Seeking David and Hashem

 When the children of Israel approached prophet Shmuel to anoint a king, Hashem told him:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־שְׁמוּאֵ֔ל שְׁמַע֙ בְּק֣וֹל הָעָ֔ם לְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמְר֖וּ אֵלֶ֑יךָ כִּ֣י לֹ֤א אֹֽתְךָ֙ מָאָ֔סוּ כִּי־אֹתִ֥י מָאֲס֖וּ מִמְּלֹ֥ךְ עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

And the LORD replied to Samuel, Listen to the voice of the people in everything they say to you. For it is not you that they have rejected; it is Me they have rejected as their king. (1 Samuel 8:7)

This seems like a harsh rebuke of the people, implying that by requesting a human king, Israel has rejected Hashem as their King. It is as if for the Children of Israel at that time seeking a king and seeking Hashem were mutually exclusive. It was either one, or the other, but not both. We may now ask the question: Why weren't they able to accomplish both? Yet, in the future, the prophets tell us that Israel will indeed seek both Hashem and David their king, all at the same time, without contradiction, as we read:

אַחַ֗ר יָשֻׁ֙בוּ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וּבִקְשׁוּ֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיהֶ֔ם וְאֵ֖ת דָּוִ֣יד מַלְכָּ֑ם וּפָחֲד֧וּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֛ה וְאֶל־טוּב֖וֹ בְּאַחֲרִ֥ית הַיָּמִֽים׃

Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Hashem their God, and David their king; and shall come trembling unto the Hashem and to His goodness in the end of days. (Hosea 3:5) 

Also:

וְעָ֣בְד֔וּ אֵ֖ת יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֑ם וְאֵת֙ דָּוִ֣ד מַלְכָּ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָקִ֖ים לָהֶֽם׃

But they shall serve Hashem their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up unto them. (Jeremiah 30:9)

As well as:

וְעַבְדִּ֤י דָוִד֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ עֲלֵיהֶ֔ם וְרוֹעֶ֥ה אֶחָ֖ד יִהְיֶ֣ה לְכֻלָּ֑ם וּבְמִשְׁפָּטַ֣י יֵלֵ֔כוּ וְחֻקּוֹתַ֥י יִשְׁמְר֖וּ וְעָשׂ֥וּ אוֹתָֽם׃

And My servant David shall be king over them, and they all shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in Mine ordinances, and observe My statutes, and do them. (Ezekiel 37:24) 

So what will have changed in the relationship between the Children of Israel and Hashem? How will they evolve from the mutually exclusive contradiction in which seeking a king means rejection of Hashem, to a pure and wholly new approach where they will seek both David their king and Hashem as their God, without mutual exclusion? The answer is suggested in the Zohar, where we learn that:

דָּוִד מַלְכָּא מְשִׁיחָא, דְּאִיהִי מַלְכוּת, דְּקַבֵּיל מִכָּל עִלָּאֵי, וּבְשֵׁם קֻדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא אִתְקְרִיאַת, וְאִתְקְרִיאַת שְׁכִינָה.
David, the King Messiah, he is Malchut (sovereignty), who receives from all the higher ones, and is called by the Holy Name, and is called the Shekhinah (Zohar I:82a)

and also:

מַלְכוּת אִקְרִי שֵׁם, מִשּׁוּם דְּעַל יָדָהּ אִתְיְדַע וְאִתְגְּלִי לְתַתָּא, וְאִיהִי דָּוִד.
Malchut is called 'Name' because through her, the upper realms are known and revealed below, and she is David​ (Zohar II:53b)

Both of which state that David is Malchut, and Malchut is called by the Holy Name Y-H-V-H, therefore David is also called by the Holy Name Y-H-V-H. Therefore, in the future, when the Children of Israel will seek David and Hashem simultaneously, because David is Hashem Y-H-V-H. But is it possible to see that David is Y-H-V-H so that there is absolutely no doubt that this is so, such that even the small children of Israel can see this equivalence without any shade of doubt, so that once they see it, it cannot be unseen?

