Download The Davidic Covenant, Part III II Samuel 7:11b

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The Davidic Covenant, Part III
II Samuel 7:11b-16
Read II Samuel 7:11b-16
Introduction
 There is no Biblical Doctrine that is as clearly stated & thoroughly exalted as that of the
Sovereignty of God. The Sovereignty of God is the Biblical teaching that all things are
under God’s rule & control & nothing happens w/o His direction or His permission.
 In the opening words of the Bible, we are immediately confronted w/ His absolute
Sovereignty over His Creation, for in the beginning, God created the Heavens and the
earth & as R.C. Sproul has said, “God owns what He makes & He rules what He owns.”
 The Sovereignty of God is an expression of the supremacy & the kingship of God; to say
that God is Sovereign is to affirm that God is God; for if He does not rule & reign over all
that He created, then by definition, He can no more make the claim of being God!
 Think about it like this: If there is one tiny molecule that spins out of God’s control, it
could be the grain of sand that changes the entire course of human history. It could be the
one little pebble that hinders God from keeping His promise & prevents Jesus’ sacrifice.
 So if God does not rule completely & absolutely over all things, then He can not be God
 The Sovereignty of God is a declaration of the fact that He is High & exalted above all of
His creation & nothing or no one can defeat His purpose or resist His Sovereign Will
 The Psalmist proclaims that He does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3); Daniel
affirmed that there are none who may hold back His hand (Daniel 4:35, NIV).
 In Isaiah, God said, My purpose will be established and I will accomplish all My
pleasure (Isaiah 46:10) Paul wrote that God works all things after the counsel of His
will (Ephesians 1:11); He does not seek advice from man or wait for our approval!
 For Christians, there is no doctrine that is more applicable than that of God’s Sovereignty
 Charles H. Spurgeon: “There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that
of God’s Sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances, in the most severe trials,
they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules
them, and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. There is nothing for which the children
ought more earnestly contend than the doctrine of their Master over all Creation…”1
 And when we study the covenants, we clearly see the Sovereign hand of God guiding,
controlling & manipulating His creation in order to bring about His plan of salvation.
 Stated Goal: My prayer today is that as you see the Sovereign hand of God working
through the covenants to bring about His plan of salvation for His own, which would be
accomplished through His Son Jesus Christ, may you find comfort in His Sovereignty
 May you find rest in knowing that God’s plan of saving & sanctifying you was not
something that could be prevented by man; this should affect every aspect of your life!
 B/c no matter how bad things may seem, no matter how awful your circumstances may
be; no matter bad things may look for the Church, your family, your country or the world;
no matter how much things may seem out of control; we can know that God is Sovereign!
 And if God is on His throne, what do we have to be depressed about? What do we have to
be bitter about? What do we have to be divisive about? Why should we continue to
gossip & bicker about things that have no eternal significance, if God is Sovereign?
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As quoted from Attributes of God (Pink, A.W.), 25
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In this Covenant, we see His Sovereignty in the way He fulfills His promises to David;
nothing would keep Him from accomplishing His Holy Will; and as we saw last week,
this covenant can be divided into 3 sections: 1st, we see What God Had Done for David
I. What God Has Done
 Vs. 8-9a-“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, to be ruler over My
people Israel, I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your
enemies from before you.”; God had graciously & Sovereignly guided David thus far.
 I pray that you are able to look back on your own life & see God’s Sovereign grace
 Next, we see the promises that would, at least to some degree, be fulfilled in David’s
lifetime; these are the promises that God was Already Doing or fulfilling in his life.
II. What God Is Doing (Vs. 9b-11b)
 Vs. 9b-11b-“and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who
are on the earth. I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them,
that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked
afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be
over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies.”
 Currently, in David’s life, God had Sovereignly been working to fulfill these promises
 Today, as we close this passage, we’ll focus our attention on the promises that would be
fulfilled after David’s death; this was What God Would Later Do after David was gone.
III. What God Would Later Do (Vs. 11c-17)
 This is a prophetic text & it does what many prophecies often do: it allows you to look at
an event that is not so far away right alongside of one that will happen much later in time.
 That’s what’s happening here; each of these promises finds short-term fulfillment in
Solomon (David’s son) & a long-term fulfillment in Jesus, who’d come much later on
from the line of David & of course He was called the Son of David (Matthew 1:1)
 The first promise we see here is one concerning a royal dynasty, or a royal lineage…
 Vs. 11c-“The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you.”
 This chapter begins by telling us about David’s desire to build a house for God-he wanted
to build a Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant & serve as a fitting place of worship.
 But it was not God’s will for David to build the Temple; David was a warrior w/ blood on
his hands (I Chronicles 22:8); & God wanted a man of peace to build His Temple.
 But even though David would not build a house for God, God graciously tells him that
He would build a house for David; but this would be no ordinary house; David already
lived in a house, a fine palace; the house that God promises is not one made of brick,
mortar, stucco or wood; it was a dynasty-it was a royal dynasty-it was a house of kings.
 The context is clear that God is promising David a royal dynasty; He says, When your
days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant
after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. (Vs. 12)
 In the short-term this promise was fulfilled in Solomon; God Sovereignly put him, on the
throne when David died; but I want you to see how this promise goes beyond Solomon
 Notice, first, that when God made this promise, David had no son (heir to the throne)
 In order for God to fulfill this promise to David, He’s going to have to give him a son!
 Stop! Do you see the similarity between this promise & the one God made to Abraham?
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There’s a reason that they’re similar! The Holy Spirit uses similar language throughout
the Scriptures so that when you come to a significant passage like this, bells & whistles
should be going off in your mind reminding you that you’ve seen this somewhere else!
