David's Dream

If you haven't read the Bible, turn to me, 2 Samuel chapter 7. 2 Samuel chapter 7, David is king over all of Israel. And the first thing David did was take the stronghold of the Jebusite city, Jerusalem.

Conquer it and make that the city of David. The second thing David did was defeat the Philistine armies.

The third thing David did was take the Ark of the Covenant and move it from where it was to the city of David.

It had been dormant for 50 years and everybody in Israel had forgotten about the Ark of the Covenant, which was representative of the presence of God. Now, he wants to build a temple to house the Ark of God. And this chapter, 2 Samuel chapter 7, is mentioned in 40 different other passages in the Old Testament. It becomes a key section of scripture when it comes to what David asks of the Lord and how the Lord responds and what God does in response to David's plan. God makes a promise. And David offers a prayer.

And your eyes are going to be opened tonight in an incredible way to see what David saw, to know what David knew based on what God says, and how it is it changed his life.

Let me read it for you, 2 Samuel chapter 7. Now, it came about when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies. The king said to Nathan, The prophet, see now I dwell in the house of Cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within ten curtains. Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you. But it came about in the same night that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, Go and say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord, Are you the one who should build me a house to dwell in?

For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day. But I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, Why have you not built me a house of Cedar? 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, that you should be ruler over my people Israel.

And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. I will also appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may live in their own place, and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you when your days are complete, and you lie down with your fathers.

I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and the strokes of the sons of men. But my lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.

Your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord. And he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that thou hast brought me thus far? And yet this was insignificant in thine eyes, O Lord God, for thou hast spoken also of the house of thy servant, concerning the distant future, and this is the custom of man, O Lord God. And again, what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God.

For the sake of thy word, and according to thine own heart, thou hast done all this greatness to let thy servant know. For this reason thou art great, O Lord God. For there is none like thee, and there is no God besides thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation on earth is like, thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for himself as a people, and to make a name for himself, and to do a great thing for thee, and awesome things for thy land, before thy people whom thou hast redeemed for thyself from Egypt, from nations and their gods.

For thou hast established for thyself thy people Israel as thy own people forever, and thou, O Lord, hast become their God. Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and his house, confirm it forever. And do as thou hast spoken, that thy name may be magnified forever by saying, The Lord of hosts is God over Israel, and may the house of thy servant David be established before thee. For thou, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has made a revelation to thy servant, saying, I will build you a house.

Therefore thy servant has found courage to pray this prayer to thee. And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this good thing to thy servant. Now therefore, may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue forever before thee. For thou, O Lord God, hast spoken, and with thy blessing may the house of thy servant be blessed forever. This passage of scripture speaks to us to what is commonly called the Davidic Covenant. And while the word covenant is not used here in chapter 23, it is used.

In Psalm 89 it is used to show us that this is the covenant that God makes with David. This follows the Abrahamic Covenant and the promise that God made for Abraham. God promised Abraham a land. God promises David a Lord who will rule in that land. And the new covenant comes and promises the love that allows the Lord to rule in the land. The Abrahamic Covenant brought deliverance. The Davidic Covenant brought deliverance. The new covenant brings deliverance. The Abrahamic Covenant brings a special deliverance.

It's special because it gives them a land that allows them to be blessed forever. The Davidic Covenant gives them a political deliverance from all of their enemies and their own king that rules. The new covenant gives them a spiritual deliverance. The new covenant is personal. The Davidic Covenant is national. I'm sorry, universal. And the Abrahamic Covenant is national. And they all three run hand in hand. But in order for there to be a fulfillment of Davidic promise, in order for there to be a fulfillment of Abrahamic promise, there must be a fulfillment of new covenant promise.

And when that happens in the life of Israel, their nation will be delivered. They will be saved. They will have a land. And the Lord will rule in that land forever. That's a summation of what Zachariah says in Luke chapter 1 when he gives praise to God based on Mary's testimony and the testimony of John the Baptist, his son, the forerunner that would be born, that would pave the way for the Messiah. He goes back and rehearses the Davidic Covenant. He goes back and rehearses the Abrahamic Covenant.