It is known that the letter Hei ה is composed of two letters, namely Dalet ד and Yud י (Maharal, cited by Rabbi Michael L. Munk in "The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet", 2nd Edition, p.86). With this information, we notice that Y-H-V-H can be seen as Y-D-V-D, which spells the word דּוֹדִי dodi backwards, meaning My Beloved. Furthermore, this dodi condains the word דּוֹד, which is David. The name Y-H-V-H thus contains dodi, my beloved, and inside of it – David. I is as if the Holy Name is a love letter, stating that David is my Beloved, if we read it from the outside in. But, if we read it from the inside out, the message is Hashem is my Beloved. This iremids us of

אֲנִ֤י לְדוֹדִי֙ וְדוֹדִ֣י לִ֔י - Ani l'dodi v'dodi li
I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:30)

For truly this entire expression is contained in Hashem's Holy Name, attesting to their mutual union and inter-inclusion. It is not just a poetic metaphor, but a literal truth encoded in the structure of the Name itself. The Holy Name becomes a love-letter, written by Hashem into creation, saying: David is embedded in Me, and I in him., This is shared love reflecting love back to itself — a mutual gaze, a shared declaration, a cosmic wedding vow.

This allows us to answer the original question posed above: Why weren't the Children of Israel able to accomplish both: seeking a king and Hashem at the same time without one excluding the other? Because Hashem's name includes and unites with the name David, and until David was able to accomplish this unification, the Children of Israel were not able to do it. We know this, because David said of himself:

 שִׁוִּ֬יתִי יְהֹוָ֣ה לְנֶגְדִּ֣י תָמִ֑יד כִּ֥י מִֽ֝ימִינִ֗י בַּל־אֶמּֽוֹט׃

I have set Hashem before me, always. (Psalms 16:9)

The word שִׁוִּ֬יתִי shiviti is translated as "set" or "placed", but grammatically, shiviti could resemble a form of שוב shuv, return. So David is saying that he not only placed Hashem before him, but he returned Hashem into union לְנֶגְדִּ֣י - l'negdi, with him. This l'negdi is the כְּנֶגְדּוֹ k'negdo when God created Adam's wife Chava

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֔ים לֹא־ט֛וֹב הֱי֥וֹת הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְבַדּ֑וֹ אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־לּ֥וֹ עֵ֖זֶר כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ׃ 

Hashem Elokim said, it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper for him (Genesis 2:18)

The word  כְּנֶגְדּֽוֹ k'negdo, for him, literally means corresponding to him, uniting with him, and this links to the l'negdi of "I have placed Hashem before me, always". In other words, just like the woman was created for Adam, to correspond to him and to be attached to him l'negdo, so David was created to correspond to and be attached to Hashem, k'negdi. Further proof of this is when Adam said about his wife:

וַיֹּ֘אמֶר֮ הָֽאָדָם֒ זֹ֣את הַפַּ֗עַם עֶ֚צֶם מֵֽעֲצָמַ֔י וּבָשָׂ֖ר מִבְּשָׂרִ֑י לְזֹאת֙ יִקָּרֵ֣א אִשָּׁ֔ה כִּ֥י מֵאִ֖ישׁ לֻֽקְחָה־זֹּֽאת׃

The man said: This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This shall be called Woman, for from Man was she taken. (Genesis 2:23)

Just like Chava was bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, so David is bones and flesh of Hashem, by having his name literally be part of the name Hashem Y*H*V*H. Just like Chava was created united with Adam, was separated from him and then brought back, so David was created united with Hashem, separated through his incident with Bas Sheva, and brought back to Hashem with complete teshuvah, return, for which reason he is called baal teshuvah. Until he accomplished his mission and brought complete teshuvah into the world, Israel was not able to return to Hashem after the Egyptian golus in full and eternal תָמִ֑יד tomid attachment. Without this total and absolute attachment to Hashem, the Children of Israel could only attach to Hashem's appointed king, but not to Hashem directly. But, in  the future, Israel will indeed seek and find David within their hearts and souls, and through this aspect, be able to return in complete repentance, teshuvah, and attach themselves to Hashem in perfect and eternal union where there is no separation between them and Hashem.