This is a bit of a long chapter, but I think
in order to really understand it, we really need
to read all of it. So I'm going to read 2 Samuel
7, and I ask that you would give special attention
to this reading of God's holy word. 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 I have not lived in a house
since the day I brought up the people of Israel
from Egypt to this day but I've 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
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 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 you 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 then
King David went in and sat before the Lord and
said who am I oh Lord God and what is my house
that you've brought me thus far And yet, this
was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You
have spoken also of your servant's house for
a great while to come. And this is instruction
for mankind, O Lord God. And what more can David
say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord
God, 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 there is no god besides you according
to all that we've heard with our ears and who
is like your people Israel the one nation on
earth whom God went to redeem to be his people
making himself a name and doing for them great
and awesome things by driving out before your
people whom you redeem for yourself from Egypt
a nation and its gods and you established for
yourself your people Israel to be your people
forever and you oh lord became their god and
now oh lord god confirm forever the word that
you've spoken concerning your servant and concerning
this house and do as you have spoken your name
will be magnified forever saying the lord of
hosts is god over israel and the house of your
servant david will be established before you
for you oh lord of hosts the god of israel have
made this revelation to your servant saying will
build you as a house I will bid you build you
a house therefore your servant has found courage
to pray this prayer to you and now Oh Lord God
your God and your words are true and you've promised
this good thing to your servant now therefore
may it please you to bless the house of your
servant so that it may continue forever before
you for you Oh Lord God have spoken And with
your blessing shall the house of your servant
be blessed forever. This is God's holy and inspired
word. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank
you for a trustworthy word from you. And we ask
as we look at this text that you would strengthen
our faith, Lord, and that if there be any within
the sanctuary who do not know you, that they
would know you. God who keeps his promises seen
most clearly in the promise of your son who came
To die for our sins grant us understanding by
your spirit. We pray in Christ's name amen Within
the fellowship Sunday school class that many
of you are in we've been looking at the doctrine
of God's providence Providence of God. That God
is really intimately involved in every single
moment of our lives. That God is governing. That
God is sustaining. That God is providing. And
yet, if you're like me, many times you wonder,
what is God doing right now? What is God up to
in my life? Because it's sometimes difficult
to see. Theologians have talked about providence
and how you read it backwards. You can sometimes,
because of God's kindness, look back and see
what God was doing. John Flavel, who was a Puritan
writer, he said, the providence of God is like
Hebrew words. It can only be read backwards.
Have you had a moment? or moments in your life
where you were going through something and you
weren't sure why. You weren't sure what God was
doing. But later on, after time passes, you were
able to look back and see perhaps what he was
doing. I had a moment like this that stands out.
Years ago, when I was the part -time youth director
here and living in the house right there, many
of you knew and many of you were supporting me
as I was raising money. to go on the mission
field, to go to Bulgaria. And yet, as I was raising
money for this mission, to go for two years,
the money wasn't coming in as fast as I would
have liked. And there were many missionaries
who were left for the field, and they were talking
to me and being like, hey, this is so great.
It's amazing what God is doing. Can't wait for
you to get to Bulgaria. Let us know. And it was
taking months. And then over a year of raising
money, and I thought, Lord, what are you doing?
You've called me to this thing. Why am I not
there making disciples in Bulgaria? And then
right about the time the money started coming
in, I met a pretty young doctor, a pediatrician
who had moved to Greenville to do residency.
And you know the story after that. But one day,
right before I went to Bulgaria, because I still
went. I was sitting with my grandmother at her
kitchen table and she said, you know Kenny, if
you had left when you wanted to, you would not
have met Brittany. True words. Have you had a
moment like that? Where you were going through
something, you're crying out to God for help,
you weren't seeing what he was doing, but later
on you're able to reflect back and see that.
within our text today, we see providence at its
best. There are multiple levels of prophecy coming
to fruition in this text or from this text. There
is an immediate future that we see fulfilled
within 2 Samuel 7. We see this promise by God
to build a house for the ark, to build a house
for God. But David's not the one who does that.
We see that the immediate fulfillment of the
prophecy is actually in David's son, Solomon.
But it goes beyond that, for the ultimate fulfillment
of this text is in David's greater son. It's
in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so
this text here has implications for you today.
The way that I want to look at this now is I
think you can split this text up into two big
parts. So firstly, we're going to look at God's
promise. And secondly, we're going to look at
David's prayer. So promise and prayer today.
When I use the word promise here, I'm using it
as a synonym for covenant. This text, Second
Samuel chapter seven, has been called the Davidic
covenant. You might say, well, what's a covenant?
Let's start with the basics here. What's a covenant?
It's an agreement. Right? And agreement sometimes
between two or more people. You remember David
and Jonathan making a covenant together. But
oftentimes in Scripture we have a covenant that's
made between God and a person, or God and persons.
And really when we start to look at the overall
story of Scripture, we realize that it's told
in covenants. It is covenants that are promised
through individuals within Scripture. We can
see the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant,
and this Davidic covenant. And when you start
to realize this, you see that there is a great
framework to Scripture, that there's unity in
Scripture. And while these are separate covenants
through these separate people, they're really
communicating the same thing. The same great
thing is communicated in these covenants of Scripture,
and that thing is redemption. That thing is grace.
