2 Samuel 7:1-17, God builds what lasts

And the rest of you, you can grab your Bibles and turn to 2 Samuel chapter 7 or keep it open in front of you.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

And Clifford is going to come and read for us.

Let's read and hear God's word as is found in 2 Samuel chapter 7, reading from verses 1 to 17.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him,

he said to Nathan the prophet, here am I living in the house of Cedar while the ark of God remains in the tent.

Nathan replied to the king, whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it for the Lord is with you.

But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, go and tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says.

Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?

I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day.

I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.

Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any one of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people,

Israel, why have you not built me a house of cedar?

Now then, tell my servant David, this is what the Lord Almighty says.

I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.

I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you.

Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest of men on earth.

And I will provide a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they can have a home for their own,

and no longer be disturbed.

Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning,

and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel.

I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself would establish a house for you.

When your days are over and your rest with your ancestors,

I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood,

and I will establish his kingdom.

He is the one who will build a house for my name,

and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be his father, and he will be my son.

When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men,

with floggings inflicted by human hands.

But my love will never be taken away from him,

as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.

Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.

Your throne will be established forever.

Nathan reported to David all the words of the entire revelation.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you, Clifford.

Well, do keep that passage open in front of you,

and we're going to try and work our way through it together.

I think if you want to know what 2 Samuel chapter 7 is about,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

then what you really need to look for is the word house.

It comes eight times in our passage.

So in verse 1, you find that David is living in his house,

translated palace by the NIV.

A house that we're told in verse 2 that is made of cedar,

which is very fancy building material.

And while David lives in his cedar palace,

the ark of God dwells in it.

And this is the shock, because the word is not house.

The word is tent, tent.

David doesn't think that's right,

so he plans to build a permanent house for God in verse 5.

But God replies to him through Nathan the prophet

and says that God has never lived in a house in verse 6.

He's never asked anyone to build him a house of cedar in verse 7.

And then in an amazing reversal, God says to David,

that David who has said, I'm going to build you a house,

God says to him, no, I will build you a house.

A house not made of cedar, but a house built in offspring.

Your offspring who, verse 13, will, as it happens,

build my house, a temple.

But still that house, that temple,

will be nothing compared to the house that God builds,

which verse 16 will last forever.

You get it?

House, house, house, house, house, house.

That is a brief summary of 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

Now there's loads of detail in here,

and I think in some ways,

2 Samuel chapter 7 is one of the most important chapters

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

in the story of David,

as he gets this covenant promise

about his ancestors to come.

But I want instead just to try and give us

essentially a sort of an overview

of what's going on here.

David says, from his house,

I will build the Lord a house.

God says, from his tent,

I will build David an eternal house.

Now let's get on with the first thing

that I want you to notice, though,

from this passage.

It's this, God is free to do what he wants.

God is free to do what he wants.

Now, I know that's a really obvious thing

for me to say to you.

Of course, you understand, don't you,

that God is free.

What I mean by that is not that God

doesn't cost you anything,

not saying that,

rather that God is free to act.

God is the one who is free to do

whatever he wills to do.

Yeah, you understand that?

In other words, history,

the events of our time,

the space in which we live,

is literally his story.

Not our story, not your story,

not my story, not even David's story.

History is his story.

See this with me in the passage.

God's first response to David's house building plan

in verses six to seven is to remind David

that he has been moving about in a tent

ever since he was brought up by the people from Egypt.

But notice all the eyes in the passage.

God says,

I brought up the Israelites out of Egypt.

I have been moving from place to place in a tent.

He goes on,

I never said anything about a house building

to any of the rulers or judges.

I commanded to rule Israel.

In other words, David, listen,

what you need to understand, David,

is that I am in a tent

because I have chosen to be in a tent.

Because the story of the story of God's people

is my story, says God.

It's the story of what I have done as I have acted.

So much so that when I need a house,

you can be sure that it will happen

because I will make it happen.

You see, David needs to understand that God is free.

God is free to do what he wants.

And David acts in response to the commands of God,

not the other way around.

David doesn't get to tell God what to do.

God gets to tell David what he is doing.

It gets underlined with some more eyes.

Notice from verse eight, all the eyes there.

I took you, he says,

getting more personal,

from the pasture to make you ruler over my people,

verse eight.

I have been with you wherever you've gone,

verse nine,

cutting off the enemies and winning victories.

David, don't think that your personal story,

not just the story of Israel,

don't think that your personal story

is the story of you, you, you.

It's the story of God, God, God.

