Christ the True King and the Type of Solomon

What happened to David in his old age: for the son rose up new, but there was no elder; rather, already weakened by age and inactive, lying on a bed, he ruled Israel and commanded the nations. [He ruled Israel and established Solomon as successor, having expelled Adonijah, who had been tested by his own intention to rule.]

Regarding the time of the resurrection, these things fit Absalom, concerning whom it is said in Psalm 70:10-11: 'Many say to my soul, There is no salvation for him in his God.' But regarding the fellowship of the righteous, the Lord has permitted such a rising up of enemies, those saying, 'Let Him be rescued if He desires him,' and those thinking that he who suffers according to the will is being abandoned by the Father. Therefore, he says, let the wicked err in their intention, and let the matter appear not according to their expectation, but according to my hope.

'But let me not be far off, but hasten the help and turn their boasting into shame, so that for me the increase of hope and of your hymns may be greater' (Ps 70:12).

The Confessor I do not know how to number. For since he promised to recount the righteousness of God and the salvation that has come through Him, this promise, being greater than a human one, brought these things about.

The hymn begins there, where he promises to perform immediately, shouting loudly the high things of the great God, that men who have been led through many evils might find good things, rising from the dead into eternal life; which is indeed the head of the divine hymns and most demonstrative of God, so that no one among those called gods would mingle with it. For God is the one who makes all things alive, in whom Christ, being the Son of God, is known, saying of Himself that He is the resurrection and the life, and demonstrating this by His work; so that, even if these things are said of Christ by a man to the Father, it is also fitting that they be said of Him by men as to a Son and an image of God; for He is the firstborn, having descended in the manner of a man from the dead, but having ascended by the power of God, being the agent of the return, as He says to the Jews, in whom the exceptional nature of divinity is shown.

You surrendered human nature to death, but having been despaired of by men, you gave back a new and blessed life. The glory of Christ is sung after the passion. Solomon is a type: so too is the peace of his kingdom, the righteous protection of him, the glory of his wisdom, and the honor he had among all men; but exceeding the type, the days of the king remain until the end, and his peace and his fruit become most manifest.

For these things did not at all fit Solomon, who lived for a short time, had enemies, and left no fruit from him but one son, and did not protect the kingdom handed over to him; but Christ's continuous and unshakable dominion and most manifest fruit are for those who believe; and the rest of the things which were typologically fulfilled in Solomon will be more perfectly realized in Him, which the Word will explain one by one as He wills.

"O God, give justice to the king, and righteousness to the son of the king, to judge your people in righteousness and your poor in judgment" (Ps 71:1,2). And Christ is King and Son of David, the Lord according to the flesh, and therefore rising from royal lineage, so that he might establish a paternal kingdom according to the prophecy of Isaiah, and make it divine instead of human; and, as was not in human kingship, he would apply the exactness of justice to the subjects and grant to the wronged that they should not be wronged.

For even this was not preserved in David: though he was most righteous and pleasing to God compared to others, he also became an agent of injustice regarding Uriah. For the construction of idols leaned Solomon's injustice toward impiety. But thus is the King foretold through Isaiah and through Jeremiah: a righteous king sitting on a throne with mercy being established, judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness as Isaiah says, understanding and performing judgment and righteousness as Jeremiah says.

The Ally the Psalmist gave out: "And they shall fear him as long as the sun" (Ps 72:5), which is in agreement with the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin by Gabriel: "And the Lord will give to him the..."