The fact that this promise is so similar to the one God made to Abram tells us that it is a
promise that goes far beyond Solomon; it’s a repeat of the promise God made to Abram
If you want to take it a step further, you could say that it’s a repeat of the seed promise
God made to Adam at the Fall, He preserved through Noah on the ark & He promised
would come from Abraham’s family; now, we see the seed would come through David
The promised Messiah would come from royalty. He would be a king. But there’s more
Vs. 13- “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever.”; in a short-term sense, this was fulfilled during the reign of Solomon,
he was the one that God Sovereignly used to build the Temple (I Kings 6-8)
But when we read the NT, you find Jesus applying this promise to Himself, claiming that
He would also build a temple (Matt. 26:61; 27:40), speaking of His own Body.
There’s another reason why this verse seems to have a two-fold fulfillment, one in
Solomon & one in Christ; the language used here seems to point well-beyond Solomon.
The Lord says here that He would establish the throne of his kingdom forever; we know
that Solomon didn’t live forever & when he did die, his kingdom basically ceased to exist
When Solomon died, the kingdom split-the northern kingdom of Israel & the southern
kingdom of Judah-eventually, each one was taken into captivity & driven from the land
Why? B/c of the sin of Solomon & the sins of his successors. The Bible tells us that at
the end of Solomon’s life, his heart was turned to worshipping idols (I Kings 11:1-8).
As punishment, God says He will tear the kingdom from him (I Kings 11:11-12); this
was God’s discipline for Solomon’s sins which, He prophesies in Vs. 14 when He says,
“I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will
correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men” (Vs. 14)
The Bible tells us that Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (I Kings 11:6)
& b/c of his rebellion & disobedience, God took his kingdom from him; but b/c of his
promise to David, He waited until after Solomon died; he didn’t take it during his life.
As He says to David here, “but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him (your
descendent), as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.” (Vs. 15)
He allowed Solomon to enjoy a kingdom of prosperity & peace unlike any other king.
But after Solomon’s death, the kingdom was taken away from him & not returned; you
might say, “But I thought that God said He was going to establish his kingdom forever”
In fact, the very next verse restates that promise: “Your house and your kingdom shall
endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (Vs. 16)
I told you early on in this study that the promises of this covenant are unconditional; but
if you recall, this does not mean that there are no conditions that have to be met before
these promises can be fulfilled; it simply means that God Himself would meet these terms
Throughout history, Israel learned that in order for them to remain in the land & receive
God’s blessings & protection, they had to obey God; they also learned that as long as
their kings were disobedient to God, the kingdom would not be established!
And if you look at the history of Israel, you see that most of their kings were rotten;
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When Solomon began to worship idols, the Bible says that he did what was evil in the
sight of the Lord (I Kings 11:6), but he wasn’t alone, b/c as you read the record of the
kings that would come after him, you find the same thing written about most of them.
 In fact, the phrase he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord can be found 30 x in the
books of Kings & Chronicles which is the Biblical record of the kings of Israel & Judah
 And it is b/c of their sin & rebellion that the kingdom would not be established.
 So a greater king was needed! A sinless king was needed! A Holy & righteous king was
needed & no man-not David, not Solomon nor any other could meet these conditions!
 God Himself would meet the conditions of this covenant; and He did just that in Jesus!
 In the opening verses of the NT, we see the record of the genealogy of Jesus, how He is
called the son of David (Matthew 1:1); throughout His ministry, those whom He healed
& ministered to often called Him the son of David (Matthew 9:27; 12:23; 15:22)
 Jesus Himself understood, not only that He was a descendent of David, but also that He
was greater than David (Mark 12:35-37); but it was in Him that God Sovereignly
fulfilled His promise to David of establishing a kingdom that would last forever!
 Psalm 89:34-37-“My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My
lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendents shall
endure forever. And his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like
the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.”; how could God make such a promise?
 B/c He would do all that was necessary to fulfill His promise in accordance w/ His
Sovereingty; there is nothing that is outside of God’s power to accomplish!
 This is the power of God unto salvation. By the Sovereign hand of God, the price was
paid at Calvary for the sins of those who would repent & place their faith in Jesus Christ
 Sovereign God controlled every molecule & every second of time that elapsed between
His initial promise to Adam in the Garden, to the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem.
 For thousands of years, God’s Sovereign hand has guided people from all walks of life to
ensure that His promised seed would come & establish His kingdom & save His children.
Conclusion
 There is no Biblical Doctrine that is as clearly stated & thoroughly exalted as that of the
Sovereignty of God. The Sovereignty of God is the Biblical teaching that all things are
under God’s rule & control, so nothing happens w/o His direction or divine permission
 Are you trusting in this Sovereign God today? Are you resting in His Sovereignty? Or do
you still try to take control, usurp His authority, sit on His throne & do it your way?
 Do you know how you can know if you’re trusting in God’s Sovereignty or your own?
 I know I’m not trusting in God’s sovereignty when I’m worried about what people think
of me. I know I’m not trusting in His Sovereignty when I want my will instead of His.
 I know I’m not trusting in the Sovereignty of God when I’m not content w/ the Spiritual
growth of other Believers or when I demand my rights or when I assert my preferences.
 I know I’m not trusting in God’s Sovereignty when I don’t think that there is any hope
for the world or when I think that things are out of control, or I’m crying out in despair!
 I know that I’m not trusting in God’s Sovereignty when I think my way is better than His
 If there is one thing we can learn form the covenants, it is this: God’s purposes & plans
will not be prevented by the sinful acts of men, including mine; His will shall prevail!
Closing Prayer