2 Samuel 7 "The Davidic Covenant" Psalm 89, 132 [house, seed, kingdom, son of God; strong parallels to Abraham] We often think of the OT as being Moses-centered. The law plays a large role in our thinking about the OT. But Moses is only the center of the first five books of the OT. David is the center of the rest of the OT. Think about it. Perhaps you could argue that Joshua is a transitional book. But Judges is all about the need for David, as the book contrasts Benjamin and Judah (Saul and David), and points to the need for a king. Ruth is about David's great-grandmother. Samuel and Kings and Chronicles are all about the Davidic monarchy. The Psalms were largely written by David, and many are about David. Much of Proverbs was written by David's son, while Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs have strong Solomonic content. And what were the prophets doing? Certainly they are interested in Israel's failure to obey the law, but they are also interested in the Davidic monarchy, and its failure to keep covenant as well. And the solution the prophets point to is the restoration of the Davidic monarchy. Because only the restoration of the Davidic covenant can bring about the restoration of the Mosaic covenant. And only the restoration of the Mosaic covenant can bring about the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant, and only the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant can bring about the resolution of the problem that all started when Adam broke the covenant. You see, biblical covenants do not replace each other, they fulfill each other. 1. A House for God (7:1-3) 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... Notice the context: David is living in his house. The LORD has given him rest. The word "house" can mean one of three things: when used of men it refers to a house; when used of God it refers to a temple; when used of a king it refers to a dynasty. All three uses of "house" are interwoven in this passage. Thankfully the ESV translates all them "house," and no doubt you got the point just fine! The pattern of ancient kings was to establish themselves through two things: victory in battle and then once they had proven themselves militarily, they would embark on great building projects, in order to leave monuments to their great might. After all, if you are going to devote your resources to building, that means that you are secure militarily. But David has built his house with the help of Hiram of Tyre and now his conscience gets to him: See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. There is a sense of guilt here how can I live in such splendor, while the ark of God has only a tent to cover it? And the prophet Nathan responds by encouraging David: sounds great to me! Go for it! The LORD has been with you in battle, so surely the LORD is with you in building as well! But building a temple is different from other building projects. Building a temple signifies that God is on your side! If David builds the temple, then it has the effect of saying that David is the great king who has given a permanent residence to the nomadic god Yahweh. Our God is not very fond of those who try to use him for their advantage. David's desire seems to have arisen from genuine piety, but God will allow no confusion in this matter. It is not that God is on David's side. God will not be the agent of any earthly king. 2. A House for David (7:4-17) It is worth pointing out that Nathan did not inquire of the LORD before answering David. His answer was based on all of God's previous revelation which indicated that God would choose a place for his name to dwell and since God had been with David and blessed him with Jerusalem, Nathan rightly ascertained that it was God's will to establish his temple in Jerusalem. But God wanted to make it clear who was indebted to whom! If David built the temple, it would look like David was the one who had given Yahweh a house. But the opposite was truly the case: Yahweh had given David a house. And so the word of Yahweh came to Nathan that night. I suppose here we could mention the phenomenon of prophetic revelation. How did the word of Yahweh come to Nathan? We don't know. It may have been an audible voice. Or it may have been an internal voice. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that the word of Yahweh came to Nathan! Verses 5-7 say, in effect, Why do I need a house? I have gotten along very well, thank you, without a house! Verses 8-9a set up the past: 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. This is what God has done. All biblical covenants include both a recitation of God's prior faithfulness, along with promises of what he will do in the future, together with blessings for those who keep the covenant, and curses for those who break the covenant. Then verses 9b-16 set forth two sets of promises. The first set is found in verses 9b-11a 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. God will make David's name great, and this is what will give Israel peace. God's blessing upon David is what gives Israel rest. It is only when David's name is great that Israel will find rest. 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. The solution to Israel's rebellion and refusal to enter their rest in the days of the judges is David. God had called Israel to enter into his rest. But Israel refused (Psalm 95 today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts!). Now God promises that this rest will come through David. And the details of this are spelled out more in the second set of promises relating more specifically to David's house. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make for 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. 