Please read this passage before reading this homily.
We require our presidents to be native-born citizens. They must in this sense be “our bone and flesh”. Our Constitution requires our presidents to be native-born; it does not want foreigners governing us. The ancient Israelites had similar requirements form their kings. After much in-fighting, the northern tribes agreed to have David for their king because he was “bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh”.
The reading is from the second Book of Samuel. It continues the story of David’s rise from the first book of Samuel. It has three main divisions, David’s early years as king with the consolidation of the kingdom, David’s middle years with the problems of those years, and an appendix that looks back over his reign in a critical way.
David served as king over Judah and Benjamin at Hebron with its rich patriarchal history. When the northern tribes accepted him as king, David went looking for a more neutral site, closer to the northern Israelites. He chose Jerusalem.
The people of Jerusalem thought their city as impregnable and boasted that even blind or crippled people were all that was needed to protect their city. They soon learned not to mouth off or boast in front of David.
The passage ends with a note that God was with David. David was a very able leader. His task was to control the Philistines and establish a firm monarchy. The book of 2 Samuel will end with the establishment of David’s son Solomon as hereditary king.
God is with us. Like David, we have tasks to do. God is with us and will give us all the gifts and power we need to accomplish the tasks assigned to us.