2 Samuel 7:1-17   Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him,  ² the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent."  ³ Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you."  ⁴ But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan:  ⁵ Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?  ⁶ I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle.  ⁷ Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"  ⁸ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel;  ⁹ 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.  ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly,  ¹¹ from the 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.  ¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.  ¹³ He shall 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 shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings.  ¹⁵ But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.  ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.  ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

            The text for this week is the beginning of the Davidic Covenant, that a member of the house of David will reign forever.  This covenant was made shortly after two things had happened:  1) that David was proclaimed king (and that he chose Jerusalem as the throne city) and 2) that he had brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem. 

Up to this point in the story though, God has had direct talks with David about his future.  David was king only after Saul was killed in battle, along with his son Jonathan.  David was originally proclaimed king of Judah, but then he carefully united the two divided kingdoms into one.  This made him king of all of Israel.  His choosing of Jerusalem as his throne city was also important, because it sat near the border of both nations.

An important theme is present in the story of David.  He is a unifier.  He brought together quarrelling people.  His son, Solomon, would also unite even more people, and build up the kingdom.  Future generations though, would simply tear the kingdom apart, until Jesus was born.  As a born King, and not a proclaimed king, Jesus was once again able to put together all that had been torn apart by sin.  He was able to unify and reconcile the world to God the Father.  This indeed is the future King of all who will reign forever.

In our prayers this week: Ann, Daniel, David, Brianna, Woody, Anna, and Scott Sny (awaiting a liver transplant)

God’s Peace,