Would you turn to 2 Samuel chapter
7? And while you're turning there,
I want to share something that Lynn saw this week that I thought
was really good with reference to Valentine's Day. Real love, listen to this. Real
love is not based on romance, candlelight dinners, and walks
along the beach. In fact, it is based on respect,
compromise, care, and trust. Isn't that good? We ought to
be romantic and thoughtful toward one another, but anyone who has
been married a long time knows real love is based on respect,
compromise, care, and trust. I like that. 2 Samuel chapter
7. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name and Lord, how thankful we are for him. How
thankful we are for the salvation that's in him. How thankful we
are for his beauty and his glory. and our completeness in him.
And Lord, we ask that his name would be exalted, that we be
filled with the sense of awe and reverence toward his glorious
person. Give us the grace to trust him completely. Oh, Lord,
be with us for Christ's sake and let your mercy be upon each
individual here, each home here. Lord, bless us according to Your
will and be with all Your people wherever they meet together.
And Lord, we confess our sins and pray for forgiveness and
cleansing for the Lord's sake. In His name we pray, Amen. Verse 1, 2 Samuel chapter 7,
verse 1, And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house,
and the Lord had given him rest, round about from all his enemies. Now he had troubles ahead, but
right now he didn't have any. He had rest from all his enemies. Now this is the same word that
is used with regard to the rest of the Sabbath. Now rest, rest,
I love the thought of it. Rest, what is it that gives me
rest? The only thing that gives me rest is not having anything
to do at all. that I'm complete in Christ,
that all God requires of me, I have, and there's nothing for
me to do. You know what I do then? I rest. He was given rest. What a glorious
thing. Now, in verse 2, the king said
unto Nathan, at this time of rest, the Lord had delivered
him from all his enemies. As a matter of fact, you go on
reading in this chapter, David becomes the most powerful man
in the world. The scripture actually says, the fear of David fell
upon all nations. He was the most powerful man.
You read in chapter 8, the Lord just vanquished all of his enemies. But the king said unto Nathan
the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the
ark of God dwelleth with curtains." David's saying something's wrong
with this picture. David, the man after God's own heart, loved
his Lord and master. And he says, I don't want me
to dwell in this big house while the ark of God, representing
the Lord Jesus Christ, dwells in a tent. Verse 3, And Nathan
said to the king, Go and do all that's in thine heart for the
Lord. is with thee. Nathan was impressed with David's
desire and he said, go and do all that's in your heart. Now
what was in his heart? This is the new heart that God gives.
Oh, there was love to Christ. There was faith in Christ. There
was a zeal for God's glory. Oh, this man, David. Verse four, And it came to pass
that night that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, God's
prophet, who spoke to David through a prophet, saying, go and tell
my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou build me
a house for me to dwell in? You build me a house. The Lord
loved David. And in a sense, this is a rebuke.
It's a rebuke. You build me a house. Where do
you think you're qualified to do something like that? Now,
he loved David. But remember who David was. He was a man.
And he said, you build me a house. As a matter of fact, in the account
in Chronicles, he says, you'll not build me a house. David was
not qualified. David was a man and nothing more. David was not qualified to build
this house. And I love the way The scripture
says regarding God, he dwelleth not in temples made with hands,
as though he needed anything. Have you ever been in any of
those big religious buildings, cathedrals, and so on, and everybody?
I mean, I've been in them where people say, this is, you get
a sense of reverence and awe, and oh, this is a holy place.
No, it's not. No, it's not. It's a very evil place, as a
matter of fact. The Lord dwells not in temples made with hands,
as though he needed anything. David, you're not going to build
me a house. Verse six, whereas I've not dwelt
in any house since that I brought up the children of Israel out
of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in
a tabernacle and all the places wherein I've walked with all
the children of Israel. Spake I a word with any of the
tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people, Israel saying,
why build ye not me in a house of cedar? Now, what I noticed
in those verses I just read is he talked about how I walked.
with the children of Israel. Do you know if you're a believer,
Christ, God, walks with you. He walks with you continually,
nonstop. He's always there. I love the
way it says regarding Enoch. Enoch walked with God. You know
the reason why Enoch walked with God? And isn't it a wonderful
thing to be enabled by the grace of God to walk with God by faith?
