*Below is Pastor Andrew’s preaching outline from Sunday’s sermon, not a word for word manuscript. This is meant as aid in seeing the thought and direction of the sermon.

Seminary: working non-stop for 4 years: 60 hrs a week and school…. coming home afterward and having rest. In rest there is time to think and plan whats next. it’s also a time when God can and often does do things you weren’t expecting. My short respite became a much longer stay, clearly. But along the way there was the reality that God’s plans for my life was very different than my own, and His direction was far more important than any thing I could have imagined.

Today we continue in the life of David and examine what some say is the single most important OT passage. Known as the Davidic covenant set forth the faithfulness of God towards David and His line, and from this we will see the coming messiah.

But let us step back for a moment and dive into the surroundings of our text and then allow the Lord to lead us deeper into the reality that His ways and plans are far greater than our own:

Since David came on the scene in 1 Samuel 16 he has been in constant motion, often fighting or fleeing from those who wish to kill him. He has not known real peace. Yet the very opening of Chapter 7 finds David resting peacefully in the Land. He has toiled and labored for so long and now he is at peace, and begins to think.

Introduction of Nathan the Prophet (A Key figure in the remainder  of David’s Life)

-You can picture them just hanging out back chatting about life and David opens up with this burden he has been carrying:

He lives in luxury while (in his mind) God resides simply in a tent.

(He is torn between the thought that he has been blessed and yet has done nothing in return for God, so he plans to build God a nice new Temple to replace the tent.)

This is where we see the beauty and majesty of God begin to unfold in our text: Because what we will see is that the Davidic covenant is not about David, it is for him and about God.

And the first thing we see about God in this text is the reminder that He is the source of all wisdom.

I. The Wisdom of God (1-5)

2 Samuel 7:1–5 ESV

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, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” 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?

A. The Limitations of Man’s Wisdom

-David’s plan is not sinful. God stated one day he would build a place in the Land:

Deuteronomy 12:9–11 ESV

for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you. But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lord.

-Nathans initial reaction and confirmation is based on what he knows about God and the fact that David is faithful to God. Since they seem to be at peace all the pieces line up in his mind that this must be God’s will.

-He made a rational call, but as we see his knowledge was limited

B. The Instruction of God

-God quickly steps in and corrects Nathan that very evening, before it can linger any longer on David’s mind

-The Lord is not necessarily rebuking David but rather correcting the fact that he has not asked him to do such a thing.

-the Lord is reminding David of the reality that He has a plan and it is His work that will be accomplished according to His timeline.

-The opening words of the Lord are a reminder of who is sovereign, but it is also humbling that he doesn’t allow David to journey down a path not meant for him. He corrects him and then equally explains the reasons why, and it all begins with a reminder that While God is Transcendent he is also very Immanent

 

II. The Immanence of God (6-7)

2 Samuel 7:6–7 ESV

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?” ’

A. God is With His People

-God reminds David here that He has not asked for a set structure because His people are not set in a set land.

-God is with His people. He has lived with them in a tent since he brought them out of Egypt. The Lord has set the timing and direction of His movements with His people.

B. He is for them, they are not for Him

-Not only is God with His people, He is the one fighting for His people. They do not fight for Him.

-He is their salvation and hope, not the other way around.

-In Ancient Middle eastern Cultures the idea of building great temples for gods was common, the idea was that the grandeur of the temple built would symbolize how great and mighty the name of your god would be, and then by proxy the blessings of that god would come to the king or people.

-God’s point here is that from a tent my name is grand, from a tent my wisdom and glory will be proclaimed. In the time of the judges when sin was rampant, I still saved my people without a fancy building. I am God no matter the dwelling.

App: This is a reminder to us as well that God can do wondrous works from the smallest of peoples. He can change the world from a small hut in the Ethiopian plains, to the tallest of Sky scrapers here in America. God is a God of His people, not of a fancy building or lavish extravagance.

And what is equally striking is how the truth of God with us reminds us of His grace towards us:

III. The Grace of God (8-11)

2 Samuel 7:8–11 ESV

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. 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.

David is reminded of what God has done for Him.

There is a quick journey down memory lane to remind Him of the God he serves.

