1674. Look to Jesus the King

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The school was founded in 1927 by the evangelist Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. His intent was to make a school where Christ would be the center of everything so he established daily chapel services. Today, that tradition continues with fervent biblical preaching from the University Chapel platform. During this Christmas season, we thought it would be good to hear a study series about Christ in the Old Testament, and the name of this series is Looking Unto Jesus. Today's message will be preached by Dr. Eric Newton of the Bob Jones University Seminary. Let's turn our Bibles to 2 Samuel 7.

2 Samuel, chapter 7. A few people in the room today have lived in countries ruled by a monarch. But for most of us, myself included, royalty is a foreign concept.

After all, America was founded as part of a revolution against a king. And you may despise kings, primarily because they fill up your history of Civ term sheet. You may be curious about them. You check in on the latest news about Prince William and Kate Middleton and baby George. Or you may frankly be mesmerized by royalty.

Evie, our four-year-old daughter, would fit that category. Frequently, I come home midday or in the evening to find that she's married another prince. And this succession of matrimonial ceremonies kind of makes me think that she's a little kid pretend version of Henry VIII. But for us as believers, particularly for us in chapel here today, monarchy has to be more than a nuisance or a curiosity. As you know, this semester we're giving attention to the Old Testament, particularly how it promises and anticipates Jesus, the Messiah. And we're doing this not simply so that we can cover some doctrinal basis and check the box that we're orthodox, we're sound.

We're doing this because successfully running the Christian race has everything to do with Jesus Christ. And frankly, there's no more important question in all of humanity than who is Jesus? So when we do this, when we turn our gaze away from everything else, that's what that word look means. It means taking your focus off everything else and fixing it on Jesus Christ.

What do we see? Well, this semester we've already seen that He is the seed of Eve that crushes the serpent's head. That He is the seed of Abraham that brings all of those promises of the Abrahamic covenant to pass. That He is the Passover Lamb. He is the firstborn that God put in the place of all of us who would believe. And today, we want to be encouraged to trust and worship Jesus because He's the Messiah. He is the anointed Son of David.

He's the King. To do this, we need to give good attention to the first half of 2 Samuel 7. The Davidic covenant, which is what Dr. Pettit has asked us to consider this morning, is also recorded in 1 Chronicles 17. We're going to stay in Samuel, but I need you to really lock into these words.

We're going to trace the argument down through here, and then we'll get to some really powerful, transforming application at the end. The background of this, as you know, is that Israel had difficulty during the time of the judges living in the promised land without solid leadership. In fact, the very last verse of the book of Judges says, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There was no king in Israel.

And so the people of Israel looked around at the surrounding nations, and they saw what they did. They had a king, so they requested a king, demanded a king themselves. And it was kind of like one of those number one draft picks, those can't miss prospects that goes at the top of the draft and then he becomes a bust. Saul looked really good.

He was head and shoulders above the rest in several physical ways. The problem was, he couldn't obey the Lord. And so he and his dynasty crumbled, and God appointed a shepherd boy. And that shepherd boy was a man of war, and David has been at war trying to settle this area, particularly the area around Jerusalem. And that's where the narrative picks up in 2 Samuel 7-1. It says, and it came to pass when the king, David, sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains, within a tent, the tabernacle we'd call it. And Nathan said to the king, go, do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee. David had just finished building a house of cedar.

There was no question when you entered Jerusalem, which house was the king's. But as he sits down in that house, metaphorically at rest from his war, then it dawns on him, you know what, I'd just gotten the ark of the covenant here into Jerusalem from the house of Obed Edom, but the ark is in this sort of makeshift tent contraption. I think I need to build a magnificent house, a temple for that ark.

That's what God's presence hovers over. And he goes to Nathan, Nathan was the prophet, his spiritual advisor, and Nathan says, do all that's in your heart. I mean, you're the man after God's own heart to begin with. You've got the means. God is with you.

Go do it. It seemed like a great idea. I mean, you look at verse six at the end there, and it says that the Lord had walked around in a tent and in a tabernacle. Doesn't the Lord deserve something better than the human king? But then we pick it up in verse four and we see the revealed answer to this very good intention. It came to pass that very night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan.

Let me pause there. Many times we have good intentions, but running the Christian race is not about our determining what seems best. The life of faith is a life of response to what God has said in faith by grace. And so it came to Nathan, and here's what the Lord says. In fact, this is the longest recorded divine speech since Moses, since God communicated with Moses.

This is very significant. And here's what the Lord tells Nathan to tell David. Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, shalt thou build me a house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, why build ye not me a house of cedar? In other words, the Lord is saying, have I ever gone to any of your tribes?

Have I ever gone to any of its leaders and said, hey, I need a house. I need a temple. I need an edifice to demonstrate my power. You know, what is the Lord doing here? The Lord is reminding David that in contrast to all the false gods of the ancient Near East that surrounded these people, the Lord demonstrated his power not through some structure that was elaborate and impressive and spoke to his war-like successes. Actually, he demonstrated who he was by wonderful deeds of redemption. The Lord demonstrated who he was by his faithfulness to his promises. The Lord is saying, it's a good thought.

