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V. Entering the Kingdom

A. The Shape of Things Under Solomon

The Davidic covenant is the climactic event in Old Testament salvation history. Of course, the fulfillment of God's plan awaits the coming of Jesus and establishment of the Kingdom of God, the Catholic Church.

But we can detect in the Davidic Kingdom, especially as it takes shape under the reign of David's son, King Solomon, the qualities and character that God intends for His family on earth - an intention that will only finally be realized in the Catholic Church.

Solomon's is a monarchy ruled over by God's son (see Psalm 2:7), who is both a priest and a king (see Psalm 110:1,4). At the right hand of the King is his mother, the Queen, who intercedes for the people with the king and is a trusted adviser to the King (see 1 Kings 3:19-20; Proverbs 31).

The day-to-day affairs of the Kingdom are administered by a prime minister, variously called the royal "vizier," the "superintendent" or "master of the palace." He is considered to be "a father to the inhabitants" of the Kingdom (see 1 Kings 16:9; 18:3; 2 Kings 15:5;18:18,37; 19:2; Isaiah 22:22).

The Davidic Kingdom is an international empire, a worldwide kingdom, stretching to the ends of the earth and embracing all nations and peoples (see Psalm 2:8; 72:8,11).

In an echo of God's promise to Abraham and his descendants, the Scriptures tell us that by the Davidic King and Kingdom "shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed, all the nations" (see Psalm 72:17).

The Kingdom, with its capital in Zion, Jerusalem, will become the mother of all nations, "one and all born in her" (see Psalm 87:5), all made sons and daughters of God in a worldwide family.

It is a Kingdom that rules, not by military might, but through liturgy and prayer, wisdom and law. The liturgy and worship of the kingdom is shaped by the eternal presence of God in the Ark in the Temple at Jerusalem.

Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah (see 2 Chronicles 3:1). Recall that Mount Moriah was where Abraham was sent to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac (see Genesis 22:2). It is very interesting that these are the only two places in the Bible where Moriah is mentioned, and Calvary, where Jesus is crucified, is one of the hills in the Moriah range.

The Temple, atop the holy mountain of Zion, is the "dwelling place....[of] the God of gods" (see Psalm 84:2,8; 1 Kings 8:27-30). In His shrine, heaven and earth meet (see Psalm 78:68-69).

Another feature of the Kingdom is the "everlasting priesthood" that God promised to Phineas, the grandson of Aaron (see Numbers 25:10-13). Solomon restored this by making Zadok high priest and his sons "officers of the holy place and officers of the divine presence" (see 1 Kings 2:35).

The Temple was to be more than a shrine for the chosen people of Israel. It was to be a house of prayer for all peoples. This is what Solomon prayed for - that "all the peoples of the earth may know Your name, may fear You as do Your people Israel" (see 1 Kings 8:41-43).

A new form of worship characterizes Solomon's Temple and the Davidic Kingdom.

Prayer in the Kingdom becomes a personal encounter with the living God: "Bring me to Your holy mountain, to your dwelling-place. Then I will go into the altar of God...I will give You thanks....thanking Him in the presence of my Savior and my God" (see Psalm 43:3-5).

The liturgy of Moses and Sinai required animal sacrifices and offerings for the people's sin. In the liturgy of Zion, the people bring "a sacrifice of thanksgiving," known in Hebrew as todah, translated as eucharistia in Greek (see 1 Chronicles 16:4,7-37).

Passover, the feast that characterized the liturgy of Sinai, recalled God's saving deeds in the Exodus. The todah, too, is a celebration of remembrance, often involving the offering of unleavened bread and wine. It is a prayer in which the believer proclaims God's saving deeds, gives thanks for God's salvation, and swears himself or herself to a life of praise and self-sacrifice.

Echoes of the todah can be heard throughout the Book of Psalms, the royal prayers and songs of the Davidic Kingdom. For instance, in Psalm 116: "For He has freed my soul from death...To You I will offer sacrifice of thanksgiving...and My vows to the Lord..." (see Psalm 116: 8,17-18; 50:13-15; 40:1-12; 51:17).

