43. We can see from the following passages that the Lord is called “David.”

On that day they will serve Jehovah their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. (Jeremiah 30:9)

Then the children of Israel will turn back and seek Jehovah their God and David their king; with fear they will come to Jehovah and his goodness at the very last of days. (Hosea 3:5)

I will raise up one shepherd over them, who will feed them: my servant David. He will feed them and be their shepherd. I, Jehovah, will be their God, and David will be the leader in their midst. (Ezekiel 34:23-24)

So that they become my people, and I become their God, my servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for them all. Then they will dwell in the land, they and their children and their children’s children forever, and David will be their leader forever. And I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it will be an everlasting covenant with them. (Ezekiel 37:23-26)

I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a prince and a lawmaker to the nations. (Isaiah 55:3-4)

On that day I will raise up the fallen tent of David and patch its holes; I will restore its ruins and build it as it was in ancient days. (Amos 9:11)

The house of David will be like God, like the angel of Jehovah before them. (Zechariah 12:8)

On that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David. (Zechariah 13:1)

David is one of the most significant figures in the Bible. He was a musician, one of history’s greatest poets, the boy warrior who killed the giant Goliath, a devout servant of God, a great leader of men and ultimately Israel’s greatest king. His stories cover the second half of the First Book of Samuel and all of the Second Book of Samuel, and his legacy was such that Jesus himself was born in the “City of David” to fulfill prophecies. For all that, David the man was not perfect. Most notoriously, he ordered his soldiers to make sure one of their comrades was killed in battle because he had seen the man’s wife bathing and wanted her as his own. He was also willing to actually ally with the Philistines for a time, while his predecessor Saul was still king. But in spiritual terms, David’s meaning matches his reputation: He represents the Lord, and especially the Lord as we are able to know Him and understand Him. The Writings call this “divine truth,” and it can be our ultimate guide if we want to serve the Lord and make His desires our own. This representation makes sense if we look at following the Lord as a whole picture. There are essentially two elements. First, we need to accept the Lord, believe in Him, open our hearts to Him, worship Him. These are matters of affection, and related to the Lord’s divine goodness. And they are generally represented by priests, who lead worship and perform rituals. Second, we need to act in accord with the Lord’s wishes: We need to serve others, care for those in need, defend the defenseless and work to make life and society better for everyone. These actions require thought, judgment, design, and are thus related to Lord’s divine truth, or divine guidance. They are generally represented by kings, who are men of action and are responsible for the activity of their nations. As the greatest of the kings, David represents this truth in its greatest form.