David receives the kingdom promised to Abraham. David establishes the city of Jerusalem as Yahweh’s city and receives peace. He also receives the promise of an enduring dynasty. While Solomon builds the temple and receives David’s kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David greater than David, is the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promise. He will receive the eternal Kingdom.
We’ve just had an election. We’ve chosen a government for ourselves. We’ve ditched Mr Rudd and his friends and chosen Mr Abbott and his friends. And so, we will tolerate a new government for another 3 or so years. If they are smarter than they are stupid, if we consider they’ve done a reasonable job, we’ll give them another go. But when they’ve annoyed more of us than not, we’ll kick them out. We’ll give the other lot a go, and hope that they don’t stuff it up too bad.
We don’t really have dynasties in political life in Australia. Of course, we have the House of Windsor: Queen Elizabeth, her ancestors, and her descendants. But they don’t hold real power. We don’t have real political power handed from father to son. It’s more of a ‘meritocracy’, whoever can ascend to atop the pile wins.
We come close to dynasties in the business world: the Packers, the Murdochs, the Holmes-A’Courts, the Reinhardts. They say the wealth only lasts three generations. The first generation makes the dough, the second builds it up, and the third loses it. We’ll see what happens with the Packers.
Perhaps we have dynasties among sporting families. Wayne Pearce begets Mitchell Pearce, and both represent NSW in state of origin. Geoff Marsh and his son Shaun have both played Cricket for Australia. Victor Richardson captained the Australian cricket team. So did his grandsons, Ian and Greg Chappell.
The problem with a meritocracy such as our democracy is that you have to choose a new government every few years. Because we change our mind as to who is the best. The problem with a monarchy is you can’t get rid of them.
Of course, the best of both worlds is to have the best possible leader forever. The best form of government possible is an all-wise, all powerful, all-good King, who will never leave office and never lose power. As Mr Finneran, my old Cricket coach said, ‘the best form of government is a benign dictatorship’.
But human history has taught us there is no such thing. You can have men who are benign. You can have men who are dictators. But no man can be both. We are not that stupid. And so we settle for the least worst option of democracy.
But in our passage today, God won’t settle with the least worst option. God will provide for a King, a godly King whose reign will never end. And he will not be just King over Judah, or merely Israel. He will rule over all God’s earth as King.
After many years of fighting, all Israel comes to David at Hebron. The recognize that even under Saul, David functioned effectively as King. David led Israel in battle, and that’s what Kings do (2 Samuel 5:2). Moreover, they recognize Yahweh’s promise to David. 2 Samuel chapter 5 verse 2, they say,
'You shall shepherd my people Israel, and you shall become their ruler.'
With David, the shepherd boy, comes a new shepherd for all Israel[1].
Previously, David was anointed King by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:12ff). Then David was anointed King over Judah (2 Samuel 2:4). He reigned over the house of Judah 7 and a half years from Hebron. And then David is anointed King over all Israel (2 Samuel 5:3, 17). And David reigned 33 years over all Israel.
The King needs a capital. So the King’s first task is to take Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the city which Melchizedek, the King-Priest, ruled. Jerusalem had been very difficult to take when Israel conquered the land[2]. For most of the time of the Judges, Jerusalem was in Jebusite hands.
Jerusalem had proved difficult to conquer, but not for David. Like incy wincy spider, David climbed up the water spout (2 Samuel 5:8). And so David captured the fortress of Zion, and renamed it the City of David. He took up residence in Jerusalem, and built it up (2 Samuel 5:7-9).
And from that time on, Jerusalem has been the city of God. God placed his name there. God’s people have longed for it, we Christians, especially.
Now, I’m not talking about the earthly city of Jerusalem. For Christians, the earthly city of Jerusalem is only of historical and humanitarian interest. It is a symbol of something greater, that we are yet to fully see. The city we Christians long for is described the new Jerusalem, the Jerusalem from above coming down from heaven as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband, Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 3:12; 21:2,10).
But the New Testament imagery of the new Jerusalem gets it’s oomph from David. The earthly Jerusalem bows to Christ David, just as the heavenly Jerusalem bows to Christ Jesus.
Well, [David] became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him. (2 Samuel 5:10). David’s power is shown both by friends and enemies. By friends, because the King of Tyre built David a stone and cedar palace (2 Samuel 5:11). By enemies, because David gives the Philistines a final schlacking once and for all (2 Samuel 5:18).
David is different from Saul as a King. David is constantly enquiring of Yahweh. And Yahweh is constantly answering him (2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Chronicles 14:9-17). God made all the nations around fear David (1 Chronicles 14:9-17). Finally, the Christ has come to deliver Israel.
2 Samuel 6 tells us the story of the Ark coming to Jerusalem. The Ark has seen many miles since it was with Eli at Shiloh. The Ark has toured the countryside. It wreaked havoc among the Philistines[3]. It killed 70 Israelites in Beth-Shemesh who looked into it.