In the thanksgiving sacrifices of the Davidic kingdom we see the true dimension of worship - the way God wanted men and women to serve Him from the beginning. Not in abjection and in servitude, not with the blood of animals, but with their whole hearts, their whole lives made a sacrifice of praise and thanks, their whole lives given over to the will and the heart of God:

"For You are not pleased with sacrifices, should I offer a holocaust, You would not accept it. My sacrifice, O my God, is a contrite spirit, a heart contrite and humbled" (see Psalm 51:18-19).

"Sacrifice or oblation You wished not, but ears open to obedience....Holocausts and sin-offerings You sought not....To do Your will, O my God, is my delight, and Your Law is within my heart!" (see Psalm 40:7-9).

B. Psalms and Wisdom

Look for this spirit of self-offering and thanksgiving as you read the Book of Psalms.

Traditionally associated with David, many of the psalms were doubtless written by him. All of them reflect his heart which, as we've seen, reflects the Lord's own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14).

Prayed daily, even hourly , the psalms were intended to give God's covenant people a new heart- that heart of David, that heart of the Lord.

The psalms teach God's royal sons and daughters how to pray - how to praise, thank, petition, and pledge faithfulness to their Father. The psalms teach God's people the history of their salvation and of God's faithfulness to His covenant plan (see Psalms 78; 105-106;135-136).

Underlying all the varieties of psalms is the Father's desire to instill in His children a love for His ways and His Law: "You will show me the path of life, fullness of joy in Your presence" (see Psalms 16:11).

The psalms teach God's people to seek His wisdom in His Law (see Psalms 37:31; 90:12). In this, the psalms are closely tied to the other great spiritual legacy of the Davidic Kingdom - the biblical wisdom literature.

The Psalms are associated with David. The Bible's wisdom literature - the books of Job,Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Solomon, Wisdom and Sirach - is associated with David's son, Solomon, who traditionally is held to be the author of four of the books.

The wisdom of Solomon was a divine gift (see 1 Chronicles 1:7-12). And his reputation for being a wise man drew the Queen of Sheba and "all the kings of the earth" to seek audiences with him and to pay him tribute (see 1 Kings 10:1-13, 24-25).

Think of the wisdom books as recording the kinds of things that Solomon told the Queen and the kings of the nations.

Read in their place in the Bible, the wisdom books function as a sort of fatherly instruction - God the Father, through His divine son the king, teaching His worldwide family how live. This is seen most clearly in Proverbs, which is presented as the advice of a father to his son (except for Proverbs 31 which is said to be a Queen Mother's teaching to her son, the king).

As you read the wisdom literature, understand that, like the psalms, these books are designed to instruct and to form the children of God's worldwide family.

This is the meaning of the strange passage in David's prayer of thanksgiving for His covenant - "This too You have shown to man" (see 2 Samuel 7:19). The phrase in Hebrew is "torah 'adam" - literally, "the law of mankind." This is what wisdom is - God's law, given through His king, for all men and women.

The Davidic Kingdom was established to be a universal, worldwide, eternal kingdom. The wisdom literature aims to effect the moral and spiritual formation of this kingdom. It is the charter of the new human family that God wants to create through His covenant with David.

The wisdom books are meant to instruct people like Job, a righteous non-Jew who, in his extraordinary sufferings, seeks saving knowledge and redemption: "Whence, then, comes wisdom" he cries, "and where is the place of understanding?"

He finally arrives at the answer: "The fear of the Lord is wisdom" (see Job 28:20,23,28).

This is the refrain you will hear running beneath all the practical counsel and advice found in these books: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (see Proverbs 9:10)

Of course "fear of the Lord," doesn't mean cowering in fright before the Lord. It means reverence and awe, the loving trust of a child: "All wisdom is fear of the Lord. Perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the Law" (see Sirach 19:17).

The Law given to Moses is seen in the wisdom literature as the perfect reflection of divine wisdom. At times, you will even see Wisdom depicted as a divine Person - a communication of God, who "created her...poured her forth upon all His works" (see Sirach 1:7-8; Proverbs 8).

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