. And so the Lord gives him what he asks:

…I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you, and no one like you shall arise after you.

And, because of his integrity and concern for the good of his people, Solomon will also get those things which he did not ask for—riches and glory, the likes of which had never been seen until that time.

And indeed, Solomon would become famous both for his wisdom and also for his great wealth.

God today puts to me the same question he put to Solomon:

Ask what I should give you.

What will I ask for? What do I really want? What do I really need? Let me not be too hasty in answering the question. Remember the promise of Jesus:

Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12:31)

The answer I give to this question can be very revealing of my attitudes, my values, my priorities and where I stand in my relationships with God, others and self.

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Commentary on Mark 6:14-29

Jesus was now becoming well known over a wide area. There was much speculation as to who he was (a major theme of Mark’s Gospel). Some were suggesting that he was John the Baptist (who had by this time been executed) come to life again, or that he was the prophet Elijah, who was expected to return just before the coming of the Messiah, or that he was a prophet in his own right, “like one of the prophets of old”. We know, of course, that all those speculations were wrong. The true answer will emerge very soon.

King Herod, steeped in superstition and full of fear and guilt, was convinced that Jesus was a re-incarnation of John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded. Today’s Gospel now gives us the story as to how this happened.

Herod Antipas, also known as Herod the Tetrarch, was the son of Herod the Great, who was king when Jesus was born. When the older Herod died, his kingdom was divided among his three surviving sons. Archelaus received half of the territory, Herod Antipas became ruler of Galilee and Perea, while Philip (Herod Boethus) became the ruler of the northern territory on the east side of the Jordan. The title ‘Tetrarch’ indicates that he was ruler of one quarter of the whole territory.

It is clear that Herod had great respect for John, as he would also have for Jesus later on. The problem arose because John had denounced Herod’s taking the wife (Herodias) of his half-brother Herod Boethus. This was in clear violation of Jewish law. The historian Josephus also says that Herod feared that John, so popular with the people, might instigate a riot against him.

It was this woman, Herodias, who now wanted to be rid of John, but could not do so because of Herod Antipas’ respect for him. Herod had gone as far as arresting John, but even when John was in prison, Herod loved to listen to him, despite being puzzled by John’s preaching.

Herodias saw her opportunity when Herod threw a party for his court to celebrate his birthday. She knew her husband’s weaknesses. Herodias’s daughter was brought in to dance and utterly captivated Herod. Deep in his cups, he made a rash promise. He would give her anything, even half of the territory he governed. Under the prompting of the mother, the girl makes the gruesome request for John’s head on a dish.

Herod was aghast, but because of his oath in the presence of his guests, he dared not renege on his promise. John was beheaded, and the head given to the mother. Afterwards, John’s disciples came and took his body and gave him a decent burial.

We might notice some similarities between this story and the passion of Jesus. Both Herod and Pilate recognised in John and Jesus, respectively, people of obvious goodness of life, wisdom and integrity. The hatred of Herodias for John parallels the hatred of the Jewish leaders for Jesus—in both situations the ‘haters’ called for execution by the ruler (Herod in one case, Pilate in the other). After the deaths of John and Jesus, disciples asked and received permission for a decent burial.

John is the precursor of Jesus, not only in announcing the coming of Jesus, but also in giving his life for the integrity of his beliefs and in bringing God’s message to the people. We are called to do the same. Preparing the way for Jesus and his message must become an integral part of every Christian’s life. Without our cooperation, without our going ahead of Jesus, his message will not be heard.

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Commentary on Sirach 47:2-11

Today we have our final reading about David. It comes from the poetic and apocryphal Book of Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus), which contains a lengthy section (chaps 44-50) praising the great figures of Israel’s history. Here we have Sirach’s eulogy of David which in poetic language recalls the highlights of his life.

David was a person set apart, in the way that in a sacrifice the fat is set apart from the rest of the flesh offering. From his youth, he stood out:

He played with lions as though they were young goats
and with bears as though they were lambs of the flock.

He was still a boy when he took on the Philistine giant, Goliath, and brought him down with one shot from his sling, thus relieving his people of their shame. Because of this he won the enthusiastic support of the people:

So they glorified him for the tens of thousands.

