2 Samuel 7:1-17 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Build on the Rock Summer Series 7 July 15, 2018 “A House for David”
What is it that makes a house a home? I suppose we could come up with any number of answers depending on exactly what we think of the question. Usually when people talk about making a house a home, they mean that any proper structure can be a house. It needs to provide shelter, put a roof over our heads. But for us to really love and appreciate our home, it needs to mean something more to us. Maybe it’s the care with which we decorate or personalize the space so that it feels comfortable to us. Maybe it’s the memories that we have there with friends and family. Maybe it’s a location that we absolutely love, and perhaps it’s a combination of some or all those things that makes a house a home. Our sermon text today from 2 Samuel invites us to take a peek inside the house of King David. His house was a beautiful palace built in the Promised Land. It was paneled with cedar wood from Lebanon. It was built in Jerusalem, the new capitol city from which David and his forces had finally expelled the pagan people. It was an incredible and beautiful place, and there David sat having accomplished so much. He was the king of God’s people. He had success against his enemies. And now he could enjoy peace and appreciate the situation he was in. But there was something about that house that didn’t sit right with King David. It didn’t yet really feel like a home for him. The problem was he didn’t feel right living in a luxurious palace while the Ark of God, the Ark of the Covenant, sat in a tent. You might recall that the Ark of the Covenant represented God with his people. This special ornate box sat for so many years in the most holy place of the Tabernacle, the inner room into which no one was allowed to go except for the priest. And even he could only enter that room once per year. David said, “I have a lovely place to live, but God doesn’t.” And he wanted to change that. It is worth noting that in this way, David sets an incredible example for us. He was not just concerned with his own welfare or even with enjoying the luxury that he really did have. He was even more concerned about honoring God and making sure that God was glorified by his actions. David wanted to show his thankfulness to God. So he had an idea. He decided to undertake a building project. He would build a Temple, a place for the Ark of God, a place that would represent God’s glory to his people. David wanted to build a house for God. And this was a great idea. As we said already, we have every indication that this was a heartfelt response for David. He loved God who had put him in his position and he wanted to honor God. David shared his idea with Nathan, God’s prophet, and Nathan, too, agreed that this was a great idea. Nathan told David to go ahead with his plans. But God had other plans. Now, that still doesn’t mean that David’s plans were bad or wrong. If he didn’t listen to what God told him through the prophet, that would have been wrong. But God simply had a different plan in mind and he let David know. That’s a good reminder for us that even when things don’t work out, or when God answers our prayers with a no and not a yes, that doesn’t necessarily tell us that our plans were wrong or bad. Christians serving God make lots of choices between and among things that are good. It wouldn’t be sinful for us to make a different choice. In the same way, God didn’t have other plans because he was upset with David. David’s plan wasn’t sinful. God simply had other plans. In fact, he had better plans, much better plans. While David was prepared to build a house for God, God promised to build a house for David. It wasn’t the same sort of house, of course. David already had his palace. God promised to establish David’s royal line and to do so much more.
This promise came to David by way of Nathan the prophet. When Nathan first heard David’s plan, he thought it was great and went along with it. But that very night, God gave Nathan a different message. He was to tell David several things. First, God pointed out that he had not asked David to build his house. Then he reminded David how God had brought him from tending sheep to being the king over his people. God promised that he would continue to bless David with success and fame. And then came the promise: “The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you.” And what did that mean? It meant first that David would have a son to succeed him as king. His son would, in fact, be the one to build God’s Temple—more on that next week. But the promise meant even more as well. God said of David’s descendant, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever . . . my love will never be taken away from him . . . Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” God was not talking about just one man who would succeed David as King and build a Temple. He was talking about another man and another throne. He was talking about the Savior. He was repeating and renewing and refining a promise made so long before. Think back over just a few weeks of this summer series and the high points of Israelite history that we have encountered. They were connected to this promise. God first made the promise to Adam and Eve to send a Savior from sin. He chose Abraham and his descendants and repeated the promise to them. He made them into a great nation and rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He brought them safely to the Promised Land and raised up kings to rule over them. And in our lesson today, he once again he returned to the most important part of his plan and he promised the Savior another time. This time he revealed that the Savior would come from David’s line. He revealed that the Savior would be a king, an eternal king. And as he had at every step along the way, God was doing things and making promises that no one deserved. God made David into a great king, but David didn’t deserve that. God promised the Savior through his family, but David didn’t deserve that. This man, David, would also be an adulterer and a murderer. His life made it painfully clear that he needed a Savior, not that he should be a bearer of the promise or an ancestor of that Savior. But that is God’s grace. By grace God revealed a bit more about his plan and he reminded his people about his promise. Isn’t that the lesson that we need to take from this building project? God built a house for David, but that house was not just for David. What God built was for a world of sinners. It was for you and me. And we didn’t deserve it. We may think, “I’m no murderer or adulterer.” But God says differently. He says that even hating others is murder and that committing adultery in our thoughts is sinful. He says that we can keep the entire law that he has revealed to us, except for one part of it, and we are guilty of breaking every part. And when we look at our lives, we know that we have broken God’s commands. We are forced to admit that we don’t deserve any good thing from God. And yet God had us in mind when he made promises to Adam and Eve and when he repeated the promise to Abraham and to David. He had you in mind when he sent Jesus to rule on the throne of David and to fulfill all the promises he had made. Jesus, descendant of David, had you in mind as he lived a life that was perfect and holy. He had you in mind when he took your sins on himself and died for them on the cross. And he had you in mind when he rose from the dead to continue to rule as king forever! And God had you in mind when he recorded in his Word promise after promise about the coming Savior so that you could look back on them and see that Jesus Christ fulfilled them all! That’s the lesson we learn from this biblical building project. God built a house for David. And by doing so, he built a home for us. We have a home in Christ’s kingdom, and we have a home with him in heaven.
The Text: 2 Samuel 7:1–17 (NIV) After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” 3 Nathan 4 But
replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”
that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:
5 “Go
and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ 8 “Now
then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’ ” 17 Nathan
reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.