And the rest of you, you can grab your Bibles and turn to 2 Samuel chapter 7 or keep it open in front of you.
And Clifford is going to come and read for us.
Let's read and hear God's word as is found in 2 Samuel chapter 7, reading from verses 1 to 17.
After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him,
he said to Nathan the prophet, here am I living in the house of Cedar while the ark of God remains in the tent.
Nathan replied to the king, whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it for the Lord is with you.
But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, go and tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says.
Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?
I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt to this day.
I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.
Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any one of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people,
Israel, why have you not built me a house of cedar?
Now then, tell my servant David, this is what the Lord Almighty says.
I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you.
Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest of men on earth.
And I will provide a place for my people Israel, and will plant them so that they can have a home for their own,
and no longer be disturbed.
Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning,
and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel.
I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself would establish a house for you.
When your days are over and your rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood,
and I will establish his kingdom.
He is the one who will build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he will be my son.
When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men,
with floggings inflicted by human hands.
But my love will never be taken away from him,
as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me.
Your throne will be established forever.
Nathan reported to David all the words of the entire revelation.
Amen.
Thank you, Clifford.
Well, do keep that passage open in front of you,
and we're going to try and work our way through it together.
I think if you want to know what 2 Samuel chapter 7 is about,
then what you really need to look for is the word house.
It comes eight times in our passage.
So in verse 1, you find that David is living in his house,
translated palace by the NIV.
A house that we're told in verse 2 that is made of cedar,
which is very fancy building material.
And while David lives in his cedar palace,
the ark of God dwells in it.
And this is the shock, because the word is not house.
The word is tent, tent.
David doesn't think that's right,
so he plans to build a permanent house for God in verse 5.
But God replies to him through Nathan the prophet
and says that God has never lived in a house in verse 6.
He's never asked anyone to build him a house of cedar in verse 7.
And then in an amazing reversal, God says to David,
that David who has said, I'm going to build you a house,
God says to him, no, I will build you a house.
A house not made of cedar, but a house built in offspring.
Your offspring who, verse 13, will, as it happens,
build my house, a temple.
But still that house, that temple,
will be nothing compared to the house that God builds,
which verse 16 will last forever.
You get it?
House, house, house, house, house, house.
That is a brief summary of 2 Samuel chapter 7.
Now there's loads of detail in here,
and I think in some ways,
2 Samuel chapter 7 is one of the most important chapters
in the story of David,
as he gets this covenant promise
about his ancestors to come.
But I want instead just to try and give us
essentially a sort of an overview
of what's going on here.
David says, from his house,
I will build the Lord a house.
God says, from his tent,
I will build David an eternal house.
Now let's get on with the first thing
that I want you to notice, though,
from this passage.
It's this, God is free to do what he wants.
God is free to do what he wants.
Now, I know that's a really obvious thing
for me to say to you.
Of course, you understand, don't you,
that God is free.
What I mean by that is not that God
doesn't cost you anything,
not saying that,
rather that God is free to act.
God is the one who is free to do
whatever he wills to do.
Yeah, you understand that?
In other words, history,
the events of our time,
the space in which we live,
is literally his story.
Not our story, not your story,
not my story, not even David's story.
History is his story.
See this with me in the passage.
God's first response to David's house building plan
in verses six to seven is to remind David
that he has been moving about in a tent
ever since he was brought up by the people from Egypt.
But notice all the eyes in the passage.
God says,
I brought up the Israelites out of Egypt.
I have been moving from place to place in a tent.
He goes on,
I never said anything about a house building
to any of the rulers or judges.
I commanded to rule Israel.
In other words, David, listen,
what you need to understand, David,
is that I am in a tent
because I have chosen to be in a tent.
Because the story of the story of God's people
is my story, says God.
It's the story of what I have done as I have acted.
So much so that when I need a house,
you can be sure that it will happen
because I will make it happen.
You see, David needs to understand that God is free.
God is free to do what he wants.
And David acts in response to the commands of God,
not the other way around.
David doesn't get to tell God what to do.
God gets to tell David what he is doing.
It gets underlined with some more eyes.
Notice from verse eight, all the eyes there.
I took you, he says,
getting more personal,
from the pasture to make you ruler over my people,
verse eight.
I have been with you wherever you've gone,
verse nine,
cutting off the enemies and winning victories.