God is free to act.

He can do whatever he wants to do.

The history is the story of what he does,

which means significantly for David

that he shouldn't think that he is capable

of building a house for God,

as if he could contain God

or as if God needs him

to put a roof over his head.

David mustn't limit God like that.

Now, let me just ask you

just to think about that with me for a moment.

It's a big idea.

It's obvious and it's plain,

but it is really significant.

It should be plain to us

that the real God

does not do everything that we would do.

God is surprising to us.

He doesn't do everything that we would do

and he doesn't do everything

that we would want him to

or expect him to

because fundamentally God,

the God of the universe,

the God who made us,

the triune God of Father, Son and Spirit

is not subject to my plans,

my rules, my expectations or yours.

He is free to do what he wants to do.

He's not threatened by our decisions

or limited by our ideas.

God is free above all overall,

doing all things in accordance

with the purpose of his will.

And you and I really quickly forget that,

don't we?

We quickly question God's goodness

or his wisdom

when he doesn't do what we would do.

Oh, wait a minute.

Why have you done that?

I wouldn't have done that.

Are you still good, God?

You know, David thinks that God should be

not in a tent, but in a house

and God doesn't agree.

So he stays in the tent.

Now, you and I might not be trying

to build God a house,

but we might try and contain him in other ways.

Now, God, why haven't you not made it easier

to be a Christian?

You should make it easier

to be a Christian, shouldn't you?

Why have you permitted us

to face the suffering that we face?

Why don't you stop the godless side

of Western culture

away from Bible morality and values?

Oh, God, why don't you let us

get the freehold to our building more easily?

Why don't you enlarge the size of our church?

Why don't you give us better health,

better looks, better mental health?

But the truth is, the bottom line,

before we even get to ask the why question,

which is a fair question to ask,

before we ask the why question,

we must admit that God is free

to do what he wants to do,

free to do what he decides to do

in the world,

because that's what it means

for God to be God.

Now, that doesn't mean, does it,

that tomorrow God to choose to be bad?

That's not what we're saying.

The Bible is really clear

that God's freedom is in line

with his nature,

and his nature is goodness itself.

Goodness is defined by the nature of God.

So God is free to act in line

with his nature at all times.

God is the definition of good.

But what it does mean

is that the story of our lives,

the story of history,

is the freedom of God

deciding what to do.

Now, I think if we understand that,

it should help us see

that God is a lot bigger

than we're inclined to think, right?

At 2 Samuel 7,

David is realizing

that he is smaller

and God is greater.

That's what he's realizing.

His plan to build a house

comes to nothing

because God is bigger

and more free than David thought.

And God's plan to build a house for David

is what's going to happen,

not the other way around.

It's interesting.

I think, obviously,

David taught this lesson to Solomon.

Solomon is David's son.

Solomon is the guy

who actually builds the temple.

And when he builds the temple,

he prays a prayer of dedication.

And he's clearly learned this lesson

from his father, David.

So listen to what he prays

when the temple is dedicated.

He says this,

But will God really dwell on earth?

The heavens,

even the highest heaven,

cannot contain you.

How much less this temple

that I have built,

this house that I have built.

God is free.

And we cannot contain him

to live in a building

or dictate plans to him

or tell him what to do.

God is not limited

by our thoughts of him.

Not bound to do

what we should think he should do.

Now, given that,

given the freedom of God,

what comes next?

And really the big idea

in the passage is surprising.

Okay?

God is free to do

what he wants to do.

The story of history

is the story of his actions.

And yet,

the free God does what?

He binds himself to a promise.

He binds himself to a promise.

The whole chapter really

reads like an ancient legal document.

Ancient legal documents

had a particular structure

and order.

They start with a sort of

a preamble

which introduces

the parties making the agreement.

And that's God.

We're told who God is

and what he's done in the past.

Next come the commitments

that the party makes

with references to blessings

and curses associated with it.

And that's exactly

what's going on here.

You've got the preamble.

You've got the past action.

You've got the present commitments.

And then you've got the blessings

and the curses.

You know,

if you were to receive it

through the post,

it would look like,

you know,

like a legal document.

Like something

containing a promise.

Something binding.

A covenant.

And here in 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

that's exactly what it is.

It's the free God.

The God who can do

whatever he wants to do

whenever he chooses to do it.

That God is binding himself

to a covenant,

a promise,

a commitment to David.

And look at the detail

of it with me.

Notice how

gone are the sort of

I have's.

You know,

I did this,

I did that.

And now what you get

in verse 9

is the I will's.

So God is not just describing

what he's done in the past.

He's now saying

what he's promising to do

in the future.

I will,

verse 9,

make your name great.

I will,

verse 10,

provide a place.

I will,

verse 11,

give you rest from your enemies.

I will,

verse 12,

raise up your offspring

and I will establish

his kingdom.

I will,

verse 13,

establish the throne

of his kingdom forever.

I will,

verse 14,

be to him a father,

disciplining him

but loving him steadfastly.

This must be mind-blowing

for David

and we'll see

in the second half

and we'll look at this

next week,

how he responds

but just notice

what God is doing.

Despite his freedom,

tying himself

to work

through the line of David

to build a kingdom,

a kingdom that will be planted

in a particular place,

a kingdom that will have rest

from its enemies,

a kingdom that will last

forever

and ever and ever.

In other words,

David,

you think,

don't you,

you know,

David,

you look at the tent

in which the ark is

and you think

God is dwelling

in a very temporary

arrangement here

and you look

at your house

and think,

I've built myself

a cedar house

that's going to last

a very long time

and God says,

no,

let me show you something

that will really last forever.

It's the house

that I will build.

It's the promise

that I will make,

a forever kingdom

of blessing

and peace

with a king

from your own family line,

a king

who I promise

to love

and never let go.

Now,

of course,

we know

and we looked at this

earlier,

didn't we,

that this promise

is fulfilled

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the one

who will be king

on David's throne.

As you read through

the promise,

you can see how

some of it

is kept by Solomon,

don't you?

You can see that

but really,

it's pointing beyond Solomon

to someone greater

than Solomon even,

someone who will be born

in David's town,

someone who will be born

in David's line,

given the throne

of his father David.

Christ will have

the great name,

won't he,

at which every knee

will bow.

Christ will bring us

final rest from our enemies.

He is the one

who is appointed

king of an eternal kingdom,

a kingdom not of this world

but a kingdom of heaven.

Christ is the king

who is disciplined

not for his iniquity

but for our iniquity

as he is punished

not for his sins

with rods and stripes

but bearing in his body

the penalty for our sin

and our wrongdoing,

building a house of God,

not of cedar or bricks

or mortar

but a house of people

placed like living stones

with him the cornerstone,

a dwelling place of God

for all eternity.

So here again

in 2 Samuel chapter 7,

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

God binds himself

to a promise

that will only be fulfilled

when Christ comes.

You know,

all the mini-fulfillments

before then

in the life of David

and his sons

are just signposts

to this greater fulfillment

in Jesus Christ.

I don't know

whether you've thought

about this before

but you know this promise

that runs all the way

through the Bible

that we're getting expanded

on in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

You realise,

don't you,

it starts back in Genesis

Genesis 3:15

chapter 3 verse 15

when God promises

to send someone

who will crush

the head of Satan,

the serpent.

You know what he's doing

then, don't you?

He is binding himself

by a promise

to send his own son

to the cross.

You know that, don't you?

God is binding himself

to a promise

to send his own son

to the cross

and that's what's going on here,

isn't it?

He is saying,

listen, I will do this.

You can be sure.

So God, the free God

who can do whatever he pleases,

not subject to us

in any way,

voluntarily

through no compulsion on him,

not because David deserved it,

not because he owed it

to humanity in any way,

yet quite the opposite.

He still,

he binds himself

to a promise

to save

through the blood

of his own son.

Let me just try

and illustrate

the kind of,

the wonder

of what's going on here,

just so that we can grasp this,

if you can,

with me for a moment.

I want you to imagine

that this afternoon

you go to Battersea Dogs' home

to pick up a new dog.

Okay?

You go to the dog shelter

to pick up a new dog.

Not a bad idea, is it, Alvina?

A dog is a great thing, right?

So you go there,

you look at all

the different kinds of dogs

and what you do

is you find

a particularly nasty dog.

It's jumping

at the cage door.

As you go in,

it's barking

and snapping

and generally

being a nuisance.

Crazily though,

as you're walking

down this line

of beautiful looking dogs

and you get to this

crazy snapping dog,

you stop at the cage

and you look at it.

You even reach

your hand in

to give the dog

some attention,

show it a bit of affection.

The affection

is not appreciated

by the dog

who bites the hand

that you put in the cage.

But undeterred,

you say,

is it okay

if I climb in there

with him?

Oh, well,

if you really want to,

yeah, go for it.