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 will 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. Whereas Israel had been called God's firstborn in Exodus 3, now God calls David's son to be his son. Israel has failed to do and to be all that God had called them to do and to be. Now God is calling David's house to be all that Israel had been. There are two things about the covenant that we should observe: 1) God's covenant with David does not rescind the covenant with Moses, but fulfills it God's covenant with Moses had not abrogated the covenant with Abraham. It had fulfilled it. Even so, to say that Israel had failed does not mean that God was setting aside the Mosaic covenant. Rather the fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant will now hang on the house of David. The new covenant in Jesus Christ will be different. Because the covenants with Abraham, Moses and David were all looking forward to Christ. Jesus is the one who brings all the covenants to fulfillment in himself. He is the Seed of Abraham, the true Israel, the Son of David, the one in whom all the covenants find their end. Indeed, it is only in Jesus that we discover that these several covenants in the OT are truly one covenant of grace. Because to David it would look like there were several: in Noah God promised he would never destroy the world by water again; in Abraham God promised he would establish his people in the land; through Moses God established Israel as his son; in Aaron God established the covenant of the priesthood and now in David God established the covenant of the kingdom. And in David's day, it is not obvious that all of these covenants are in fact one. Clearly they are related, but it is only in Jesus that we see all things coming together in one person. 2) As with all of God's covenants, the covenant is both unconditional and conditional It is unconditional in that God promises that he will fulfill this covenant. David does nothing to deserve this covenant. We saw last time that David had failed in similar ways to Saul with the difference that David repented and fixed the problem. But it is conditional in that God demands a response from David and his house. And there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. But God promises that even the disobedience of David's sons will not nullify the covenant. The conditions are for blessing or cursing within the covenant. There is nothing that can nullify the covenant itself, because God alone is the one who has made the covenant. In the same way that God alone had passed between the pieces of the sacrifice in the days of Abraham, so also God promises that he alone will be responsible for ensuring that David' kingdom is established forever. And this is what we see in Christ as well. Jesus is the one who has met the condition of the covenant. Whereas the natural sons of David did commit iniquity and were chastised for it, David's greater son did not sin. Solomon may have built "a house for my name," but Jesus is the one who has built a truly permanent house. Solomon's temple was more permanent than the tabernacle. But Solomon's temple lasted only around 400 years before it was cast down by the Babylonians. And as goes Solomon's temple the house of God so also goes the house of David. 400 years? Is that what God meant by "forever"? How do you get a temple that lasts forever? How do you get a kingdom that lasts forever? A temple of stone will eventually crumble. A dynasty of men will eventually die out. The answer is the incarnation and the resurrection! How do you get a permanent house for God and a permanent house for David? It is only when the two houses become one only when God's house and David's house are united in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ Jesus will become the temple (God's house) and the king (David's house). As John tells us, "the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us." And John is also the one who, in the next chapter tells us that Jesus cleansed the temple, speaking of his own body as the true temple the place where earth and heaven meet. 3. We also need to see that David's throne is where Jesus sits today The dispensationalists say that Jesus is not sitting on the throne of his father David. They say that that day will only come in the "millennial kingdom." Listen to Peter's word in Acts 2:30-31 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ. I don't know how it gets more obvious than that. David's throne was God's throne. He ruled at God's right hand. David was God's vicegerent. David ruled over God's kingdom. The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise to David. 3. David's Response (7:18-29) David's response in verses 18-29 is the response of a heart amazed at God's great mercy. Let me outline the prayer for you: David starts by asking "who am I and what is my house?" and "what can I say to you?" (Verses 18-20) David is the LORD's anointed, but he acknowledges that even the LORD's anointed is nothing before the LORD. Then he turns to who God is (verses 21-22): you have done this because of who you are. Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. But not only is God great, also Who is like your people Israel? God is unique. And therefore so also are God's people! (Verses 23-24) If God is the one true God, then his people are the most blessed people in the world. And based on all this, David says, because of what you have done in the past, therefore, please continue to do what you promised (verses 25-29). This is the heart of prayer: to acknowledge that God alone is the one worthy of honor and glory; to remember and give thanks for God's faithfulness in the past; and then with confidence to ask God to continue to do what he has promised. You might say, why should we ask God to do what he has promised? After all, he has already promised to do it! This is where we need to remember the conditional side of the covenant. God has promised to bless David and his house. But he has also promised to discipline him when he sins! Even in Christ we still undergo discipline. We need to pray "thy kingdom come, thy will be done" not because we have any doubt that God will do it, but because we need to be drawn into God's kingdom will! We need to be drawn into God's covenant with David. Why do I say that? Isn't God's covenant with David all about Jesus? Of course! And because it is about Jesus, it is about those who are in Jesus. Isaiah 55:1-3 says Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, but wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. The new covenant, promised by Isaiah to all who come, is described as "my steadfast, sure love for David." And at the very end of the Bible, Jesus declares, I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. And then, echoing Isaiah 55, The Spirit and the bride say "Come." And let the one who hears say "Come," And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price. (Rev 22:16-17) The Bible ends saying that all that was promised to David has come true in Jesus!