God's Promises Are Sure

Introduction

Consider for a moment the answer to the following question: “Does God keep His promises?” Most of us in this room grew up in a context where we learned to trust an authority figure, whether it be a parent, teacher or mentor. Throughout our lives those people who have made the greatest impact on us were those who made promises to us and followed through with those promises. Conversely, there are many in this room today who were promised love by a parent or a spouse but that promise was not fulfilled. Unfulfilled promises perhaps have left you bitter and skeptical. How much more important is God’s faithfulness to His promises, for it is upon the foundation of His faithfulness that we build our trust. As we open our text today we will discover a profound truth about God’s character: God is always faithful to keep His covenant promises. Open your Bibles to 2 Samuel 7:8-17 and let’s read the text together:

2 Samuel 7:8-17

Now this is what you are to say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land. 10 I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not afflict them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“ ‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. 15 But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”

17 Nathan spoke all these words and this entire vision to David.

Up to this point in Israel’s history God has remained present with His covenant people in their wanderings and that presence was manifest in tents that moved wherever God directed the Israelites to go. As King of Israel David now dwells in a house of cedar, while God has no physical house in which to dwell. In an act of piety David expresses his faithfulness to God by expressing his desire to build God a place to dwell. Instead of allowing David to build a house for Him, God expresses His faithfulness to His servant David

God is Faithful to His Servant David (2 Samuel 7:8-9)

Before God makes His covenant with David, He reminds David of His past faithfulness. Apart from the historical context of verses 8 and 9 we fail to appreciate the profound faithfulness of God. God had chosen David out of obscurity to lead His people; not only was he the youngest of Jesse’s sons, but he was an unpresuming lowly shepherd with no leadership experience. Yet he was the one chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to lead Israel. God used David to defeat the mighty Philistine army and to preserve the Jewish people. After David became King of Israel God preserved David’s life from the threats of King Saul’s jealousy. Yet, even when David was unfaithful by committing adultery with Bathsheba God continued to be faithful in preserving David’s life.

Illustration

Agostino d’ Antonio, a sculptor of Florence, Italy, wrought diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. “I can do nothing with it,” he finally said. Other sculptors, too, worked with the piece of marble, but they, too, gave up the task. The stone was discarded. It lay on a rubbish heap for forty years.

Out strolling one day, Michelangelo saw the stone and the latent possibilities in it. It was brought to his studio. He began to work on it. Ultimately, his vision and work were crowned with success. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the world’s masterpieces of sculpture—”David!”[1]

Application

David’s life reveals that God demonstrates His faithfulness by using ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary tasks. You may be sitting here today feeling that your life is insignificant, or that God can’t use you because of your past mistakes. Yet, through the life of David we see the glorious faithfulness of God on full display.

When we choose to remember God’s past faithfulness in our lives we can be assured that He will be faithful still yet.

God is Faithful to His Covenant People

After God reminds David of His past faithfulness to him, He then turns His attention to His faithfulness to His covenant people. In vss. 10-11 God promises three things to the Jewish people: 1). Physical place of habitation; 2). Rest from their enemies; 3). An everlasting kingdom. Despite these promises, the Israelites turn their back on God and worship other gods. The consequence of their sins is that they are handed over to their enemies

2 Kings 17:18-20 tells us, “18 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained. 19 Even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God but lived according to the customs Israel had introduced. 20 So the Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel, afflicted them, and handed them over to plunderers until He had banished them from His presence.

By the end of chapter 25 Israel has been overtaken by the Babylonians and brought into exile, while the center of Jewish life, the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, are destroyed. It is a scene of utter hopelessness and despair as it seems that David’s line has all but been blotted out. However, in the last three verses of 2 Kings there is a glimmer of hope that God might still yet fulfill His promises. In an act of kindness the Babylonian king releases Jehoiachin from prison and pardons him. A king from the line of David remains, thus the hope of a future fulfillment of the Davidic covenant remains.

Illustration

When I was a kid I often went hunting with my father. My dad and I usually stayed together; however, on this one occasion we decided to split up to cover more ground. The sun began to set and it became darker and darker until it got to the point that I could hardly see. I began to panic thinking that my Father had left me alone and that I was lost. Yet, as I was standing on this knoll I could see a glimmer of light in the distance that pierced through the dark. I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of relief that my father had not left me alone and that he kept his promise to come back for me. You see, Jehoiachin’s release is that glimmer of hope from the Father that He would still remain faithful to His promises.

Application

God’s faithful love is unconditional. Despite our failures and our lack of trust God remains faithful to His promises. Even when all hope seems lost because of our own disobedience or lack of faith, we can rest in the fact that God will keep His promises.

Messiah Jesus is Proof of God’s Faithfulness

We now come to the climax of this magnificent passage of Scripture in which God promises David a unique future descendant from his lineage Let’s read vss. 12-16 together:

When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. 15 But My faithful love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’ ”

There are four fundamental characteristics of this future descendant:

He would come from the Davidic line

He would build a house for God

He would have a Father/Son relationship with God

God would never cease from loving this descendant

He will reign from his throne forever

Although each king of Israel was the potential fulfillment of this promise, each one ultimately failed in at least one of these areas. Solomon built a temple for God but that temple was eventually destroyed. Moreover, Solomon married foreign women and worshiped their gods. Rehoboam mistreated the people of Israel and further divided the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Subsequent kings ultimately failed God in their sin or ultimately died, thus leaving the promises of God unfulfilled.