It's a good intention. And in fact, he's going to say, your son will build me a house. But I don't want a house to be the evidence of who I am. I'm actually going to demonstrate my glory and my faithfulness in another way. And that leads us, therefore, to the Davidic Covenant, to a pledge. And really, this entire passage hinges on a word that recurs about 15 times in the chapter, and that's the word house. Maybe you've never thought of the word house as a terribly theological word before.

But in this chapter, that's the key word. So pick it up with me in verse 8. Now therefore, so shalt thou say unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in 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. Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as before time, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies."

We'll stop there momentarily. What's he saying? The Lord is initiating this covenant.

It's unconditional. The Lord is coming to David and he's reminding him of some realities, some gracious realities. He's reminding him that he was the one who chose David. He brought him up from the pastures where he was shepherding sheep to be the king over Israel. He was the one, verse 9, that was with David.

He remained with him. He stayed by David's side. And he's the one who would continue to prosper David, verses 10 and 11 talk about. David and his people. This is a covenant that God initiates. And he's going to give David a name. That should sound familiar because Dr. Ormiston just talked last Wednesday about the name that God gave Abraham.

They're linked together. And then he goes on and he makes an unconditional promise. Verse 11, here's the new information. Also, the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house. Now here's the turn of phrase. David wanted to build a house for the Lord but the Lord comes back and says, actually, I'm going to build a house out of you.

You say, well what is he talking about? Well let's continue, verse 12. And when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels.

In other words, they'll be natural descendants and natural ongoing succession from procreation is what this means. I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an 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 commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. But my mercy shall not depart away from him as it took it from Saul whom I put away before thee. Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever.

Did you hear the repetition of the wills and the shalls? That is an unconditional covenant. That is a promise without condition.

He's not coming to David and saying, if you write enough praise songs for me, then I will covenant with you. If you promise not to marry any more wives, then I will continue your dynasty. No, he's saying I'm going to do this. I'm going to establish this.

I'm going to make this happen. It's unconditional. His point is that he's not going to tie himself, his glory, his fame, his name to a structure. He's actually going to tie it to the Davidic dynasty.

The Lord was attaching his name and fame to a royal family. Through them he would carry out his covenant purposes. This covenant entails an eternal dominion. Notice back in these verses 12 and 13 and 14, he says, when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers. In other words, yes, you're going to die, but that's not going to end the dynasty. He says that in verse 14, if he commit iniquity, yes, there's a great potential that your son is going to sin, and his son and his son, and I will chasten him, but that's not going to end the covenant, the dynasty either. And he says several times, I'm establishing this forever. So not death, not sin, not time can destroy this covenant. God is staking his character on the Davidic dynasty. This is quite remarkable. This is quite remarkable. I mean, the ancient Near East knew of situations when a God would supposedly come to a ruler and say, if you do this for me, I will respond and do this for you.

I will bless you and maybe keep your line, your dynasty going. For instance, you've seen the great sphinx in Egypt. It's a monument to the Egyptian god Horus. And there was a pharaoh named Thutmose IV, he followed Amenhotep II, and he commissioned a piece of stone artwork.

It's known as the dream steel. And what's chiseled on this stone is the evidence of a dream where Horus comes to Thutmose and says, if you will clean off the sand from the feet of the sphinx, the steel was found in between the feet, if you'll clean that off, then I will put my divine impetus, my stamp of approval on your kingship, on your being the pharaoh. Now why was this important? Well because Thutmose IV wasn't the first born and there was a battle over who would be the next pharaoh. Now this is not my point today, but really interestingly, according to biblical chronology, Thutmose IV's oldest brother would have been the most famous victim of the tenth plague in Exodus. Why do you think there was dispute about who was to come to the throne? Our main point today is this, Horus blessed Thutmose's reign because he cleaned the sand off his feet, off the sphinx's feet. But no ancient Near Eastern god would have attached his glory to a particular dynasty.

Why? Because those dynasties didn't last very long. And he certainly wouldn't have said, you know, regardless of what you do, I'm going to stake my fame on you.

I'm with you no matter what. False gods just don't do that. But our god did. 2 Samuel 7 is entirely different.

The Davidic covenant is unique. God was staking his faithfulness and glory on the Davidic dynasty. They weren't favoring him.

They weren't cleaning the sand off his feet. He was favoring them. Now David's response to this is instructive. Nathan gives this vision to David, verse 17, and then look at verse 18. Then went David, King David in and sat before the Lord. He leaves his house of cedar and he goes to the little old tent, the tabernacle, and he sits down in awe.

And he says, who am I, oh Lord God, and what is my house that thou hast brought me hither to? He says in verse 21, for thy word's sake, not for me, not because of who I am, but for thy word's sake, and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them. This is an amazing promise and Solomon did come and Solomon did commit sin and yet God remained faithful. But as time goes on, the Davidic covenant didn't lessen in significance. Israel really held David in high esteem and they made a lot out of the Davidic covenant, but the evidence for God's ongoing faithfulness seemed to grow bleaker and less.