It's walk, it's the believer's walk. The reason any walk with
God is because God walked with him. Psalm 23, David said, the
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. You go on reading in
that Psalm, he says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I'll fear no evil for thou art with me. thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me." Oh, what a blessed thing it is to be enabled by the grace
of God to walk with Him, and it's because He walks with you.
You see, if God before us who can be against us. Now let's
go on reading verse eight. Now therefore so shalt thou say
unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee
from the sheep coat, you were just a shepherd from following
the sheep, and I made you ruler over my people Israel. I took
you when you were an insignificant shepherd boy and made you ruler
of all of Israel. Verse nine, and I was with thee
whithersoever thou wentest. and have cut off all thine enemies
out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto
the name of the great men that are in the earth." Now, in this
verse, the Lord tells David three things that he's done for him.
Number one, he's always with us, whether we feel it or not. If we're believers, he's always
with us. He said, I will never leave thee. nor forsake thee, so that we
may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I shall not fear what
man shall do to me. He's always with the believer. And let me give you three reasons
why he's always with the believer. And this is why we can be secure
about this. This is why we can be confident
and really know this is so with regard to us, with regard to
me. He's always with me, number one, because of justification.
He has no reason to not be with me. I'm justified. Now, I hope we never ever lose
the sense of the glory of being justified in God's sight. I have
no sin. He has no reason to leave me. The reason he never leaves me,
secondly, is because of grace. Salvation is all together by
grace. Therefore, he will never leave
me nor forsake me. And here's the third reason,
because he's immutable. If he's with me, he can't not
be with me. He can't change. He's absolutely
immutable. So he says to David in verse
nine, I was with thee whether so ever thou wentest. And here's
the second blessing. I've cut off all your enemies
out of your sight. He's cut off all the believers,
enemies, my sins. They've been cut off. Cut off
at the cross. The circumcision of Christ, cut
off. They're gone. The law is no longer
my enemy. The law is my friend. It says
you're justified. You stand before me without guilt. If you don't have any sin, you
don't have to fear the law, do you? It's no longer my enemy. The devil, the one who's called
the accuser of the brethren, they overcame him. by the blood
of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony." What was
their testimony? We overcome by the blood. And they love not
their lives even unto death. My evil nature. actually serves
the new man. You know where it says the elder
shall serve the younger? The old nature shall serve the new
nature. Now how can that be? My old nature?
I'll tell you one thing my old nature does, it keeps me from
looking anywhere but Christ only. It won't let me look anywhere
else. You see, all my enemies, my sins, my evil nature, the
law, they've been taken care of. So he says, in verse nine,
I was with thee, whethersoever thou wentest. That's a promise
for every believer. And I've cut off all thine enemies
out of thy sight. And thirdly, I've made thee a
great name, likened to the name of the great men that are in
the earth. And David, indeed, had a great name. But there's
a greater name than this. This is the name wherewith he
shall be called Jehovah Tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. That's Jeremiah 23, 6. But in
Jeremiah 33, it says, this is the name wherewith she shall
be called. That's talking about me. That's
talking about you. That's talking about every believer. This is
the name wherewith she shall be called. Here's my name. The
Lord our righteousness. What a name. And that's the name
of every believer. The Lord our righteousness. Verse 10. Moreover, I will appoint
a place for my people Israel, and will plant them. Oh, I love
that language. I'll plant them. Like the tree
planted by the rivers of water who continually bring forth fruit. You can read about it in Psalm
1. I'll plant them that they may dwell in a place of their
own and move no more. Neither shall the children of
wickedness afflict them anymore as before time. Now, where is
this place? It's in Christ. That's what he's
talking about, being planted in Christ. That's what we mean
in baptism. When Christ lived, I lived. I'm
united to Him. I'm one with Him. When Christ
died, I died. When Christ was raised, I was
raised. I'm in Him. I'm planted in Him.