A. God is the Source of David’s Name

1. He made Him a Prince

-David is reminded of his humble beginnings in the fields watching over sheep.

-God is the one who elevated him to His position:

-Also there is a key reminder that He is a prince not King in the scheme of what God is doing. God is the King.

2. He rescued Him from his enemies

– Continuing through the life story, he then reminds him that He was the source of his salvation. (A thing David is happy to sing-about throughout the Psalter)

-David may have been a skilled warrior, but God was the source of these abilities. God was the one who granted him wisdom and cunning. God was the one who defeated his enemies on the battlefield, and persevered his life from Saul’s advances.

-He reminds David that through every stage of his life He was the one directing the path, and leading him to this moment. God was with him and gracious to Him.

-thus God is the source of David’s name, but not only is he the source of a name he is the Source of His peoples rest.

B. God is the Source of His people rest

1. He will rest when his people rest

-In this text there is a brief foreshadowing that the war and calamity have not ceased in David’s kingdom. While the passage opens with David at rest we know that is not the end of David’s story and we also know from this that God will one day place His people at rest. and in the era of that rest He will rest with His people.

-This is also a beautiful picture of the fact that God did not simply set things in motion and step away like the Deist use to believe. He is actively involved with His people and working for His people. he will never leave them nor forsake them, he will go through the tempest with them and see them through.

2. He will be the protection for His people

-He is the people true protection. In him their is true and abundant life like no other.

-In this moment God reminds David that He will, in time, bring about the true and lasting peace. In the season it was seen with Solomon, but into eternity we see it in Christ, who will bring with him the new Jerusalem of God where all of God’s people shall experience peace and rest.

-Christ will bring us the lasting peace and freedom form the enemy of sin and death

-Christ will bring us the hope of the Kingdom that will never fall because of His steadfast love:

IV. The “Hesed” of God (12-17)

2 Samuel 7:12–17 ESV

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. 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 Saul, 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.’ ” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

Which leads us now to the covenant that God will make for David. Again the thing about this text is there is nothing that David has done to deserve what God is about to do, the works and promises of God are His own design and desire, David is merely the recipient of God’s generosity.  That’s why the Covenant is about God for David. It is based on His covenant love or “Hesed”

(2 aspects of His love seen: he will establish David’s line and He will never leave it)

A. He will establish the Line of David

1. God will establish His kingdom

It is not war or armies that will determine the kingdom of God, it is his willful desire and work that will establish it for all time.

His ultimate and true kingdom was not a temporal location (though it is the focal point of his mission) but rather from the ends of the earth his name will be heralded and believed.

2. David’s Son will build the temple

The Son of David: Solomon will build the temple which is reveled in 1 Kings. He does this after the kingdom is secured and the whole of the kingdom is at rest.

Solomon rule is one of peace from enemies outside, but a war brews within himself.

The true Son of David will build a temple not made of human hands.

3. God will be a Father to them

The linage may have begun at David, but its true source is not David but the Lord. He is the one who has birthed them and will sustain them. He is the one who rules over them to protect and lead.

4. He will discipline His descendants

The kings of Judah will have a very rocky experience with God as they fall into sin often and find his hand heavy upon them, yet he brings his discipline to bear that they may know that he is their God.

Example Manasseh: one of the wickedest Kings following an extremely righteous father, who in turn repents and believes.

2 Chronicles 33:11–13 ESV

Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

God’s discipline led to repentance and forgiveness. and restoration:

B. He will never abandon David’s House

All of this we see in Solomon beginning in 1 Kings, but Solomon will fail. He will fall and will end in sin, but that is key. again we see that this promise is one not based on the works of Kings, but on the grace and kindness of God. God is the one who established David’s lines ultimately not to create a physical kingdom that will last, but an eternal spiritual one that will expand to the ends of the earth:

For this true lasting King is seen in Jesus the true Son.

Hebrews 1:5 ESV

For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?

He is the true King

Luke 1:33 ESV

and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And rather than receiving the discipline of the Lord for His own transgressions. He received the full weight and wrath of the father for His peoples.  When we read the words of Isaiah 53 or reflect on the Passion narratives, we are reminded that He took our punishment. Our king died to save His people. Christ died to save his own. And Lives to Secure them.