Covenant: Promises Made, Part 7 - David

2 Samuel chapter 7.

2 Samuel 7 · chapter mention

We're going to read right through the chapter.

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 I am

living in a palace of cedar

while the ark of God

remains in a tent.

Nathan replied to the king,

whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it

for the Lord is with you.

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

up 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 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

and from following the flock

to be 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 men on earth.

And I will provide a place

for my people, Israel,

and will plant them so that

they can have a home of their own

and no longer be disturbed.

Wicked people shall 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

will establish a house for you

when your days are over

and you rest with your fathers.

I will raise up your offspring

to succeed you

who will come from your own body

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 shall be my son.

When it is wrong,

I will punish him

with the rod of men,

with floggings

inflicted by men.

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

shall endure

forever before me.

Your throne

shall be established

forever.

Nathan reported to David

all the words

of this entire revelation.

Then King David

went in

and sat before the Lord

and he said,

Who am I,

O sovereign Lord,

and what is my family

that you have brought

me this far?

And as if this were

not enough

in your sight,

O sovereign Lord,

you have also spoken

about the future

of the house

of your servant.

Is this your usual way

of dealing with man,

O sovereign Lord?

What more can David

say to you?

For you know your servant,

O sovereign Lord.

For the sake of your word

and according to your will,

you have done this great thing

and made it known

to your servant.

How great you are,

O sovereign Lord,

there is no one like you

and there is no God

but you,

as we have heard

with our own ears.

And who is like

your people Israel,

the one nation

and earth that God

went out to redeem

as a people for himself

and to make a name

for himself

and to perform

great and awesome wonders

by driving out nations

and their gods

from before your people

whom you redeemed

from Egypt.

You have established

your people Israel

as your very own forever

and you, O Lord,

have become their God.

And now, Lord God,

keep forever the promise

you have made

concerning your servant

and his house.

Do as you promised

so that your name

will be great forever.

Then men will say,

The Lord Almighty

is God over Israel

and the house

of your servant David

will be established

before you.

The Lord Almighty,

God of Israel,

you have revealed this

to your servant

saying,

I will build a house

for you.

So your servant

has found courage

to offer you this prayer.

O sovereign Lord,

you are God.

Your words are trustworthy

and you have promised

these good things

to your servant.

Now be pleased

to bless the house

of your servant

that it may continue

forever in your sight

for you, O sovereign Lord,

have spoken

and with your blessing

the house of your servant

will be blessed forever.

Amen.

And may God add

his blessing

to the reading

of his word.

Here we come to David

and a covenant

that focuses on the king

and his kingdom.

We understand a little

of the importance

of a king

within a kingdom.

Angus McFadgen,

a Scottish actor

and director,

is about to release

a new film

telling something

of the story

of the king

Robert the Bruce.

So 13th century

Scottish king.

It's really interesting.

I read an interview

with him.

He said he wanted

the film to premiere

in Edinburgh

because he believes

that when people

watch the film

Robert the Bruce,

it will shape

national thinking

on issues such as

Brexit and feelings

about Scottish independence.

We might well debate

the influence

that a 700-year-old

Scottish king

might have

on our thinking,

but it's certainly true

that kings

have an important place

to play

in the life

of a nation.

And if it's true

that Robert the Bruce

might influence

our hopes

and expectations

perhaps for independence,

how much more

will King David

and his family

influence

national identity

and the hopes

of Israel

when we think

about the promises

that we just

read about here?

So this is God

continuing

this theme

of establishing

this covenant

with his people.

We've noticed

the progression

if we go back

to the beginning,

perhaps we think

about Abraham.

God established

promise of blessing

and land

and a great name,

blessing to the nations

of the world

through one family.

Then we got

to Moses

and those blessings,

life under the rule

of God

was now extended

to a nation.

Well here,

now we see

that further development

where hopes

are attached

to the king

and the kingdom.

And that's something

we see really clearly

as we continue

reading our Bibles,

the story of Israel

becomes the story

of Israel's king.

The rise and the fall

of the nation

effectively follows

the rise and fall

of kings

and their rise and fall

is always in relation

to obedience

or disobedience

to God.

And as you get

to the point

where their wickedness

becomes so bad

that they're removed

from the land,

so we get to the exile,

then you read

the prophets,

you'll discover

that their hope

for restoration

is very much tied up

with God sending

his king.

And so we're going

to see how

2 Samuel 7

connects us to that.

And then you think

about the time

of Jesus

and what do we discover

as we read the gospels?

We find that there,

again,

are a people

who are waiting

and who are longing

for this promised king

to come.