This is in contrast to Saul who, they said, only killed his thousands.

He was regularly victorious against their enemy, the Philistines and “crushed their power” (or “horn” in some translations).

At the same time, he constantly gave glory and praise to his Lord. David is famous in the Old Testament as a maker and performer of music. The Psalms have been attributed to him although, of course, he could not have written them all as their composition extends over a long period of time.

He created liturgies so that feasts could be celebrated with fitting splendour:

…while [the people] praised God’s holy name
and the sanctuary resounded from early morning.

The deeply sinful parts of his life are summed up in one short sentence:

The Lord took away his sins
and exalted his power forever;
he [the Lord] gave him a covenant of kingship
and a glorious throne in Israel.

It is right to concentrate on a person’s virtues and achievements and especially their relationship with God and their fellow-men. That is what Sirach does here.

Unfortunately, the words of Mark Antony about Caesar in Shakespeare’s play are often too true:

“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.”

But a Latin saying is more to be followed:

De mortuis nil nisi bonum.

This translates as:

“Say nothing but good about those who have died.”

Yet, what makes many of the saints, saints, is precisely how sin was turned to good in their lives. We can think of Paul, Augustine and Ignatius Loyola, among the many others.

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Commentary on Mark 6:7-13

We now reach a new stage in the formation of Jesus’ disciples. There was a calling of the first disciples to be “fishers of people”, then the choosing of twelve who would share in the very work of Jesus. Now the Twelve, the foundation of the future community, are being sent out to do exactly the same work that Jesus has been doing.

They have been given authority over unclean spirits, they preach repentance—that radical conversion (Greek, metanoia) to the vision of the Kingdom—and they anoint the sick with oil and heal them. Notice that these three activities cover the whole person: spiritual, mental and physical; healing and wholeness; health and holiness. To be holy is to be whole.

They are instructed to travel lightly, bringing only what they absolutely need—no food or money or even a change of clothes. They will not need these things because they will be taken care of by the people they serve. They are to stay in the first house that takes them in. Overall, they are to show total dependence on and trust in God.

This is freedom at its best. It is a model repeated by many saints and founders of religious congregations. Do we really need all the baggage we carry through life? Even the ancient Greeks said: “Those are really rich whose needs are the least”. That is what Jesus is teaching us. And, of course, he was a living example.

The disciples went off and did the three central works of Jesus:

• They proclaimed the Kingdom and called for a radical change of heart from people, so that they might see life in the way that Jesus, the Son of God, was proclaiming.
• They liberated many people from evil influences and compulsions. Freedom is the essence of Christian discipleship.
• They anointed the sick with soothing oil and brought them healing and wholeness.

They not only preached the Kingdom; they made it a reality in people’s lives. This is what we too are all called to do within the circumstances of our life. Even having little, we are to give much.

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Commentary on 1 Kings 2:1-4,10-12

Today we begin reading from the Book of Kings. The two Books of Kings were originally, like 1 and 2 Samuel, a single historical work. In conjunction with the Books of Samuel, they extend the consecutive history of Israel from the birth of Samuel to the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. This combined work is designed as a religious history; hence in Kings, the Temple, which is the chosen site for the worship of Yahweh, occupies the centre of attention.

The Books of Kings show clearly the theological bent of a Deuteronomic editor. In them, as already in Judges, material from various sources, such as the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kgs 11:41) and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel (1 Kgs 14:19), is forged into structural unity by an editor whose principal interest is in the fidelity to Yahweh of rulers and people. The reigns of individual kings are adapted to an editorial framework consisting of a presentation and an obituary notice for each, in stereotyped formulae. In between, the achieve­ments of the king are reported—above all, his fidelity or lack of fidelity to Yahweh.

The faithful prosper; the unfaithful pay for their defections. Since this is basically a narrative of sin and retribution, it would not be inappropriate to entitle the Books of Kings “The Rise and Fall of the Israelite Monarchy”.