Goes back and rehearses the new covenant in his song in Luke chapter 1 verses 67 down to the end of the chapter. Okay? So here we come to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7. We're going to see David's plan, then God's promise, then David's prayer. We begin with David's plan, verse 1. Now it came about when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies. We have to stop right there. Because for over 20 years, David experienced no rest. Think about it. From the time that Saul was pursuing him to kill him, after he had been anointed king over Israel by Samuel, there was one flight after one flight after another flight after another flight, from tree to tree, from mountain to mountain, from cave to cave, there was no rest for David.

Because his life was always in jeopardy. No matter where he went, Saul was relentlessly pursuing him. Saul dies, he becomes king over Judah in Hebron, and there's war for seven and a half years between everybody else in Israel, the other 11 tribes. And so there's this constant civil war where he is continually defending himself. He's not taking the initiative against his family, but he is defending himself. Again, there is no rest. So it's interesting to read in 2 Samuel 7, verse number 1, that God grants him rest from all of his enemies.

Saul is dead, Abner is dead, Ish-bosheth is dead, and now the Philistines have been conquered. He has rest from his enemies. And the question comes as to what David does in his leisure time, which begs the question, what do you do in your leisure time? Because evidently David's thought process was not on himself, but was on God. At the time that David found rest from all of his enemies, his thoughts were upward, not inward. His thoughts were about God, not about himself. His thoughts were about a place for the ark of God to rest.

In his leisure time, he was thinking more about his God than about himself. The greatest indicator to your spiritual condition is how you handle your leisure time and what you do with your leisure time. The Bible says in Philippians chapter 4, verse 8, we are to think on certain things, things that are pure, true, lovely, praiseworthy.

Our mind is to be fixed on certain things. The book of Colossians, the third chapter, sets your affections on things above, not on things below.

Why? Because you're seated in the heavenlies with Christ. Everything should be upward. But we have trouble functioning down here because we don't look above. David did something. David would think about the law of God. Listen to the words of Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse number 10. God says when you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the Lord your God has given you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies, by the way David has rest from all his enemies, so that you live in security, then it shall come about that the place in which the Lord your God shall choose for his name to dwell, we know where that is, we study that, that's Jerusalem, that's Mount Zion, that's where his name is, there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, and your contribution of your hand and all your choice votive offerings, which you will vow to the Lord.

David is thinking I have rest from my enemies. That's where I'm at. I'm in the place where the name of God dwells. He's thinking about God's word. He's thinking about what God has already said. He's reviewing the law of God. In his leisure time he was consumed and passionate about his God. Unfortunately in our leisure time, we do all kinds of things that have nothing to do with God. And that's what makes David a man after God's own heart, and causes us to be far, far away from that. There are some other things that take up our time.

We become so preoccupied with the mundane, the temporal, things that don't make any difference. But David when he was sitting in his palace, thinking about what he was going to do, and what he was going to do for God, he was consumed with thoughts about God. I marvel at that. I wish we could all be like that. I wish that during our downtime, whatever that means for you, it would be filled with thoughts of God, and what I could do to serve my God, and to honor my God. David was that way. So he makes a plan.

He's got a great plan. I'm going to build a house for the ark to rest. I've got a beautiful home, but my Lord is surrounded by curtains. So I'm going to make him a home. A home that's better than my home. A home that truly is beautiful. And he says to the prophet Nathan, this is the first time Nathan is mentioned.

It won't be the last time Nathan is mentioned. You can bank on that. But, during his downtime, and during his leisure time, who did he hang out with? The prophet of God. Which begs the question again, during your downtime and your leisure time, who do you hang out with? You see, he who walks with wise men, Proverbs 13, 20, will be wise. But he who is a companion of fools will become foolish. Psalm 119 says it this way. Psalm 119, verse number 63. I am a companion of those who fear thee, and of those who keep thy precepts.

That should be a mantra for all of us as Christians. We are companions with those who fear God. Those who keep the precepts of God. We're going to walk with wise men. We're not going to walk with fools. And here David, during his downtime, is hanging around the prophet Nathan. And goes to him and says, here's a plan. This is what I want to do. And Nathan wants to fuel his desire. And Nathan says to him, you know what? If that's in your heart, and that's what you want to do, you need to do it. Now this is important.

