2 Samuel 7:1-17

Good evening, church.

Fletcher Reed is the name of a character from a movie called Liar Liar.

Now, Jim Carrey plays Fletcher Reed.

He's an attorney who is not only a professional liar,

but keeps on making these empty promises to his 10-year-old son,

and only to leave him with disappointments and broken heart.

All his son wants to do is spend time with his dad.

He wants his dad to come to his birthday party.

He wants to play catch with him, with his brand-new catcher's mitten.

But Fletcher Reed keeps on breaking his little son's heart.

And that was a sad part of this movie.

And I think we can all relate to this story,

because I'm sure we have our shares of promises that we kept,

and also our shares of promises that we broke.

And also, unfortunately, some of us here may have experienced

what this little boy have experienced,

promise that was made by loving father or mother,

and yet, at the end, it was just broken.

Tonight, we'll see when God makes his promises.

Let us pray.

Lord, our God, we thank you that you gather us here tonight.

There are so many places that we could have gone to,

and so many different things that we could have been doing right now.

But, Lord, you moved our hearts, and you called us to be here.

And, Lord, it is better to spend one day at your house than a thousand elsewhere.

Lord, as we look into your words, and as we are about to receive your words,

Lord, I pray that you will prepare our hearts,

open our ears to hear your words.

So, Lord, pray all this in your precious name.

Amen.

Last Sunday, in 2 Samuel chapter 6,

2 Samuel 6 · chapter mention

we learned that the ark of God has returned to Israel.

And King David and the people of Israel celebrated this glorious and joyous occasion.

Now, tonight, we'll continue our study of 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 1 through 17.

2 Samuel 7:1–17

Please turn with me to page 259 in your pew Bible.

Page 259, 2 Samuel chapter 7, verses 1 through 17.

2 Samuel 7:1–17

Now, when the king lived in his house,

and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

the king said to Nathan the prophet,

See now, I dwell in a house of cedar,

but the ark of God dwells in a tent.

And Nathan said to the king,

Go to all that is in your heart,

for the Lord is with you.

So, King David expresses his desire,

and Prophet Nathan knew exactly what was in his heart.

King David wanted to build a house for God.

Bible doesn't tell us whether, you know, this came from,

because he's now living in a palace, you know, built with the cedar.

So, I don't know whether he's feeling a little guilty that God's ark is in a tent.

I'm in a huge, beautiful palace.

The Bible doesn't tell us.

But, Prophet Nathan also agrees with King David's intention.

He's like, hey, that sounds good.

You got my approval.

Go ahead and do it.

The Lord is with you.

Now, God has something completely different on his mind.

So, that very night, God tells Nathan,

now you got to go tell King David what I'm about to say.

Continuing on at verse 4.

But, that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan.

Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord,

would you build me a house to dwell in?

I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day.

But, I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel,

did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel,

whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying,

why have you not built me a house of cedar?

King David thought it was a good idea.

Prophet Nathan thought it was a great idea.

But, as Pastor Matt read for us earlier,

from Isaiah chapter 55,

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

his thoughts are not our thoughts.

And, his ways are not our ways.

Isaiah 55 verse 8 and 9 tells us,

Isaiah 55:8

for my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,

declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways,

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Don't we experience this sometimes?

You know, we think we're about to do something great for God,

and yet God has something completely different,

a whole different plan for us.

And a lot of times, we do not understand,

and we cannot comprehend that at the time.

But maybe later on, in retrospect,

you see clearly why God did it,

certain things at a certain time,

His ways.

So, here,

all David wanted to do was build a house for God.

Instead of having the ark of God sitting inside a tent,

he wanted it to build a nice house of cedar,

and move the ark into the new house.

But God tells King David,

I have something completely different plan for you.

And also,

in Isaiah 66,

Isaiah 66:1–2

verse 1 to 2,

God tells us,

thus says the Lord,

heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What is the house that you will build for me?

And what is the place of my rest?

All these things,

my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

God created the universe.

God made everything.

So, he's telling King David,

I never asked for a house of cedar.

And on a side note,

the ark of God

had a carrying poles.

So, when God gave specific instruction in Exodus,

when they were building the ark,

God never designed the ark

to be mounted in some place,

like, fixed.

He put two carrying poles

to be carried.

Just a side note.

And,

before we look into the actual content

of the promise

that God is about to reveal to David,

let's look at the three aspects of God's promise.