I can't be removed from that place, and I don't want to be
removed from that place. The only place I want to be found
is in Christ. Right now, that's so much the
desire of my heart. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in Him, so that all that God sees at all times is
Jesus Christ, His Son. That's where I want to be. Nowhere
else. And that's what he says I'm doing. I'm planting them
in a place where they'll never be moved again. Isn't it wonderful
to have this security in Christ Jesus? All the security that's
in him. Now let's go on reading, verse
11. And since the times that I commanded
judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest
from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that he'll
make thee a house. Now, I love that. David said,
I'll make you a house. The Lord says, no, I'll make
you a house. the Lord is the one who does
this, not me. Verse 12, and when thy days be
fulfilled, you know, the day of my death and the day of your
death has already been determined. It's already been determined.
Might be tomorrow, might be 10 years, might be 20, I don't know,
but it's already been determined. And he says to David, And when
thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will set up thy seat after thee, which will proceed
out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. Now is
he talking about Solomon right now? Look in verse 13. He shall build a house for my
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Is he talking about Solomon right now? Now turn with me to 1 Kings
chapter 11 for a moment. beginning in verse 1. But King
Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of
Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidianites,
Hittites, of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the
children of Israel, You shall not go into them, neither shall
they come into you. For surely they'll turn away
your heart after their gods. Solomon claimed to these in love. And he had 700 princes and 300
concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. And it came to
pass when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his heart
after other gods. Now remember, this is the wisest
man to ever live. Wisest man to ever live. This
is a reminder to us that man at his best state, is altogether
vanity. Solomon, the wisest man to ever
live, look how easily his heart is turned. Verse four, it came
to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his
heart after other gods, and his heart was not perfect with the
Lord his God, as with the heart of David his father. For Solomon
went after Astaroth, the goddess of the Zidians, and Milchim,
the abomination of the Ammonites, and Solomon did evil in the sight
of the Lord. and went not fully after the Lord, as did David
his father. Then did Solomon build a high
place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that's before
Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of
Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which
burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord
was angry with Solomon. because his heart was turned
away from the Lord God of Israel, which appeared unto him twice,
and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not
go after other gods. But he kept not that which the
Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto
Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done, Thou hast not kept my covenant,
my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the
kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding
in thy days I'll not do it, for David thy father's sake, but
I'll rend it out of the hand of thy son. Howbeit I'll not
rend away all the kingdom, but will give one tribe to thy son
for David my servant's sake, for Jerusalem's sake, which I
have chosen." So we see that King Solomon, in all his wisdom,
he's not the one the Lord's talking about here. Because his kingdom
was not established by God. As a matter of fact, God said,
I'm rending it away from him. So back to our text in 2 Samuel
chapter 7. And when thy days be fulfilled,
that thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I'll set up thy seat
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will
establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my
name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. You see, he's speaking of the
king of kings. and the Lord of lords, the Lord
Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Oh, his kingdom. I love being
in his kingdom. You know, he said my kingdom
is not of this world and indeed it's not. And I love being in
his kingdom. I love that scripture in Revelation
17, 14, where it says he's the king of kings and the Lord of
lords and they that are with him. This is the description
of every believer called Chosen and faithful. Every single one
of them. Called by the irresistible, invincible
grace of God because they've been chosen before by God in
eternal election. And by the grace of God, they're
faithful. They're faithful to the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's by grace, but they are
faithful to Christ. Oh, what a kingdom this is. Now,
look in verse 14. I will be his father, and he
shall be my son." The special love between the father and the
son. Now look at this next line. If
he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with
the stripes of the children of men, but my mercy shall not depart
from him as I took it from Saul when I put it away before thee.
Now, is all of a sudden He quits talking about David and starts
talking about Solomon when he says, if he shall commit iniquity.
Is he kind of changing streams and all of a sudden he's no longer
talking about the king of kings, but now he's talking about Solomon.
