The Davidic Covenant, Part 1

I. Introduction

In the world we live in today, there are quite a few things going on that can get us down. We live and 1work…and we deal with happy days and we deal with sorrow. My family and I are still grieving from a funeral of a loved one we had just yesterday.

David’s life was a lot like that too. He had good times and bad…there were days when he felt blessed and days where he literally ran for his life from the wrath of King Saul. Many of the Psalms of David were probably written during these times of trial and sorrow.

For instance, listen to David’s words in Psalm 25:16-17

Psalm 25:16–17 NASB95

Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses.

So you see, though David had the mioghty hand of God working through his life at many different points, that doesn’t mean that he would not face any trouble. David, though he was a faithful servant of the Lord and a would become a great king, often had moemnts of sorrow and even depression.

But the Lord always brought David through those tough times and He never abandoned David. I think it’s very important here to see that God doesn’t promise that faithful Christians will never face trials, but He does promise to get us through it....and the fact is that God makes many promises to us. God made promises to Abraham that he would have a son and that He would make Israel a great nation from Abraham’s ancestry…Today we call it the Abrahamic Covenant. You’ll rememeber that we studied that one in Genesis 15 a while back. For this discourse, we will look at yet another promise made to the Nation of Israel and her leaders…we call this particular one the Davidic Covenant because it was made with David.

a. Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:8-17

I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

Now what we see here is that God’s covenant with David contains 10 “I will” statements from God. Each part represents a particular promise to David and the Nation of Israel from the Lord and I believe each one has a particular lesson for us even all these many years later... So what we are going to do is split those 10 up over the next 5 weeks and discuss 2 at the time.

II. Major Points: God Promises...

Enhanced Reputation

A New House

III. Point #1: Enhanced Reputation

Explanation

2 Samuel 7:9 NASB95

“I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.

So the first thing God does is He reminds David of where he was and what God has already brought him through. David had been on the run from King Saul and came very close to losing his life on several occassions. He was very, VERY blessed to be alive by this point. But the Lord saw fit to remind David that he had brought him through a lot by this point and that He had been with Him and had been protecting him the entire time.

And I think we all need that reminder from time to time, don’t you? Anytime you get down on yourself, look back at where you’ve been and see how far you have come and then tell me number 1, that God isn’t faithful and number 2, that you have a reason to worry.

No matter where you have been and what you have gone through, the Lord has walked with you through it and has, on so many occassions, cut off your enemies from you to protect you.

How many times have we been held up in traffic and wondered why and then on up the road saw a terrible accident....and I can’t help but wonder: wow, if I hadn’t been held up by that tractor I just might have been right in the middle of that disaster.....or maybe you lost a job or were passed over for an honor or a promotion....but it could have just been that God was protecting you from going into a toxic sitation. We have got to learn to be grateful and look at the big picture because the Lord is looking out for our steps and is delivering us from our enemies regularly.

But then the Lord makes his first prmoise to David…the first of his “I will” statments:

In the last part of verse 9, God says “and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth.”

So what exactly is the promise her? God says “David, I promise you hat I WILL...” DO YOU SEE THAT? DID HE SAY “I MIGHT?”...”I RECKON”....NO IT IS A PROMISE....”I! WILL!” says the Lord…and what is the first promise: “I WILL make your name great...” In other words…Your reputation will be great....

Illustration

Now there are times when I don’t too much care what people think of me. Preacher you ought to do this or that....You know I don’t know what it is but I have figured out that it is often the people that are the least committed and that are the least committed that have the most opinions....have you noticed that?

It’s always the “boos” that come loudest from the cheapseats.

Well preacher you ought to do this....or you ought to do that....or I don’t know why you don’t....

You know it’d mean a whole lot more coming from somebody who’s heart was right, you know what I mean?

But God isn’t just talking about people’s “opinions”....he’s talking about a reputation that lasts....a good name....an enduring legacy.

You know a lot fo you have a good name. I know for a fact if I walk into the company of people I haven’t met around Soperton and they want to know who I am....I know EXACTLY what to say....I say “I am Shannon, Terry, and Ronnie Phillips’s pastor”....and I’m telling you 90% of the time I get a handshake…you know why? Because those men have worked hard their whole lives....they are honest and they know who to treat folks.

And they aren’t the only ones....a good name will take you far....rather than a name of somebody who has mistreated people.

Application

God is promising David here something that lasts....a good name. Not a perfect name. Did David mess up in his life? Oh you bet he did....ask a poor fella named Uriah the Hittite....David had him murdered so he could be with his wife Bathsheba! Did he do bad things, yes....but in being obedient to the Lord, his name has outlasted ALL his enemies....and now years later....look....we are still talking about David today as a man of faith...

Church: Listen to me closely....if you allow the Lord to lead you....and you seek to live a sanctified and godly life....you’ll have that good name too....your reputation will be great. And I’m going to tell you....having a good name can get you treated well in a community that values honest like ours amen? I’d rather pay a little more to a contractor that I know will do a job right than one who charges less but I know ripped somebody off in the past, how about you?

God promises David a good name and reputation....and being one of His, we can have that too, amen?

IV. Point #2: A New House

Explanation

2 Samuel 7:10 NASB95

“I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly,

Now this verse promises that God will provide a special place for the Israeliutes....the problem is, the writer of 2 Samuel used the Hebrew word “maqom” (mac-quohm). Maqom can mean one of two things;

A house

A Land

.0.w of course, this could be referring to the promise God already made Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis…but that would seem to insinuate that that covenant somehow doesn't count anymore, and that just isn’t the case. Instead, this is referring to the temple that David wants to build for God. This would make more sense since this very subject is discussed later in the book. This is why context matters, amen? Since you know that is what’s coming up, now you know what their spiritual objective was and this understanding of the Hebrew word just makes sense....

Application

You know, God’s people very much needed a place to commune with the Lord during these days.

First of all, their relationship with God was tied to the old sacrificial system and those sacrifices took place at the temple.

Second, the very presence of God was confined to the temple....and for a long time, the temple had been a simple tent. It was time for something more magnificent. So David desires more than anything to build a proper temple for the Lord and His people.

God makes the promise that a new temple would be built…but here is the key: David is not going to be the one that gets to build it....instead, it will be his son, Solomon.

You see that wasn’t God’s will for David....

So you see David had some choices here....he could’ve been bitter....he could’ve chosen to just say “oh well...” and forget about it since it didn’t concern him....but what did David do? If we read ahead in 1 Chronicles 29, we see that David rejoiced for his son’s opportunity AND, he asked the people to raise money in preparation for the day that Solomon would get to build the temple to make his job easier.

Church: I think this is a reminder that serving in the Kingdom of God is not a competition, amen? We are here to support one another and lift one another up.

I’m so glad that our church does such a good job of that. Thank you all for the ways your pour into our ministries here at Morningside and how we rejoice in eachothers’ victories.

V. Conclusion

a. May we continue to remember the promises of the Lord each and every day.

b. Let’s Pray