Now, we're reading verses 8,

and second half of verse 9.

Now, therefore,

thus you shall say

to my servant David,

thus says the Lord of hosts,

I took you from the pasture,

from following the sheep,

that you should be prince

over my people.

Israel,

and I have been with you

wherever you went,

and have cut off

all your enemies

from before you.

Here, God tells King David,

it is God who initiates

the covenant.

It has nothing to do with

King David.

God is the one who

pursued

David.

It's just a gentle reminder

of King David's

humble beginning.

God is telling David,

you are a young shepherd boy

watching sheep,

but I pursued you,

made you king

over my people,

and I was with you

in every battle,

every war.

I cut off your enemies.

It is God

who initiates

the covenant,

and it is God

who pursued

David.

He pursued

and he is pursuing

us

with his unchanging

and life-giving

love.

It is he who

loved us first,

not

we loved him first.

Imagine with me

a,

imagine you are

a young

baseball player.

You have been

playing for

a minor league

and now you

had your huge

break.

Now you just

got picked

from the

major league,

so now you are

playing in a

major league

as a rookie.

But,

you are struggling.

You can't hit.

You keep striking

out.

And to make

things worse,

at a critical

moment,

you just made

a double play.

Often times,

you are walking

back to the dugout

with people

booing you.

now you are

scared.

You are hearing

rumors that

they are not

going to renew

your contract.

Matter of fact,

they will probably

send you back

to the minors.

So,

he is

scared.

He does not

know what to

do.

And every

minute,

free time

he gets,

he is practicing.

He is practicing

his batting skills.

He is practicing,

practicing.

And then,

out of blue,

there is a voice

from behind.

Son,

relax your

shoulders.

And for a second,

he thought he

heard a ghost.

Like,

who is here?

And when he

turned around,

there was

Carr Ripken

Jr.

watching him.

And he just

told him,

son,

relax your

shoulders.

Now,

he is just

completely blown

away.

Why is Carr

Ripken Jr.

here,

watching me

practice?

And then,

to blow him

away even

more,

Carr Ripken

Jr.

tells him,

son,

I have been

watching you

since Little

League.

And I

watched you,

you know,

every chance

I got,

I watched you

throughout high

school,

I watched you

college days,

and I watched

you while you

played for the

AAA.

And now,

I'm here to

help you.

And this

player is just

speechless.

I mean,

the legend,

the Hall of

Famer,

he wants to

be my

mentor.

Carr Ripken

Jr.

tells him,

you come here

every week,

I will teach

you all my

secrets,

and I'll make

you into the

next Carr

Ripken

Jr.

This is just

a secular

example.

But how

surprised

would this

player be?

He had no

idea.

He had no

idea the

legendary

Carr Ripken

Jr.

watched him

since his

Little League

days.

And now,

in midst of

his struggle,

he offers,

I will mentor

you.

He didn't

initiate anything.

He didn't

write letters

to Carr Ripken

Jr.

and say,

please mentor

me.

He showed

up out of

nowhere,

and he says,

I will mentor

you.

God pursued

us.

Just like

here,

God is

pursuing

King David.

God

initiates

his covenant,

and God

pursues us

with his

unchanging

love.

And in

second,

God's promise

is not

contractual.

You know,

we make

promises,

but a lot

of times,

you know,

our promises

can be

contractual.

Like,

if I do,

if you do

ABC,

you do this

for me,

and I'll

do the

same for

you.

But if

you don't

do ABC,

then I

don't have

to keep

my end

of the

bargain.

That's

promise,

but it's

more like

a contract.

But God's

promise to

us is

not

contractual.

It has

nothing to

do with

our

performance.

Just like

we read

here,

God

pursued

David.

he made

him a

king over

his people.

He fought

all David's

enemies,

and it

had nothing

to do with

David's

performance.

I'll give

you an

example of

a contractual

promise.

It's a

funny story.

Last year,

my son asked

me to buy

him a new

video game

system.

I said,

okay,

as long

as you

bring home

all A's

this semester,

then I'll

buy you

a new

video game

system.

It was

like a

contract.

You do

this,

I'll do

that.

At the end

of the

semester,

he brought

home all

A's.

Now I

have to

do my

end of

the

bargain.

I looked

up pre-owned

certified

video game

system.

There is

such a

thing.

Pre-owned

certified

video game

system,

and I

bought him

a video

game

system.

