O KEY OF DAVID

Sr. Ansgar Holmberg, CSJ

“O KEY of DAVID (O CLAVIS DAVID) and Scepter of the House of Israel; you open and no man closes; you close and no man opens.  Come, and deliver from the chains of prison those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death."

The key and scepter are traditional symbols of kingly power and authority. Christ is the heir of David and possessor of the kingdom. Jesus himself also made use of this symbol, showing the prophetic relationship of the earthly kingdom of David to the kingdom of God.  All power and authority was given to him after the resurrection, and he entrusted this power to "bind and to loose" to Peter and the ministers of his Church.

Isaiah had prophesied:

    "I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and no one shall shut; he shall shut, and no one shall open." Isaiah 22:22
    "His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore." Isaiah 9:7
    "...To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."Isaiah 42:7.
and Isaiah 61:1 “He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free."

Linda Henke

Isaiah’s text is echoed in Jesus’ giving the power of the keys to Peter in Matthew  “I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church… I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
.”