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[0:00] But this week we get to start off a new series and it's our Advent series and we've entitled it Let Earth Receive Her King. You may know right off the bat what that's from.

[0:13] It's from the very famous popular, potentially the most popular Christmas song which is Joy to the World. And the reason why I've chosen this lyric to summarize what we're going to be talking about this Advent is because Christmas is the time of year where we seem to latch on to these beautiful themes that center us back to Christmas. Jesus, the very person that Christmas should be centered around is the church. But I want to read something real quick that kind of intros us into this Advent.

[0:51] From the beginning, all rule and authority has belonged to God alone. And in creation, God fashioned all things, including the heavens and the earth, to be perfectly tuned to operate under and respond to his divine rule. However, as the story goes, humanity created in his image for his purposes, rejected the rule of God and anointed themselves king in his stead. And ever since this rebellion, humanity has continued to follow the evil desires and inclinations of their fallen hearts, despite God continually reminding his people of his sovereign rule over all things and their need for his kingship over their lives. But humanity, which has maintained an active rejection of God, God in response, rich in mercy, patiently comes to his people, works through their mess, and reminds them of their need for his rule. And through the line of David, which we will see this morning, we get to hear and see a little glimpse of what the Lord meant by that.

[1:58] To bring forth an ultimate king, not prone to corruption or wickedness. This king, a redeemer king, finally and forever setting his people free from sin and death through his sacrificial love.

[2:10] And through repentance of self-rule and faith in what that king has done and will do for them in that time, mankind would finally find their way back as citizens of a heavenly kingdom under the rule of their creator God. So that's what this series is about. This Advent season, we anticipate coming together to recognize and anticipate together the coming of King Jesus, through whom all the earth will once more discover joy and ultimate restoration. Let earth receive her king.

[2:44] So this morning, we're going to start off with our first step towards receiving the king of all the earth. So this morning, we're in 2 Samuel chapter 7, if you'll turn there with me, entitled Receive the Promised King. Each week of Advent, as we work through this theme of kingship, we're going to look at a passage which predicts and foretells of one who would come to be the king of all the earth.

[3:12] And this week, we're going to talk about the promised king. That this king is not just some guy that came on the scene and declared himself king, but instead this is a king who fulfills the very promises thousands of years old that God the creator made. And I want to draw our attention quickly to Christmas music.

[3:37] Now, there's a lot of debates that rage around Christmas music. Here's what I want to offer to you today. That Christmas music has some of the richest theology in all of worship music that I have seen. I love worship music. I love a lot of old hymns and the beautiful lyrics that convey the splendor of God and our need for him. But Christmas is the time every year I listen to these songs on my playlist. And when I'm actually listening to the lyrics, I'm blown away at the richness and depth of theology. So I guess you could say I am the Christmas year-round guy. I'm in that camp.

[4:14] I'm going to just claim that. But one thing I've noticed is that essentially every major Christmas hymn alludes to the kingship of Jesus in some way or another. Let's look at some of the lyrics of popular Advent hymns that we sing during this season. Joy to the world. Let earth receive her king. There's a line in that song. Angels we have heard on high. Come adore unbended knee. Christ the Lord, the newborn king. O come, all you faithful. Come and behold him. Born the king of angels.

[4:46] Hark the herald angels sing. Here's a line. Glory to the newborn king. Come thou long expected Jesus, like we just sang. Born thy people to deliver. Born a child and yet a king. O holy night, behold your king. Before him lowly bend. And then I'll finish with this one. There's a lot more that mention it.

[5:04] O come, O come, Emmanuel. My favorite. Bid thou our sad division cease and be thyself our king of peace. Why is it that all of these old ancient hymns all revolve around kingship?

[5:24] Are we noticing this thing? And what's amazing is that these hymns span the range of about 12,000, excuse me, 1,200 years. The first verse of O come, O come, Emmanuel was written in Latin by monks in 800 AD. That's an old, old song.

[5:49] Kingship of Jesus, the kingship of him, the Messiah, has been understood by the church to be the driving theme of Advent for thousands and thousands of years. Advent is all about anticipating King Jesus, like Pastor Josh shared earlier. Literally, the term Advent comes from the Latin word Adventus, which means, where's my essay students at? Coming. Adventus means coming. For thousands of years, the church has said it's time to celebrate the coming of the promised one. This is why the kingship of Jesus is such a focal point. It's not hard to see why. Ultimately, Advent, this is the first slide we have, is about anticipating the coming of the promised one true King, God's anointed Messiah, delivering his people from their sins and establishing himself as the ruler of their hearts for eternity. That is what we are celebrating this morning, and we will celebrate in the coming month.