So the Ark is feared as a dangerous object. It has been placed under guard for 20 years. It is on a hill 12 kilometres away from Jerusalem. And now David, who has taken Jerusalem, wants to bring the ark to Jerusalem.
So in 2 Samuel 6, David employs 30,000 chosen soldiers (2 Samuel 6:1). Perhaps they are a parade, perhaps the escort, perhaps the armed guard. Perhaps its best to think of the Ark coming into Jerusalem as if a small nuclear power plant was coming to your city. It is immensely powerful, but if you don’t know what you are doing, very dangerous.
David has taken many precautions, but clearly not enough. David placed the ark on a cart. En route, the ox stumbled. Uzzah, it’s guard, touched it, probably to steady it. And Uzzah died there, where he touched it (2 Samuel 6:2-8).
It was an irreverent act (verse 7). Uzzah was not a Levite, nor a Priest. Nor was the Ark meant to be put on a cart. That’s what the Philistines did, but God’s people must not copy them. God said the ark was meant to carried on poles on the shoulders of the priests (1 Chronicles 15:13).
So David was rightly afraid of Yahweh, the God of Israel, after Uzzah’s death. So the Ark stayed outside the City of David for three months. It remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household, to show that it is not God, but disobedience to God, that must be feared.
And so David tries again, this time the proper way. This time, the ark was carried by the Levites (verse 13; 1 Chronicles 15:12-15). And as insurance, sacrifices were made every 6 steps (verse 13).
So now, David is King over all Israel ruling in Jerusalem. David has whacked the Philistines his enemies. They won’t stick their heads up again to bother David. His friends have built him a palace in Jerusalem And Yahweh has condescended to allow his Ark to reside in Jerusalem. Now, Israel’s King, and Israel’s people, have rest.
And King David looks around and thinks, ‘Now, what will I do?’ It is what high achievers have to do once they achieved what they wanted. What next? Alexander the Great wept when he had conquered India for there were no more worlds to conquer. Pat Cash lay on his bed after winning Wimbledon, saying ‘What next?’. And David does the same thing. 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 1 to 3:
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 palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." 3 Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."
David says, ‘I’ve got a nice palace. God’s got a tent.’ David thinks, ‘That’s not appropriate’. And Nathan says, ‘Just do it, God’s is with you.’
But that night, both Prophet and King learn that even David just can’t do whatever he wants. Just like he can’t move the Ark how he likes, David can’t serve God how he likes. God might indeed be with David. But it is not David’s job to stipulate what is appropriate for God. 2 Samuel 7 verses 5 to 7:
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?"'
These words indicate a mild rebuke. 'David, I haven’t asked for this, have I? It’s not your job, David, to work out what is appropriate for my Ark.'
In fact, God doesn’t want David to build the temple. Chronicles tells us that David has been a man of blood in many wars. And a man of peace is to build the temple, the place of God’s symbolic rest[4].
But God promises that David’s name will be great. David is the heir to God’s promise to Abraham, whose name God will magnify.
More than this, David will have a house, a dynasty. There is a play on words, here. Just as there is a house of Windsor, the royal family and succession, so David will have a royal family and succession. So David will be different to King Saul. Saul was a one-hit wonder, a flash in the pan King. But God will give David a dynasty.
David wants to build God a house, a temple. But God wants to build David a house, a dynasty. It is God, not David, who is in the business of building houses. 2 Samuel 7 verses 11 to 16:
`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 fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, 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 shall be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 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 shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'" (NIV)
David’s Kingship will be different to Saul’s. Saul was removed as King. Saul’s son Jonathan didn’t reign after him. But David will have a kingdom that endures forever. The throne of the line of David will endure forever.
Moreover, David’s Son will build God’s temple. And David’s Son will be called the Son of God.
I will be his father, and he shall be my Son. (NIV)
And this of course, will have immediate fulfillment in the reign of Solomon. Solomon is the man of peace who will spend 7 years building Yahweh’s temple.
But this cannot merely apply to Solomon. This is the promise of a dynasty that will reign forever. And it doesn’t merely apply to Solomon, as Solomon didn’t live forever. It must, of necessity, apply to others[5]. Verse 16:
Your house and your kingdom shall endure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.'"
So with the process of death, in the normal course of events, son must succeed father. Each King must have an heir. That is what Israel asked for, when they requested a King. And the promise could be fulfilled by having an unending line of Kings who succeed one another.
But there is another way that God’s promise could be fulfilled. The promise of an eternal Kingdom could be fulfilled with an eternal King. If one King had eternal life, the promise would be fulfilled. Then there would be no ‘the King is dead, long live the King’. There would only be, ‘This King is alive forever and ever’
Yes, that would be an alternative way God’s promise could be fulfilled. But what Royal figure in the line of King David would live forever? The Lord Jesus Christ. And at Jesus’ baptism, God announced from heaven:
"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16 NIV; cf Luke 3:22)
As Son of David, Jesus is also the Son of God. And at Jesus Christ’s resurrection, he was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4) In fact, the gospel can be summarized as ‘Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David’ (2 Timothy 2:8 NIV; Romans 1:3)
Jesus Christ is David’s Son (Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 15:22; 20:30; 21:9, 15; 22:42 and parallels. See also Luke 1:32, 69; 2:11; John 7:42) And Jesus Christ, our magnificent risen king, says, ‘I was dead, and now I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and hades.’ Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords because he lives forever.