Well, it's true about Solomon. He did commit iniquity and we
know he was saved anyway, wasn't he? Why? Because he was in Christ. But I mean, he dies almost in
infamy, but that's really not what the scriptures are talking
about here. You see, This is hard to get hold of,
but the sins I've committed, Lord never committed sin. Now,
He knew no sin. He was incapable of committing
sin because of who He is. Can God commit sin? No, neither
can Jesus Christ. We believe in the impeccability
of Jesus Christ. He didn't even have the potential
to commit sin. That's how holy he is, that's
how glorious he is. He knew no sin. We know it so
well, he knew no sin. But when my sin was charged to
him, it wasn't merely my punishment that was charged to him, and
he was punished in my place, but the iniquity that I've committed
came upon him. And it says, if he commit iniquity. Now you know in his person he
never committed iniquity, but this is how real imputation is. Hold your finger there and turn
to Psalm 40. This is how real imputation is. And I find such comfort in this. This thing of substitution is
not some kind of heavenly bookkeeping where one thing has changed from
here to there. No, my iniquity became his iniquity
that he committed. He was not punished for a sin
that he didn't do. This is how true and real imputation
is. My sin actually became his sin
so that this is what took place. Now look here in Psalm 40, verse
six. Sacrifice and offering thou didst
not desire, mine ears hast thou opened. Burn offering and sin
offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come in the
volume of the book. It's written of me. I delight
to do thy will. O my God, yea, thy law is within
my heart. Now who's speaking there? That's
the Lord Jesus. It's quoted in Hebrews chapter
10 as the very words of Christ. And remember, every time we read
the Psalms, the first application is, these are the words of Christ.
Now, there's the words of David too, but they're the words of
Christ. And look what he says in verse 11. He says, withhold
not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness
and thy truth continually preserve me, for innumerable evils have
compassed me about What's it say next? Mine iniquities. Not Todd's imputed to me. Mine
iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look
up there more than the hairs of my head. Therefore, my heart
fails me. Now those are the words of the
Lord Jesus Christ from Calvary's tree. Now back to our text in
2 Samuel chapter 7. I will be his father and he shall
be my son if he commit iniquity. I will chasten him with the rod
of men and with the stripes of the children of men. That's talking
about the cross. He used men to punish his son
for the iniquity of his people which became his iniquities.
You know, it's scary to say that. I mean, it's scary. I mean, when
I say things like that, but it's what the Bible says. But while
it's scary, I get such comfort from that, that my sins actually
became His sins. And if He bore them, I do not
bear them. They're not on me anymore. He
put them away. He says in verse And this is
talking about the cross, verse 15. But my mercy shall not depart
from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thine house and thy kingdom, speaking to David, shall be established
forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
forever. You see those iniquities and
those sins were put away by what the Lord Jesus did. And therefore
that throne and that kingdom will be established forever.
And that's why every believer is so secure. My security doesn't
have anything to do with my preaching, my praying. And I preach the
gospel, I know I do. I'm a man after God's own heart.
Every believer is. But do you think that has anything
to do with my security? My security is in the Lord Jesus Christ. What He accomplished in purging
away my sin. And I am complete in Him. His
kingdom is established forever. I'm in His kingdom and that's
why I'm established forever. Non-stop. What a blessed thing
it is to be in this glorious kingdom. Verse 16, thy house
and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee, thy throne
shall be established forever according to all these words
and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David. Now, next week we're going to
consider David's response, but let's just read the first couple
of verses of David's response because you can see this is the
way we should respond to this glorious gospel. Then verse 18,
then went King David in and sat before the Lord. Isn't that beautiful?
He sat before the Lord and he said, who am I? Oh Lord God. And what is my house that you
brought me this way? Who am I that you would do this
for? And that's, that's the believers
response to the gospel. Who am I? Why would he make himself
known to me like this? Not arguing with what's being
said, not being skeptical with what's being said, but who am
I? What is my house that you would
do this for me? David's son is David's Lord.