Without minimising the complexity of the process by which this material was transmitted for many centuries, one may speak of two editions of the Books. The first was written at some time between 621 BC and 597 BC and the second, the final edition, during the Exile, probably shortly after Jehoiachin was released from his Baby­lonian Prison (561 BC).

1 Kings carries the history of Israel from the last days and death of David to the accession in Samaria of Ahaziah, son of Ahab, near the end of the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Judgment is passed on Ahaziah’s reign, but the details are given later in 2 Kings. We should note the two large cycles of traditions which grew up around the great prophetic figures of Elijah and Elisha, the former in I Kings and the latter chiefly in 2 Kings. These cycles, which interrupt the sequence of regnal chronicles, were very probably preserved and transmitted by the prophetic communities to which there are references in the same traditions. The Elijah cycle is the more important since it dramatically underscores Israel’s critical struggle with the religion of Canaan.

According to the New American Bible, the principal divisions of the Books of Kings are:

I. The Reign of Solomon (1 Kgs 1:1–11:43)

II. The Reign of Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:1–14:20)

III. Kings of Judah and Israel (1 Kgs 14:21–16:34)

IV. The Story of Elijah (1 Kgs 17:1–19:21)

V. The Story of Ahab (1 Kgs 20:1–2 Kgs 1:18)

VI. Elisha Succeeds Elijah (2 Kgs 2:1–25)

VII. Stories of Elisha and Joram (2 Kgs 3:1–9:13)

VIII. The End of the Omrid Dynasty (2 Kgs 9:14–11:20)

IX. Kings of Judah and Israel (2 Kgs 12:1–17:5)

X. The End of Israel (2 Kgs 17:6–41)

XI. The End of Judah (2 Kgs 18:1–25:30)

Today we begin the First Book of Kings. We carry on the narrative from 2 Samuel as David comes to the end of his life and hands over the kingship to his son Solomon, the second son that he had by Bathsheba (after she had become his wife).

Today’s reading contains part of David’s final testament before his death. Moses, Joshua and Samuel, as representatives of God’s rule over his people, had all given final instructions and admonitions before they died. David is now going “to go the way of all the earth” and exhorts his son to be courageous and act like a real man.

While the section in our reading consists of positive instructions to his son and successor, Solomon, he is also instructed to execute vengeance on David’s personal enemies. These include Joab, one of his chief generals who had betrayed him, and Shimei, a man who had cursed David and whom David had originally said should not be touched.

On the positive side, Solomon is told to observe what the Lord his God requires. He is told to:

Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies…

This is a characteristic expression from the law of Moses for acting in obedience to the obligations of God’s covenant with the obligations spelt out. And finally, David tells his son of the words God had spoken to him about the continuity of his dynastic line:

If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.

This is the covenanted promise given to David through Nathan the prophet. Although the covenant promise to David was unconditional, individual participation in its blessing on the part of David’s royal descendants depended on their total obedience (“with all their heart and soul”) to the obligations of the Mosaic covenant.

However, both Solomon and his descendants fell short of their covenant obligations. This led to the division of the kingdom and eventually to the exile of both the northern and southern kingdoms to Babylon. It was only with the coming of Christ that the fallen tent of David would be restored and the promise of David’s eternal dynasty ultimately fulfilled.

When the nation and its king turned away from the requirements of the covenant, they experienced the covenant curses rather than blessings. But in all this, God remained faithful to his covenant promises to Abraham and to David. In spite of all their failings, the promise of the covenant found its realisation in Jesus, King and Messiah.

After 40 years on the throne, David died in Jerusalem, the “city of David”. He had been king in Hebron for 7 years and in Jerusalem for 33 years. The dates were from about 1010 to 970 BC. Solomon, his son by Bathsheba and a young man full of promise, had already taken over the kingship.

In the Old Testament David stands out as a giant. He was a man of glaring faults and paradoxically, a man of great integrity. He was also a man of deep religious conviction. When he failed—and he failed badly by any standards—he was the first to acknowledge his faults and express repentance for his sin. In consequence, he experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness.

We can learn from his example. Not by saying that it does not matter if we sin, because it does. But that, having sinned, we need to acknowledge our sin and turn back to our loving God.