Because during his time in exile, listen to what Psalm 132 says. Psalm 132. This becomes very, very important. David said this. Remember, O Lord, on David's behalf, all his affliction. Now he swore to the Lord, and vowed to the mighty one of Jacob, surely I will not enter my house, nor lie on my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. That was his desire. That was during his time in exile. So I'm sure that David, during the time he's arrested from all of his enemies, and he's right not in the middle of a conflict, the battles have subsided, his sword has been laid down, he now begins to be so occupied with what he has already vowed to God in Psalm 132, what Deuteronomy 12 has already stated, and now he wants to go gangbusters to build a place, a house, for God.

Which leads me to this. David had a great plan. Great plan. And that plan was not a sinful plan. It truly was centered on God and doing something for God. Oh, by the way, this is why David is not angry when God says no to his plan.

See, the reason we get angry at God when we have a plan and he says no, is because the plan's not about his glory, it's about our glory. And so when God says no, we get mad.

We get frustrated. We get upset. He did that last chapter. He learned his lesson, right? But he realized that his whole plan was around the glory of God and honoring God. So that when God says no, he's not disappointed.

In fact, when God closes a door, you heard the phrase, he closes a door, he opens a window? No, no, no. He closes a door, he opens a garage. It's huge. And what he does for David is open the storehouse, the garage, of all of his blessings, that David might see the eternal aspect of the kingdom of God. Something he would never have seen had he not had a passionate desire to do something for his God. Oh, by the way, it begs this question. Are you passionate about the house of God? For instance, someone will say, well, you know, God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.

We all know that. He dwells in my heart. And that's true. That's very true. But at the same time, are we passionate about the things that God's passionate about? I couldn't help but be drawn back to the prophet Haggai. If you've got your Bible turned there, if you would, please. Haggai chapter 1. After 70 years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus gave permission for a group of Jews to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem in order to restore the city. The Bible tells us in the book of Ezekiel that there were 43,360 Jews that returned to Jerusalem.

Part of their obligation was to restore the temple. This is what God says to the prophet Haggai. In the second year of Darius, the king, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, This people says, The time has not come, even the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.

They're sent back to rebuild the temple. And their conclusion is, Now's not the time. It's not a good time for me. It's not a good time for my family. In other words, they want to put the building of God's house on the back burner. This is how God responds. Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai, the prophet saying, Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while the house, this house, lies desolate? God says, The reason you don't have time to restore and to build my house is because you're too busy restoring and building your house.

Only thing you are concerned about is where you live. You're not concerned about where I live. So you're going to make sure that you have paneled houses. You have the best decoration. You have the state-of-the-art security system. The state-of-the-art sprinkler system. The state-of-the-art garage door system. The state-of-the-art water system. You want to make sure that you have not just blinds in your window, but that you have the best of all the wood frames and all that you can possibly get your hands on to make sure you have the best in your houses.

We don't have time to do what God wants us to do because we're too busy spending money on what we want to do. Is that not the church of Jesus Christ today? Absolutely. We don't have time for the church. Are you kidding? We got to make sure our house is right. After all, curb appeal helps for resale. So we got to make sure the grass is green. The shrubs are just perfect. Everything on the outside looks good. Everything on the inside looks good. So we can resell it one day. So the Lord says, consider your ways.

You have so much, but you harvest little. You eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied. You drink, but there is not enough to become drunk. You put on clothing, but no one is warm enough. And he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes. He says, isn't it interesting that everything you're trying to do for yourselves, you just never have enough of? You want to keep warm, but there's not enough clothes to keep you warm. You want to drink and get drunk, but you can't because there's not enough to drink.

You want to do all these things for yourself, but there's nothing there. Have you ever considered your ways and asked yourself why? Have you ever asked yourself why I don't have enough clothes to wear? Why I don't have enough money to pay my bills? Why I don't have the kind of car I need to have to drive and get to work? Why don't I have those things? Consider your ways, he says. And then he says this. Thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways, he says it to them again, just to make sure they get it, they miss it the first time.

Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple that I may be pleased with it and be glorified. You look for much, but behold, it comes too little. When you bring it home, I blow it away. You ever ask yourself why you never have enough money? You can blame God for that. He blows it all away. And then he says, this is so good. Why? Declares the Lord of hosts, because of my house which lies desolate while each of you runs to his own house. I'm going to tell you why your money's blown away.

