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2 Samuel 7:1-16
“The Throne Established Forever”
Divine Service
Advent IV, December 18th, 2005
Hope Lutheran Church, Aurora, CO
Dear Saints,
King David wants to serve God, to build God a house. That's how our Old Testament reading this morning begins, “After the king [David] 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.'” [2 Samuel 7:1] God had given David success in all his battles, and his rule, which was marked with war and bloodshed, is now peaceful. All the tribes of Israel are gathered together under King David, he had taken control of Jerusalem, brought the ark there, and in the meantime driven back the Philistines from the land.
It is in the midst of this peace that King David looks around Jerusalem and sees that something isn't right. Here is his palace: grand, sturdy, new, built from the finest cedar sent to him as a gift from Hiram, the king of Tyre [see 2 Samuel 5:11], and next to it, on Mt Zion, is the tabernacle where the ark of the covenant sat and the people worshiped. The tabernacle is a huge tent, made from cloth, and King David says, “This isn't right, that I should have such a beautiful palace while the Lord's house is a tent.”
So David goes to Nathan the prophet, and tells him of his desire to build for the Lord a temple. Nathan, speaking for himself and not for God, tells David to go for it. “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.” [7:3] But Nathan spoke too soon. That same night the Word of the Lord came to him and corrected him. God sent Nathan back to David to tell him not to build a temple; the Lord has different plans.
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 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?”' [7:5-7]
The Lord never gave the command to build Him a house, and so David is not to do it. What the Lord here forbids is any sorrow for Himself. David should never say, “Poor God, He has such a small house. I ought to build Him a bigger one.” No, none of this. The Lord God of heaven and earth is never in need of us. The very opposite is true: we are in desperate need of Him. And yet we, too, often get confused, getting things mixed up, as if we need to build a house for the Lord. As if the Lord is barely getting along and He needs our help. The Lord has no need, His name is free, and so we can never patronize the Lord, as if He needs us to get along.
This is also a helpful reminder for us, as we rush to finish our Christmas preparations, that is it not we who are making Christmas. The Lord Jesus is doing the work, the building, the preparing. He is the one who makes Christmas, the one who came in the flesh, who still comes to us, and who is yet to return in glory.
So the Lord forbids David from building a temple, but the Lord has more than just a prohibition, He also has a promise for King David. This promise begins at verse 8 and continues to verse 16. The Lord begins by reminding David of all the good things that He has done for him.
'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.”'
The Lord is reminding David what He has done for him. David was the youngest of eight brothers, and remember when the Lord told the prophet Samuel to go and anoint one of Jesse's sons as king, and Jesse lined up the seven oldest, but none of them were chosen. “Do you have any other sons?” Samuel asked, and Jesse called the youngest, the shepherd boy David, from the field, and the Lord told Samuel, “This is the one, anoint him.” And so Samuel anointed David as king over Israel. [see 1 Samuel 16:1-13]
Back to the text, the Lord not only brings to memory the things that He has done for David, but also promises to give king David more, a great name, and the Lord will use David's reign to take care of His people Israel.
Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the 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 will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders (judges) over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. [7:9-11]
Here the Lord continues his promise to give the people peace and rest from their enemies, but still the best is to come. You might have noticed in our reading that the text skipped from verse 11 to verse sixteen, but those in between verses are wonderful. The Lord continues His promise to King David:
When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will 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 His Father, and He shall be My Son. If He commits iniquity, I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from Him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed before you. [7:12-16]
In these verses we hear of the promise of David's Seed, that is, his offspring, that will come from David's body. This One will sit on the throne and rule forever. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. This, dear saints, is a beautiful promise of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, as the promise continues: I will be His Father, and He shall be My Son.
The Lord's people knew that the Messiah was coming, that God's Son would be born the Son of man. He would be the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but now we here the wonderful news that He would be the Son of David. What a wonderful gift to David, to be the father of the Messiah. This is why, in Jesus' ministry He is called the “Son of David.” [see Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9, 15; Mark 10:47, 48; 12:35, 37; Luke 18:38, 39]
The Messiah would come from David's house, and the promise of the coming salvation continues with a description of the work of the Messiah, If He commits iniquity, I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. This verse is, perhaps, a bit confusing at first glance. What does it mean, “If He commits iniquity”? Is sinning an option? Is it possible not to commit iniquity? This verse points indicates that this is a very special child, even the child of God, for only with God's Son is perfection a possibility, even a reality. It is impossible for Jesus to commit sin, and yet we see that Jesus freely take upon Himself our sin, and so is punished in our place. He so identifies with our sinfulness that St Paul can say of Jesus, “He became sin for us.” [2 Corinthians 5:21] This is the grand theme of the Scriptures, and promises and fulfillment that we hear about in the Lord's church: that Jesus took our place under God's wrath and suffered for us.
Isaiah 53: He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. [53:5] As we have heard Nathan report to David: If He commits iniquity, I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. And yet this taking upon Himself our sin does not cast the Messiah from the Lord's favor, for this promise continues: But My mercy shall not depart from Him. Indeed the Lord's mercy doesn't depart, but remains with Jesus through death and into life, even as the Father grants the Lord Jesus to be resurrected on Easter morning.
And so, in Jesus' resurrection, His throne and His kingdom are established forever. So the crescendo of the promise, verse 16: Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me, your throne will be established forever. This promise, dear saints, is great comfort to us, that the Lord will establish and everlasting and eternal kingdom. And everlasting kingdom is without end, and so without death, and so, without sin, ruled by the forgiveness of sins.
David and all the Lord's people knew that this King and His kingdom, but when and where? They waited in expectation and hope, waited and waited, until one night, almost a thousand years later, the angel Gabriel would appear before a lowly virgin, and announce to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.” [St Luke 1:30-33]
So far the Old Testament text before us. It is one of the jewels of our Old Testament, one of the beautiful and comforting promises of the coming Messiah, the Savior who would rescue the people from sin, death and the power of the devil and bring them, bring us life, and salvation, and the forgiveness of all of our sins. Now remains to make a few comments by way of application.
First, remember how David wanted to make the Lord a more glorious house? He saw that the Lord had provided him with a beautiful palace and was ashamed of the humble tent that the Lord had as a house. We might think that same when we hear the Christmas story, that the Lord Jesus was please to dwell with us in such humble circumstances, that He was born in a feeding trough, lived a life of wandering, that He never had a place to lay His head until He laid it down in the sleep of death in the tomb. What are we to make of the humble circumstances of our Lord's birth, life and death? Are we ashamed? No. Do we try to cover it up? No. Rather, we rejoice that the Lord is pleased to dwell with us, even be in our midst, to humble Himself and become our Brother and Friend. We rejoice in the Lord's humility, for this means that He has not despised our humbleness, but has come near.
Second, we see this text the importance of the Lord's promises. We live only by the Lord's Word of promise. Just and the Lord's Old Testament church lived only by the promises of the prophets, so we live by the promises of the prophets and apostles, the promises of the forgiveness of all sins. Jesus' promises are our life and salvation.
It is my hope this Advent and Christmas season that you, each of you, find your life in the Lord's promise, especially the promise that our Infant King Jesus has established an eternal and everlasting kingdom for you, and that you will live there forever with Him. May God grant us His Holy Spirit, that remaining steadfast in the true faith, we would find life and salvation in Jesus' eternal kingdom. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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INJ
Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller