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welcome to everyone for our call to worship this evening i want to read from Psalm 132 if you have your Bibles you can turn to Psalm 132 I'll begin reading in verse 1 a song of a sense Lord remembered David and all his afflictions how he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob surely I will not go into the chamber of my house or go up to the comfort of my bed I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids until I find a place for the Lord a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob behold we heard of it in ephrata we found it in the fields of the woods let us go into his tabernacle let us worship at his footstool arise O Lord to your resting place you and the Ark of your strength let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let your st. shout for joy for your servants sake do not turn away the face of your anointed the Lord has sworn in truth to David he will not turn from it i will set upon your throne the fruit of your body if your sons will keep my covenant and my testimony which I shall teach them their son shall or also shall sit upon your throne forever more for the Lord has chosen Zion he has desired it for his dwelling place this is my resting place forever here I will dwell for I have desired it I will abundantly bless her provision I will satisfy her poor with bread i will also clothed her priests with salvation and her st. shall shot allowed for joy there I will make the Horn of David grow I will prepare a lamp for my anointed his enemies i will clothed with shame but upon himself his crown shall flourish amen well please turn in your Trinity salter to psalm 93 psalm 93 will stand and sing together you you let us pray our blessed God and our Holy Father it is a joy and a privilege to gather again tonight in this house of worship it is a joy to come before the God of heaven and earth the god who made this world and all things in it the God who upholds it by the word of his power the god and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has redeemed his elect we acknowledge your majesty and we acknowledge your glory and your holiness and your excellence and your sovereign power and strength we acknowledge as well Lord God that you have redeemed us by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and in this we greatly rejoice we would ask that you would be enthroned upon the praises of your people here tonight that as we sing and as we pray and as we look to holy scripture God would be all in all in this place we would know your nearness in your presence among us by your spirit that you would encourage and strengthen each and every one of our hearts for there is no greater joy in this world then to to be in communion with the living in the true God we bless you Father Son and Holy Spirit we praise you for your your grace and your mercy we praise You Father for sovereign grace and for election and predestination and the fact that you chose us before the foundation of the world we thank you for the son of your love the one who came to live and to die and to rise again we look and we look forward to that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and we praise you as well for the Ministry of the Holy Spirit we thank you for regeneration we thank you for the gifts of faith and repentance the fact that you've enabled us by grace to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father we pray father that not only as we gather on the Sabbath day but each and every day we would seek first your kingdom and your righteousness that we would labor to say in the eleventh hour with Paul I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith we know it is necessary for us each and every day to live in such a manner to be able to say such a thing when we are about to depart from this world so God please supply your Holy Spirit please supply the grace that we need each and every day cause us to resist temptation cause us to be fighting against sin in the world and the devil himself and cause us to know those divine resources and that aid that you alone give in the gospel we ask thee would forgive us now for our sins and unrighteousness when we consider your majesty and your holiness we see our own sinfulness before a great and awesome God so we confess to you our sins in our transgressions and we pray she would cleanse us in the blood of the land we know as the psalmist said that if you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with thee that thou managed to be feared and we pray that as we know that forgiveness of sins we would fear the living in the true God as well we would rejoice and the fact that you have taken our iniquities and cast them into the depths of the sea we pray for those who have come here tonight outside of Christ those who have not come to the Savior those still dead in their trespasses and sins we don't appeal to them and their wisdom or in their strength but we appeal to a sovereign God who is able to make sinners alive through the preaching of the word by the power of the Holy Spirit so we pray that you would rend the heavens and come down and be found in this place save sinners and sanctify Saints and be glorified in our midst we asked you would be with those persons in Pakistan we pray for the families of those murdered by the Taliban we ask our Father in heaven that you would just be gracious to those who've lost loved ones and we would pray that you would continue to set a hedge around and protection about the people of God in these nations steeped in Islam these nations that are so contrary to the ways in the will of God Almighty and we would pray for believers in those lands that they would shine as lights and those crooked and perverse generation and that they would indeed hold forth the word of truth that father they would indeed be faithful to the end that you would sustain and bless and and strengthen them we asked our father not only for Pakistan but for the nations of the earth we pray for the advancement of your kingdom we pray that it would grow and extend and that more and more people would be added to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ to that end father we pray for the Ministry of the Spirit to revive the church and to awaken those who are dead in their trespasses and sins we asked you would have mercy upon this land we live in a land where men call good evil and evil good we're men butcher babies in their mothers wombs where men have authorized the murder of the elderly and the infirm we live in a land that celebrates homosexuality and other forms of wickedness and lawlessness we would pray with the Prophet that in your wrath you would remember mercy that you would send forth your glorious gospel that more sinners would be turned from their idols to the true and living