I'm going to tell you why you don't have enough money to make ends meet. Because all you can think about is you. That's it. It's all about you. My house lies desolate. You won't take care of me. You won't glorify my name. You're going to do your own thing. You won't do what's best for me. You're going to do what's best for you. So you go out and harvest the crops. You're going to come back? You're not going to have enough food. You're going to go out to the well. Never have enough water. You're going to go out and buy clothes, but they're not going to last very long because everything is going to blow away.

It's all going to be gone because I, God, the Lord of hosts, is going to blow it all away. And when God huffs and puffs and blows, let me tell you something, it goes far away.

Far away. Verse 10. Therefore, because of you, the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. And I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labors of your hands. You're in your condition because of me. Things aren't working well for you because of me, God says.

For one simple reason, this one, you could care less about my house. You can care less about what I want. The next time the offering basket is passed by you, memorize Haggai chapter 1 and ask yourself, is everything I'm working for just blowing away and I have nothing left? Or do I truly care about God's house and God's people for his glory, for his namesake? David was a man of God's own heart. Why? Because God was preeminent in his thinking. The glory of God was preeminent in his thinking. Everything about God was uppermost in his mind.

And that's what made David such a unique individual. Did David sin? Yes. Was he perfect? Absolutely not. But God was uppermost in his mind. There were times where God was absent from his mind because of his own fleshy desires. And we'll see that in days ahead. But for the most part, David was consumed with his God. He was passionate about his God. He was excited about his God. And wanted to do everything he could for his God. David became a very wealthy man. I'm not preaching a prosperity theology here.

I'm just letting you know what the Bible says concerning God's take on how you view your own things and how you minimize what God sees as important.

And David, everything was about God. He had a plan. I'm going to build this house. This is great, man. I'm going to do it for God. Nathan says, You go, David, man. You go build that house. Nathan goes to bed and God comes knocking on Nathan's heart. Says, Hey, Nathan. Wake up, buddy. Plans have changed. It ain't going to work that way. It's not going to happen that way. I don't need David to build a house for me. Now, I want you to know something. 1 Kings 8 says this about David's plans. The Lord said to my father David, Because it was in your heart to build the house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart.

So God wasn't mad that David had a plan. On the contrary, God affirms the fact that this is in your heart, David. I know your heart. And by the way, God knows your heart, right? So God knows what David's motives were. And so he's saying, You know what? In David's heart, it was a pure motive. It was a good thing. It pleased me that he wanted to do this. But my choice is that he not do it. My decree is that David not do it. But that someone else does it. One of his descendants does it. So David's plans, while monumental and grandiose and applauded by God himself, were rearranged.

And God says, No. You're not gonna build me a house. Chronicles tells us, God says, Because David, you're a warrior.

You're a man of bloodshed. And David was that. He was a warrior. He was a soldier. And that was one of the reasons that God had. But there's another reason. There's a greater reason. It's the reason you're all here because it's gonna rock your world. It's gonna change your perception of God and all that he does. God had another plan. And the plan was a perfect plan. But nobody would have ever thought of it. Nobody would have ever come up with the idea except God. It's a perfect plan. So let's go to point number two, and that's God's promise.

God makes a covenant with David. He says, Simply now, therefore, you shall say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over my people Israel. He goes back and tells David about all the favor God showed upon him and then all the fame that God gave to him and then the future that lies before him. God had favor on David. God graced him. God chose him. He took him from the backside of Bethlehem to make him the man he wanted him to be.

God had a plan for David. It just so happens that building a temple for the Lord God of hosts was not the plan. But God had a plan for David. He talks about his future. I'm gonna make your name great. I will give you rest from all your enemies, verse 11. And all that centers, verse 10 and verse 11, I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may live in their own place. That's all Abrahamic covenant stuff. That I'm gonna give them a land. I'm gonna bless them in that land.

