As a new era begins in Washington, it is worth asking whether the similarity between President Trump and King David goes any deeper.<\/p>\n
Both men came out of nowhere to deal with an urgent national matter. Each was initially treated as a joke by the experts. When David offered to face Goliath, King Saul told him, \u201cYou are a lad, and he is a warrior since his youth.\u201d\u009d Yet both prevailed, and each did so by spending far less than his adversaries….
Don\u2019t look to David\u2019s life for a detailed road map of what to expect from the Trump administration. Members of the U.S. government take an oath to the Constitution, not to a leader. But anyone who experiences the rabbis\u2019 mash-up of Jacob and David would have no trouble matching Mr. Trump with David, rather than with Jacob.<\/p>\n
The sudden and surprising rise of King David and President Trump make them, in modern parlance, \u201cdisruptive innovators.\u201d\u009d Contemporary society exhibits a remarkable amount of forgiveness for rule-breakers in high-tech industries. Now, some people are agonizing over whether Mr. Trump should be \u201cnormalized\u201d\u009d\u201d\u201dtreated the same way that any other leader would be. It is worth remembering that the Bible didn\u2019t fully normalize David\u2019s actions. The king was denied the pinnacle achievement that he sought, building the Temple. The Lord told him: \u201cYou have shed much blood to the ground before Me.\u201d\u009d Still, David remains revered.<\/p>\n
Whether Americans classify Mr. Trump as \u201cnormal\u201d\u009d is less important than how they respond to his administration. One wise approach was enunciated by David Petraeus. During a November interview with the BBC, the retired general was asked whether Mr. Trump had the \u201ccorrect\u201d\u009d temperament to be president. He replied: \u201cIt\u2019s up to Americans, at this point in time, not only to hope that that is the case, but if they can, endeavor to help him.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n