[6:56] So the word we want to remind ourselves of is anticipation. We anticipate all over again that God would send a Messiah to redeem us, his broken people, back to himself through his divine coming. Every week we gather, we re-anticipate, go back in that place where we're expecting a king to save us. So here's what we're going to do.

[7:23] We're going to look at this chapter, 2 Samuel 7, and we're going to see that God has always been a promise making God and a promise keeping God. We're going to see that in this text, but we're going to look specifically at the fact that God makes a promise about this coming king. So here's what I love to do. We're going to read just verse 1 through 8 to start, and then we'll kind of break it down as we go through. 2 Samuel chapter 7 verse 1 through 8. Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. Then Nathan said to the king, go do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you. But the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, go and tell my servant David. Thus says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? 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 for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel whom 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 prince over my people

[8:56] Israel. This first section of 2 Samuel 7 is an interesting one, and it introduces, it sets up the great covenant that God will make, the Davidic covenant with his king. But what's fascinating with this early section is it seems kind of detached from the whole Davidic covenant idea. So here's what's happening. David is at a point in his rule and reign as king where he comes across the fact that it says here that the Lord had given him rest from his enemies, and then he says to Nathan, God's prophet, see now I dwell in the house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. Meaning this, David's saying, I'm in this magnificent beautiful home, and yet the ark of God, which he knows, symbolizes and connects God with a presence among the people. It dwells in a tent.

[9:52] Something's wrong with this picture. In other words, here's what David is essentially saying to Nathan, we need to build something better for God to dwell in, because that's not enough.

[10:08] And here's what the Lord responds back to David through Nathan. David, do you think that I need somewhere to dwell? I've been in the tent. You guys have carried me around through the tabernacle, everywhere you've gone.

[10:25] He's essentially saying this, have I required that you would build me a house that I might finally find a resting place? And the answer should be obvious to David, no. The Lord's essentially saying to him, that's not what I care about. That's not what I need.

[10:45] Here's essentially what the Lord now says to David through Nathan. I took you, I chose you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

[10:59] The Lord takes David's pondering about where the Lord should dwell, and he redirects it, not to answer the question of where I will dwell, but now he redirects to a conversation with David about not where I will dwell, but how I'm going to be your God and dwell with you forever through what I'm going to do.

[11:20] He directs David's eyes off of the material and onto the eternal. This is a great picture of what God continually does with his people, drawing their eyes upward to something greater.

[11:32] But here's what I'd love for us to stop for a minute in this section and realize. We have to understand the history of the Bible to this point, to really get the promised Davidic covenant that we're going to see.

[11:47] So let's review. I want to review with us the kingship theme throughout the Bible. Now kingship is a massive, top-tier theme in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.

[11:59] Literally, if you look at the two end books, everything in between, you will see kings and kingship and reign and rule and thrones and scepters and powers and authorities, two rulers, all throughout the Bible.

[12:12] And there's a reason this theme is so prominent in the Bible. So what I'd love to do is let's review this theme of kingship all the way from creation all the way up to where we're at in 2 Samuel. It'll help us set the stage for what we're going to see in this text.

[12:25] First, we start out before the creation of all things. Before all things were created, God existed in three persons, in perfect unity, perfect harmony, and perfect community.

[12:40] Not in need of anything or anyone, God alone existing in pure delight. Then out of abundance of that pure delight and joy, God creates all that is.

[12:52] And by virtue of this creation, God, by the power of his word and the upholding of all that he has fashioned, assumes reign and rule over this created work, especially over those whom he has created in his own image, humankind.

[13:09] Then tragically and devastatingly, humanity rejects the kingship of God over their hearts and believes that initial insidious lie from the devil that we are capable of ruling our own lives by our own fallen capacities.

[13:24] God then cast man and woman, Adam and Eve, out of his presence, or understood more poetically, out of the kingdom of Eden that was, by which he rules in purity and righteousness.