So you climb in

and the dog bites you again

and wheezes on your leg

and puts a hole

in your trousers.

Still though,

you're not put off

and you say to the person

who owns the shelter,

I'm going to take

that dog home.

That dog

is going to be my dog.

And the person

who runs the shelter

looks at you

and says,

wait a minute,

do you know

what you're doing?

Do you know

if you take that dog

away from here,

you know you're not

bringing them back,

don't you?

You're taking that dog away

and that dog

will belong to you.

It will ruin your life.

It will destroy

your property.

It will ruin everything

that you've hoped to do.

Are you sure

you want to do it?

Have you ever seen

a vet bill before?

Once you've taken that dog,

our policy is

you cannot return it.

Oh, no, I know,

you say,

but I love that dog.

I have chosen

to love that dog

and I will have him

and I promise

to take it home.

Bring me the paperwork.

I'm going to sign on the line.

Now, of course,

it's a stupid story,

isn't it?

Because you would never do it,

right?

You would never go

to the dog's home

and choose a nasty dog

that bites you,

ruins your house

and costs you

all that you have

and bind yourself

to take it home

and live with it

for the rest of your life,

would you?

You wouldn't do that,

would you?

That would be crazy.

That, though,

is exactly what's going on

in 2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

God is doing that

and you and I

are the snappy dog,

right?

God is promising,

isn't he?

Binding himself

to a promise

to bring us home,

though it costs him

everything,

the life of his son.

I will have that people.

They will be mine.

That kingdom

will belong to me.

I want to labour this point

a little bit this morning

because it's right

at the heart of the passage.

If you're not a Christian

this morning,

it's brilliant that you're here.

Thanks for coming.

This is a really great

explanation for you

of what it means

to be a Christian.

The Bible tells us this,

that the truth of the universe

is not that people

are searching for God.

I know that's what we think,

right?

I know that's how we talk,

you know,

as if people are on a journey

looking for God

and, you know,

maybe he's hiding

underneath that rock

or that rock over there.

That's what people think,

isn't it?

But that's not what

the Bible says is happening.

Nor is the story

of the universe

about people working

really hard

so that God

owes them something.

You know,

as if we could do

certain kind of

moral actions

and God then has to act

in a certain way

towards us.

That's what religion

tells you, right?

You know,

do this,

pray like this,

fast like this

and God will have

to bless you

because you will

bind God.

That's nonsense.

The message of the Bible

is that God is free.

He has to be.

To be God,

he has to be free.

But the heart

of the Christian gospel,

the truth at the center

of the universe

is that in

an inexplicable love,

he has bound himself

through a free choice

of his own

to love you,

me,

and save us

that we might belong

to him.

That plan

isn't entered

into lightly.

It's not invented

by the New Testament

writers.

It wasn't hatched

just as the build-up

to the cross

of Jesus Christ.

It's right here

from the beginning

of the Bible.

It's here

in 2 Samuel chapter 7

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

as God commits himself

to David

to put someone

on his throne

forever and ever

and ever.

Now that leads us

to the one application

for David

and for us this morning.

If God is free,

he binds himself

to a promise.

The one application

is this,

trust.

Trust in the promise.

Trust in the promise.

Now imagine

if the story

went something like this.

David says to Nathan,

you know,

I'm going to build

a permanent house

for God.

Nathan says,

no, don't do that.

God's not interested

in you building

a house for him.

He will build

a house for you.

David says,

oh, come on, Nathan,

forget that.

I've got some

brilliant plans.

I've bought

the curtains already.

Pharaoh and Ball

have got some

lovely, lovely colours

and I've decided

to use them already.

So forget that.

I'm just going

to go ahead

and build the house anyway.

What would you think?

Well, I mean,

you'd think that David

had lost his mind,

but you'd probably

rightly conclude

that David was going

to be in a lot of trouble,

but a lot of trouble

for what?

For what?

Well, not simply

for the wrong action

of building the temple

when he was not supposed to,

but for the wrong action

of failing to trust

the promise of God.

That's what.

Because this is it.

The gospel is God

freely making

a generous promise

and our response

is not to insist

on our own plans,

but to trust him

to follow through

with his.

You see,

the implication

of 2 Samuel chapter 7

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

is that the only place

of safety in our world

is knowing what God's plan is

and trusting it.

That's the only safe place.

All your other ideas

and plans for your life

are wobbly,

aren't they?

Don't build on those

because they may not happen.

The safe place

in our world

is knowing what God

has promised

and trusting him to do it.

