A house forever
2 samuel 7
Main Idea: God relates to us on the basis of grace and establishes his eternal Kingdom in Christ.
I. A Grand Proposal (7:1-7)
As the Lord gave David “rest” from his enemies, it feels like the Kingdom of God has been established:
The Lord’s presence is dwelling with his people, as the ark is brought to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6)
God’s chosen king (“a man after his own heart” - 1 Sam. 13:14) is on the throne
God’s people are in the promised land
However, “at every major point in redemptive history, God does what nobody expects” (D.A. Carson). The Lord gently rejects David’s offer because of his incarnational presence, his divine nature (cf. Is. 66:1, Acts 17:24-25), and his unrelenting grace.
II. A Gracious Promise
In a great reversal, the Lord graciously reminds David what he has done to bless him and what he will do for and through him to bless others.
A. God’s Grace to David (7:8-11)
The Lord promises to David:
A great name (7:9; cf. Abraham, Gen. 12:2)
A secure place (7:10a; cf. Ex. 15:17)
Enduring peace (7:10b-11a; cf. Rev. 21:25)
A “house” (dynasty) (7:11b)
B. God’s Grace Beyond David (7:12-17)
The promises of God look forward in the near term to Solomon, and in the far-term to Jesus Christ. He is promised:
An “offspring” (lit. ‘seed’) who will be established on the throne (cf. Gen. 3:15, Gal. 3:16)
This son will build a house for God’s name (Mt. 16:18, 1 Pet. 2:5)
The Lord will be to him as a Father (cf. Heb. 1:5, Lk. 1:32-33)
God’s covenant promise to David is ‘indefectible’ because death does not annul it (7:12-13), sin cannot destroy it (7:14-15), & time will not exhaust it (7:16) ~ Dale Ralph Davis, 2 Samuel: Out of Every Adversity. Though the Lord will discipline Davidic kings who go astray, he will not remove his covenant “steadfast love.”
There are two ways in which God could give David an eternal house. It could be that every descendant would be successful in producing a male heir—something that has always created problems for every human royal house. Or it could be that someday, a descendant would be born who would never die. According to the New Testament, this is what happened: the promise of an eternal house/seed is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, descendant of David, who because of his resurrection is an eternal person. And through the coming, person, and work of Jesus Christ, an eternal kingdom has already begun.
~ Peter Gentry & Stephen Wellum, God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants
III. A Gospel Prayer
In response to this glorious and gracious covenant promise, David “sits” in the tabernacle before the Lord in a posture of humble prayer and whole-hearted worship.
This may be the most critical act that David ever does, the action that puts him out of the action. By sitting down, David renounces royal initiative. He takes himself out of the driver’s seat and deliberately places himself prayerfully before God the King… What we do not do for God is often far more critical than what we in fact do. God is the beginning, center, and end of the world’s life—of existence itself. But we are often unaware of God’s action except dimly and peripherally. Especially when we are in full possession of our powers—our formal education complete, our careers in full swing, people admiring us and prodding us onward—it is hard not to imagine that we are at the beginning, center, and end of the world, or at least that part of the world in which we are placed. Ambitious building projects, whether architectural or moral or programmatic, are dear to the religious spirit. But it is precisely at these moments that we are likely to need prophetic interference... We need to quit whatever we are doing and sit down. In sitting down, we let the dust raised by our furious activity settle; the noise generated by our building operations goes quiet; we become aware of the real world, God’s world. Christians are characteristically afraid of being caught doing too little for God. But there are moments, far more frequent than we suppose, when doing nothing is precisely the gospel thing to do.
~ Eugene Peterson, First & Second Samuel
As David humbly prays to the Lord, he gives thanks for God’s:
Past grace toward the undeserving (7:18-21)
Present grace for the redeemed people of God (7:22-24)
Future grace, asking with “courage” that the promises of God would come to pass (7:24-29)
Prayer is nothing but the promise reversed or God’s word turned inside out and formed into an argument and retorted back again upon God by faith.
~ William Gurnall
