Seeking David and Hashem

God's rebuke of Israel for requesting a king 

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. 

The Question

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, simultaneously, 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) 

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 new approach where they will seek both David their king and Hashem as their God, without mutual exclusion? 

David is Malchut and Malchut is called "Name"

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?

The Name Y-H-V-H means Beloved

It is known that the letter Hey ה is composed of two letters, namely Dalet ד and Yud י below it (Maharal, cited by Rabbi Michael L. Munk in "The Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet", 2nd Edition, p.86). 

With this information, if we drop the Yud י under second and fourth Hey ה of Y-H-V-H we get ידוד which spells the word דּוֹדִי dodi backwards, meaning My Beloved. Furthermore, this dodi condains the word דּוֹד, which is David. It 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. 

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.

David connects Israel to Hashem

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. 

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 in his very Name, 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 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 himself. 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's Name in perfect and eternal union where there is no separation between them and His Name.