Pastor, author, and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. I've never asked anybody to build me a house. What if I asked you to do this for me? When did I ever say that I don't like my tent?
I'm not saying that you would do something for me. Would you build a house for me? This is the way God's talking.
You've got to sometimes envision God with a little Hebrew kind of, would you build a house for me? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Son of David, as presented at Rinaldin Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program today, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries. As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org, or call 877-544-4860.
Now more on this later in the program, but now let's get started with today's teaching. Here is Alan Wright. Hosanna to the Son of David.
Why? Because they were calling out that this is the much anticipated new King of Israel that was promised to David. He is never resistant or resentful of this. Instead, he embraces the title. Jesus embraces the title Son of David, and I won't take long to talk about this text, but there's a very important text in Matthew chapter 22 verse 41 where the religious leaders are gathered around, and he's having this conversation with the Pharisees, and the Pharisees were gathered. This is Matthew 22, 41. They were gathered, and Jesus asked them a question saying, What do you think about the Christ, about the Messiah, the anointed one? Whose son is He?
Jesus asked that question to the Pharisees. Whose son is the Christ, the Messiah? And they said, The Son of David. So they said, Well, of course it's the Son of David. We all know that.
What kind of question is that? And then Jesus does a very interesting thing. He quotes a psalm, Psalm 110, that David wrote, and in that psalm, David says something very interesting, and so Jesus quotes.
He quotes it right here. Jesus said to him, How is it then that David in the Spirit calls Him, referring to the Son of David, calls Him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet. And Jesus said, If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?
And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions. So what Jesus raised there was incredibly intriguing. What He was saying was that David was given a promise that a son of David would dwell on the throne forever. But then David, under the unction and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes a psalm in which he says the word of the Lord.
The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand. And Jesus refers back to that and says, That is speaking of the Son of David. So if it's literally David's son, how could David call that son Lord? How could you call your own son Lord? Do you see what Jesus is saying?
He stumped him on this. But what He's saying is it was always, it's always been foretold that this is what would come to pass. If there is going to be a fulfillment of the David, the son of David that is always dreamed of, he's going to reign in perfect righteousness and steadfast love, it would have to be the Lord Himself that would take on that throne, the son of David. What you'll see also is David prefigures Jesus more than any other Old Testament character. I mean, everything in the Bible points to Jesus, but with the case of David, you just can't miss it, right? I mean, in the first place, they're both born in Bethlehem.
Hello. They're both born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is not a major city. They were, they're both shepherds. David, the literal shepherd, Jesus figuratively, I'm the good shepherd.
Both were considered unlikely candidates to be king. We will see that story when they come to, Samuel comes to anoint David. They looked at all of Jesse's sons and it's like, is none of these? And even Jesse himself says, well, you know, there is David. He's left out in the field.
Maybe it's David, you know, and they don't think it'd be David. He's not, he's not tall, dark and handsome. He's, he's, he's not the one that looks like a king. Although, although he's a handsome guy, he's not, he just didn't look like a warrior type. He just didn't, whatever it was about him, he was, he was, didn't look like a king.
He seemed unlikely. Jesus, they said, isn't this the carpenter's son? Can anything good come from Nazareth? Both were anointed, filled with the Holy Spirit. Both were misunderstood and unappreciated by those closest to them.
Something we'll see. They were, they were unappreciated. David by his brothers, Jesus by the religious leaders. They were both persecuted by existing leadership. They both had opportunity to kill and displace existing leadership by force, but they chose not to. They were both unafraid of evil.
Neither of them cared what others thought of them. They both were deep worshipers and they both were warriors. David, a literal warrior and, and Jesus spiritually. Jesus said, if you see me casting out evil spirits by the finger of God, then you'll know the kingdom of God is at hand.
You understand that, don't you? Jesus came to do warfare for you. David came and did warfare for the frightened Israelis. Jesus came and did warfare for the fearful people who didn't know how to fight for themselves.
In the end though, the centerpiece of the connection between David and Jesus is found in second Samuel chapter seven. And I want you to turn there with me. This is a place that ought to just, your Bible ought to just flop open to. This is actually a new Bible.
Mine's not flopping open to it, but it should, it should flop open there. Or your iPad or your phone or whatever should be tagged with second Samuel seven, second Samuel seven, second Samuel seven, second Samuel seven. Say that with me. Second Samuel seven. When I was in seminary, I had this old Testament professor, Walter Brueggemann, who was quite renowned. And I'll never forget the day that he said, second Samuel seven is the key theological statement of the Old Testament.
