As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. Psalm 17:15
David, who lived 3,000 years ago, is dead. We read about him in Acts 2:29 in the past tense as dead and buried. It is so easy to think of him as someone who lived long ago, wrote many Psalms, and lived an amazing life. All this is true of course. But no matter what we read or hear of him, no matter how he is extolled, he is consigned to the past, however glorious it was.
Have you ever heard a sermon on David's future? It is quite common in some churches to forget about a very wonderful fact. He will wake from his sleep and behold the face of God.
Maybe he will be pictured as a little boy, killing Goliath with a stone and cutting his head off with his sword. I know of a church that made a plywood likeness of Goliath to show the children. But that event was long ago. Of course God is through with Israel they say, and David is just a distant memory.
By the way, I recently saw a detailed drawing of Goliath--very impressive. But the artist pictured him with five fingers on each hand. They could have at least read the Bible account of him and his brothers before they made the picture.
David as a boy. Daniel in the lion's den. Drama about the past is what we are told about. Jesus as a humble carpenter. Or better yet, as a blond baby in a manger, oh so long ago.
But there are those who think of David, Daniel, and Jesus in their future states and roles. I confess, I am one of them. I am a futurist. Daniel sleeps in the dust, but Daniel 12:2 pictures the time when many sleepers in the dust will awake. Jesus, brighter than the sun returning with his resurrected saints to slay and judge.
How I love these promises. Must we always look backwards in our admiration?
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