They are hoping

for a deliverer.

They're hoping

that God will have

mercy on them

and bring them freedom

and so they're looking

for their king.

And one of the sadnesses

of the gospels

is that the people

that were so looking

for God's king

failed to see Jesus

as God's promised

Messiah king.

He is,

as we saw this morning,

rejected by many.

So our aim this evening

is to look at the covenant

with David,

see the specific,

unique sort of elements

of that

and to see how it points us

ultimately to Jesus.

But the first theme

that I want us to think about

is one that we've seen

in all of the covenants

and it's this,

what O.P. Robertson

calls the Emmanuel principle.

One of the names of Jesus

is Emmanuel,

God with us.

And as we look

at God's words to David,

we see clearly

both that God

is with

and has been with

Israel

and also that he

has been

and will be with

David,

the king.

So first of all,

what does he say

about being with Israel?

Look again at verse 6 and 7.

He says there,

I've not dwelt in a house

from the day I brought

the Israelites up

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.

So here is a God

who is near

to his people

and that's demonstrated

in the fact

that God condescends

to live in a tent.

He says,

I have always

traveled

with my traveling people.

That's made clear

when you look

at how the people

of Israel

were to camp.

God's tent

was right in the middle

and then the 12 tribes

camped all around.

But God was with

his people

as they

wandered.

And that's a great

act of humility

on God's part.

We were camping

this weekend.

If you've ever been

camping,

you'll know

it's not

the most grand

of surroundings.

It's a fun thing

to do.

But you wouldn't say

camping is something

that's fit for a king.

And when we think

about our God

who lives

in the glory

of heaven,

it's a great

act of humility

that he would

choose to identify

with his people

by dwelling

with them

in this tent.

So God

has been with Israel

but God has also,

he makes clear,

been with David

from the beginning.

Look at verse 8

and 9

in particular.

This is what

the Lord Almighty

says,

I took you

from the pasture

and from following

the flock

to be ruler

over my people Israel.

So when he was just

that young shepherd boy

forgotten by his father,

God was with him.

It led him

on that journey

till he eventually

became ruler.

I have been with you

wherever you have gone

and I've cut off

all your enemies

from before you.

So as king,

God has been

with him.

And we see this

in the story

of 2 Samuel.

2 Samuel chapter 2,

2 Samuel 2 · chapter mention

by this point

Saul has died.

David is established

as king over Judah.

Then we get to chapter 5

and then he's established

king over the whole

nation of Israel.

In chapter 5

we also see him

conquering Jerusalem,

making that

the central place

for both rule

and worship.

We see him

conquering the Philistines

with God's help.

Then in chapter 6,

an important moment,

God's ark,

God's throne as it were,

is brought to Jerusalem.

So David the king

rules and the ark

is also brought

to Jerusalem

until we get

to the start

of chapter 7

and we see

that the Lord

has established

peace and rest

in the kingdom.

So all of these

moments,

God is saying,

I have been

with you

and he will

continue to be

with David.

Verse 9,

I will make

your name great

like the names

of the greatest

men of the earth.

Remember that promise

to Abraham?

Here it is now

being extended

to David.

And I will provide

a place for my people

and will plant them

so they have a home

of their own.

There's the promise

made to Abraham

and to Moses,

to Israel,

that he would

give them

the promised land

being reestablished

here.

So all of these

ways God is showing

that he is with

his people,

he is with

his king

for his own purpose.

God's purpose

is that his kingdom

will come.

God's purpose

is that

through

David's family,

through the nation

of Israel,

light will come

to the world.

And so here is

this great covenant

promise being made

to David,

it's still a relatively

new king,

and being made

to the nation

once again

to say,

I am with you.

And of course

we see how that

connects to Jesus,

the one who is called

Emmanuel,

the God who is

with us.

And it's important

for us as God's people

to see how this promise

connects to us today.

Remember Jesus said,

I am with you

always

to the very end

of the age.

God is always

with his people.

He's with us

in his son Jesus.

He's with us

by his spirit

who comes to take up

residence in the hearts

of those who trust

in Jesus.

God is with us

in his word,

the Bible.

Whenever we read

the Bible,

we are encountering

the living God.

He is with us

in the sacraments.

When we share

the Lord's Supper,

Jesus is the host

of his supper,

saying to us,

I am here

with you

in order to give you

strength

for your journey

of faith.

Now to say

that God is

with us

is an unbreakable

promise,

but it does not

equal,

God is with us

equals life

will always

go well

for us.

And we understand

that from the story

of David.

David was promised

that he would be

God's chosen king,

the king after

God's own heart,

but yet he experienced

opposition.

Saul wanted him killed.

He had to spend

a lot of time

running for his life.

He experienced

opposition,

rejection from

among his own

countrymen

at different times.

We read the Psalms,

we discover

his story,

we discover

his laments,

we discover

his struggles,

but we also

discover he is a

man who knows

and has built

his life on

this reality.

God is a rock,

God is a refuge,

God is with me

and working his

purposes out.

And just as it

was with David,

so it is for us

as a church now,

God is with us.

Jesus is described

in the Bible

as the bridegroom

of his church.

And Jesus,

the bridegroom,

has made promises

to his church.

In a couple of weeks,

Cailin is a bridegroom,

will stand here

and make promises

to Sarah,

promising to be with

and for her,

for better,

for worse,

for richer,

for poorer,

in sickness and in health.

God does that

in Jesus

for us,

his church.

And nothing will ever

separate us

from that love,

not even death

itself.

And the Lord's Supper

reminds us

of God's commitment

to us,

to be with us

and to be for us.

And so one of the reasons

we gather around

the Lord's table

is that we might

find strength

to be encouraged

to remember

the Lord

who is with us.

So that theme,

the Emmanuel principle,

comes through

in this covenant

as it has done

with all the others.

But there's

unique features here.

A second theme

that comes out strongly

is that of

house building.

So at the beginning

of the chapter,

we were told

here is a nation

at peace.

God has been kind

to Israel,

been kind to David,

given rest

from their enemies.

David lives

in a very grand palace

and he has a wish,

he has a desire,

he wants to build

God

a temple.

So he reports

to Nathan

that plan.

But then the Lord

speaks to Nathan

in verse 5.

This is what the Lord

says,

Are you, David,

the one to build me

a house

to dwell in?

The initiative

doesn't come

from David.

A man

is not the one

who's going to determine

where and how

God will live.

But then God

uses this idea

of house building

and with a really

nice play on words

establishes

covenant commitment

to David

and his family.

Saying to David,

Well, you want

to build me

a physical house?

You want

to build me

a temple?

I, the Lord God,

am going to build

you, David,

a house.

Not a physical

location,

but a family

dynasty.

Look at verse

11,

second part

of verse 11.

The Lord declares

to you

that the Lord

himself

will establish

a house

for you.

And there,

when we read

house,

we think

royal dynasty.

You know,

think of our queen.

Our queen comes

from the house

of Windsor.

That's been

the royal dynasty

since 1917.

So there's this

rich covenant

promise

that God

is going

to take

the initiative

in order

to establish

David

and his

family

on the

throne

forever.

So verse 12,

when your days

are over

and you rest

with your

fathers,

I will raise

up your

offspring

to succeed

you

and I will

establish

his kingdom.

As Solomon,

Solomon would

sit on the

throne

and God

would establish

David's

kingdom

through

Solomon.

Verse 13,

he is the

one who will

build a house

for my name.

So Solomon

will build

the temple,

will build

God's house

according to

God's timing,

God's plan,

but God

will establish

the throne

of his

kingdom

forever.

So this is

one of those

points in

the Bible

where we see

that God

is speaking

about Solomon

but not just

about Solomon

because as we

know Solomon

is not still

reigning

forever.

This is

speaking about

a son

still to come.

This isn't

talking about

any of Israel's

kings that we

read about

in the Old

Testament.

You think

about verse

16,

your house

and your

kingdom

shall endure

forever

before me,

your throne

shall be

established

forever.

Now David's

dynasty lasted

for 400

years but

eventually

exile came,

that came

to an end.

This isn't

speaking of

an Old

Testament

reality,

only with

the coming

of Jesus

is this

rule

established,

only with

Jesus is

this king

who lasts

and reigns

forever.

Now but

what God

is doing

here,

he is

connecting

these two

house building

projects in

David's

future son.

There is

one who

will build

the temple,

one who

will reign

for God

and Solomon

is the

beginning of

that promise

being kept

but he's

just,

to use the

image of

Hebrews,

he's just

the shadow,

he's not

the reality.

Solomon's

temple,

Solomon's

rule both

came and

fell,

great though

they were

but not

Jesus.

Jesus'

reign is

eternal.

Jesus is

God's true

temple,

Jesus is

the meeting

place with

God.

If we want

to know

God,

if we want

to worship

God,

we need

to do

that through

Jesus,

his son

and Jesus

is also

this true

king who

comes in

the line

of David

the one

whose rule

is eternal.