But lately

he's been

complaining

to me

that,

you know,

the Asian

parents,

Asian

parents have

a whole

different

grading

system.

So I

say,

yeah,

what's

that?

And my

son tells

me,

to you

guys,

A means

average.

B means

below

average.

C means

can't come

home.

D means,

no,

I'm sorry,

C means

can't have

dinner.

D means

don't come

home.

F means

find another

family.

I said to

my son,

well,

no,

that's not,

I'm glad

this is being

recorded.

I said,

no,

that's not

your parents'

system.

That was

your

grandmother's

system,

my tiger

mom.

so,

the point

I'm trying

to make

here is

that it

has nothing

to do

with our

performance.

God's

grace to

us is

a gift.

Not

because we

achieved

certain

level

of a

spirituality.

Not

because we

achieved

certain

amount

of deeds.

It is

his grace

to us

a gift.

And

third,

God does

not make

empty

promises.

He's not

like Fletcher

Reed.

Fletcher

Reed in

the movie

makes plenty

of empty

promises.

Just like

what Pastor

Matt read

for us

earlier,

I'm going

now back

to Isaiah

Isaiah 55:10

55

verses

10 and

11.

For as

the rain

and the

snow

come down

from heaven

and do

not return

there but

water the

earth,

making it

bring forth

and sprout,

giving seed

to the

sower and

bread to

the eater,

so shall

my word

be that

goes out

from my

mouth.

It shall

not return

to me

empty,

but it

shall

accomplish

that which

I purpose

and shall

succeed

in the

thing for

which I

sent it.

So when

God

makes

promise,

his word

does not

return to

him empty.

So

before we

look into

his actual,

the actual

content of

his promise

with David,

the three

aspects,

it is God

who initiates

and God

pursues

us.

Secondly,

he does not

look at our

performances.

It is his

sovereign love.

His grace

is a gift

to us

and God

does not

make empty

promises.

Now let's

look into

the promise

that God

makes to

David.

Verses,

second half

of verse

nine,

starting,

and I

will make

for you

a great

name,

like the

name of

the great

ones of

the earth.

And I

will appoint

a place

for my

people Israel

and will

plant them

so that

they may

dwell in

their own

place

and be

disturbed

no more.

And

violent

men

shall

afflict them

no more

as formerly

from the

time

that I

appointed

judges

over my

people Israel.

And I

will give

you rest

from all

your enemies.

Moreover,

the Lord

declares

to you

that the

Lord will

make you

a house.

When your

days are

fulfilled

and you

lie down

with your

fathers,

I will

raise up

your offspring

after you

who shall

come from

your body

and I

will establish

his kingdom

forever.

He shall

build a

house

for my

name

and I

will

establish

the throne

of his

kingdom

forever.

I will

be to

him a

father

and he

shall

be to

me

a son.

When

he commits

iniquity,

I will

discipline

him with

the rod

of men,

with the

stripes

of the

sons of

men,

but my

steadfast

love

will not

depart

from him

as I

took it

from

soul,

whom I

put away

from

before you.

And your

house and

your kingdom

shall be

made sure

forever

before me.

Your throne

shall be

established

forever.

When I

was

reading this

passage,

the language

was a little

confusing.

He talks

about

David's

son,

son,

he talks

about

kingdom

lasting

forever,

he talks

about

his son

committing

iniquity,

and then

he talks

about

I'm going

to discipline

him,

and then

he talks

about

your

kingdom

is going

to last

forever.

It's

confusing.

So,

if this

is a

paper,

a promise,

one page

is completely

a promise

for the

near future,

like

King David's

son Solomon

is going

to build

a temple

for God,

and so

on.

The other

page is

full of

eternal

language.

Your kingdom

lasts forever.

Your throne

will be

established

forever.

If I had

two people,

one on

each side,

one is

reading me

the eternal

language,

and the

other one

is reading

me non-eternal

language,

I will

be confused.

I think

it's

somewhat

like that.

The

language,

his promise

of

immediate

future,

few

generations

down the

road,

and his

promise

of

eternal

kingdom,

which is

fulfilled

by Jesus,

it's written

together

simultaneously.

So,

when you

read this,

you can

get confused.

Like,

for instance,

like verse

14,

it says,

I will

be to

him a

father,

and he

shall be

to me

a son.

This is

a familiar

promise,

because in

Hebrew

chapter 1,

when they

describe Jesus,

the same

language is

used.