That's a promise God gave to Abraham. There's gonna be a seed, Abraham, that will come from you. And that seed, Galatians chapter 3, that one singular seed will bless all the nations of the world. And those who bless you, I will bless. Those who curse you, I will curse. And David knows all about the Abrahamic covenant. And God just kind of goes back and just does a little bit of a review for that and says, he says, I will give you rest from all your enemies. Folks, that is future. He has rest now, but not the rest that Israel will one day have.

And Jesus said in Matthew 11, Come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Book of Hebrews talks about the rest and how the writer of Hebrews, whoever he may be, and nobody really knows, we've got some ideas, but whoever the writer of Hebrews may be, he encourages them to enter into that rest, that rest that God gives, that rest of eternal salvation. And God jumps to the future. And as God gives this covenant, he goes back and forth from a descendant of his at that time to the ultimate descendant of his, the son of David, the Messiah.

So you have to read the text very carefully to see exactly what God's talking about. But David knows. David gets it and David understands it. And God is speaking to the prophet Nathan. And God gives him a promise. It's called the Davidic covenant. He says, there is going to come a time, David, where there will be complete rest for the nation of Israel. I'm going to fulfill all of the promise I gave to Abraham because I have another promise and here's that promise. Here we go. He says, the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you.

Really? I want to make a house for you, Lord. God says, I'm going to make a house for you. Really? Yep. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom. Well, who's that? Who's that? See, there's going to be a son. Now, David already has sons. He's already got some sons. He's got some wives. He's got some concubines. He's got some sons and some daughters. And God says, I'm going to raise up a descendant after you.

He's going to build that temple. Now, David has no idea who it is. Listen carefully. God knows who it is. That son's name is going to be Solomon. The second son born of Bathsheba.

Bathsheba's not even in the picture yet. That's not the second Samuel 11. That's Uriah's wife. She's not even in the picture yet. But see, God already knows of David's sinful affair. God did not plan it, but God knows of David's choice. And God knows that David's going to sin with Bathsheba. And God knows that that son will die. And David will plead, oh God, save the son, save the son, save the son. And God kills the son that comes as a result of that adulterous affair. And God, and David goes in and comforts his now wife Bathsheba because he's already had Uriah killed.

So he brings Bathsheba in and comforts her because he's already taken her as his wife. The son has already died. And he lays with his wife and she conceives and bears a son whose name is Solomon. Whose name means beloved of the Lord. Because what God did was express his love to David and to Bathsheba, to that son Solomon. Because that boy would be the one who would build the temple for the ark and the house of God. Folks, do you understand how incredible that is? When the Bible says, for I know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.

This is a fulfillment of that. Because there is no sin that you commit that will thwart the plan of God. In fact, your sin will fulfill the plan of God. Grasp that one. Don't think that your sin is going to keep God or catch God off guard and think, Man, David had an affair. What am I going to do? What am I going to do with Bathsheba? How am I going to work this out? It was all part of the plan. Bathsheba is even in the genealogy of David and the Messiah in Matthew chapter 1. Because the genealogy is not about the people that are there.

It's about the grace of God upon the people that are there. See? And so we forget all that stuff. See, God had a plan. Because there is no sin that you committed. For those of you who are here tonight and you've committed some horrible sin in your own mind and you're thinking you can't get around this, can't get out of it, it's just haunting you, it's just killing you. David and Bathsheba. God said, before Bathsheba ever came on the scene, here's my plan. One of your descendants, he's going to build a temple.

Which one? Ha, he's not born yet. Which wife? You don't have her yet either. She's coming. How am I going to get her? Well, you'll find out. But see, God had a plan. And God would override all of David's sinful passions, all of his lustful thoughts, all of his sinful actions, and say, I am God. Why? Because the one who would build the temple is named Beloved of the Lord. And the temple is the house of the presence of God who is the one who pardons all iniquity and shows grace and mercy to those who are undeserving.

And David and Bathsheba were undeserving of the grace and mercy of God. But they received it. They were undeserving of the forgiveness of God, but they were granted forgiveness because of the magnitude of God's love for his people. God had a plan. And it shook David's world because God was completely in charge of everything. But it just gets better. Listen to this. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Who's that? That's the Messiah. Solomon's going to die.

