Metaphysically considered, Christian Scientists are entitled to consider themselves direct descendants in the royal line of David and in the line of him whom Matthew calls "the son of David." In "A Christmas Sermon," to be found on pages 161 to 168 of "Miscellaneous Writings," Mrs. Eddy refers to Jesus of Nazareth in the following terms: "Of the lineage of David, like him he went forth, simple as the shepherd boy, to disarm the Goliath." Concerning the present time, Mrs. Eddy writes on page 268 of Science and Health, "In this revolutionary period, like the shepherd-boy with his sling, woman goes forth to battle with Goliath." The Christian Scientist of today who is a loyal follower of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science is required to exhibit this same moral courage in order to enter into his inheritance.
Another proof that the Christian Scientist may properly belong to this royal lineage is found in his possession of "the key of David" which the angel in Revelation describes as belonging to Jesus, and which in modern times has become a "Key to the Scriptures," wherewith to unlock human consciousness and the gates of the kingdom of heaven. This key of spiritual discernment, made available to mankind through the revelation of Christian Science, is an heirloom of the spiritual tribe of Judah. Yet another characteristic of this lineage is the willingness to lay down at any cost the belief of life in matter in order to gain the eternal life of Spirit. This willingness involves also taking human footsteps toward the goal of spirituality; hence the seeming persecution of such seekers after righteousness.
David spent years of his earlier life as an outlaw, pursued among the wild goats and the sheep-cotes of the mountains by the constituted authorities of his native land. Those were days of ripening character; they acted as a school of adversity, in which he learned the rudiments of living alone with God and of forgiving his enemies, in order that Israel might in time have a king tried and tested in spiritual as well as military warfare. What was his fault? Was it not that he possessed "the key of David," that his spiritual discernment unmasked the unworthiness of Saul and his courtiers, proving the inadequacy of their spiritual equipment for the task which God had assigned to Israel? Therefore David was persona non grata at the court of Jerusalem and his destruction was attempted by the carnal mind.