God and that you would do a great work in our day and our generation cause us as your people to be faithful cause us as your people to be prayerful cause us Lord God as we have opportunity to hold forth the glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnals to number 77 hymn number 77 will stand and we'll use the first tune you may turn in your Bibles to the prophet Ezekiel chapter 9 Ezekiel chapter 9 one of the most terrifying chapters in the Bible in my estimation remember last week God through the Prophet in Deitz the nation of Israel for their gross idolatry in the temple persons worshipping false gods prostituting the worship of the true and the Living God rejecting and rebelling against Yahweh well here in Chapter nine the prophet has given a vision concerning God's judgment to come upon the nation to come upon the city that would engage in such evil beginning in chapter 9 at verse 1 then he called out in my hearing with a loud voice saying let those who have charged over the city draw near each with a deadly weapon in his hand and suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north each with his battle axe in his hand one man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer's inkhorn at his head his side they went in and stood beside the bronze altar now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub where it had been to the threshold of the temple and he called to the man clothed with linen who had the writer's inkhorn at his side and the Lord said to him go through the midst of the city through the midst of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who saw and cry over all the abominations that are done within it to the others he said in my hearing go after him through the city and kill do not let your eyes spare nor have any pity utterly slay old and young men maidens and little children and women but do not come near any one on whom is the mark and begin at my sanctuary so they began with the elders who were before the temple then he said to them defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain go out and they went out and killed in the city so it was that all they were killing them I was left alone and I fell on my face and cried out and said o Lord God will you destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out your fury on Jerusalem then he said to me the iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great and the land is full of bloodshed and the city full of perversity for they say the Lord is forsaken the land and the Lord does not see and as for me also my I will neither spare nor will I have pity but I will recompense their deeds on their own head just then the man clothed with linen who had the ink horn at his side reported back and said I have done as you commanded me amen a very sober look at the judgment and the wrath and the fury of God course the right of the man with the ink horn told to mark the foreheads of those who were grieved and those who are who are affected by the the idolatry in the city and the temple and the bloodshed that had it resulted remember from the Bible what we think concerning God effects that we the way we treat others so in a nation that rejects the true and the Living God they engage in all manner of wickedness in terms of the second table of the law bloodshed adultery saft covetousness all manner of wickedness and so this man with the writer's inkhorn goes out and marks those who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it these other men with their battle axes go out and destroy they kill utterly all those who did not have that mark those who did not care one bit about the glory of God those who were not concerned or affected for the temple and for the purity of God's worship they were slain outright to notice the very chilling instruction of verse 6 and begin at my sanctuary so they began with the elders who were before the temple so the leadership was guilty before God the leadership had corrupted the worship of God and certainly people followed after them and they would as well be targeted for destruction in the coming judgment upon Jerusalem for violating the Covenant of God will let us pray our Father in Heaven we pray that you would help us to take to heart the things that go on in the church today help us to take to heart the things that go on in this world today help us to sigh and cry over the abominations in the land and help us God to be a faithful and a prayerful people unto you our God as well help us to learn the lesson from the New Testament that our Lord Jesus threatens to take away lamp stands for those churches that that do not do what they are called to do give us grace father to be faithful give us grace to receive with Thanksgiving your word and by your spirit may we put these things into practice consistently and faithfully and may it be for your glory and for your honor as well god help us to be a humble people help us to be lowly before such a great and an awesome God and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen before our final hymn will sing number 416 again will stand as we sing together will sing it to a familiar tune for 16 you Oh you can turn in your Bibles to 2nd Samuel Chapter 7 2nd Samuel Chapter 7 my apologies to those who were there on Wednesday night you are going to hear the same message again very important passage of Holy Scripture the Davidic covenant our hope our souls our lives depend upon this promise concerning the Lord Jesus Christ ultimately the Davidic covenant that agreement God made with David a promise that he gives in an oath bound promise with stipulations sanctions and with the promise of great blessing this is what we find in 2nd Samuel 7 i'll read the chapter but we'll look at the first 17 verses this evening here now the word of the Living in the true God now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around but the king said to Nathan the Prophet see now I dwell in a house of cedar but the ark of god dwells inside tent curtains the Nathan said to the king go do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you but it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying go and tell my servant David thus says the Lord would you build a house for me to dwell in for I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt even to this day but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to Shepherd my people israel saying why have you not built me a house of cedar now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David thus says the lord of hosts I took you from the sheepfold from following the sheet to be ruler over my people over Israel and I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you have made you a great name like the name of the great man who are on the earth moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore as previously since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel and have caused you to rest from all your enemies also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your father's 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 man and with the blows of the sons of man but my mercy shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I remove from before you and your house and your kingdom shall be established before before ever before you your throne shall be established forever according to all these words and according to all this vision so Nathan spoke to David then King David went in and sat before the Lord and he said Who am I o Lord God and what is my house that you have brought me this far and yet this was a small thing in your sight O Lord God and you have also spoken of your servants house for a great while to come is this the manner of man o Lord God now what more can David say to you for you Lord God no your servant for your words sake and according to your own heart you have done all these great things to make your servant know them therefore you are great o Lord God for there is none like You nor is there any God besides you according to all that we have heard with our ears and who is like your people like Israel the one nation on the earth and God went out to redeem for himself as a people to make for himself a name and to do for yourself great and awesome deeds for your land before your people whom you redeem for yourself from Egypt the nations and their gods for you have major people Israel your very own people forever and you lord have become their God now O Lord God the word which you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house establish it forever and do as you have said so let your name be magnified forever saying the Lord of Hosts is the God over Israel and let the house of your servant David be established before you for you O Lord of Hosts God of Israel have revealed this to your servant saying I will build you a house therefore your servant is found it in his heart to pray this prayer to you and now O Lord God you are gone and your words are true and you have promised this goodness to your servant now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant that it may continue before you forever for you O Lord God have spoken it and with your blessing let the house of your servant be blessed forever amen let us pray a blessing and holy God we thank you for this promise of Holy Scripture we thank you for our relation to it the fact that we by grace have such a great king in our Lord Jesus Christ help us our Father to acknowledge this help us to worship our King help us to walk in holiness and righteousness before him now we thank you for that kingly office and trusted to the beloved Savior where any protects us and he defends us and he rules over us and he and he gives us his word in his spirit to guide and direct us we would ask tonight that we would receive with Thanksgiving this your word and again we pray for the Ministry of your Holy Spirit encourage our hearts as we look at a very encouraging passage of Holy Scripture and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well in our studies in second samuel we have seen up to this particular point that david assumes control or rule or reign over the entirety of israel in chapter 5 e initially starts off as the king over Judah he is he is anointed as king back in second samuel chapter one when he is in Hebron and then when we get to chapter five david has anointed king over those northern tribes as well once ish basha thiz dead and once Abner is dead David now is the the king over the entirety of the nation and in second samuel five then david casts out the jebusites from jerusalem and they take Jerusalem and they make that the political capital of Israel in chapter 6 they bring the ark of god or the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to Jerusalem and it becomes the religious capital and so Jerusalem is now the seat of power we're in David rules and reigns and when we pick up our particular narrative we see David sitting in his own house musing on the fact that God still dwells among tens and there are two things that we ought to consider with reference to verses 1 to 17 in the first place the desire of David in verses 1 to 3 and then secondly the design of God in verses 4 to 17 note the occasion in chapter 7 at verse 1 now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around you go back to chapter 5 specifically in verse 11 you see where Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David and cedar trees and carpenters and Mason's and they built David a house so David is dwelling in a house of cedar David is dwelling in a king's palace David is sitting amongst or in the presence of of luxury and lavishness and and it's a real blessing for him as well Yahweh has given him rest from his enemies not complete rests that will come ultimately under Messiah but david has a period of rest and so David musing on this particular occasion says to the prophet in verse to the king said to Nathan the Prophet see now I dwell in a house of cedar that the Ark of God dwells inside tent curtains now David never asks the question and I or should I build a house for God but that's absolutely implied because Nathan response to that as does God himself when he comes to deal with David through the Prophet Nathan and this is a legitimate and a good desire later on in the Book of Chronicles we see that what David desires here is good it's right there's a holiness about it david has been blessed david has been prospered david has been protected david has been advanced by the living and the true God David now is sitting there musing upon the glory of God and he sees what he sits in and he says it ought not to be the case that I dwell in a house of cedar and the orc of the Covenant of God dwells in tents I mean I hope there's something of that in our hearts hopefully there's something that echoes in our own Souls where we want the best for God we want him to be glorified we want him to be honored we're not content to give him the the leftovers but we give him the firstfruits we give him our heart our soul our mind our strength when we get up on the Lord's Day we're not grumbling and whining and complaining but we're singing salt or 122 I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord this is the mark of a grateful man this is the mark of a godly man this is the mark of a man who understands things properly when we see how God has prospered us when we see how God has blessed us when we see how you always loaded us daily with benefits certainly there is a desire to give to him a desire to build a house for his name a desire to magnify the excellence and the majesty of God Almighty for in the ancient Near Eastern world all these