What Does II Samuel 15:25 Mean?

David instructs Zadok to carry the Ark back to Jerusalem: "If I shall find favour in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me both it, and his habitation: But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him." This is one of David's finest moments in the entire narrative. The king who has failed so often in the exercise of his authority here succeeds magnificently in the exercise of his faith. He places his future entirely in the hands of God, refusing to use the Ark as a talisman or a bargaining chip.

The theology of David's statement is profound. He acknowledges that his restoration depends not on his possession of sacred objects but on the favor of the Lord. The Ark will not save him; God will save him, if it pleases God to do so. And if it does not please God, David is prepared to accept whatever comes. This submission stands in sharp contrast to the manipulations that have characterized the preceding chapters, Joab's schemes, Absalom's campaigns, and the woman of Tekoa's performance. In the moment of his greatest extremity, David finally stops trying to manage the outcome and surrenders to the sovereignty of God.

The submission of the Son of David in Gethsemane echoes this moment: "Not my will, but thine, be done." But where David's submission was the resignation of a man who knew he deserved whatever judgment came, Christ's submission was the obedience of a sinless Son who embraced the cross not because He deserved it but because the world He loved could not be saved without it. David's "let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him" became, in the mouth of Christ, the voluntary offering of His life for the redemption of every soul that would ever trust in His name.