I found this very interesting. I was reading an article by Fritz Ritsch on the Washington Post website this morning concerning the Iraqi war and a tendency among many Americans to see this nation as some sort of special entity with a Manifest Destiny to accomplish God’s work in the world. He was commenting on the president’s use of hymnic language in his speeches as demonstrating the view that the United States and the world would be much better submitting God’s rule through their particular perspective of what that rule would look like and through whom it would be exercised.
Understanding the Zion/Davidic Covenant of the ancient Hebrews, specifically in the southern kingdom of Judah, where the understanding of Messiah dealt with a specially anointed (by God) ruler that would exercise both political and religious power, brought together, in order to restore Israel to its divinely promised destiny as a nation-state and as a people. Ritsch’s comment took this idea and applied it to many within the religious right.
Here is the quote from Ritsch:

But some on the religious right have built a theology around this hope. Many of them believe that America will be at its best if its government submits to their understanding of God’s work on Earth. What they have longed for is a Davidic ruler — a political leader like the Bible’s David, who will unite their secular vision of the nation with their spiritual aspirations. All indications are that they believe they have found their David in Bush — and that the president believes it, too.

Interesting, huh?
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