In our quest to discover our true identity in God, we looked today at the book of Hosea, a prophet who preached in the northern kingdom of Israel during the troubled times before the fall of Samaria in 721 BC. He was especially concerned about the idolatry of the people and their faithlessness towards God, and in the opening chapters of his book, we see Hosea ‘living this out’ in his own life. In what is possibly one of the most shocking things we ever read in the Bible, he is told by God to “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” (Hosea 1:2) His very life becomes a living parable of Israel’s unfaithfulness and God’s faithfulness.

The children Gomer bears to Hosea are given names which symbolise what is happening in the nation: Jezreel (as punishment for what happened there (Hos 1:4-5)), Lo-Ruhamah (‘not loved’) and Lo-Ammi (‘not my people’) (Hos 1:6-9). Moreover, Hosea is urged to take Gomer back, even after adultery, as a symbol of God’s unfailing love even when His people have abandoned Him. (Hos 3:1) Despite the shocking living parable Hosea presents, with its reminder of judgment, we see that God remains faithful, offering a door of hope to His people in the Valley of Achor (trouble) (Hos 2:15) and the hope that once again they will be known as His people. (Hos 2:23)

The Bible story is a love story, a story of God’s unfailing love towards His people. Jer 31:3-4 and Isaiah 54:6-8 testify to this unfailing love and the New Testament echoes this truth (see John 3:16-17, Luke 15:20). Even though discipline and judgment come to us when we stray from God and this is painful to bear, this is intended to restore us (see Heb 12:5-11). John assures us twice in his first letter that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16) and Paul is convinced that nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love in Christ. (Rom 8:35-39). The Bible reminds us that we are loved people. God loves us. He loves us with an everlasting love, with an unfailing and unchanging love. That gives us reasons to hope, to be positive, to keep going, no matter what. If God loves the unlovable, there is hope for us all!

2 Samuel 5 brings us to the point where David is made king over all Israel and not just Judah. It’s the moment we have been waiting for since Samuel anointed him in 1 Samuel 16, and we are curious as to what kind of king David will be. Will he prove to be arrogant, like Saul, assuming he knows better than God? Will he prove to be bitter and vindictive like so many other Middle Eastern kings of this time?

His first action is strategic: to find a capital city that can unite both Israel and Judah. In taking the city known as Jebus and transforming it into Jerusalem, the city of peace, the city of David, David shows vision and faith. He sees not only the place as it is – unassailable, hostile, rejecting God’s ways – but as it can be, and this spiritual vision and faith will be key to David’s reign. He is willing to embrace the friendship offered by Hiram, king of Tyre (who offers materials and labourers to establish David’s home in Jerusalem) and to resist the attacks of the Philistines. The phrase ‘David inquired of the Lord’ (2 Sam 5:19, 23) is one we have seen repeatedly through his life (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4; 1 Sam 30:8, 2 Sam 2:1), and it is the defining measure of his greatness. When David seeks God and acts in obedience to His commands, he is assured of victory and greatness; David’s success just cannot be separated from his relationship with God: ‘And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.’ (2 Sam 5:10)

The wilderness years on the run as a fugitive, feigning madness before foreign kings, have not destroyed David’s faith. Instead, he has learnt patience and perseverance; he has learned to trust God and put his hope in Him. Now, with the establishment and growth of his family and his palace in Jerusalem, he ‘knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.’ (2 Sam 5:12) David has learned the principle which Jesus would later reiterate: ‘For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matt 23:12, Luke 14:11) True greatness comes as we humble ourselves before God and allow Him to exalt us.

Tonight we looked again at 1 Peter 2:9-10, verses which firmly secure our identity as the people of God above everything else. This identity is firmly rooted in the Bible, which tells the story of how God chose one man (Abram) to belong to Him and to be the means of blessing the whole world (see Gen 12:1-3). Our links with him are explored in Rom 4:11-18 when he is described as ‘the father of all who believe.’

We see God’s dealings with His people throughout the Old Testament, through the miraculous son of promise (Isaac) and his descendants, including Joseph, who was able to help God’s people during a time of famine. When Joseph’s role in history was forgotten, the people of God ended up as slaves under Egyptian rule, but God again worked on their behalf through Moses and Aaron, the ten plagues and finally, the Passover (see the book of Exodus.) The primary purpose, it seems, of the people of God is to worship and honour God (see Ex 8:1). We were made to worship; Peter reminds us that we are a chosen people ‘that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Pet 2:9)

The deliverance of Israel through the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), which became a defining moment for God’s people in the Old Testament, is followed by a song of praise (Ex 15). Louie Giglio defines worship as ‘our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is and for what He has done, expressed in the things we say and the way we live.’ We worship God for who He is and for what He has done; we worship God because He has called us out of darkness into light. Peter says, ‘Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’ (1 Pet 2:10) Our job now, so to speak, is to declare aloud, to ‘publish’, the news of what God has done: ‘He has done this for you so you can tell others how God has called you out of darkness into His great light.’ (1 Pet 2:9, NLV) Worship is expressed in the things we say – so it matters that we pray, that we sing, that we verbalise what we feel about God and speak about Him to other people – but it matters also how we live as this holy nation, reflecting God’s nature, showing love, kindness, grace and mercy to others. We join a long line in history of people who have seen and experienced God’s goodness and power in our lives and our identity is firmly embedded in God. Now we tell others about who He is and what He has done so that they too may experience God’s glory and become His people too.