The next verse of O come O come in the version I found refers to the Key of David:
5 O come, O Key of David, come
and open wide our heavenly home.
Make safe for us the heavenward road
and bar the way to death’s abode.
This verse intrigues me because I think there is more to this image of the key of David than it lets on. What we find, when we look closer at scripture is that the key image is especially important for any engaged in almost any kind of ministry or mission activity. We can see this when we look at the two references to the key of David in the Bible.
The first reference is in an obscure corner of Isaiah:
“In that day I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him with your robe, and will bind your sash on him, and will commit your authority to his hand. And he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honour to his father’s house. And they will hang on him the whole honour of his father’s house, the offspring and issue, every small vessel, from the cups to all the flagons. In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, the peg that was fastened in a secure place will give way, and it will be cut down and fall, and the load that was on it will be cut off, for the LORD has spoken.”
(Isaiah 22:20–25 ESV)
Eliakim is to be a steward of Hezekiah, who will be empowered by Yahweh to look after the royal palace in a secure and stable manner. To aid him in this work he will be given the key of the house of David, and what he opens with that key will not be shut, and what he shuts will not be open. If you look at the wider context of the chapter in Isaiah it seems that Eliakim’s predecessor has somehow come under God’s judgement and that Eliakim was now to receive this honoured position of steward.
God’s message to him is one of hope and encouragement to stand firm. In his own strength he may not seem to be very impressive, but the key of the house of David is the key to his work being secure from the schemes of people. What God opens, will stay open – and what God shuts, will stay shut.
It is this context that is picked up on in Revelation, in the letter to the church in Philadelphia:
““And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
“ ‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
(Revelation 3:7–8 ESV)
This time it is Jesus who is said to have the key of David. What Jesus opens will never be shut, and what he closes can never be opened. The Philadelphian church is one of only two churches in the letters of Revelation 2-3 whose letter contains no element of rebuke. It doesn’t seem that it would have looked impressive – and yet they held fast and did not deny Jesus.
It is worth reflecting on this in our spheres of ministry. Ultimately it is Jesus who opens the door for our work, and when he opens it, it will stay open. This is important to get rooted in our hearts because often it won’t feel like this. Often it will feel like the door has been shut on us. Or perhaps it feels like we need to give 110% all the time to make sure the door stays open. We fear what will happen if we stop running. We fear that the door will slam shut for our ministry.
This fear is not true. Our call is to listen to what God is saying to the churches, to hear his voice and to obey. It is not to worry about the consequences of that obedience. It is not to fear what people will say, or what they won’t say. It is not to worry that the world will stop turning if we stop moving.
Jesus is the one who holds the key for our work. It is in listening to him, and following his way that we will find reality and hope. If the doors feel closed – or that they will close if we don’t keep holding them open then the remedy is not to push harder. The remedy is to seek Jesus. It is to pray “O come, O key of David, come”, over ourselves, and over those we minister to. To pray that the key of David would open the door we need opening, and close those doors that we do not need to open.
Notice too the promise:
“I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
(Revelation 3:11–12 ESV)
Just as Elikaim was made a peg secure in the house of the king, so the church in Philadelphia was promised to be a pillar in God’s temple. This promise is for all who listen to these words, who hold fast to what God has given, and in holding fast overcome.
That holding fast is itself done in God’s strength, through his Spirit in our lives. So allow the key of David to bring a refocusing away from our plans and schemes, our ways to make doors open and close, and instead to focus on Jesus, on his plans and his ways.
Joshua's Tree Rooted 