And it is. This chapter is depicting David having taken over the throne of the kingdom, secured the borders, rest from their enemies, been appreciated and lauded by the people. He was a humble shepherd, obscure in the fields, and now he's been brought to this point. And what happened in second Samuel seven is something just shocking.
It's just shocking that this would take place. God makes a unilateral promise to David. The word covenant is not used in second Samuel seven, but it most certainly is a covenant. In fact, Psalm 89 and other places refer to second Samuel as a covenant and many, many places in the Bible go back and refer to what happened here with this covenant with David. I'm going to pick up reading at verse one, second Samuel seven, verse one. Now, when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan, the prophet, see now I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.
And Nathan said to the king, go do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you. Let me just pause there and say, what has happened here is that David looks around. He's in this beautiful palace and he's very thankful to God. And he's mindful of the fact that the place of worship is still what's called the tent of meeting, a mobile tent that by this time was surely moldy and old. And you compare that where the ark of the covenant was housed and the ark of the covenant symbolized the presence of God and the worship of God.
And so the tent was the place of the meeting place of God and man. And David is like, I'm in this beautiful palace and we've got God over here in a tent. Now, as we'll see, there's some flawed thinking in that David, then God's going to correct him with that. But I think that the intention is a noble one for the most part with David. I want to do something beautiful here for God. And Nathan, the prophet, he thinks, well, go ahead and do what seems good to you.
But that night, the word of the Lord, this is verse four, came to Nathan. Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? I've not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I've been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I've moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar? He's saying, I've never asked anybody to build me a house. What have I asked you to do this for me? When did I ever say that I don't like my tent?
I'm not saying that you would do something for me. Would you build a house for me? This is the way God's talking. You've got to sometimes envision God with a little, you know, got a little, you know, Hebrew kind of, would you build a house for me?
It's Alan Wright, and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we all seek moments of encouragement and hope. As a heartfelt thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries, we're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan. Each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope, strength, your identity in Christ, Thanksgiving, and much more.
These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit, providing encouragement whenever you need a boost. This unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org.
Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. He said, I don't, I'm not saying I don't need this. Now, verse 8, Therefore you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly, from that time that I appointed judges over my people Israel.
And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. And when your days are fulfilled, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall 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 to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the son of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.
Your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David. So the Bible is best understood in terms of covenant, between binding agreements that have been made between God and humanity. And so the covenant that was made with Moses is essentially was a covenant that said that if you will obey all that I give you to do, then it will go very well with you, and you'll be my people, and I will bless you rich. That is essentially at the heart of that covenant. It never was thought of that the law was anything other than a gift from God, because it is part of the revelation of who God is. It's a revelation of how life is best lived, and so forth.
But no one could ever keep the law. And so the law served to remind people of how much sin they had in their lives, how much they needed a savior. But the covenant that is spoken here to David is one that is breathtaking, because even though God knows David himself is going to commit great sin with Bathsheba, he issues him this incredible promise, I'll never take my steadfast love away from you, and someone from your house will be on the throne forever. And he says to him, essentially you can count on the fact that I'm with you, that I love you, that I'm never going to leave you, and David this doesn't have anything to do with you.
That is essentially what is going on here. And so it is a breathtaking promise. Now David is established, he's grateful, he's noble, he wants to do something for God, and this is what ancient pagan kings generally would do. They would come into power and establish their capital city, their throne would be there in the palace, and then they would erect some kind of edifice for their God that would in a sense kind of stabilize the regime.
And so in some sense this may be part of what David is acting out of. Brueggemann says the obvious answer to the problem of legitimacy characteristic of every ruler in the ancient world is to build a temple. Give God a permanent residence that will solidify the regime. In principle, a temple lives in tension with the ark. Whereas the ark articulates God's freedom and mobility, the temple removes the danger and possibility that God might depart. This is a God who will not be held in place, however, by any religious arrangement. Brueggemann goes on to say the plushness of the proposed temple contradicts the Lord's self-understanding. Yahweh will not be bought off, controlled, or domesticated by such luxury.
Yahweh's been a free God and will continue to be the royal apparatus is not able to make the Lord its patron. So there's a part, I think Brueggemann's right, there's a part here in which the Lord is saying, you ought to understand, I am big and I am free and I do not have anything confining me. And so in the first place, he's saying no to David because I want it never to be associated with your name and with the establishment of your house that what it was about was you building a place for God to be. Instead, I want to remind you of this David. I chose to be with you. You didn't do something to assure yourself that I would be with you and there's nothing you can do now building me some great temple to assure I'll be with you and with the people. Here's how you can be assured that I'll be with you.