I'll be a

father to

him,

he'll be a

son to

me.

So,

first,

let's

separate

this

language

into

eternal

promise,

and the

promise

of

what's

going to

happen to

David,

his son,

and his

descendants.

Going back

to verse 9,

the second half

of verse 9,

I will make

for you a

great name,

like the name

of the great

ones of the

earth,

and I will

appoint a

place for

my people

Israel,

and I will

plant them

so that they

may dwell in

their own

place,

and be

disturbed no

more.

So,

God cut

off all

David's enemies,

and they

begin to

enjoy peace

and prosperity.

And then,

goes down

to verse

12,

when your

days are

fulfilled,

and you

lie down

with your

fathers,

I will

raise up

your

offspring

after you,

who shall

come from

your body,

and I will

establish

his

kingdom.

He shall

build a

house for

my name,

and I will

establish the

throne of

his kingdom

forever.

Now,

here,

he's telling

David,

your son,

the wisest

man ever

lived,

is going

to build

a temple

to honor

my name.

God

and you

see that

happening

a little

bit later

in the

book.

And what

is this

language about

when he

commits

iniquity,

verse 14,

I will

discipline

him with

the rod

of men,

with the

stripes

of the

sons of

men.

Well,

David's

descendants,

as you

study the

first and

second

kings,

first and

second

chronicles,

they start

worshiping

idols,

they become

rebellious,

they don't

always keep

the law.

So,

God raises

sometimes

different enemies

to discipline

them,

like a

father

disciplines a

child.

So,

this is

all about

what's going

to happen

right after

you,

and also

a little

bit down

as your

descendants,

you know,

do this

and that.

God made

a similar

promise to

Abraham,

14

generations

before

David.

In

Genesis

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

God makes

promise with

Abraham,

and basically

the promise

contains three

blessings.

One,

God tells

Abraham,

look at the

stars,

can you

count the

number of

stars?

I will

make your

descendants as

numerous as

stars in

the sky.

Second

blessing,

he tells

them,

I am

going to

make you

a father

of a

nation.

So,

a nation

is born,

and that

nation is

Israel.

And then

the third,

the third

blessing is,

through you,

Abraham,

all nations,

all families,

all ethnic

groups will be

blessed.

Now,

you know,

him having

descendants,

him becoming

father of a

nation,

yes,

that is a

non-eternal

promise.

All nations,

all people

getting blessed

through Abraham,

that is an

eternal blessing,

that's a

spiritual blessing,

blessing,

which is

fulfilled by

Jesus.

So,

at this

point,

you may

ask,

but what

do these

promises,

which were

made thousands

of years ago,

have to do

with us

today?

today?

Well,

that third

blessing God

gave Abraham,

all nations

will be blessed

through you,

it has

everything to

do with us

today.

God sent

his son,

Jesus,

to die

for our

sin.

and he

gave us

salvation.

So,

those who

believe him,

believe my

son,

will have

salvation.

And that

promise is

still ongoing

as the

gospel is

preached

here in

all different

parts of the

world.

Just like

God said to

Abraham,

all families,

all nations,

all ethnic

groups,

will be

blessed

through you.

Going back

to the

promise that

he made

with King

David,

the eternal

promise that

your kingdom

will last

forever.

Your throne

will be

established

forever.

No human

kingdom can

last forever,

but Jesus'

kingdom

will last

forever.

Again,

God sent

his son

to die

in our

place.

He

resurrected,

he overcame

the death

power of

sin,

and now

his kingdom

will last

forever.

So God's

promise to

David is

fulfilled

through

his descendant,

Jesus.

And again,

what does that

have to do

with us

today?

Well,

you receive

Jesus,

you have

salvation.

But there's

a little bit

more,

actually a lot

more.

Let's turn

to John

14.

It's on

page

901

in your

pew Bible.

I would like

us to look

at two more

passages.

pages.

Please turn

with me to

page 901,

John

John 14:2–3

chapter 14,

verses 2

to 3,

and then

we'll also

read verses

15 through

18.

Here Jesus

tells us,

in my

father's

house

are many

rooms.

If it were

not so,

would I have

told you that

I go to

prepare a

place for

you?

And if I

go and

prepare a

place for

you,

I will

come again

and will

take you

to myself

that where

I am

you,

where I

am,

you may

be also.

Isn't it

funny?

King David

wanted to

build a

house for

God.