David, don't think that your personal story,
not just the story of Israel,
don't think that your personal story
is the story of you, you, you.
It's the story of God, God, God.
God is free to act.
He can do whatever he wants to do.
The history is the story of what he does,
which means significantly for David
that he shouldn't think that he is capable
of building a house for God,
as if he could contain God
or as if God needs him
to put a roof over his head.
David mustn't limit God like that.
Now, let me just ask you
just to think about that with me for a moment.
It's a big idea.
It's obvious and it's plain,
but it is really significant.
It should be plain to us
that the real God
does not do everything that we would do.
God is surprising to us.
He doesn't do everything that we would do
and he doesn't do everything
that we would want him to
or expect him to
because fundamentally God,
the God of the universe,
the God who made us,
the triune God of Father, Son and Spirit
is not subject to my plans,
my rules, my expectations or yours.
He is free to do what he wants to do.
He's not threatened by our decisions
or limited by our ideas.
God is free above all overall,
doing all things in accordance
with the purpose of his will.
And you and I really quickly forget that,
don't we?
We quickly question God's goodness
or his wisdom
when he doesn't do what we would do.
Oh, wait a minute.
Why have you done that?
I wouldn't have done that.
Are you still good, God?
You know, David thinks that God should be
not in a tent, but in a house
and God doesn't agree.
So he stays in the tent.
Now, you and I might not be trying
to build God a house,
but we might try and contain him in other ways.
Now, God, why haven't you not made it easier
to be a Christian?
You should make it easier
to be a Christian, shouldn't you?
Why have you permitted us
to face the suffering that we face?
Why don't you stop the godless side
of Western culture
away from Bible morality and values?
Oh, God, why don't you let us
get the freehold to our building more easily?
Why don't you enlarge the size of our church?
Why don't you give us better health,
better looks, better mental health?
But the truth is, the bottom line,
before we even get to ask the why question,
which is a fair question to ask,
before we ask the why question,
we must admit that God is free
to do what he wants to do,
free to do what he decides to do
in the world,
because that's what it means
for God to be God.
Now, that doesn't mean, does it,
that tomorrow God to choose to be bad?
That's not what we're saying.
The Bible is really clear
that God's freedom is in line
with his nature,
and his nature is goodness itself.
Goodness is defined by the nature of God.
So God is free to act in line
with his nature at all times.
God is the definition of good.
But what it does mean
is that the story of our lives,
the story of history,
is the freedom of God
deciding what to do.
Now, I think if we understand that,
it should help us see
that God is a lot bigger
than we're inclined to think, right?
At 2 Samuel 7,
David is realizing
that he is smaller
and God is greater.
That's what he's realizing.
His plan to build a house
comes to nothing
because God is bigger
and more free than David thought.
And God's plan to build a house for David
is what's going to happen,
not the other way around.
It's interesting.
I think, obviously,
David taught this lesson to Solomon.
Solomon is David's son.
Solomon is the guy
who actually builds the temple.
And when he builds the temple,
he prays a prayer of dedication.
And he's clearly learned this lesson
from his father, David.
So listen to what he prays
when the temple is dedicated.
He says this,
But will God really dwell on earth?
The heavens,
even the highest heaven,
cannot contain you.
How much less this temple
that I have built,
this house that I have built.
God is free.
And we cannot contain him
to live in a building
or dictate plans to him
or tell him what to do.
God is not limited
by our thoughts of him.
Not bound to do
what we should think he should do.
Now, given that,
given the freedom of God,
what comes next?
And really the big idea
in the passage is surprising.
Okay?
God is free to do
what he wants to do.
The story of history
is the story of his actions.
And yet,
the free God does what?
He binds himself to a promise.
The whole chapter really
reads like an ancient legal document.
Ancient legal documents
had a particular structure
and order.
They start with a sort of
a preamble
which introduces
the parties making the agreement.
And that's God.
We're told who God is
and what he's done in the past.
Next come the commitments
that the party makes
with references to blessings
and curses associated with it.
And that's exactly
what's going on here.
You've got the preamble.
You've got the past action.
You've got the present commitments.
And then you've got the blessings
and the curses.
You know,
if you were to receive it
through the post,
it would look like,
you know,
like a legal document.
Like something
containing a promise.
Something binding.
A covenant.
And here in 2 Samuel chapter 7,
that's exactly what it is.