And there became many who doubted. We see some evidence of this in Psalm 89. If you can, turn with me over there to Psalm 89. We've seen God's covenant with a king, now we're going to see Israel's uncertainty without a king. We don't know exactly when the Psalm was written, but the setting in which it would have taken on its fullest meaning would have been during the exile and after the exile.

I mean after the kingdom had split into northern and southern, after a succession of mostly bad kings, after Nebuchadnezzar had come and conquered them, after he had poked out the king's eyes, after the last thing that he saw happen was his sons killed. And so the Psalm as he begins, he's talking about the Davidic covenant here, he begins the Psalm, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. We've sung that, right? With my mouth I'll make known thy faithfulness to all generations. Mercy shall be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

What's he talking about? Verse 3, I've made a covenant with my chosen, I've sworn it to David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations. And he goes on to talk about the Davidic covenant and all of God's glory in it, but look at verse 38. Here's where they were really living.

Here's where the evidence lay. But thou hast cast off and abhorred. Thou hast been wroth, angry with thine anointed. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant.

Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. And this leads him, look at verse 49, to say, Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses which thou swear'st unto David in thy truth? Where's the covenant? Where are the promises? And there are 400 years of silence. And that's why it's so glorious when we turn that one blank page in our Bibles from Malachi to Matthew and we're reminded of the very first verse of the New Testament.

Here's what it says. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, he's here. You know, birth announcements are a really big deal. I figured that out the first time around with the first of our children. You've got to figure out who you tell first and who's going to tell whom and, you know, do you just tell everybody at once or when does the mother-in-law come in?

I mean, it is a big to-do. All right, and here is the birth announcement. Here's the birth announcement in Luke. This, of course, is before Jesus is born. The angel says to Mary, don't fear, thou hast found favor with God and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and he shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

The king is here. And then Jesus grows up and he goes out and preaches on the heels of John the Baptist and what's his message? He says, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Theologians quibble over what that means, but I think it's pretty straightforward. How, why is the kingdom at hand? Because the king has arrived.

He's here. So repent of your sin and trust him. And Peter says in Matthew 16, different people were saying different things about who Jesus was and Jesus says, well who do you say I am? And Peter says, you're the Christ, you're the Messiah, the son of the living God. I think he's thinking about the Davidic covenant because the Davidic ruler was going to be the son of God. He was going to be one whom God was his father. And Peter is starting to understand all of the implications. It's much more than a special relationship.

It's a unique, divine relationship. And then in Acts 2, Peter's preaching at Pentecost and he's driving home the importance of the resurrection. He says, being a prophet, talking about David, knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to his flesh he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, this Jesus hath God raised up whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear.

Here's the point. He has ascended, he's been exalted, he's on the throne, and he's sent the Holy Spirit. The gospel is clear. The son of David has come. This isn't to take anything away from the reality that there's coming a kingdom on earth. But I think it's clear from the New Testament that there is a sense in which Jesus is already ruling. He's sitting at the right hand of the Father.

I mean, think of our theme verse, Hebrews 12, 2. Looking into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down. Now he has sat down because his atoning work has finished, but where did he sit down?

He sat down in a place of royal prominence at the right hand of the Father. He's on the throne. So in closing, how do we pay homage to this king? How do we pay homage to the king?

Let me suggest just two main ideas. Number one, we submit to the king's gospel. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And give the obedience of faith to this gospel Paul talks about in Romans 1.5. Have you submitted to the king's gospel? Are you submitting today to the king's gospel?

I don't mean that you get saved day after day after day, but are you living a life of faith and repentance today? That's how you give glory to God, your king. The last thing is this. We honor the gospel's king. We serve him with our lives.

And we worship him. As John says in that great throne room scene which was revealed to him, worthy is the lamb. This is the root of David.

This is the lion of the tribe of Judah. This is the Davidic king. Worthy is he to receive honor and glory and power and riches forever. Are you and I submitting to the king's gospel and honoring the gospel's king?

When you're tempted not to believe what God has said, look to Jesus. He's your king. When you feel there's too much pressure to live as a Christian, look to Jesus. He's your king.

When you're afraid of what the future may hold after graduation, look to Jesus. He's your king. When your flesh says one more time, won't really matter, look to Jesus. He's your king. When your pride wants glory for itself, when you're troubled by your past, when you've been deeply wronged, look to Jesus. He's your king.

When you are questioning the legitimacy of the faith that was passed down from your parents to you, look to Jesus. He's the king. Submit to his gospel. Honor him. You've been listening to a sermon preached at Bob Jones University by Dr. Eric Newton, which is part of the series called Looking Unto Jesus, studying passages about Christ in the Old Testament. Join us again tomorrow as we continue the series here on The Daily Platform.