pagans had their temples built to their gods David had seen this David it understood this so David now rightly reflects Dagon has a temple ashra has a temple the heathen gods have temples and our God is dwelling in a tent this just doesn't seem to be right so he expresses his heart to nathan and then Nathan answers in in verse 3 with a piece of advice now this is the first time that we meet with Nathan the Prophet in the scripture he will come up again later then with reference to David's kingship but notice what Nathan says verse 3 Nathan said to the king go do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you now Nathan spoke before he should have Nathan agreed it was a good idea yes we need to build a house for the Lord but there's a marked contrast between verses 3 and 4 what Nathan says is corrected by God in a night vision given to Nathan and so we see that while nathan has good intentions and while david has good intentions and while these desires are legitimate and wow God will ultimately command David for that desire it isn't our desires it isn't our intentions it isn't what we want but ultimately it's obedience to God that the Lord is looking for remember we saw that in second samuel 6 while we didn't if you weren't there on wednesday night aza was a man who tried to study the oxcart they're transporting the Covenant or the Ark of the Covenant and aza was not a khoa fight and they were violating the very law of God that stipulated that the arcs are that the Ark of the Covenant be carried via pole on the shoulders of the codes they put it on a cart that was a bad mistake and when they're going through a patch of mud it starts to shake the auxin start to slip a little bit not cut Ark of the Covenant of God is going to fall down and so what does as I do as it sticks out his hand to study that Ark of the Covenant again it's a good intention it's a good desire we don't want the Ark of the Covenant to fall into the end of the mud but as I wasn't a cola site God struck Aza dead it was a reminder of Yahweh's holiness just like in Leviticus chapter 10 when Nate Avenue by who offer up strange fire before the Lord perhaps they had good intentions perhaps they had good desires perhaps they're that their heart was in the right place well it was strange fire before Yahweh so he consumes not the sacrifice but he consumes them I think we learned from studying the Old Testament that there ought to be a careful ness there ought to be an attentiveness there ought to be a diligent with reference to the worship of the triune God we are not to go based on our desire we are not to go based on our creativity we are not to be innovative innovators but we are to be obedient to the revealed will of god most I so Nathan spoke out of turn one man said the Prophet should first have waited for God's revelation a good intention does not always mean that we are allowed to execute it he heard the old adage the road to hell is paved with good intentions man goes on to say that Nathan to desired a temple for God or for the God of Israel was not wrong in itself the mistake made here was that he spoke as man and not as profit while his opinion is a prophet had been specifically asked for when David asks Nathan he doesn't want just a piece of human advice he wants the revelation of the mind of God so Nathan speaks out of turn now Nathan isn't a monster he's not the Antichrist Nathan isn't also known as Satan we don't want to be too hard on this particular man but we ought to notice that there is a particular order the prophet gets the message from God and then reveals it to the people of God he doesn't just say do whatever's in your heart no then we'd have all manner of problems now notice this brings us to the bulk of our message the design of God in verses 4 to 17 and there are four observations here that we will consider first the revelation of the Covenant remember a covenant is an agreement between two or more persons when we speak of covenant concerning God and man we think of those those oath-bound promises and while they are a promise and while they are a contract and an agreement they are earthbound they are stable they are sure they are rock solid and this covenant comes from God it's by revelation through Nathan to David secondly will note the background to the Covenant thirdly the promise given through the Covenant and then fourthly the particulars involved in the covenant but note first the revelation I've already said there is a contrast between verses 3 and 4 Nathan and verse 3 says go do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you verse 4 but it happened that night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying go and tell my servant David thus says the Lord that is the prophetic formula thus says the Lord we ought to appreciate here the Davidic covenant did not originate with David not that he's musing here and saying boy I hope that this kind of thing happens no God the Lord brings this to bear upon David thus says Yahweh thus is the revelation of his mind vs 4 5 and 17 indicate that this is revealed by God it's not a human arrangement in the first place while humans are indeed involved to be sure David is posterity and ultimately the one that would come from his line even the Lord Jesus Christ it is divine in its origin the Lord God covenants to bless his people you might wonder why in the world would we study this on a sunday night in chilliwack in the 21st century because we have a vested interest in the particulars in this covenant it's because of what is promised here in Chapter 7 of second Samuel that we have the promise in Luke 1 32 33 that we have the promise in acts 2 concerning the Lord Jesus Christ it is because of what is written here that we have a king to rule over us that we have a king who defends us that we have a king who guides us and a king who protects us it is because of 2nd Samuel 7 that you and I have a saving interest in our Lord Jesus it's one component there's several others to be sure the messenger formula signaled the beginning of explicit prophetic discourse we are told in verse 17 according to all these words and according to all this vision so Nathan spoke to David now notice secondly the background to the Covenant 5 b 29 God highlights the previous location of the Ark why would he do this well let's follow the narrative 5b thus says the Lord would you build a house for me to dwell in for I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt even to this day but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle he says I've always been a pilgrim God alongside of my pilgrim people ever since its inception ever since Israel came out of Egypt I didn't say build me a house my interest was to be glorified not through an earthly temple but through the presence and the power with my people you see if Dagon is