It's the free God.
The God who can do
whatever he wants to do
whenever he chooses to do it.
That God is binding himself
to a covenant,
a promise,
a commitment to David.
And look at the detail
of it with me.
Notice how
gone are the sort of
I have's.
You know,
I did this,
I did that.
And now what you get
in verse 9
is the I will's.
So God is not just describing
what he's done in the past.
He's now saying
what he's promising to do
in the future.
I will,
verse 9,
make your name great.
I will,
verse 10,
provide a place.
I will,
verse 11,
give you rest from your enemies.
I will,
verse 12,
raise up your offspring
and I will establish
his kingdom.
I will,
verse 13,
establish the throne
of his kingdom forever.
I will,
verse 14,
be to him a father,
disciplining him
but loving him steadfastly.
This must be mind-blowing
for David
and we'll see
in the second half
and we'll look at this
next week,
how he responds
but just notice
what God is doing.
Despite his freedom,
tying himself
to work
through the line of David
to build a kingdom,
a kingdom that will be planted
in a particular place,
a kingdom that will have rest
from its enemies,
a kingdom that will last
forever
and ever and ever.
In other words,
David,
you think,
don't you,
you know,
David,
you look at the tent
in which the ark is
and you think
God is dwelling
in a very temporary
arrangement here
and you look
at your house
and think,
I've built myself
a cedar house
that's going to last
a very long time
and God says,
no,
let me show you something
that will really last forever.
It's the house
that I will build.
It's the promise
that I will make,
a forever kingdom
of blessing
and peace
with a king
from your own family line,
a king
who I promise
to love
and never let go.
Now,
of course,
we know
and we looked at this
earlier,
didn't we,
that this promise
is fulfilled
in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the one
who will be king
on David's throne.
As you read through
the promise,
you can see how
some of it
is kept by Solomon,
don't you?
You can see that
but really,
it's pointing beyond Solomon
to someone greater
than Solomon even,
someone who will be born
in David's town,
someone who will be born
in David's line,
given the throne
of his father David.
Christ will have
the great name,
won't he,
at which every knee
will bow.
Christ will bring us
final rest from our enemies.
He is the one
who is appointed
king of an eternal kingdom,
a kingdom not of this world
but a kingdom of heaven.
Christ is the king
who is disciplined
not for his iniquity
but for our iniquity
as he is punished
not for his sins
with rods and stripes
but bearing in his body
the penalty for our sin
and our wrongdoing,
building a house of God,
not of cedar or bricks
or mortar
but a house of people
placed like living stones
with him the cornerstone,
a dwelling place of God
for all eternity.
So here again
in 2 Samuel chapter 7,
God binds himself
to a promise
that will only be fulfilled
when Christ comes.
You know,
all the mini-fulfillments
before then
in the life of David
and his sons
are just signposts
to this greater fulfillment
in Jesus Christ.
I don't know
whether you've thought
about this before
but you know this promise
that runs all the way
through the Bible
that we're getting expanded
on in 2 Samuel chapter 7.
You realise,
don't you,
it starts back in Genesis
chapter 3 verse 15
when God promises
to send someone
who will crush
the head of Satan,
the serpent.
You know what he's doing
then, don't you?
He is binding himself
by a promise
to send his own son
to the cross.
You know that, don't you?
God is binding himself
to a promise
to send his own son
to the cross
and that's what's going on here,
isn't it?
He is saying,
listen, I will do this.
You can be sure.
So God, the free God
who can do whatever he pleases,
not subject to us
in any way,
voluntarily
through no compulsion on him,
not because David deserved it,
not because he owed it
to humanity in any way,
yet quite the opposite.
He still,
he binds himself
to a promise
to save
through the blood
of his own son.
Let me just try
and illustrate
the kind of,
the wonder
of what's going on here,
just so that we can grasp this,
if you can,
with me for a moment.
I want you to imagine
that this afternoon
you go to Battersea Dogs' home
to pick up a new dog.
Okay?
You go to the dog shelter
to pick up a new dog.
Not a bad idea, is it, Alvina?
A dog is a great thing, right?
So you go there,
you look at all
the different kinds of dogs
and what you do
is you find
a particularly nasty dog.
It's jumping
at the cage door.
As you go in,
it's barking
and snapping
and generally
being a nuisance.