When we

think about

how to

apply this

for ourselves,

perhaps one

way that we

can think

about this

is to pray

that God

would build

our houses

and our

families,

not that we

would be

great kings

and mighty

in human

terms,

but that we

would become

houses and

families marked

by faith.

I remember

years ago

reading of

Jonathan Edwards,

the Puritan

preacher who

every day

prayed for

six generations

into the

future for

his family,

that they

would be

men and

women of

faith who

would follow

God, who

would love

Jesus.

Great prayer

to pray that

God would

build our

families on

faith and

to work for

that, that if

we are parents,

that we

would be

reading the

Bible with

our children,

that we'd

be praying

with and

for them,

we'd be

teaching them

songs full

of God's

truth, that

as a church

we'd be

praying for

our covenant

children,

praying that

each one of

them would

come to

faith, that

God would

build houses

and families

marked by

true faith

in the

Lord Jesus.

And also

as we

recognize that

God is

building the

kingdom of

Jesus and

it's going

to be

global, we

can pray

that we

would be

part of

that.

As Ian

was praying

in his

prayer, there

are many

ways in

which we

can be

part of

that.

We can

pray for

the

missionaries

that we

know around

the world.

We can

pray for

church

plants around

Scotland.

But we

can also

be speaking

to our

family, to

our neighbors

about Jesus

in the way

that we

live in

our workplace,

in our

universities,

our schools,

that we

would want

to love

like Jesus,

that we'd

welcome

people the

way Jesus

did, to

pray that

God's

kingdom would

come, that

others would

come to

submit to

the good and

loving rule

of King

Jesus.

He's building

his kingdom

and we

have the

privilege as

the people of

God to

play our

part in

that.

God's

kingdom.

The third

theme that

we can

think about

that's

unique in

this covenant

is the

idea of

the long

life of

the king.

Long

live the

king.

when I

was younger,

I used

to enjoy

watching

things like

the Olympics

or major

sporting

events.

It was

always one

of those

interesting

things to

compare and

contrast the

different

national

anthems.

I don't

know if

people have

favorite

anthems.

I quite

like the

rousing,

the French

one is

probably up

there.

There's

an amazing

variety when

you listen

to national

anthems.

I don't

know what

you think

of our

British

anthem.

It's

short and

it's to

the point.

But thinking

about this

theme,

thinking about

covenant,

thinking about

king and

kingdom,

our national

anthem speaks

to some of

that.

So we

sing long

live our

noble queen

or king.

We sing

God save

our queen

or king.

We think

about victory

and glory

and long

reign.

And you

know all

of those

things Israel

would recognize

and pray for

their king

because they

understood in

a much

greater way

than it was

even for

Britain under

the empire

as it went

for the

king of

Israel so

it would go

for the

people of

Israel.

And one

of the

things that's

significant for

Israel,

ultimately

becomes

significant

for us

is that

when David

established

his rule

in Jerusalem

so God

too had

his rule

established

in Jerusalem

with the

coming of

the ark.

There was

this coming

together

of God's

rule

and the

king's

rule.

And there

is this

understanding

here within

the covenant

that David's

son would

also be

God's

son,

ruling

for God

eternally.

See verse

14.

I will

be his

father

and he

shall be

my son.

And so the

great hope

of the

covenant with

David is

the promise

of a king

who is

God's son

who will

reign for

God

forever.

ever.

And that's

something that

goes beyond

any of

even the

great kings

of the

Old Testament.

And when we

think about

the promise

here we can

understand why

Israel placed

so much hope

on a restored

king which

we see at

the time

of Jesus.

In the

story of

Israel's

kings we

recognize

that this

enduring

rule

was never

fulfilled

because there

was never

complete

obedience.

Notice

within this

covenant

too there

is the

importance

of

obedience.

In verse

14

I will

be his

father and

he shall

be my

son.

When he

does wrong

I will

punish him

with the

rod of

men

with

floggings

inflicted

by

men.

So in

every covenant

there is

always this

obligation

for obedience

and the

kings were

no different.

God is

saying kings

could and

would be

disciplined.

They were

not free

to ignore

God and

when you

read the

story of

the kings

of Israel

and Judah

what you

see is

that pattern

of if

the kings

were disobedient

to God

then under

the covenant

the nation

would suffer.

But then

when there

was good

kings the

nation would

prosper under

God because

of his

covenant

commitment.

For Israel

ultimately

David's

dynasty

was

ended.

You get

to the

bad kings

you get

to the

end of

kingship

and you

understand

the people

are left

longing

for a

better king

for a

greater king

one who

would rule

for God.