exalted because of the temple that he dwells in Yahweh is exalted because of the power manifested in bringing his people out of Egypt you always glory is manifested in the fact that he's with and among his people he dwells in tents right alongside of them Davis says do you see what yahweh is saying about himself he is the God who travels with his people in all their topsy turvy here in their journeys and wanderings to his people live in tents so does he are they a pilgrim people on their way to the land of promise so he is the pilgrim god sharing the rigors of the journey with them I quite like that I quite appreciate that it helps us to appreciate the second person of the Trinity Davis titles this section in his exposition as the humility of God the condescension of God God hasn't in the first place EDD built me a temple exalt me among the people know God has said I will be your pee I will be your God and you will be my people I will bust you out of Egypt I will dwell among you intense I will be right there where you are Davis makes the comparison with what we finance in Philippians chapter 2 the great condescension of our beloved Lord Jesus Christ though he's equal with God he makes himself of no reputation he comes in the form of a bondservant though he is in the form of God and he humbles himself to the point of death even the death of the cross you see how our God dwells in tents with his people you see our God comes into this world and he takes on our nature our God identifies with us in all points except without sin and our God goes to the cross on our behalf it is a blessed picture of Yahweh's presence with his people notice he says he never asked the previous leaders verse 7 wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to Shepherd my people Israel saying why have you not built me a house of cedar he never said that he never said to off Neil I want you to build me a temple never said to Moses I want you to build me a temple he never said to Samson I want you to build me a temple you see God has everything under control God is everything under his design God has everything going according to plan it would not ultimately be built under David it would be built under Solomon we will see that as we move through the passage but the Lord God most high says it was never my intention at this particular time to have a temple to my name now notice verses 8 and 9 it's a bit of an encouragement or an assurance to David McDavid has expressed something good right I want to build a house for the Lord and the Lord said know if you're I were David we might get all upset and say well the Loire doesn't like me the Lord doesn't love me he didn't want my offer of my building in the house now God says David you have served well David you have been what you are supposed to be notice in verses 8 and 9 he says now therefore thus shall you say to my servant David again that whole idea of my servant Abraham and Moses were my servant to Yahweh David is my servant when David praised an 18 and following you know he refers to himself he refers to himself as your servant David quite liked hearing God refer to him as my servant so David rehearses this in his prayer back to God in terms of your servant notice in verse 8 now therefore thus shalt you say to my servant David thus says the Lord of hosts I took you from the sheepfold from following the Sheep to be ruler over my people over Israel God's sovereign choice God's gracious choice of David David don't get bent out of shape your job is not temple building your job is to Shepherd the nation of Israel notice as well what you always says in nine and I have been with you wherever you have gone beautiful we considered that a bit on Wednesday night I've been with you wherever you have gone now if you haven't read first and second Samuel you should go home and read it tonight don't let the Sun go down on you not having read first and second Samuel I can just see it now Butler commands people to do things that aren't biblical read first and second Samuel to get the full import of what this means in 9a where had David Ben he had been shepherding sheep as a son he gets called to bring cheeses and supplies and to find out about the state of his brothers in the valley of a lot turns out he is now standing in the valley of ayla taunting the the champion of the Philistine armies David takes that sling and he drops that big-headed man takes the sword off of his side and lops off the head and that's not even his problems then the problems begin Saul hunts him like a dog Saul wants to destroy him Saul is on the pursuit and David place after place after place after place escape after escape after escape after escape the Lord God says to him I have been with you wherever you went you see brethren that's our God he dwells in tents among us he's in the midst of the afflictions he's in our trials he's in our difficulties he's in our hardship when we are with Paul in that 11th hour and we are musing on the reality that we have fought the good fight we have finished the race we have kept the faith we will be able to realize and to see of a truth that every step of the way our God was with us when I was running that race when I was fighting that fight when I was keeping that faith I didn't do it in my own strength I didn't do it according to my own wisdom or power I didn't do it because I'm a great guy or girl I did it because the Lord God most high is with me you see if you're not a believer here this evening this is what you miss this is what you don't have and this is something to covet in a right sense this is something to crave this is something that genuinely desire the presence of God with us each and every moment of each and every day what could be better it's a blessing in this world to have good wives or to have good husbands would have good children or to have good parents those are blessed things to be sure but the far surpassing blessing is to have a good God who's with us in the tents who's with us in the afflictions who's with us in the cave when Saul is trying to destroy us David celebrates this reality back in chapter 4 the Lord has delivered me he says through all adversity to bless it reality the Lord powerfully dealt with David's enemies it's because God is sovereign that one stone found the big head because God is sovereign David didn't get taken out by Saul because God is sovereign his enemies were defeated it was the Lord of strength and it was the Lord of empowered it was the Lord of about or enabled David to engage in successful battle remember two instances in the life of David were Philistine saved him I mean consider what a great and glorious God that is salvation by Philistine for David David Savior well David's personal Savior was the Philistines and two instances in his career that's a great God is it taking your enemies