It means,

doesn't it,

for us as Christians

our two big dangers

in life are these.

One is a preoccupation

with our own plans

and the second

is the assumption

that God should do

what I would do

if I was him.

Think about that first one.

There is a terrible

spiritual danger

in self-preoccupation.

You know that,

don't you?

You know,

if we are so preoccupied

with what we want to do,

with what we want to achieve

with our lives,

if we think this world

is really about my story,

about what I am doing,

then actually that's the opposite

of trusting in Christ

and following him.

Jesus summarizes

the Christian life

as taking up our cross

and following him,

which is by definition

the laying down

of our own plans

to follow him

and trust in his.

The apostle Paul

says to the Ephesian elders

in Acts chapter 20

Acts 20 · chapter mention

that he counts his life

as little to him,

if only he may finish

the race

that the Lord

has set out for him.

Listen,

what I want

doesn't really matter anymore.

It's what he wants.

I'm trusting him.

I'm living for him.

Galatians 2 verse 20

Galatians 2:20

says the same sort of thing.

I've been crucified

with Christ

and I no longer live,

but Christ lives in me.

The life I now live

in the body,

I live by faith

in the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself for me.

This life I live

trusting his promise,

doing what he wants,

following his way.

Because trusting God,

trusting the promise

that he makes

goes along

with abandoning

our own plans,

just as it did

for David here.

So if you're not

a Christian this morning,

again,

this is the point

for you, isn't it?

This is your David-like

moment, if you like.

You know,

it's not the prophet

Nathan speaking to you.

I'm speaking to you

from God's word,

but this is the message,

isn't it?

Those things

that you've planned to do,

just pause on those

for a moment

and listen to what

God has planned to do.

God says to you this morning,

I know that you've planned

to go here,

to go there,

to do this,

to do that,

but I am promising

to say through Jesus Christ,

will you trust me?

Will you trust me?

Come follow me.

The second danger

for us if we're Christians

this morning

is this assumption

that God would have

to do what we would do,

as if God's priorities

for our lives

are the same

as our priorities,

that his aspirations

for my career

are the same as mine.

But that's really,

that would be another

alternative ending

to the story,

wouldn't it?

You know,

imagine this,

David says to Nathan

the prophet,

I'm going to build

a house for God.

Nathan says,

well,

let me ask God

what he says.

God says,

oh,

what a brilliant idea,

David.

I've never thought of that.

Please do,

go ahead.

Tell me what else to do.

Tell me what next.

That would be a total disaster,

wouldn't it?

All of a sudden,

David would have

a responsibility

way above his wisdom

or power

because for David's joy,

for God's glory,

for David's hope,

God must be God

and David must be David.

But the truth is,

sometimes we treat God

as if God must do

what we say.

We assume that God

needs to hear

our good ideas

and our plans

and our hopes

and our dreams

as if God doesn't have

an agenda of his own

for our lives,

but he does.

God in Christ

has a promise

for the future.

It's a solid one,

one that he's committed to.

It's a plan

not for our pleasure

or for our ease

in this life,

but for a glorious

eternal kingdom

in the next.

Listen,

if we've been taught

anything this week

and if we're going to think

about one thing

this evening,

it's this,

isn't it?

God has a way

of surprising us

and reminding us

that he is God

and we are very,

very temporary.

Our lives are short.

Where is the solid ground

in this life?

Trusting God

and his promise.

It's the only solid ground

because the only thing

that you know

will happen in life

is that God

will save his people

through Jesus Christ.

That you know to be true.

And you and I

are invited this morning

to find our joy

and our hope

and our confidence,

our consolation

and our comfort

in trusting God's

unfailing promise

kept in Jesus Christ.

Let me pray

as I close.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

we thank you so much

for this wonderful promise

that you will send

the Lord Jesus Christ

to be king

forever and ever.

We thank you

that we see

with even greater clarity

than David

how you've kept that promise

in the first coming

of the Lord Jesus.

You died for our sin

and rose again

and ascended into heaven.

And thank you

that you have promised

that he is returning one day.

And Lord,

we pray now

that you would help us

to live our lives

trusting in him

and his promise,

not in us

and our own brilliant ideas.

Lord,

we pray that increasingly,

day by day,

we would take a back cross,

die to ourselves

and live for you

and your glory.

Forgive us

that so often

we are preoccupied

with ourselves

and our own ideas

and we cast rather

just light thoughts

to you and yours.

Help us to have big thoughts

about who you are

and little thoughts

about us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.