[13:36] Fallen man can no longer exist in this realm of righteousness. Humankind, being cast from the kingdom, must now live in exile and desperation, helpless to sustain their own life, apart from God's sovereign providential rule.

[13:51] But God is a God of mercy and grace and faithful love. He will not abandon his wayward people in the garden. He will not abandon them now.

[14:02] He will never abandon them. So here's what God does. Through a long, arduous journey of faith, God continually reminds his people of their need for divine kingship.

[14:13] And that continual reminding process I just spoke of happens all the way from Genesis to the end of the Bible. But specifically, let's look at the period of Genesis to 2 Samuel.

[14:27] Is it true that God, who was king over his people, he's still king, but they reject his rule and now they want to rule themselves. Is that really true? And does God really remind them that, no, I'm the only king that's going to protect you, satisfy you, serve you?

[14:40] Well, here, let's look. To Abraham, God promises his presence and his divine blessing if Abraham and his children will submit to his rule. To Moses, God promises his favor and righteousness if Israel honors him as king and follows his leading.

[14:56] The people follow soon for a while, but then stop. To Joshua, God promises to lead them into battle, to be their king who fights for them and leads them into a land of prosperity and security.

[15:08] And at Joshua's dying words, the people turn from their king, God, who led them into the promised land, to false gods. Judges 2 and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals.

[15:21] They abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them and bowed down to them and they provoked the Lord to anger.

[15:32] They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Astaroth. They rejected again and again God as king. Well, let's continue in the book of Judges to the rebellious Israel that wants to rule themselves.

[15:48] God sends temporary fallen deliverers called judges to remind them of the futility of looking to man to lead where only God can lead.

[15:59] The very last verse in the book of Judges is such a condemning verse. Listen to this. In those days, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

[16:14] This is the tragedy of humankind trying to be their own king. Well, let's continue to the prophet Samuel, which is the next step of the story.

[16:26] Israel demands an earthly king to rule over them, one similar to the kings of the world. It says this. The people said to Samuel, Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.

[16:37] Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations. This is another next phase in Israel's history. They're repeating the cycle. Tell God we want a king to rule us here.

[16:49] Just like the world's kings. With a solemn warning, God grants their wayward desire and gives them a king, all right. But the king's name was Saul.

[17:01] And the Lord warned them that if they received this earthly king that they think will lead them to final deliverance and satisfaction, that they will become enslaved, they will be harmed, and they will be led into sin.

[17:17] And they say, bring it on anyway. So Saul is granted as the first initial king of this Israel kingdom. But here's what's so unbelievable.

[17:28] By the abundant mercy and grace of God, God, even in the midst of this decision by the people to be ruled by a fallen earthly king, raises up a young godly man who would follow his commandments, be devoted to rule righteously, and to be at peace with God.

[17:46] And this man's name was King David. But even David, great as he was, was never meant to replace God's place as the one true king over Israel.

[17:59] David was intended by God to point forward to the one true king who would one day come and reestablish once and for all God's divine eternal rule over his long-lost people.

[18:13] God redeems mankind by producing Messiah King through David's sinful, broken lineage. That's the setup to 2 Samuel 7. So now let's read the next section.

[18:24] Let's read verse 9 through 17 together. Here's the Davidic covenant. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you.

[18:37] And I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will support or appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.

[18:51] And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly 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.

[19:07] When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up an offspring after you who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

[19:20] I will be to him a father. He shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the rod, sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul whom I put away from before you.

[19:36] And the house, your kingdom, shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words and in accordance with this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

[19:52] The Lord has just spoken. And in this speaking, the pinnacle of the theme of kingship is set.

[20:05] The Lord creates this beautiful promise full of all the most radiant blessings. a promise that would only ever be fulfilled by one person, one king, to establish a line of rule and reign that would last for eternity.

[20:24] And that person would come from David's line. That's the covenant that was just made to David. But here's what I want us to notice in verses 9 to 17. This is unbelievable.

[20:34] Look at the phrase, I will. When the Lord uses the phrase, I will, it's as good as done. Because our God is a promise making God and a promise keeping God.

[20:48] So let's look back through this and just see all of the times that the word I will is used. You see it in verse 10, and I will appoint a place for my people. You see it again in verse 12, I will raise up our offspring after you.

[21:04] Again in verse 12, later, I will establish his kingdom. Verse 13, I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Verse 14, I will be to him a father. Again in verse 14, later, I will discipline him.

[21:17] There's this amazing theme throughout all of this that talks about the Lord saying, I will do something in the future that will make my promise true. David knew that when the Lord spoke a promise, it was as good as done.

[21:36] Why? How? David is going to pray a prayer of gratitude and response that we're going to look at after this section, in which he himself says in verse 27, therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.

[21:52] Why does David find courage to pray to God in response to this covenant? Here's why. He knows that the Lord is faithful to his word, but in order to find the same courage that David found in believing God's promises for the future, we must first assess the track record of the promise maker.

[22:10] And thankfully, the Lord does this for us. Look at verse 9. I have been with you wherever you went and I've cut off all your enemies from before you. The Lord goes from past tense, I have done this to I will do this.

[22:23] And that is intentional. It's spoken to David to encourage him. Remember how I have been faithful. Out of that, I'm going to call you to faith again in a promise, I will.

[22:36] In other words, the I wills are supported by the I haves in Scripture. And that's something for us to take away today. What has God done in your past?

[22:47] What are the I haves of God in your life? Where you as a family can look together and say, the Lord has done this. And you fill in that blank.

[22:59] Maybe that blank is going to be really long. Maybe it's just one really magnificent thing that you're going to say as a family. Let's claim this today, this week, and really dwell on the I have of God here.

[23:12] We all have stories of how God has worked mightily in our lives. And for David, here's the specifics he gives. I have been with you wherever you went and I have cut off all of your enemies from before you.

[23:24] That's a, I believe in I have that's specific to David and his circumstance. He's with David and all of his youth calls him up and then delivers him from all of his enemies. But it's also as generic and broad as applying to all of Israel.

[23:38] That God has always promised, I will be with you wherever you go in Joshua, to Abraham, to Moses. But then we see the faithfulness of God to deliver them from their enemies. In other words, here's what the Lord is saying.

[23:49] I have already shown you that I am faithful. before we can really talk about receiving the promised king in this passage.

[24:01] I think it's important for us to recognize that when God promises that I will do something, specifically receiving a promised king that he's going to send, I think it's important for us to understand what a king really looks like.

[24:18] In order to do this, we have to ask, what does a good king do? What you see here is David is king. They've already gone down the line of trying to have kings in our country, in our nation.

[24:29] They've all failed. And now we see this. David, who is king at the time in which this is spoken, the Lord says, I'm going to bring another king who's going to establish the throne forever.

[24:43] So what does a good king do? Well, we might look to examples from pop culture or even history to answer this question. Just human reframing, for a moment.

[24:54] Does a good king sacrifice themselves for the good of others like King Mufasa? Does a good king unite his kingdom under a code of chivalry and honor like King Arthur?

[25:06] Does a good king conquer as much land as he can with as many nations as possible to extend his fame like King Alexander the Great? Does a good king expend untold resources to build towering monuments in order to be remembered for thousands of years like the Egyptian pharaohs?

[25:23] Ramses or Khufu? We can go on and on. These are the stories of great kings that we've been told throughout history and in fiction.

[25:34] If you look at any work of art that claims to have some sort of king or throne or dominion that a character holds, you're going to be preached a lot of messages about what a king should look like or what a king should not look like.

[25:46] So here, what's the question is, what does a good king do? What does that look like? And here's what's so amazing about this passage. God's word tells us what a good king does.

[26:00] And what I love about this covenant is not just the Lord saying, I'm going to send a great king who's going to have an eternal throne. That's the promise. But the Lord attaches specific descriptions of what this king will do and will look like in order that when he comes, it's very clear.

[26:19] This is the king. So let's look at this. This is so amazing. What does a good king do? I'm going to argue there's four things that a good king does according to this passage. And the first can be found in 9b slash 10a.

[26:34] So let's read that again real quick. 9b starting with and I will. And I will make for you a great name like the name of the great ones of the earth and I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and not be disturbed anymore.

[26:49] Here's the first thing a good king does. Prosper the land and the kingdom for dwelling and living. That's what a good king does. God himself is saying there's going to be a king that's going to come and I'm going to send him and what is that king going to do that's going to come from your line, David?

[27:07] Clearly we see he's going to make you a great name and he's going to appoint a place for the people to live in to be planted in and dwell in. In other words a good king comes on the scene establishes a kingdom builds its prosperous name but not just for the name a land for the people to dwell in to live in to find sustenance meaning life and joy.

