“David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection.” (Acts 2:31)
Preacher Peter now hits the high notes of the sermon. In making his case for Jesus as Messiah, he calls as a prime witness King David. He knows his audience; surely they will listen to Israel’s hero, David! Their confusion about the fire, wind, and language is going to drop from focus. Peter will use David to turn their attention directly to Jesus.
He declares that Jesus was horribly crucified (and that took place in the geographical vicinity of where he was preaching). He didn’t put the full responsibility of that torturous death on the Jews; he mentions that it was done with the help of lawless Gentiles (v. 23). The big surprise of what appeared to be a cruel ending of Jesus’ life is that God raised him from the dead. But this is not just Preacher Peter making this point; this was indeed foretold by their beloved King David, who was also the psalmist, here quoting from Psalm 16. While all knew he was the most revered king in Israel’s history, and he refers to David as a patriarch (v. 29), he also calls him a prophet (v. 30). The prophet was able to describe the future as God gave it to him.
In case any in the audience should doubt, Peter makes it clear (Acts 2:27, Psalm 16), that the things David said about the one who would “not have his soul left among the dead” were not about David himself, but was about someone else. God made it clear that one of David’s descendants would sit on the throne of Israel (without explaining the meaning of this in a way referring to anything other than physical kingship). Peter says David never ascended to heaven, but the one he wrote about, coming sometime in the future, did indeed ascend.
While I marvel at the Galileans communicating God’s Good News in languages they had never learned, I’m also amazed at how an untrained preacher captivated his audience. The Holy Spirit had control of his brain and mouth to present a can’t-miss message, invoking the name and history of Israel’s most famous King.
The Preacher weaves a beautiful tapestry of events and logical arguments and conclusions. His audience will not easily dismiss his words because they cannot ignore the importance of King David or his prophetic role. Once again, the miracle of language, demonstrated through a reminder of the prophecy of David, grabs the attention of the audience.
David joins the band of witnesses who will make this Pentecost Day a turning point day in history.
“Father, thank you for the vision you gave to King David about the Messiah, centuries before these events took place!”
Freddy Boswell 