But in Luke 1:32 this long anticipated Messiah unexpectedly bursts onto the scene:

In this single verse the angel proclaims that Jesus will ultimately fulfill the promises of God.

Luke 1:32-33

He will be great

and will be called the Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give Him

the throne of His father David.

33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,

and His kingdom will have no end.

Notice what the angel promises of Jesus:

He would come from the Davidic line

He would reign over the House of Jacob forever

He would have a Father/Son relationship with God

His will reign from His throne forever

When all hope had seemed lost, God still remained faithful to His covenant promises.

Not only was Jesus proclaimed to be the Messiah, but He also understood Himself to be the Messiah.

1. In Matthew 26:61 Jesus promises to build a temple or house for God.

2. In Matthew 19:28-29 Jesus claims that His throne is eternal.

3. In Luke 22:29-30 Jesus claims that His kingdom is imperishable

The Gospel writers also understood Jesus to be the fulfillment of God’s covenant with David.

Mark and John give Jesus the title of “Son of God,” referring back to the Father/Son relationship of the Davidic covenant.

Matthew gives Jesus the title, “Son of David,” indicating that Jesus is the promised descendant of the Davidic line.

The apostle Paul also believed that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, claiming in Romans 1:1-6

The Holman Christian Standard Bible Chapter 1

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle b and singled out for God’s good news — 2 which He promised long ago through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures— 3 concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was a descendant of David h according to the flesh 4 and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness. 5 We have received grace and apostleship through Him to bring about the obedience of faith among all the nations, r on behalf of His name, 6 including yourselves who also belong to Jesus Christ by calling

So often we gloss over Paul’s introductory material without giving it much though, but look at the language that Paul uses:

The coming of Messiah Jesus was foretold by the prophets

He refers to Jesus as God’s son

A descendant of David

As One having authority

He will bring salvation to all nations

Paul understands Jesus to be the Savior of both the Jews and the Gentiles according to the apostleship granted to him at his conversion. Inclusion of the Gentiles does not negate the promises that God made to Israel. In fact, the claim that the Church has inherited the promises made to Israel is not found in Scripture. However, God’s extension of the Gospel message to the Gentiles reveals a fascinating truth about God’s character: God not only keeps His promises, but He will often do more than what He promises.

Illustration

In Bunyan’s great allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, the incident is related of how Christian decides to leave the Main Highway and follow another Path which seemed easier. But this Path leads him into the territory of Giant Despair who owns Doubting Castle.

Eventually he is captured by Giant Despair and kept in a dungeon. He is advised to kill himself. The Giant said there was no use trying to keep on with his journey. For the time, it seemed as if Despair had really conquered Christian. But then, Hope, Christian’s companion, reminds him of previous victories. So it came about that on Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and continued in prayer until almost morning.

Now a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half-amazed, broke out in passionate speech, “What a fool am I thus to lie in a stinking Dungeon, when I may as well be at liberty. I have a Key in my bosom called Promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.” Then said Hopeful, “That’s good news. Good Brother, pluck it out of thy bosom and try.” And the prison gates flew open.[1]

So often we are just like Christian. It seems as though God is slow in keeping His promises so we choose to take our circumstances into our own hands. We suffer the cruelties of this world, living in despair, often forgetting the hope of God’s promises. So often we live as spiritual paupers in a world that is not our home.

Application

There are three important truths that we must glean from these texts:

God fulfills His promises according to His timeline and not our expectations.

Jesus is living proof that God keeps His promises.

God will often do more than what He promises.

Conclusion

We now return to the question we posed at the beginning: “Does God keep His promises?” Just as God kept His promises to David, we can be assured that God’s promises to us are sure. Perhaps the better question is, “If God is faithful, why do we so often doubt the promises of God?”

D.L Moody tells the following story:

I was standing with a friend at his garden gate one evening when two little children came by. As they approached us he said to me:

“Watch the difference in these two boys.”

Taking one of them in his arms he stood him on the gatepost, and stepping back a few feet he folded his arms and called to the little fellow to jump. In an instant the boy sprang toward him and was caught in his arms. Then turning to the second boy he tried the same experiment. But in the second case it was different. The child trembled and refused to move. My friend held out his arms and tried to induce the child to trust to his strength, but nothing could move him. At last my friend had to lift him down from the post and let him go.

“What makes such a difference in the two?” I asked.

My friend smiled and said, “The first is my own boy and knows me; but the other is a stranger’s child whom I have never seen before.”

There was all the difference. My friend was equally able to prevent both from falling, but the difference was in the boys themselves. The first had assurance in his father’s ability and acted upon it, while the second, although he might have believed in the ability to save him from harm, would not put his belief into action.

So it is with us. We hesitate to trust ourselves to that loving One whose plans for us are far higher than any we have ourselves made.

Which boy in the story are you? Do you trust God based on His past promises and faithfulness to those promises? Or, do you shy away from Him as one who you cannot trust?

Regardless of our unfaithfulness, God will always remain faithful to His promises. Make no mistake, when you trusted God to do for you what you could not do for yourself Christ reconciled you to God and nothing can separate you from that reality. Do you believe that truth? How will you live in light God’s faithfulness? Will you tremble in unbelief and doubt, or will you entrust yourself to our faithful Father?