[27:34] It's the first thing that God says a good king does. The second one is going to be right after in 10b. Number two is deliver his citizens from harm and danger. So let's start in 10b. And violent men shall afflict them no more as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel.

[27:52] Now if you go back to the story of the judges you're going to see Israel being attacked by all sides from unbelievable amount of nations. And the Lord continues to raise up these temporary judges that kind of defeat the enemy and then they go off and they kind of defeat the enemy and then they die off.

[28:07] That's the theme of judges. And here's what the Lord is saying violent men enemies battles afflictions from neighboring warring regions and cities will no longer attack my people.

[28:20] In other words a good king delivers his citizens from harm and danger. Then number three a good king establishes lasting peace upon the land. Not only does the good king fight the battle defeat the enemy keep the people safe and protected a good king then takes that opportunity to establish lasting peace.

[28:41] Look at verse 11 from the time that I appointed judges of 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.

[28:54] Two pictures here of rest lasting rest in the kingdom. First it says literally that the king God through this king will give rest from all the enemies which implies warring implies battle implies all of the violence that comes when forces come against God's people.

[29:19] No longer will there be any violence. Will there be anyone to stand and to afflict my people. The land will have rest fully completely. But the second image is I love this the Lord will make you a house.

[29:33] The picture of this house is David's house. The metaphorical one in which David the current king of Israel through his faithfulness to God and following after God will leave a lineage for all kings to follow in his line.

[29:47] That as they follow the Lord this house firm secure a picture of stability and comfort where the family can live in and the family can find meaning and final rest.

[30:01] it's going to happen in your house David. But then fourth this is the big one what does a good king do? Ensures the longevity of the kingdom and righteous rule.

[30:12] Well first a good king needs to prosper the land. He's to establish a land for his people. The boundaries of his kingdom. Two he's got to deliver the citizens of that kingdom from enemies in danger.

[30:22] But then three he's got to establish lasting peace. So now you have a kingdom that's peaceful that's prosperous that isn't warring that isn't being attacked. That's what we all want.

[30:33] Every nation wants that. And that's a great thing. But number four is where this Messiah this coming one true king really sets himself apart.

[30:46] Even if an earthly king were to accomplish those first three goals they are sure to fail this final goal. If you read the books of 1 and 2 kings that's littered with all of Israel and Judah's kings you will find the nation of Israel went through an exhausting 400 year period of flawed and failing kings.

[31:08] Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah experienced the full consequence of their broken desire to be ruled by a temporal king. In fact of the roughly 40 kings in the divided kingdom era only a handful were said to have done what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

[31:26] But let's visit the two that are non-negotiable did right in the eyes of the Lord. Real quick Josiah. You may know Josiah. He's spoken of very very well by the chroniclers. Young eight-year-old king who returned God's people back to the Lord with sweeping reforms that abolished idol worship, reinstituted God's word as the means of worship and brought the people back to God as he intended according to his law.

[31:53] Great king, young young man that drove this nation to the first three. After his death, his sons Jehoahaz and Jehoakim both reigned one after the other, both of which did evil in the sight of the Lord.

[32:09] One generation and Josiah's next two sons that took over the throne immediately threw it back into rebellion, chaos, and destruction. Okay, well let's go to Hezekiah, the faithful leader who prayed that magnificent prayer that moved the Lord to bring down the great army of the Assyrians under King Sennacherib.

[32:29] An amazing story that we should all take inspiration from. After his death, his son Manasseh then reigned and did evil in the sight of the Lord and brought Judah right back to where they were.

[32:43] Quick application here for us parents. One of your greatest privileges is to raise up godly children who will continue your legacy of faithfulness into the next generation. Let us consider how to shepherd our children towards love for God and in so doing invoke the blessing of the Lord to keep covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations like we see God promise in Deuteronomy 7.

[33:10] Seeing our lineage of faithfulness to God go forward is massive. And parents, we have the privilege of teaching them to be faithful to the king, the true king, and to reject self-rule.

[33:26] But this is where Jesus starts to shine on through. When we look at things like this list of four qualities or things that a good king does, again, a lot of kings can go to one, two, three.