But even

as

David's

family

would be

disobedient

and would

fail

there is

a promise

that David's

family line

would not

be abandoned.

See verse 15

but my love

will never be

taken away

from him

as I took

it away

from Saul.

So there

is a promise

of enduring

covenant

faithfulness

despite the

faithlessness

of

well we can

begin with

Solomon.

So for

example in

1 Kings

1 Kings 11:11–13

chapter 11

verses 11

to 13

the Lord

is angry

with Solomon

because his

heart is

turned away

from the

Lord and

he's following

other gods

and the

Lord said

to Solomon

since this

is your

attitude

and you

have not

kept my

covenant

which I

commanded

you I

will most

certainly

tear the

kingdom away

from you

and give

it to one

of your

subordinates.

So he's

been judged

for covenant

unfaithfulness

and disobedience

nevertheless

for the

sake of

David your

father I

will not

do it

during your

lifetime I

will tear it

out of the

hand of your

son yet I

will not tear

the whole

kingdom from

him but

will give him

one tribe

for the sake

of David my

servant and

for the sake

of Jerusalem

which I have

chosen.

The kings

are unfaithful

yet God

remains faithful

to his

covenant

promise.

As you look

through the

Old Testament

Israel's kings

even the best

of them fail

but the

promise of

God remains

and that's

why after

the exile

the hopes

of the

prophets

was very

much focused

on this

true king

who would

come this

Messiah king

perhaps the

most obvious

place that

we can think

about that

is in Isaiah

9 words

very familiar

because it's

so important

to the story

of Christmas

chapter 9

verse 6

for to us

a child

is born

to us

a son

is given

and the

government

will be

on his

shoulders

and he

will be

called

wonderful

counselor

mighty

God

everlasting

father

prince

of peace

of the

increase

of his

government

and peace

there will

be no

end

he will

reign

on David's

throne

and over

his kingdom

establishing

and upholding

it with

justice

and righteousness

from that

time on

and forever

Isaiah

and the

prophets

were looking

for no

ordinary

king

they were

looking

for God's

Messiah

king

and he

came

as Jesus

Jesus

is David's

greater son

the Bible

says

Jesus

is God's

promise

kept

in the

sending

of his

son

as the

eternal

king

Jesus

is the

only

king

who has

ever

perfectly

kept

all those

covenant

obligations

to rule

for God

concerned

for the

glory

of God

his

father

and then

Jesus

for his

people

dies

to redeem

and rescue

us

though we

deserve

covenant

curses

Jesus

our

king

he

takes

the

covenant

curse

for us

so that

we might

enjoy

covenant

blessing

and then

he rises

and ascends

to rule

in the

glory of

heaven

where he

now sits

at the

father's

right hand

and he

will return

one day

to establish

God's

perfect

rule and

reign

in the

new

heavens

and the

new

earth

until that

time

we are

called

to trust

and we

are called

to obey

but then

as God's

people

we will

live in

God's

place

under

God's

good rule

knowing

his

blessing

and joy

forever

with

Jesus

as our

true

and our

great

king

now how

does this

connect

to the

Lord's

Supper

in a few

moments

God's

people will

share

the

Lord's

Supper

what are

we doing

and saying

together

at the

Lord's

table

well at

one level

we are

confessing

Jesus

you are

my

king

we are

confessing

our

trust

in

Jesus

we are

remembering

with

gratitude

with

thankfulness

that Jesus

has defeated

our great

enemies of

Satan and

sin and

death for

us at

the

cross

we are

remembering

with

thankfulness

that he's

brought us

into

his

kingdom

that he

has

established

the new

covenant

in his

body

and his

blood

so that

we might

be part

of

God's

kingdom

so the

Lord's

Supper

is for

everyone

who confesses

Jesus as

Lord and

king

but we're

also confessing

Jesus you're

the king

that I

need

as we

come to

the Lord's

table

we don't

come

with

strength

but rather

we acknowledge

that battle

that's going

on in our

hearts

the war

that goes

on where

we know

the good

things that

we want

to do

but we

struggle to

do them

because there

is that

sin that

is present

within us

we confess

our own

weakness

the fact that

we cannot

save ourselves

that by

ourselves

we don't

have the

resources to

keep going

in this

journey of

faith and

so we

come to

our king

to provide

for us

we confess

with humility

that our

faith rests

absolutely

ultimately on

Jesus'

work

Jesus'

cross work

and not

ours

and we

come because

king Jesus

invites us

to this

faith

he invites

us to