He's not going to have a kingdom forever. But the Messiah will. Listen carefully. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. This is very important. You've got to get this. I will be a father to him. He will be a son to him. Remember that in the Jewish mind, son is a term of equality. So when God says that there will be a son, that I will be a father to, listen carefully, David knows that one of his descendants will be the incarnate God.

This whole Davidic covenant opens up the whole realm of the deity of Christ. David knows this. Every Jew knows this. There's not a Jew alive, anybody born a Jew, knows that you never called God your father. That's why no Jew in the Old Testament ever called God his father, in a personal sense. God was only referred to as a father of Israel in a national sense, not in a personal sense, because that means you're equal with God. That's why when Jesus comes on a scene and calls God his father, they knew from John chapter 10 that because you called God your father, you equated yourself with God.

That's why we want to stone you. They knew that. Every Jew knows that. And so God comes along and says, one of your descendants is going to build a temple. And then he switches it over, because every time God gave a prophecy, he gave a near prophecy that would be fulfilled in the near future, and then one in the far future, because once it was fulfilled in the near time frame, it would be guaranteed that it would be fulfilled in the future. That's what God did. And that's what the prophets did. So David receives this prophecy.

And then it goes back to Solomon. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him. Well, the Messiah never committed iniquity. So he goes now back to Solomon. I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men. But my loving kindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever. This is an eternal kingdom. Now we know, listen carefully, when it says, he shall build a house for my name, verse number 13, it's the Messiah, because Zechariah 12 says that the branch, the Messiah, is going to build the final temple.

We know that there will be a temple built in the tribulation by the anti-Messiah, because the Bible says that in Revelation chapter 11.

But that's not the final temple, because the final temple is built by the branch himself, the Messiah. And I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me. Psalm 89 confirms that. Psalm 110 confirms that. Psalm 8 confirms that. Psalm 40 confirms that. And David knows what God is saying. And that's how it's expressed in his prayer. So now we move from David's plan to God's promise, now to David's prayer. This gets so good. Then David, the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I?

See, he's overwhelmed. He's not like saying, you know what? This isn't fair. This isn't right. I've got a great desire. I've got a great plan. You're not going to let me fulfill that plan, God.

This is not good. Instead he sits before the Lord and he praises God. Who am I? Why does he say that? Because God has just told him that one of your descendants is equal in essence and nature with me. See that? This is amazing. Now read on. Look at this.

He says, Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that thou hast brought me this far? And yet this was insignificant in thine eyes, O Lord God, for thou hast spoken also of the house of thy servant concerning the distant future. You're talking about the future. And he calls himself a servant 10 times. 10 times he calls himself a servant, emphasizing the humility of his prayer. Who am I? Who am I that I should be the recipient of your blessing? And so 10 times he says, I'm a servant, I'm a servant, I'm a servant, I'm a servant.

He didn't see himself as a king. He saw himself as a slave. He saw himself as one who is to be obedient to his master. That's why he says down in verse number 25, Thy servant and his house confirm it forever and do as thou hast spoken. Lord, do whatever you want to do. You're in charge. Folks, that's how every one of our prayers should be. Who am I? And Lord, you just do as you have spoken. Do as your word states. Just do what you, I am your servant. We'll talk a little bit about this on Sunday in the Slave Master Relationship.

We'd like to see ourselves as servants of God. We'd like to see God as a servant of us, taking care of our needs. But David saw himself as a servant of Almighty God. Now listen to this. This is so good. End of verse 19. And this is the custom of man, O Lord God. Let me rephrase that for you.

For Hebrew it says, For this is the law of the man, the Lord God. See the difference? This is the law of the man who is the Lord God. You see, David is confirming that one of his descendants is the God man. He is confirming that in his prayer back to God. That's why he says at the end, For thou, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, has made a revelation. You have removed the veil. You have opened my eyes. You have given me the ultimate revelation. That's why in the book of Revelation, Revelation 22, 16, I, Jesus, the bright and morning star, and the root and the offspring of David, I am the source of David's life and line, and I am the son of David's life and line.

Speaking of the deity and the humanity of Christ, Isaiah 9, verse number 6, There will be a son that's given. There will be a child that's born. Speaking of the humanity and deity of Christ, don't think for one moment that a Jewish person does not know that the Messiah is God in the flesh. If they don't know that, they're rabbis, not very good rabbis. Because that's what the Bible teaches. It's all throughout the Old Testament. It just permeates the Old Testament. And David knew it. And that's why David was so overwhelmed, saying, Whoa, man, this is, who am I?

