Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:9-16 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. 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. 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 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: 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. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 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. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”
Devotional: Earlier this week, I asked you to hold on to the covenant that God made with Abraham, knowing that the people of Israel weren’t likely able to keep their end of the bargain when it came to the covenant. God promised Abraham that he would become a great nation. Check. The nation of Israel is a result of that promise and continues to flourish. He also promised Abram that through Him all people would be blessed.
We’re starting to get to that.
Enter the Davidic covenant. Like the Mosaic covenant, God’s covenant with David was unconditional. Meaning God didn’t place any conditions of obedience upon its fulfillment. The surety of the promises made rests solely on God’s faithfulness and does not depend at all on David or Israel’s obedience.
The Davidic Covenant centers on several key promises that are made to David. First, God reaffirms the promise of the land that He made in the first two covenants with Israel (the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants). Secondly, He promises David that his son will succeed him on the throne, and that his kingdom would be established forever.
This, of course, was a prophecy of what was to come: an eternal Kingdom through whom all people would be blessed. The covenant God made with Abram centuries before was still in play, still coming to fruition. What a magnificent thread of God’s redeeming work over the course of history.
Reflect:
- As you read God’s promise to David, what other signs of His faithfulness do you observe?
