What David Said About the Coming Messiah

David lived from 1040 BC to 970 BC

After King David finally subdued his enemies and had peace in Israel, God sent him a message by way of the prophet Nathan about his family’s destiny. Nathan told David that his family would rule over Israel for eternity ( 2 Samuel 7:13), and that they would always be the kings of Israel. In other words, the Messiah would be a descendant of King David.

 

King David wrote most of the Psalms recorded in the holy writings. Several of his psalms are prophecies concerning the Messiah and what would happen to him. Several of these prophecies are breathtakingly accurate descriptions of Jesus' ordeal of the crucifixion and the events in his life. Here are several examples:

Psalms 22:1-18

 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

 

O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

 

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

 

In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

 

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

 

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.

 

All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

"He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

 

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breast.

 

From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.

 

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

 

Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

 

Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.

 

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.

 

My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.

 

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

 

Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.

 

I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.

 

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Psalms 69:19-21

 

You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my

enemies are before you.

Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for

sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.

 

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

Psalms 16:9-10

 

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,

because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one decay.

Psalms 110

 

The Lord says to my Lord:

"Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

 

The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

 

Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in

holy majesty, from the womb of the dawn you will receive the

dew of your youth.

 

The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

 

The Lord is at your right hand; He will crush kings on the day

of His wrath.

 

He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.

 

He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore He will lift up His head.

 

David’s Messiah Summary

After studying David’s writings, it is clear he was expecting one of his descendants to be the Messiah with a never ending kingdom. The hard part to understand in his writings was how the Messiah could be a priest forever like Melchizedek and still die and accomplish these prophecies. David was from the tribe of Judah, yet he expected his descendant to be an eternal priest after he was raised from the dead before his body decayed.

 

Clearly, God gave David a vision of some horrible event that his future descendant would suffer, which he recorded in Psalms 16, 22, and 69. David’s descriptions of having his bones pulled out of joint, his hands and feet pierced, all while having an angry group of evil men encircling him and gambling for his clothes is an exact picture of Jesus' crucifixion eleven hundred years later. All these details were fulfilled and described in the New Testament Gospel accounts of Jesus' ordeal at the hands of his Roman executioners. These visions of David’s are very dark and frightening. One wonders if God fully revealed their meaning to King David. Since David recorded them in different Psalms, perhaps at different times, it’s easy to see how these prophecies could be overlooked and misunderstood by the people to this very day.

David's Messiah Prophecy

David’s writings acknowledge his belief that the Messiah would be one of his descendants. He also said this Messiah would become a priest forever, like Melchizedek. In David’s Psalms 16, 22, and 69, he describes a very specific and frightening vision of Yeshua’s crucifixion eleven hundred years before it occurred.

 

In Other Words:

The Messiah would be a descendant of David from the tribe of Judah. The Messiah would suffer crucifixion. He would become a priest forever, like Melchizedek.

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