[33:44] Josiah and Hezekiah had one, two, three. But Josiah and Hezekiah were helpless in the fourth. So this is where we see Jesus. We know who this promised king is because we are on this side of the cross.

[34:00] Let's go through them again. First, prosper the land and the kingdom for dwelling and living. Jesus establishes a spiritual kingdom that transcends all material kingdoms.

[34:12] His kingdom reigns from corner to corner of the galaxy, not just corner to corner of the earth. They say that the sun never set on the British Empire.

[34:25] Well, good for them. This light of the sun never touches the furthest reach of Jesus' empire. In fact, we are told that one day in heaven when God's people dwell with him forever in harmony, that King Jesus himself will be the very light of his kingdom.

[34:44] kingdom, that there is no need for any light like the light of the sun any longer. That's how brightly this king will shine and radiate to the farthest extent of all the known created universe.

[35:01] That is a land that is prosperous and a kingdom that is ready for dwelling and living. Jesus' kingdom that is alluded in the covenant, that when he comes and establishes this kingdom through his coming as Messiah, born in that manger to the Virgin Mary, in that city of Bethlehem, that in that very moment, God's kingdom transcends all earthly kingdoms.

[35:32] And we know that 30 years later, after the coming of Christ as a baby, he comes on the scene, and what does Jesus say? Behold, the kingdom of God is at hand.

[35:48] Jesus' birth initiates this covenant. Number two, delivers his citizens from harm and danger. Now, if you look at verse 14, you may notice that it says, I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son.

[36:01] When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. You might be saying, that's interesting. Are you going to say that that applies to Christ? Yes?

[36:12] Well, let me get there for a minute. It is widely agreed upon that in this covenant that the Lord makes, the Lord is referring to both Solomon in an immediate sense, the direct son of David who would become next, and Christ in an eternal sense.

[36:26] So in this weird sort of way, both Solomon and Jesus are considered sons of God. But what do we make of the next line that says, when he commits iniquity?

[36:39] Surely this cannot be a direct reference to Christ. Well, for Solomon, this is pretty straightforward. If you read Solomon's story, he falls into iniquity a lot, like we all do, and God corrects him often.

[36:53] But we know that Jesus was sinless, that he never committed iniquity. In fact, 1 Peter says he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but it continued entrusting himself to he who judges justly.

[37:09] Now listen to this. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed.

[37:22] What Peter's doing is he's quoting Isaiah 53 there, which says, in a slightly different translation in the Hebrew, by his stripes, you have been healed.

[37:33] Brothers and sisters, let us understand this verse as it was meant in relation to Christ. That Jesus would be disciplined by the sons of men, the Romans and Pharisees, and be stricken with stripes because of our iniquity.

[37:51] Jesus, the one who was whipped and scourged before being crucified on the cross, Jesus, the one by whom we receive forgiveness and wholeness, according to the prophet Isaiah, by his stripes, we are healed.

[38:03] Jesus delivers us, his beloved citizens, from harm and danger. How? By doing what no king ever did, by laying down his crown and giving up his place to die for you and I, his beloved children and beloved citizens.

[38:25] And he takes his crown up again in resurrection to be our lasting king forever. God. But this is what makes this king so different. He died for us. But then third, establishing lasting peace on the land.

[38:38] In Jesus' eternal kingdom, death, sin, and pain are no more, we're told in Revelation. The attacks of the enemy have ceased, evil has been judged, and no more will the thorn of oppression that was introduced in the fall in Genesis 3 ever prick us again.

[38:55] Lasting peace because of the peace from God. And then number four, ensure the longevity of his kingdom and righteous rule. Look at verse 16. Pretty remarkable the way that this ends in the Davidic covenant.

[39:09] Verse 16 says this, and your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever. Imagine speaking that to an earthly king right now.

[39:22] Well, I'm going to die, so I don't know how that's going to play out. In other words, how do you maintain the longevity of your kingdom and the righteous rule of that kingdom forever?

[39:33] There's only one way. The king himself is an eternal king who never changes. And of his kingdom there is no end. There is no handoff to another temporal king.

[39:45] There is only the one final true good king for all of eternity. No new mandates, no new policies, no new decrees. Anybody ready for new laws with a new president? No longer.

[39:56] No, nothing new. Only that which has been made final. The word of the cross speaking to us that it is finished, the work is done, we're forgiven, we're adopted, we're redeemed, and we are God's beloved children.