and using them to be your saviors in various situations and then notice David would have a great name the Lord kindly conferred upon him this great name 9c now notice with reference to the promise we've seen the revelation the background now notice the prom is given through the Covenant and it's twofold here to Israel and to David and this is really really beautiful notice in verse 10 moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move more nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore as previously since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel and have caused you to rest from all your enemies you got to understand what God is saying in this particular section it is imperative according to God in 2nd Samuel 7 that Israel be given their land that is real fine stability in their land and Israel find protection in their land before God takes up residence in the temple isn't that good God says until my people are protected are provided for until my people are stabilized I am content to dwell in tents with that once they are planted in the land once they are stabilized in the land once they have protection in the land then I'll raise up Solomon to build the house for my name but first and foremost under the Covenant of God Israel must be looked after Israel must be taken care of Israel must be safe it's like a father in a home who denies himself to make sure that his wife and his children have everything they need before he takes what is allotted to him or it's like a mother I mean you Mother's know you probably rarely if ever eat hot food and the reason why you ever are hardly ever eat hot food is because you make sure that everybody else gets hot food by the time you've gotten the ketchup by the time you've gotten the salt by the time you've gone to the refrigerator you come back to that meal and it's cold and you just Chow it down happily because your family is provided for there's a selflessness in this there is another's orientation in this there is a typical picture of what we'll find in the one who would lay his life down for the Sheep you see the New Testament shouldn't surprise any of us if we've studied our Old Testament we ought not to get to John tan and read that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the Sheep and say wow I could have never conceived that why not God has told you in 2nd Samuel 7 that the stability and the protection and the provision of Israel comes before his temple hasn't he shown you by precedents hasn't he shown you buy his own activity hasn't he shown you this others orientation hasn't he demonstrated to you this willingness and this jealousy and this relentlessness to bless to provide and to protect his people oh and then you can build a house for my name that is beautiful what we find in this section the reference to the judges they had superior to peace temporary during the time of judges but it wasn't stable notice then the promise to David verse 11 be also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house it's important here that we understand that the word house is being used in three ways in this passage in verse 2 house is David's physical dwelling place right he's sitting in his house of cedar he's musing on that fact and he says I want to build a house for the Lord so house represents David's physical dwelling place in verse 13 when God is referring to Solomon he says he will build a house for my name that's the temple that's the temple construct that's what Solomon built that place that God's people would gather together and worship Him through sacrifice and praising and all those good things house in verse 11 b is being used as a dynasty a dynastic succession with reference to kingdom so David is sitting there saying I want to build a house for God what does God say no I'm going to build a house out of your name I am going to build a dynasty David and from that dynasty one will arise in whom all the promises of God are yay and a and there is one will come from your line David there is one that you typify but the antitype is coming in the fullness of the times God will send him forth he will be born of a woman he will be born under the law and he will redeem those under the law you see David wants to build a house for God and God says not until I have built a house out of you now notice the particulars involved in the Covenant I mentioned to the Brethren on Wednesday night there are three threats to a promise three threats to a promise if I make a promise to you and then I drop dead I can't fulfill that promise can i if I make a promise to you and I sinned a lot I'm probably not going to fulfill that promise if I make a promise and then you know time just sort of takes over and we forget about it it's not going to be made good with reference to the particulars of this of this promise God secures it God tells us that it is a sure thing so there are three things we ought to see here first the presence of the kingdom verse 12 when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your father's I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and i will establish his kingdom again the earthly sense this is solomon in the very temporal sense this is solomon but there would be a succession of kings wouldn't there as I said on Wednesday night if it was not for the promise of God those kings of Judah would have given away the kingdom if it was left to man they would have given away the kingdom but they did hold on to it for 500 years which is an amazing dynastic succession in that ancient world 500 years I think Egypt was about 2 or 250 years 500 was quite excellent you think when they go into the Babylonian exile well it's all over no God says it's secure it's sure it's legit it's going to stand the test of time but there will be a kingdom the presence of a kingdom note the purpose of the kingdom in 13 a he shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever you see that's why Israel in the Old Covenant existed that's why the true Israel the church in the New Covenant exists it is to magnify the name of God it is to glorify God it is to honor and exalt god it is to praise God that's what the house of God exists for it is to deflect all praise glory and honor to God when Solomon builds that temple and the persons of Israel go to that temple they're not going there simply for their own religious experience they're not going there for some existential moment they are going there to magnify the God of Israel they are going there singing the songs of a sense why are they called a sense because as they ascend into Jerusalem they're singing the songs of Zion because God is glorious and God will be glorified and when we cut those animals and we sacrifice them and we offer them up before the Lord we are declaring the great name of god most high we are declaring