What Does II Samuel 22:51 Mean?

The psalm concludes with the messianic promise: "He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore." The final verse shifts from David's personal testimony to the enduring promise of the Davidic covenant: the mercy that God shows to David extends to David's seed forever. The word "evermore" (ad-olam) reaches beyond David's lifetime to the eternal future that the covenant guarantees.

The phrase "his anointed" (meshicho) is the Hebrew word from which "Messiah" derives, and the application of the term to David and his seed is the theological bridge between the historical kingship and the messianic hope. The mercy shown to the anointed is the mercy that will produce the ultimate Anointed One, and the seed of David that receives mercy "for evermore" is the seed that will sit on an eternal throne. The psalm ends where the covenant begins: with the promise of an everlasting kingdom.

The Lord Jesus is the seed of David to whom mercy is shown for evermore: "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." The psalm that David sang at the end of his career reaches its fulfillment in the kingdom that has no end, and the mercy that the Father showed to the Son is the mercy that flows to every believer who is in Christ, the seed of David, the Anointed of the Lord, the King of kings and Lord of lords for evermore.