But from the perspective of David, David’s greater Son lies in the future. But David is a little scale model, a little type, of Jesus. Just as the nations will obey Jesus Christ, so it was for David. David subdues the nations around him The Philistines to the East, the Moabites and Edomites to the West, the Arameans to the North, the Ammonites and Amelekites (2 Samuel 10), David defeated them all (2 Samuel 8:1-13).
The LORD gave David victory wherever he went. (2 Samuel 8:14 NIV)
And just as our Christ loved his enemies, so did Christ David. David also showed faithful kindness to Saul’s family (2 Samuel 9). He provided for Jonathan’s crippled son, Mephibosheth. David treated Mephibosheth like one of his sons. He didn’t wipe out his potential adversaries. He was faithful to his friend Jonathan, and overlooked the many sins of his enemy Saul.
Friends, there are no succession problems with the line of David. Because we have Jesus Christ. He is our King forever, fulfilling the promises to David in 2 Samuel 7.
We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
And where is our world going? God the Father is bringing everything under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. All the nations of the world will be given to Jesus Christ as a gift.
And you and I will co-rule with Jesus Christ. Unworthy as we are, sinners that we are, we will rule and reign. Jesus Christ will share his rule with us. We are part of the royal family, adopted as Sons of God and brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So don’t give up on faith in Jesus Christ. Stand up for Jesus Christ, and endure hardship on account of him. You will be richly rewarded and receive a wonderful welcome into your rest. And you will live under a wonderful King – a benign and all wise Lord and King -- , the one who loved you and died for you, and wants to share his inheritance with you, for days without number.
Let’s pray.
[1] Jacob the shepherd called Yahweh his shepherd (Genesis 48:15, 49:24). Moses the shepherd before his death prayed that Yahweh would provide a shepherd for Israel, and Yahweh instructed Moses to lay his hands on Joshua and commission him (Numbers 27:15-23). In 2 Samuel 7:7, all the leaders Yahweh raises over Israel are commanded to ‘shepherd my people’ (2 Samuel 7:7).
[2] Joshua had originally defeated the King of Jerusalem, but this was outside his city (Joshua 10). Joshua 15:8, 63, 18:28, Judges 1:21 indicate that Jerusalem remained a Jebusite city, though it’s King was defeated by Joshua. However, Judges also indicates that the men of Judah took Jerusalem and burned it (Judges 1:7-8). Thus, the Jebusites almost certainly recovered and rebuilt it. It was still a Jebusite city in Judges 19:10. When David took Goliath’s head and put it in Jerusalem (1 Samuel 17:54), was that after he captured Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 5? Probably, although perhaps 1 Samuel 17:54 shows the importance of Jerusalem to David even early in his career.
[3] Since the Israelites took the land of Canaan, the Ark is recorded to have resided in Gilgal (Joshua 4:18-24), and Bethel (Judges 20:27). In the books of Samuel, the ark resided at different times, at Shiloh (1 Samuel 1:1-4:4), it did a tour among the Philistines wreaking havoc and destruction (Samuel 4:11-5:12), stayed briefly at Beth Shemesh killing those who looked into it (1 Samuel 6:11-21), and then at Keriath Jearim for 20 years at the house of Abinadab (1 Samuel 7:1-4). Keriath Jearim seems to be a similar location to Keriath Baal, Baal Judah and Baalah (1 Chronicles 13:6; 2 Samuel 6:2). There is no reference to the Ark being with the priests of Nob (1 Samuel 21), thus it probably stayed at the house of Abinadab during this time. The ark was before Saul at Gibeah briefly (1 Samuel 14:2-3, 16-19). Thereafter, I surmise it returned to the house of Abinadab at Keriath Jearim (2 Samuel 6:1-8). After the tragedy to Uzzah, it stays at the house of Obed-Edom for 3 months (2 Samuel 6:9-11). It appears that the Ark for substantial periods was housed not in the holy of holies in the tabernacle, but separately, and this includes after David brought the Ark into Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 16:37-42; 21:29-30).
[4] 6 Then he [David] called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon: ‘My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. 8 But this word of the Lord came to me: “You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.” (1 Chronicles 22:6-10 NIV)
[5] Psalm 132:10-12: 10 For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your anointed one. 11 The LORD swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: "One of your own descendants I will place on your throne-- 12 if your sons keep my covenant and the statutes I teach them, then their sons shall sit on your throne for ever and ever." There is no problem with King Jesus. He always kept the covenant of God. The unconditional aspects of the covenant come out in Psalm 89:3-4 You said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, 4 `I will establish your line for ever and make your throne firm through all generations.' Also Psalm 89:19-37, 49-52.