that he forgives his people we are declaring that it receives his people you see it all existed for the glory and the majesty and the excellence of God most high Gill says with reference to this building of a house for my name for the honor of it for the worship and service of God as it is well known Solomon did and so his antitype the Messiah Zechariah 612 we get to the New Covenant and the Lord Jesus says destroy this temple and in three days I will build it up they say yer you're not able to do that it took us 46 years to build this temple and you're saying you can raise it up in three days John tells us he was speaking about the temple of his body the temple existed to point us to Jesus Jesus doesn't point us back to building temples Jesus doesn't tell us to go backwards in redemptive history okay after I ascend on high and when I come back again to Jerusalem I want you to build a temple and we'll have Mille you sacrifice it no no no the temple stood to point centers to Jesus the temple is what the reason or Jesus is the the fulfillment of what the temple stood for 1st Kings 820 Solomon understood this so the Lord has fulfilled his word which he spoke and I had fulfilled the position of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel isn't that what Jesus does Jesus temple building is prophesying Zechariah 12 a 6 12 and 13 is seen in his life in his death in his resurrection we get to the New Jerusalem in Revelation we see there's no temple because God in the layout of the temple if temple means the dwelling place of God in sinners we don't need a physical construct when where was God when we're with the Lord Christ Most High and now to the perpetuity of the kingdom as I said there are threats to promises well God says in this passage that death will not annul the promise death won't destroy it I mean if this promise given to David and second Samuel 7 was only as good as long as David lived well then we'd be out wouldn't we look at what God says verse 12 when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your father's I will set up your seat after you who will come from your body and i will establish his kingdom def does not in all the Davidic covenant death does not stop it from marching on notice as well thats in does not destroy the promise verses 14 and 15 he's talking about that succession of kings even solomon solomon started splendidly didn't he he did a swell job at the very beginning of his ministry as as in his rule and reign as king how did Solomon end Solomon didn't end well he had a multitude of wives he had concubines and they took his heart away he strayed from the God of heaven and earth and from Solomon each and every one of those sons in that dynastic succession had their sins there were some high and shining points in the kings of Judah there were some good and godly men to be sure but even they had their blemishes in their warts notice that's what 14 and 15 speaks to 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 remove from before you a couple things about this Hebrews 15 quotes this with reference to the divine sonship or rather the unique sonship of our Lord Jesus to the Father so while it does apply that Yahweh of Israel bears this father fatherly relationship to the dynastic seed of David it comes to full realization in the Lord Jesus Christ of course Jesus doesn't San he doesn't get these blows but Solomon does Raya Boehm does various kings do and when he says I will deal the blows of man it means he doesn't send you know lightning bolts to destroy them it means within their own house within their own Kingdom within their own rule there will be trouble and difficulty and divine chastisement but God promises never to withdraw his mercy like he did with Saul listen to Davis David's line will never meet Saul's an the idea seems to be that any individual Davidic King may meet disaster because of his infidelity but that will not overthrow the promised endurance of the Davidic dynasty to steal the house analogy sin can bring disaster on any current resident but cannot demolish the house it cannot destroy the dynasty God the Lord has promised and he has said that death does not annul it sin does not destroy it and time will not exhaust it verse 16 and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you your throne shall be established forever it's not beautiful we are blessed beneficiaries and recipients of the promises of God made to David through the Prophet Nathan in this night vision we have been blessed immeasurably three times in the promise forever forever forever certainly all of these things are realized and fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ who is indeed the true Israel of God and we by virtue of God's grace and our union with him become participants and partakers of those promises because of what Jesus has accomplished well in conclusion we see as I've said with reference to the desire of David the desire was a good desire 1st Kings 818 it was a good desire but it was not David's task it was not David specific job it was not his vocation secondly the reason David was not utilized in this capacity indicated in 1st chronicles 22 and again in 28 is because David was a man of war a man of bloodshed now some have suggested that that means he was ritually impure he was ceremonially impure he had been out on the battlefield destroying people and and as a result of that bloody he was an impure man II was it fit for temple building I don't think that has anything to do with it whatsoever we can remember God gave him deliverance from his enemies God overthrew his enemies so why would God be upset at the fact that David had shed the those man's blood Solomon shed blood as well but any Kyle and a lich nalin they say but in as much as these wars were necessary and inevitable they were practical proofs that David's Kingdom and government were not yet established remember israel needs to be provided with land stabilized in the land and protected david is still working to do that it's realized under Solomon Solomon is the no-brainer temple builder kylind a leech and therefore that the time for the building of the temple and not yet calm and the rest of peace was not yet secured the temple is the symbolical representation of the kingdom of God as also to correspond to the nature of that Kingdom and shadow forth the Peace of the kingdom of God for this reason David the man of war was not to build the temple but that was to be reserved for Solomon the man of peace the type of the Prince of ease and then with reference to this what we call the Davidic covenant the careful reader and probably you don't even have to be that careful will notice that the word covenant does not appear in 2nd Samuel 7 and yet I've continuously called it a covenant because Psalm 132 calls it a covenant because Psalm 89 calls it