2 Samuel 7:1-17

I Will Build You a House

Intro

Why you want to do something is just as important as how you do it. There is much in scripture that is there solely to shape your motivations. Realigning yours so that they are consistent with what God wants. Israel wanted a king, which wasn't wrong, except that Israel wanted a king like the nations. Right from the start, their motives were suspect. Yahweh would give them a king, but first he needed to align their desires for this king to His. Something similar happens in our text this evening. David wants to build the Lord a house, which is not a bad thing, but what is driving this desire? So as we read this text together, let's consider why David wanted to build Yahweh a house, and how He responds to David's desire?

2 Samuel 7:1-17

Summary of the Text

David desires to build the Lord a house (temple), since David's house (living space) is grander than the curtains (tent) which the Ark lives in. But Yahweh has never asked for a house (temple) of any he called to shepherd Israel, and was content with a tent to wander in. Yet, Yahweh has chosen and blessed David and through him brought peace and stability to Israel. So he makes a covenant with David, promising that he would build David a house (dynasty) that would endure forever. The narrative revolves around the different uses of the word house. What is important for David to understand is that Yahweh decides when, why, where, and who will build Him a house (temple). So Yahweh makes a covenant with David to build him a sure house, in the form of a dynasty, that would last forever. By promising Him he would never lack a son to sit on His throne, he anticipates the sending of His Son Jesus, Son of David and Son of God, who is the temple where the fullness of God dwells among His people.

David's Desire to Build Yahweh a House (1-11a)

As we have noted already at other points as 1 and 2 Samuel have unfolded, Hebrew historiography is not tied down to linear chronology. Hebrew history is theologically told. So events that have happened early in the reign of David are placed alongside those that came much later, because they convey the central point the narrator is trying to make. So we have reason to believe that this covenant Yahweh makes with David came late in his life. David has experienced some peace from his enemies and has built himself a nice cedar paneled house in Jerusalem. As he looks around at the blessings God has bestowed on Him, he sees the Ark of the Covenant, the throne of God dwelling in a curtain. The ESV obscures this by translating it tent, but the word David uses signifies something insignificant—like a curtain. He thinks, how can I live here when God lives there?

On the surface, this doesn't seem like a bad motive at all. Surely, it is good and proper to want the Lord to dwell in something grand and glorious. But as Yahweh's response shows, David has missed a few things. Some of which raise other questions.

First, consider that Yahweh is the one who designed the tabernacle as His dwelling place. He gave Moses the blueprints and Moses built it, and since that time, God was content to have that as His (temporary) home. Not at all, meaning this was intended to be a permanent situation. In Dt. 12 Yahweh tells Israel that when they go into the land, they are to destroy all the false places of worship, being sure not to worship Yahweh the way the Canaanites worshiped their gods. Instead, they should "seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there." (Dt. 12:5).

The portability of the tabernacle also signified the Lord was not at rest in the land. As Yahweh tells Nathan, never once did he command any of the judges to build Him a (permanent) house. Mention of the judges reminds you that any many ways, Israel failed her initial mission to go in and take possession of the land of Canaan, by not driving out all the inhabitants of the land. Only under David does that mission come to its closest to completion. If there are still Canaanites in the land, there are still Canaanite gods. Building Yahweh a permanent house when such was the case would symbolize Israel had completed her mission when she had not. This becomes clear when we consider what Solomon said before he began to build the temple.

“You know that David my father could not build a house for the name of the LORD his God because of the warfare with which his enemies surrounded him, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune. And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’ (1 Ki 5:3–5).

The account in Chronicles also makes this clear.

“Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’” (1 Ch 28:2–3).

So although David has some rest from His enemies, it has come at the cost of great bloodshed, so while rest may be imminent, the timing was not right for a permanent house for Yahweh. And besides, David would not be the man to build such a house.

David needed to have his desires honed and shaped by the word of God, through the prophet Nathan. Just as you are to do. Sometimes we have attempted to usher in the new heavens and the new earth before its time by beating our swords into plowshares before its time. But this only leaves an army with no weapons with battles yet to be won. And this has broad and narrow applications. We will know when it is time to hang up the sword, corporately, as the people of God and also as individuals. As the author of Hebrews warns: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Heb 12:4). Until the Lord gives us rest in the age to come, we are in a war against the world, the flesh, and the Devil—don't give up the fight before you've won.

More importantly, David needed to learn what His son Solomon sang so beautifully: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” (Ps 127:1). The difference between David and Saul was David learned to wait and trust in Yahweh, whereas you could imagine if given a similar circumstance Saul going ahead and building the temple anyway. David's desire to build the Lord a house is a good one, but the timing was off, and he was not the right man for the job. David proves he has learned one of the greatest patterns in Scripture—Yahweh takes the initiative and we respond. When Yahweh says to build a house, you must build it, but if he hasn't, then you must wait. And waiting is something we are not good at.

However, Yahweh's response is not just no, now's not the time and you're not the man, but rather, I am going to build you a house.

Yahweh's Desire to Build David a House

Although the term covenant is not used here in 2 Samuel 7, the language is covenantal and David and Israel understood this to be God's covenant with David (cf. 2 Sam. 23:5; Ps. 132). Covenants are bonded relationships with promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The preamble to the covenant in v. 8 lays out the indicatives of what God has done for David. He chose him and set him as prince and has been with him, cutting off all his enemies. His election of David was for His people Israel and the promises that he made to Abraham to be their God and give them a place.

To ensure that will always be the case, Yahweh makes a covenant with David, promising him he will build him a house. Here the play on words, for house in v. 16 does not mean temple or palace, both which are the other uses of house in this text, but dynasty. Yahweh promises David a royal line, so that one of David's sons would always sit on the throne.

Much as the Abrahamic covenant was before, this covenant with David is unconditional. There is nothing David must do to secure the blessing of a sure dynasty. Yahweh will establish it and nothing can prevent Him. This doesn't mean that there were no conditions. We see that if His sons continue to keep covenant with Yahweh, then he will be a father to them, and they will be His sons. That is the blessing of a rule that since it was under the authority of Yahweh, flourished. Something akin to Psalm 72.

“OF SOLOMON. Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations! May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth! In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (Ps 72:title–17).

Such is the king who has Yahweh as His Father. But if he should break covenant with Yahweh, his reign will be a curse to himself and the people because the Lord would discipline him. After the kingdom is divided under David's grandson Rehoboam, Judah continues to have a Davidic king on the throne until the kingdom is taken away from the altogether in the Babylonian captivity. But the last words of 2 Kings give hope:

“And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king’s table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.” (2 Ki 25:27–30).

As long as there was an heir to the throne, there was hope. It is into that kind of environment an altogether different king was born. A royal bloodline, but born in the humblest of ways in the humblest of places, who would inherit an eternal kingdom, one that could never be shaken resting secure in heaven, where Christ is even now seated at God's right hand.

Yahweh's gracious response to David's desire to build him a house (temple) was the promise to build David's house into an everlasting dynasty. It is that kingdom that we belong too, under whose king we have all the blessings of salvation, with rich promises that we will rule and reign with Him over a new creation, restored from the ravages of sin. From this we learn God takes the initiative, he made promises and they will be fulfilled. And we, as recipients of His covenant promises, can only respond with gratitude for all that God has done, just as we will see David do next week. Amen.