When God makes you a promise you can stand on that promise
The Hymn says it well:
Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God, I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
That hymn has brought great comfort to many by reminding them of the sure promises of God. The only caution is to be sure to know how to determine when God is making a promise to you.
There was a lady who felt God would return something to her she lost. She used some obscure passage of scripture that had nothing to do with her and her situation. We don’t need to read our own desires into scripture and then claim that as a promise.
In 2 Samuel 5-7 David stands on God’s promise to him. It is God’s covenant to David. The promise is that his decedents will reign on the throne of Israel forever. This is a promise to David. I cannot stand on that promise for my descendants, and you cannot, but David can. Yet this promise goes beyond David and his family and the King of Israel. It is the promise of the coming Messiah.
Now this is a promise I can stand on. That Jesus Christ my Savior, my Lord, my King will reign forever. Here is a promise that cannot fail.
A lot has happened in the life of David since he brought down Goliath, the feared and dreadful giant. There was Saul’s jealousy that made him pursue David. Then Saul dies in battle and David is anointed King of Judah at Hebron. Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul is king over Israel. Later Ish-Bosheth was murdered and David was anointed king over all Israel.
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. 2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’” (2 Samuel 5:1-2).
David conquers Jebusites in Jerusalem. Now Jerusalem is called the city of David. The Lord is with David. And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him. (2 Samuel 5:10). Hiram the King of Tyre sent building materials for David to have a beautiful palace in Jerusalem.
In Chapter 7 David is settled in his palace. After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, (2 Samuel 7:1).
This brings us to our focus. The Ark of God dwelled in a tent (the Tabernacle) as ornate as it was it was made of skins and was moved from place to place. David tells Nathan, “Here I am in my palace and God is dwelling in a tent.” He wants to build a temple.
That sounds good. But just because something sounds good doesn’t mean you are to do it. The first question to ask is does God want David to build a house for him? If not, the energies are wasted, and the efforts are empty. To build God’s house it must be in God’s will.
When you launch a venture like this you must see evidence of God in it. But for David the situation was different. God didn’t have it planned for David to build a house for Him. This Scripture is a pivotal Old Testament passage even more so than David and Goliath. It is God’s covenant with David.
God’s Covenant with David:
“‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’” 17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
It is a covenant relationship that includes obligation and commitment. God made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 6). God made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15). The covenant was re-affirmed with Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. At Sinai God made a covenant with Moses. And now God makes a covenant with David.
The new covenant that was later established in Jesus Christ was mentioned in Jeremiah 31:31-33. David had a noble desire to build a house for God. But God revealed through the prophet Nathan His plan for the house.
This covenant was beyond the scope of what David was thinking. David speaks about something great, building a Temple but God has even more in mind. God will bless us beyond our dreams. Like Ephesians 3:20 says, God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.
David speaks about something great, building a house for God, but God has even more in mind. God works on such a grander scale than we can even think. David wants to build a house that will last hundreds of years. God is speaking of eternity.
Gods response “Go and say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD, “ Are you the one who should build Me a house to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’
2 Samuel 7:11 is a play on words. “‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you:
God tells David, I never asked for a house. My relationship with my people goes beyond the realm of my house. Nevertheless, I will have your son (Solomon) build my house and I will establish your house forever. David may not even have fully realized how much God was blessing. He only knew God was pouring out his mercy and grace.
God had taken David from a shepherd to a king. But he was blessing David exceedingly more beyond that. David’s earthly line did end. Jeremiah verifies that fact. The fulfillment lies in Jesus Christ. Jesus is a descendant of David.
Here is what the angel Gabriel said to Mary. 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, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:32-33)
Look how Peter called all to stand on the promises of God in the Pentecost sermon:
Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. (Acts 29-31)
God made a covenant with David. God will hold to his obligation and commitment. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. (Matthew 25:31)
This covenant promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The full extend of this promise is known only in the second coming of Jesus. As believers we stand with David on the promises of God that Christ’s Kingdom will reign forever.
That promise affects you and me personally. When Jesus came to earth, he established his eternal kingdom on earth through his death, burial and resurrection. Are you a part of that kingdom? To become a part of Christ’s eternal kingdom means putting your faith in Christ as savior. He died for you the just for the unjust to bring you to God.
God established Jesus as king, Jesus rules his spiritual kingdom. When you are born again you are part of that kingdom. You are called to live every day in light of that standing on the promises of God.
You don’t need to read something into scripture that is not there. It is there. God’s promises are sufficient for his faithful children. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are standing on the promises of God.