They are lumped together in the covenant of grace.
And that covenant of grace has its beginnings
in Genesis 3 15. We know what happens in Genesis
3, right? Abba and Eve, they fall into sin. What
does God do immediately after that? The promise
of a redeemer, the promise of redemption, the
promise of Christ who shall come and stomp on
the head. And so you see that covenant weaved
throughout scripture right into our text today.
Look at the text. You can see how it begins here.
After all the battles that David has been fighting
with the Israelites, finally they get a breather.
They get respite from these battles. And during
this time of a break, David has this grand idea.
I'm going to make a house for the ark of the
covenant. I'm going to make a house for God.
David has his own place. Why not the ark? And
so he tells this to Nathan. What does Nathan
say? He says, in effect, yeah, go for it. Do
it. But when we keep reading, we see this is
not Nathan's best counsel. And so the Lord speaks
through Nathan to David. to give a counter offer.
David, don't go making me a house. I'm gonna
make you a house. But you might say, well, David
already has a house, according to verse one.
No, it's going beyond bricks. It's going beyond
stones. What he's talking about, what the Lord
is talking about through Nathan to David is to
say, I'm gonna make you a kingdom, David. I'm
gonna make you a dynasty. And this word that
he speaks has past, present, and future elements
to it. You see the past here in verse eight.
Again, through Nathan, the Lord reminds David
of where he has come from. I took you from the
pasture. I took you from the sheep. I took you
to be the prince over my people, Israel. So the
Lord reminds David of his humble beginnings.
Again. Providence. David can look back and see
these things. But there's also a present element
to this. The Lord reminds David how he as king
is able to be successful. Look in verse 9. And
I've been with you wherever you went and have
cut off all your enemies from before you. The
Lord tells David why he's been successful. And
it's not because David is a great warrior. It's
not because David has great abilities, right?
The Lord is saying, I did this throughout this
text. You can see numerous times where the Lord
says, I did this, I do this, I will do this.
The Lord is telling David, and by extension us
as well, that God is at work. And he's at work
in the life of David. He's at work in the lives
of the people of Israel. It's very reminiscent
of Psalm 127. Part of Psalm 127 says, unless
the Lord watches over the city, the watchman
stays awake in vain. The Lord is telling David,
I'm watching over you and I'm directing all things.
But there's also a future element to this. The
Lord tells David here that it's not just that
David's going to be prosperous, but that he is
going to have a kingdom that will never fail.
So this clearly goes beyond David. And this clearly
goes beyond Solomon. What this text is doing
is pointing us all the way to God's son, his
only begotten one, Jesus Christ. Still, there
is the promise of an actual house for the Lord.
It's just not built by David. Solomon is the
one who will do this. But Solomon was not the
forever king. If you really start to look at
the text, you see this word forever or a word
that is similar to it eight different times within
the text. Three times something like forever
is used by the Lord. Five times it's used by
David. David. And so what's happening here is
the Lord is reminding David and us of prior promises.
What this is doing is picking up the Abrahamic
covenant and running with it. If you remember
these words from Genesis chapter 12 verse 2,
and I will make of you a great nation and I will
bless you. and make your name great so that you
will be a blessing. What the Davidic covenant
is doing is picking up the Abrahamic covenant
and running with it. And this is how the covenant
of grace works. The Lord reminds us of his past
workings and his faithfulness and his promises,
and this forms the foundation, the basis for
our capability of being able to trust God. The
Lord who has done all things, who is at work
in every single way is saying, look back and
see my promises and see how I have fulfilled
them. So we as Christians on this side of the
cross, on this side of the resurrection of Christ
can look back in scripture and say, God was faithful
here and here and here and here. such that the
things that are still to be fulfilled, we can
trust in those. Things like the return of Christ,
you can trust in the return of Christ because
Christ has come before. Or you can trust in the
resurrection of the dead because Christ has been
resurrected. You can trust in the promises of
the new heavens and the new earth because God
has been faithful with all of these things. And
still, You might be sitting here in the sanctuary
saying, I still struggle to trust God sometimes.
I still struggle with my faith. Friends, if you
are struggling with your faith, if you're struggling
to believe what is here, look back on these promises
and see how God fulfills them. Because what God
does in cutting this covenant is he takes the
focus off of the covenant breakers and he puts
the focus upon the covenant keeper. God takes
our focus and puts it on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is so true, and I believe the Holy Spirit
wants you to get this, that this passage that
we look at is quoted, referenced, or alluded
to at least 40 times in Scripture. If you keep
this word in your minds and you read other parts
of scripture, there's a good chance you're going
to see this again. Look at Psalm 89. Psalm 89
2 through 4. I'm going to read this and listen,
see if this sounds familiar to you. Psalm 89
2 through 4. For I said steadfast love will be
built up forever in the heavens. You will establish
your faithfulness You have said I have made a
covenant with my chosen one. I have sworn to
David my servant I will establish your offspring
forever and Build your throne for all generations
and that Psalms not even written by David What
about another one? Psalm 132, Psalm 132 verse
11. The Lord swore to David a sure oath from
which he will not turn back. One of the sons
of your body I will set on your throne. Now you
might say, well, that's Old Testament stuff.