[40:16] That's the only decree, and it stands for eternity. Lastly, I want to look at David's response to this marvelous covenant promise by reading verse 18 to 29.

[40:28] Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant's house for the great while to come, and this is the instruction of mankind, O Lord God.

[40:45] What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God. Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness to make your servant know it.

[40:56] Therefore you are great, O Lord God, for there is none like you. There is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods.

[41:20] And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. David knows that this king who is going to come from his line is going to be an eternal king and make an eternal people, citizens forever.

[41:39] David proclaiming on behalf of Israel who will say this forever more, God is our king again and will always be our king forever.

[42:08] Those words are directly spoken one for one in revelation. When all of God's redeemed people say king of kings, worthy. It's a foreshadow.

[42:21] And then it says this, and the house of your David servant will be established before you. For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant saying, I will build you a house. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.

[42:34] Love that. And now, O Lord God, you are God and your words are true and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now, therefore, may it please you to bless this house of your servant so that it may continue forever before you.

[42:47] For you, O Lord God, have spoken and with your blessing shall be the house of your servant be blessed forever. A couple applications for us in closing. This Advent season, as we gathered open presents to enjoy family time, playing our games, doing our activities, singing songs, watching the movies, whatever it may be.

[43:13] First, I want to consider this, repent of self-rule. That doesn't seem very jolly. I wrote this down, I'm like, is this a Christmas sermon? But this is the application from this immediate sermon.

[43:28] We just saw the history of Israel refusing to repent of self-rule. Saying, we will be God and we will be king and if not us, then give us someone to do it.

[43:39] But not you, Lord. And I believe this is the heart of all of us before Christ and even oftentimes in Christ. See, this promise is given to the most powerful man on the earth at this time.

[43:54] The greatest king on the face of the earth was King David in this time. And here the Lord just said, you're going to die, but I'm going to bring up a king in your line that will reign forever.

[44:06] He is literally calling the most powerful king of the world in the time that it was said to repent of his own rule. Trust in my rule that I'm going to bring one forever.

[44:17] Don't even trust in your own. So if he's saying that to David, he's saying that to us. And what does it look like to repent of self-rule? It means that every single morning when we wake up, we say a prayer that might go something like this.

[44:32] Lord, today I can choose to do all the things that I want to do. I can choose to make all the decisions that I would think are best. But instead, I recognize my brokenness.

[44:46] So lead me in your way everlasting, show me your truth, and teach me to not trust in myself. Amen. Something like that. A practical way to also repent of self-rule is to live among people who also do this.

[45:03] Living amongst people who have learned this habit convicts us and exposes when we wear the crown in the morning and throughout the whole day. So first, repent of self-rule.

[45:14] Second, this follows number one. If we can't do number one, we're not going to do number two. But the second is receive the promised king today. And that goes for if you are here today and you've never repented of self-rule, or you've repented of self-rule before, you've turned to Christ and you've received fullness of life through the gospel.

[45:34] Jesus is the promised king. And we celebrate this Christmas season, the coming of that promised king to fulfill all of the things that God has spoken. Receive him and receive his rule.

[45:47] Which leads to number three. Renew your belief in the promise of King Jesus' eternal reign. Not just that Jesus would come, but that he will reign forever and ever. So this Advent, I want us to consider together in harmony the following words.

[46:08] Come King Jesus, establish your rule and reign among us. Let's pray. God, we thank you for promising a king and delivering a king.

[46:23] We thank you that to David, Lord, you spoke these magnificent words. And that for us, Lord, we get to read them now at this point in history, this side of the cross, and continue to look back and see the anticipation of that great king.

[46:40] Lord, I thank you that in the kingdom of Jesus, who is to come to us, born of a virgin, fully man, fully God, that we get to anticipate a rule that is not selfish but selfless, that is not powerless but powerful, that is not temporal but is eternal.

[47:03] Thank you for King Jesus. I pray this Advent season, Lord, week in and week out as we approach Christmas Day, that you would remind us of these beautiful truths, that in order to receive your blessed, glorious king in a manger, we must first prepare our hearts to receive by rejecting our own self-rule.

[47:24]  Give us the humility every day, Lord, to take off our crown and to lay it at the feet of him who wears the eternal crown. In your name we pray. Amen.