We all of us are familiar with King David, the King after God’s own heart. When David was firmly established on his throne, God swore an oath to him, made a covenant with him – a covenant which we call the Davidic Covenant after its namesake.
The Davidic Covenant was God’s oath to David to raise up one of His descendants who would establish David’s dynasty forever, who would build a house for God and establish an everlasting kingdom. While David’s first heir, Solomon, did indeed build a house for God, his sin and the sin of others of David’s descendants aroused God’s wrath. So God judged the dynasty of David. He conquered Jerusalem through Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians and the Davidic dynasty ceased to rule in Israel. There was no king in the land; the Jews were subject to foreign rule.
This caused the faithful to wonder – what is happening? Has God forsaken His promise to David? Has He forgotten us? Will there be a Son of David who will rule and reign forever? In answer to this question, the people returned again and again to a vision that the prophet Isaiah had received years before the dynasty was formally destroyed. It was to this vision, and others like it, that Bartimaeus cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”