That your equal would come from my loins. That I can be a part of this. And that's why when it says down in, what verse is it? It speaks of God as, oh, verse 16, your house, your kingdom, and your throne forever. That's the exact same thing that the angel Gabriel said to Mary when he told her about the birth that she would give was the Messiah himself. He would take her back to 2 Samuel 7 to help her understand that this son of yours will have a throne. He'll have a kingdom. It will be forever. Wow.

And so Mary, because she's a student of Scripture, would understand all that's happening. That's why when she says that great and magnificent in Luke chapter one, she reiterates so much of the Old Testament because she knew the Bible. See? It was a fulfillment of what God had given to David. Folks, this is powerful stuff. This is great stuff because it unveils to us the fact that God told David, my son, the God of the universe, will come from your loins. Wow. That's amazing. The God man. That's why he's 100% God.

He's 100% man. That's why Jesus is the son of God. Jesus is the son of man. He's equal in nature and character with God, as son of God. He's equal in nature and character with man. He's son of man. He's both. Because the Old Testament prophesied the Messiah would be son of God, son of man. And David was the recipient of the great Davidic covenant that promised a kingdom that would be forever because there would be a Lord from his loins that would rule forever. That's why the apostles spoke about it all the time.

Read the book of Acts. Acts 4, Acts 13. They go back and they rehearse who the son of David is. And that's why the very last question Jesus asked the Pharisees was whose son is the Messiah? And he quotes Psalm 110, verse number 1, which, by the way, every Jew knows. Okay? Takes it back to Psalm 110, verse number 1 to show that the Messiah is son of God, son of man, son of David. The Messiah is God in the flesh because Jesus knew that they knew that the Messiah is divine. And he's that Messiah. And that's what makes this passage so incredible.

And his humility is expressed in his prayer as well as the honor of God. He honors God. He calls himself a servant 10 times. Who am I? Do as you want to do, Lord. I am totally submissive to all that you say and what you want to do. He speaks of the greatness of God by calling him great. He talks about the grace of God because he mentions the redemption of his people of Israel. And whenever you mention redemption, you've got to speak of God's grace because God's grace allows him to redeem sinful man.

He speaks of the greatness of God, the grace of God. He speaks of the glory of God, verse 26, that thy name may be magnified forever. And then he speaks of the genuineness of God when he says, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words are truth. Thou has promised this good thing to thy servant. And then he says, Now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant that it may continue forever before thee for thou, O Lord God, has spoken and with thy blessing may the house of thy servant be blessed forever.

David was the first pre-millennialist. He was. Because he took the Bible literally that his kingdom would be forever. There would be a kingdom. It will be a literal kingdom. And it will happen on this earth exactly as God said. Folks, this is a great chapter because it opens up to us the identity of Christ, the son of David. It opens up to us the humility of David as he has this plan that God just takes away and reverses it and does something unique with that plan. At the same time, he does something for David that allows him to realize that one of his descendants will build the temple.

He just doesn't know who it is. He will find out in time and how God would orchestrate the events of life to show that he is sovereign over all things, not just some things. That he's in control of all things, not just some things. That he is a God who is in charge of everything. He did that. And once again, we learn from David's life how we submit to our God because we are his servants. As we listen to his voice, we do what he says and God will bless. And we pray with you. Father, we thank you for this night and the great joy of your word.

How truly it's amazing how you unfold for us your plan. And David sat before you. He listened to these words. He was overwhelmed by what he was told because he knew, he knew that the Messiah, the seed as promised to Abraham that would come through David was truly the God man. What an amazing thing. David must have been so overwhelmed, so incredibly enamored with your love that his plan really made no difference at all because his plan paled in comparison to your plan. Your plan was so much better.

It was so grander. It was so more beautiful. It was just the most incredible thing ever. And David understood that, Lord. Thank you. During his time of leisure, his thoughts were on his Lord. May we learn from that, Lord. May we learn that during our time, our downtime, we become preoccupied with our Master. In Jesus' name, amen.