What about the New Testament? Does the New Testament
use this text in any way? Absolutely, it does.
Hebrews chapter 1 verse 5, and friends, this
is a direct quotation of our passage today. Hebrews
1 verse 5, just a portion of this, the quoted
part, I will be to him a father and he shall
be to me a son. And so you see, As you look at
2 Samuel chapter 7, the ultimate fulfillment
of this passage is found in Christ alone. Christ
is the only one whose reign could be characterized
as a forever reign. But notice David doesn't
just receive this as pious information. David
doesn't just say, okay, Nathan, thanks for telling
me that. I'm good here. No, Nathan takes this
to heart. Look at. Look at the second half of
this text here. Look at verse 18, because what
I want you to see is that David now prays and
he does so with praises and with faith. Verse
18, David says, Who am I, O Lord God? And what
is my house that you brought me thus far? Who
am I? Doesn't this sound like Psalm eight? where
the psalmist says, what is man that you are mindful
of him and the son of man that you care for him?
David takes this word to heart. He remembers
his humble beginnings. He's astounded by the
Lord's kindness. David does not within his prayer
say, well, of course, Lord, of course you're
doing this for me. I'm a great warrior. I'm the
one who took down Goliath after all, right? David
doesn't do that. He doesn't comment on his own
abilities. He comments on what the Lord is doing,
and he praises God for it. He recognizes God's
grace. Look in verses 22 and 23. Therefore you
are great, O Lord God. There is none like you.
There's no God like you. But also David recognizes
that the kindness of the Lord here goes beyond
just to David. Look in verse 19. This is a small
thing in your eyes. Oh Lord God You have spoken
also of your servants house for a while to come.
This is instruction for mankind Now commentators
and different Bibles will translate this a little
bit differently Instruction for mankind, but
either way, however, it's spliced I think we
can definitely say this David realizes this word
for the from the Lord It's gonna affect people
forever that it's not just directed to David,
it's instruction for mankind. But also notice
not just what David prays, but notice how God,
how David prays. He does so with faith, and he
acknowledges the greatness and the transcendence
of God. He acknowledges the sovereignty of God,
the past workings of God, and following a section
in which David has been leading in worship. He
keeps the praise going. You remember in chapter
six how that ends. David's dancing, but he keeps
that praise of God going within this prayer.
How does he do that? How can we praise God in
our prayers? Well, one thing we can definitely
say, David believes this word. Look at verses
28 and 29. And now, O Lord God, you are God and
your words are true. You have promised this good
thing to your servant. How can David praise God
like this? It's because he believes this. And
we must believe it too. When the Lord speaks,
we must listen and believe. When God shares through
his word the covenant of grace and its finality
in Christ, we must believe that. especially children
today, children who are, you're still working
through these things, you're still understanding
the Bible, I want you to look to Christ. And
I want you to know that God gives us a sure word
that is for you. And you can trust the words
of God found in the Bible. You can trust that
Jesus really shed his blood for you. Want to
take you to one more place in Scripture as I
begin to conclude if you will turn to 2nd Corinthians
1 2nd Corinthians 1 19 through 22 I Want you
to see from this that all of the promises of
God They have their yes and their amen in Jesus
So within 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 Paul writes
to the church at Corinth and says to them There's
been a change of plans But he says I'm not fickle
about this I'm not waffling back and forth on
whether or not I should come to you and he relates
this to the trustworthy word of God 2nd Corinthians
1 19 through 21 22 for the son of God Jesus Christ
whom we proclaimed among you Silvanus and Timothy
and I was not yes and no, but in him it is always
yes. For all of the promises of God find their
yes in him. That is why it is through him that
we utter our amen to God for his glory. It is
God who establishes us with you in Christ and
has anointed us and who has also put his seal
on us and given us his spirit in our hearts.
as a guarantee. The promises of God cannot, will
not be broken. You, they are sealed by the Holy
Spirit. You who are in Christ, your sins have
been paid for and you have a sure word from the
Lord and the Holy Spirit claims you for himself.
But if I can give you some practical application.
If you're still struggling. to trust in the word
of God. You say, there's distractions all around
me. I have a hard time trusting in God because
I have people telling me to trust in myself.
You have culture saying, trust in yourself, trust
in man, trust in government, trust in technology,
trust in whatever you want. No. God's word is
a sure word, and you can trust in this. And so
how do we do it? Go back to that second Samuel
7 passage. Look at verse 25. If you're struggling
to trust God, take this prayer of David and pray
it back to God, Dear Lord, confirm this word
to me. Help me to trust it. And as you pray that
prayer, do so with faith and with gratitude and
keep those praises going because we have a God
who always, always, always keeps his promises.
Let's pray.