I'm telling you so. So the first reason that God said no to the temple was He was making a huge point that would only make real sense in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. He's a God unlike every other because He wants to be with you. He said, David, I'm going to move with you as I've always moved with my people. He's a God who's on the move. He's a God who never leaves you. He's a God who can be on the mountaintop with you and can be in the valley with you, who can rejoice with you and can weep with you. He is saying to David what would be fulfilled in the promise of Jesus, who is the great high priest who's not unable to sympathize with your weakness because he's been through what you've been through.
He is prefiguring the very fact of Christmas that He would come in the flesh, that He is God Emmanuel. Don't build me a temple and think that I'm going to sit in a temple. I want to be with you. I'm free.
I can't be contained. And I want to use my freedom to be a constant source of strength and blessing and companionship to you, my creatures, my children, my beloved. This is one of the key things that I want to speak over your life as we go into this new year. God is with you. David, no, I don't need you to build me a temple.
But the second reason is even more shocking, breathtaking, and beautiful. He says, he says, David says, I want to build him this beautiful temple. And the Lord says, would you build a house, build me a house to dwell in? That's verse five.
You would build me a house? And then he issues all these promises until you get down to verse 11. And the second half of that verse says, Moreover, the Lord declares to you, the Lord will make you a house. Do you see the covenant with David hinges on a play on these words? David says, I'm going to make you a house.
And Lord says, no, I'm going to make you a house. Every religion and every religious system in the world other than the Christian gospel essentially operates according to this idea. If you will do something impressive for God, then he will bless you. And the more impressive the thing is that you do for God, then the more you'll get his attention and he will bless you. That is the way all religious systems in the world work. And that is the seed of that is within even within the heart of many that want to understand Christianity end up misunderstanding because they'll hear the exhortations of the Bible. They hear the statements of the scripture exhorting us about how we can live better and more holy lives or people come to a new year and make their new year's resolution.
And they're all basically essentially have this seed in it. I'm going to build God a house. I'm going to do something. You know, I'm going to be more holy. I'm going to be a better person. I'm going to be a better husband or wife. I'm going to be a better whatever. I'm going to I'm going to be more of a witness to more people. I'm a pray more.
I'm a read my Bible more. I'm going to do something so that God will look down and say look at Alan. He's doing something that's really rather impressive. And so I think I'm going to bless him more, you know this year and and David without thinking about it and I think it's a noble thing in his heart, but he just he comes and said I want to build I want to make you a house God Alan Wright.
I think we've all been there. It's today's teaching son of David and I encourage you to stay with us. Alan is back with us here in the studio as he shares his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment in a world that often feels overwhelming. We all seek moments of encouragement and hope as a heartfelt. Thank you for becoming a monthly partner with Alan Wright Ministries. We're excited to send you our blessing box featuring 24 beautifully crafted cards filled with encouraging blessings from Pastor Alan each card offers daily inspiration and scripture on themes such as hope strength your identity in Christ Thanksgiving and much more. These blessings are designed to uplift your spirit providing encouragement whenever you need a boost this unique resource can be yours with our thanks as we welcome new monthly partners to the support family of Alan Wright Ministries. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today.
We will send you today special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries call us at 877-544-4860. That's 877-544-4860 or come to our website Pastor Alan.org Alan we're back here in the studio to share your parting good news thought for the day and listening to that just a few moments ago as we put a bookmark here in the program. I think we all have felt that way right that we're going to work extra hard we're going to be blessed David says I'm going to build you a house that's right and God says no I'm gonna build your house and this shift Daniel of thinking that your Christian life is mainly about what you do for God shifting to the gospel conclusion that no it's really about what God has done for you and Jesus Christ it doesn't turn us into people that are lazy that don't do anything for God it actually energizes us and mobilizes us think much of what God has done for you and you will naturally spontaneously do more in the name of Christ. Of course all of this is foreshadowing Christ it is there's a great incredible thing to look at David's life and see Jesus and it and in this the reason we dive in to David's life right here in this text is that this becomes so pivotal and what we're hearing God say would you build a house for me no I'm going to build your house and this is the essence of the gospel Daniel is that it's not so much about what we've done for God it's about what God has done for us exciting stuff. If you only caught part of today's teaching not only can you listen again online but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org that's pastorallen.org today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries.
