Beloved, Blessed by the Gracious God of Jacob

1Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

 

2The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." (2 Samuel 23: 1-2)

 

David, the shepherd boy turned king, who fathered a child out of wedlock in an adulterous affair, an indulgent father, and at times an arrogant leader who chose inconvenience instead of wisdom, this same king was raised up, then anointed by the God of Jacob.

 

David is a picture of the grace of God, which we all receive today because of Jesus.

 

David means "Beloved", and because he understood how loved he was, then God could bless him, in spite of his sins and failures.

 

Today, God does not look at us and see us. He sees us in Christ:

 

"To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)

 

and of course:

 

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4: 17)

 

The grace of God is not for people who deserve it, but for those of us who believe in Him and have accepted his gift of righteousness (Romans 5: 17)

 

David understood this:

 

"Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." (Psalm 32: 2)

 

and also:

"But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." (Psalm 130: 4)

 

Now, why does the Bible record that David was anointed by the God of Jacob, as opposed to the God of Abraham, or Israel?

 

Jacob, lying, cheating, conniving Jacob, understood that God was the giver, and he needed to be the receiver:

 

"20And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: 22And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee." (Genesis 28: 20-22)

 

and also

 

"9And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude." (Genesis 33: 9-12)

 

and then

 

"And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. 11Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it." (Genesis 33: 10-11)

 

When we see how gracious God is to us, that we do not deserve it for anything that we have done, but we receive all things because of what our Beloved Jesus has done, then we will find ourselves blessed by the same God of Jacob who anointed David.