a covenant because the prophets call it a covenant he sometimes witness to Jehovah's Witnesses and you tell them you believe in the Trinity and they say well the word Trinity isn't in the Bible and they think they've got you they've got you well just because the word is absent doesn't mean the concept isn't present the same thing is true here there's no word covenant used in 2nd Samuel 7 but it is a covenant this becomes important when we consider the Covenant of works in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 or Genesis chapter 2 people say covenants not in there yeah but everything that is a covenant is there so you see you need to understand that just because a word is absent doesn't mean the concept is it present as well we ought to understand that the Davidic covenant is present in the prophets and there are several references I'll just read probably the most well-known in Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7 the text we bring out every December it's an unfortunate thing that we only bring out certain texts in December Isaiah 96 run to us a child is born unto us a son is given and the government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father Prince of Peace notice of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this Luke chapter 1 we see this Davidic covenant present in the New Testament texts texts as well we'll just look at two specimens or two samples Luke 130 then the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall all his name Jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the highest and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end there's no Luke 1 32 33 without second Samuel 7 you see that connection you understand the implications our Lord Jesus is in that Davidic succession he comes from the line of David he is the one in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen notice in Acts chapter 2 the Apostle Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost highlights the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and then he tells us that David wrote or he refers to the psalm that David wrote and he says that David died the Solem is written about David's greater son notice in 229 in the book of Acts men and brethren let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day therefore being a prophet knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne do you hear 2nd Samuel 2nd Samuel 7 there yes you can not I know it's late I know you're tired I know it's like well that's second Samuel sudden we got a lot of do you see this do you see the relevance for the people of God in the Davidic covenant you see that there's this overarching plan and purpose of God to save his people from their sins the promise is revealed in Genesis 3 15 the promise is fully realized in the New Testament when our Lord Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant there's these several historical covenants given in the time or in the meantime that that feed it and that add to it and that flesh it out and this is the covenant of king dong this is the covenant of kingship this is the Covenant reality that our beloved Lord Jesus according to his humanity is connected to the seed of David that he is the one who comes in fulfillment of what 2nd Samuel 7 promises and this is precisely what Peter is proclaiming to the people on Pentecost there's a lot of peas and that sent notice he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne when some differing opinions here well he'll assume the throne of David in the Millennial Kingdom he'll assume the throne of David at a future state he'll assume the throne of David when you know he decides to that's not what Peter says Peter's words are very clear there is a theological bias to read them any other way there is a theological system oriented bias to refuse to imbibe the true meaning that is so clearly expressed by Peter if we ask Peter when would God raised up the Christ to sit on his throne Peter answers in verse 31 he for seeing this the act of raising up the Christ to sit on David's throne he for seeing this spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ the King dear brothers and sisters is in how is he in Revelation chapter 1 he is present he is right now when John is on the island of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus he is ruler over the kings of the earth he is the king of kings and the Lord of lords he occupies David's throne at his resurrection he ascends on high he leads captivity captive he gives gifts to man he sits enthroned at the right hand of God most high we're all Authority has been given to him in heaven and on earth the Lord Christ most high is at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning from David's throne and it's truly a blessing reality when we consider the promise at second Samuel 7 God would have a son who would build him a house isn't that the essence God would have a son who would build him a house remember that bit in Matthew 16 when our Lord Jesus who do men say that I the Son of Man am well some say Jeremiah some say one of the prophets some say Elijah and he says who do you say that I am and Peter makes that lofty confession of faith he says thou art the Christ the what the Son of the Living God and what does Jesus do Jesus says blessed art thou Simon bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you but my father isn't who is in heaven and then he says this and I will build my church on this rock I will build my church what's the church it's the house of God you see this song promised in second samuel seven that would build a house for God is the son of God confessed by Peter in Matthew 16 who builds a house for God do you see the connection do you see how we're benefactors do you see how we have a saving interest in what is given to us in second samuel chapter 7 so again I say go home and read your Old Testament because it reveals to you the glory the majesty the beauty and the excellencies of Jesus Christ our Lord if you know not that son of God if you are not a participant in that house of God there is one means one way by which we are saved and that is by grace through faith in Christ look to the Lord Jesus Christ believe on him and you shall be saved let us pray our Father we thank you for the word of God we thank you for the consistency and the continuity that we see between the Testaments and we thank you that we are recipients of all these promises and that our King is certainly sitting sitting and thrown at the right hand of the majesty of God on high and we look forward to that day when he will come again in glory to judge the living in the dead make us to be a people who love his appearing who longed for his appearing and may we live in light of these realities and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you you