The Davidic Covenant: God’s Grace Moves Us To Gratitude 2 Samuel 7:1-29

The Davidic Covenant: God’s Grace Moves Us to Gratitude 2 Samuel 7:1-29

The Davidic Covenant was a covenant made with David that is fundamental to the future messianic reign of Christ in Jerusalem.

Jesus will one day reign for 1,000 years in the Millennial kingdom from Jerusalem. At the end of this time, Satan will be released and there will be a rebellion. After this, Satan’s rebellion will be quashed, and Satan will finally be cast into the lake of fire for eternity. The Eternal State will begin after this, and the heavenly city will descend and join with the newly re-made heavens and earth. Christ will reign for eternity.

The Davidic Covenant comes after the Noahic, Abrahamic, and Mosaic Covenant. The Noahic Covenant addresses human government and establishes mankind as a permanent fixture upon the earth, showing that the Messiah will be descended from Noah and his descendants. The Abrahamic Covenant shows Israel will inherit land from which the Messiah will reign, a line of lineage through Abraham from which the Messiah will be born, and the blessing that will come to all the nations that will overturn God’s curse in Genesis 3. The Mosaic covenant established how Israel should live, how Israel was to worship God, and far more detail regarding what is right, wrong, and who God is. The covenants work together to further God’s ultimate plan–-the redemption of creation for His glory.

1. 2 Samuel 7:1-3 A Righteous Desire

A. _David_ Had a Righteous Desire.

• David wanted to honor God, this is a _good_ thing.

• David wanted God to be worshiped, this is a _good_ thing.

• David knew God deserved a temple, not a tent, this was _accurate_ thinking.

B. Nathan the prophet _agreed_ with King David. Nathan was fulfilling his normal role as a prophet who advised the king–giving him moral advice based on Scripture. But here, Natahn receives a word that is more specific, contravening his earlier advice. Nathan did not speak out of turn or make a mistake, something special was about to happen.

Application:

A. It is good to desire God to be honored and glorified; it pains Christians when we see God mocked or disrespected. The exaltation of pagan deities and pagan practices is offensive to God. How do we determine God’s will? Most of the time, through wisdom and Scripture. Sometimes, specific circumstances make God’s will clear in a supernatural way, but even in Old Testament times, this was the exception, not the general rule (see Job 42:5).

B. It is good to seek to bring honor and glory to God through worshiping, helping others worship, and directing attention to God.

C. A substantial part of worship is simply placing our attention upon God. What is one thing that steals our attention away from God? Social media.

2. 2 Sam. 7:4-17 A Righteous _Instruction_.

As Joyce Baldwin notes, the prophets taught that David's "booth would be repaired (Am. 9:11); a Davidic child would establish his throne with justice and with righteousness (Is. 9:6–7); a branch from the stump of Jesse would yet create an ideal kingdom (Is. 11:1–9; cf. Je. 23:5; Zech. 3:8)." (source:https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/davidic-covenant-unfolding-biblical-eschatology).

The promises that had not yet been fulfilled would be fulfilled in the future (cf. Isa. 7:13–25; 16:5; 55:3; Jer. 30:8; 33:14–26; Ezek. 34:20–24; 37:24–25; Hos. 3:5; Zech. 6:12–13; 12:7–8).

Ultimately, these messianic hopes would be fulfilled in Jesus, the true Son of David (cf. Matt. 1:1; Acts 13:22–23). (source: Ibid)

A. The Old Testament ultimately points to Jesus and is fulfilled in its deepest sense in the person of Christ, his death, burial, resurrection, glorification, and eternal reign.

One of the major emphases of the Davidic Covenant is the idea of perpetuity. David had wanted to build for God a permanent dwelling place, but God instead promised that he would establish for David a permanent dynasty.The Hebrew term 'ad -'olam, or "forever," is found eight times in this chapter emphasizing the significance of this aspect of the covenant. (source:https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/davidic-covenant-unfolding-biblical-eschatology)

B. Follow God’s Written Word, not what we think God should _want_ or like. (v. 7).

Application

A. Let God speak for himself.

B. Let your spouse, friend, co-worker, boss, son, daughter, grand-daughter speak for themselves, and listen to what they say.

3. 2 Samuel 7:18-29 David’s Righteous _Response_.

David's prayer of gratitude is found in 2 Samuel 7:18–29. In this prayer, he refers to God's promise as "instruction for mankind," indicating that this covenant will involve the destiny of all mankind (2 Sam. 7:19).9

Concluding Application

A. God’s grace is neither earned, nor is it ever deserved. This means it is never “owed” to anyone, and that is sometimes difficult for us to understand (Deut. 7:7-9; Prov. 16:4; Luke 17:9-10; Ro. 9:13-17).

B. The problem with entitlement is it makes us feel as if we deserve God’s grace, and it therefore cheapens God’s grace and God Himself in our minds. When we feel we deserve God’s blessings, we are not thankful when we receive them. When we feel we deserve happiness and prosperity, when we are unhappy and unprosperous, we feel God owes us and that God is in the wrong. We became hateful, angry, and think we have a legitimate complaint against God. Such is not the truth (Job 1:21; 2:10).