Here Jesus

tells us,

I have a

house,

my father's

house.

There are

many rooms

and I'm

going to

take you

there.

Let's look

at verses

15 and

18.

He promises,

Jesus promises,

if you love

me, you

will keep

my commandments

and I

will ask

the father

and he

will give

you another

helper,

the Holy

Spirit,

to be with

you forever,

even the

spirit of

truth whom

the world

cannot receive

because it

neither sees

him,

nor knows

him,

you know

him,

for he

dwells

with you

and will

be in

you.

I will

not leave

you as

orphans.

So,

you know,

after you

receive Jesus

and,

yes,

I'll be

with him

eternally in

his kingdom,

but what

about from

now till

we get

there?

Are we

going to

be like

orphans?

Is Jesus

telling us,

I die for

you on the

cross,

my job's

done,

okay,

see you,

you know,

when I

see you.

It's not

like that.

Jesus said,

I will

not leave

you as

orphans.

My

spirit,

the helper,

Holy Spirit,

will be with

you and he

will live

inside you.

God.

And what

does this

mean?

Let's

look at

another

passage.

It's in

Acts,

it's

9,

page 911,

911 in

your pew

Bible.

Acts

Acts 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3,

Acts chapter

Acts 3:22–23

3,

verses 22

to 23,

and then we

will look at

verses 25

to 26.

Verse 22,

Acts chapter

Acts 3:22

3,

verse 22.

Moses said,

the Lord

God will

raise up

for you

a prophet

like me

from your

brothers.

You shall

listen to

him in

whatever he

tells you

and he

shall be

that every

soul who

does not

listen to

that prophet

shall be

destroyed

from the

people.

So once

again,

through

Moses,

God is

telling his

people,

I will

raise up

a prophet

like Moses.

He's

talking about

Jesus.

And you

should listen

to him

when he

comes.

Verses

25 to

26,

you are

the sons

of the

prophets

and of

the covenant

that God

made with

your fathers

saying to

Abraham,

now we're

going back

to the

covenant

that he

made with

Abraham.

and in

your

offspring

shall

all the

families

of the

earth

be

blessed.

God

having

raised

up his

servant,

he's

talking about

his son

Jesus,

sent him

to you

first

to bless

you

by

turning

every

one of

you

from

your

wickedness.

By

turning

every

one of

you

from

your

wicked

ways.

other

translations

says

turning

every

one

of

you

from

your

sinful

ways.

I

think

we

all

struggle

with

sin,

the

idols

that

we

have

brought

into

our

lives.

You

know,

secret

sin

that we

flirt

with

and

then

you

keep

doing

that

and

you

do

that

enough

it

becomes

your

habitual

sin

become

addiction

and

then

you

keep

on

doing

it

then

it

has

grip

on

you.

It

makes

you

captive

to

sins.

And

I

think

some

people

call

it

a

besetting

sin.

It

makes

you

powerless

because

the

sin

has

such

a

grip

on

you

you

may

be

confessing

every

day

but

you

just

cannot

be

set

free

from

that

sin.

Verse

26

God

having

raised

up

his

servant

send

him

to

you

first

to

bless

you

to

bless

you

by

turning

every

one

of

you

from

your

wicked

ways

sinful

ways.

This

is

God's

promise.

We

struggle

we

try

to

be

set

free

but

we

just

cannot

do

that

with

our

own

human

strength.

Cling

on to

God's

promise.

As

we

learn

today

that

his

promise

he

doesn't

make

empty

promise

and

he's

pursuing

us

right

now.

He's

pursuing

each

one

of

us

with

his

unchanging

life

giving

love.

A

grace

that's

a

gift.

So

when

you

try

to

break

away

from

this

with

your

own

human

strength

or

with

seven

steps

of

this

or

seven

steps

of

that

you

just

cannot

sometimes

you

cannot

break

away

unless

God's

power

in

you

through

Holy

Spirit

breaks

you

loose.

then

you

will

turn

away

and

get

set

free.

I

just

finished

reading

John

Newton's

biography

really

really

some

parts

were very

hard to

read

especially

when

you know

when

they

talk

about

John

Newton

is the

man

who

wrote

the

words

for

the

famous

song

Amazing

Grace

and

in

few

minutes

we're

going

to

sing

that

song

but

before

he

tasted

God's

amazing

grace

his

life

was

in

complete

disgrace

as

a

slave

ship

captain