Crazily though,
as you're walking
down this line
of beautiful looking dogs
and you get to this
crazy snapping dog,
you stop at the cage
and you look at it.
You even reach
your hand in
to give the dog
some attention,
show it a bit of affection.
The affection
is not appreciated
by the dog
who bites the hand
that you put in the cage.
But undeterred,
you say,
is it okay
if I climb in there
with him?
Oh, well,
if you really want to,
yeah, go for it.
So you climb in
and the dog bites you again
and wheezes on your leg
and puts a hole
in your trousers.
Still though,
you're not put off
and you say to the person
who owns the shelter,
I'm going to take
that dog home.
That dog
is going to be my dog.
And the person
who runs the shelter
looks at you
and says,
wait a minute,
do you know
what you're doing?
Do you know
if you take that dog
away from here,
you know you're not
bringing them back,
don't you?
You're taking that dog away
and that dog
will belong to you.
It will ruin your life.
It will destroy
your property.
It will ruin everything
that you've hoped to do.
Are you sure
you want to do it?
Have you ever seen
a vet bill before?
Once you've taken that dog,
our policy is
you cannot return it.
Oh, no, I know,
you say,
but I love that dog.
I have chosen
to love that dog
and I will have him
and I promise
to take it home.
Bring me the paperwork.
I'm going to sign on the line.
Now, of course,
it's a stupid story,
isn't it?
Because you would never do it,
right?
You would never go
to the dog's home
and choose a nasty dog
that bites you,
ruins your house
and costs you
all that you have
and bind yourself
to take it home
and live with it
for the rest of your life,
would you?
You wouldn't do that,
would you?
That would be crazy.
That, though,
is exactly what's going on
in 2 Samuel chapter 7.
God is doing that
and you and I
are the snappy dog,
right?
God is promising,
isn't he?
Binding himself
to a promise
to bring us home,
though it costs him
everything,
the life of his son.
I will have that people.
They will be mine.
That kingdom
will belong to me.
I want to labour this point
a little bit this morning
because it's right
at the heart of the passage.
If you're not a Christian
this morning,
it's brilliant that you're here.
Thanks for coming.
This is a really great
explanation for you
of what it means
to be a Christian.
The Bible tells us this,
that the truth of the universe
is not that people
are searching for God.
I know that's what we think,
right?
I know that's how we talk,
you know,
as if people are on a journey
looking for God
and, you know,
maybe he's hiding
underneath that rock
or that rock over there.
That's what people think,
isn't it?
But that's not what
the Bible says is happening.
Nor is the story
of the universe
about people working
really hard
so that God
owes them something.
You know,
as if we could do
certain kind of
moral actions
and God then has to act
in a certain way
towards us.
That's what religion
tells you, right?
You know,
do this,
pray like this,
fast like this
and God will have
to bless you
because you will
bind God.
That's nonsense.
The message of the Bible
is that God is free.
He has to be.
To be God,
he has to be free.
But the heart
of the Christian gospel,
the truth at the center
of the universe
is that in
an inexplicable love,
he has bound himself
through a free choice
of his own
to love you,
me,
and save us
that we might belong
to him.
That plan
isn't entered
into lightly.
It's not invented
by the New Testament
writers.
It wasn't hatched
just as the build-up
to the cross
of Jesus Christ.
It's right here
from the beginning
of the Bible.
It's here
in 2 Samuel chapter 7
as God commits himself
to David
to put someone
on his throne
forever and ever
and ever.
Now that leads us
to the one application
for David
and for us this morning.
If God is free,
he binds himself
to a promise.
The one application
is this,
trust.
Trust in the promise.
Now imagine
if the story
went something like this.
David says to Nathan,
you know,
I'm going to build
a permanent house
for God.
Nathan says,
no, don't do that.
God's not interested
in you building
a house for him.
He will build
a house for you.
David says,
oh, come on, Nathan,
forget that.
I've got some
brilliant plans.
I've bought
the curtains already.
Pharaoh and Ball
have got some
lovely, lovely colours
and I've decided
to use them already.
So forget that.
I'm just going
to go ahead
and build the house anyway.
What would you think?
Well, I mean,
you'd think that David
had lost his mind,
but you'd probably
rightly conclude
that David was going
to be in a lot of trouble,
but a lot of trouble
for what?
For what?
Well, not simply
for the wrong action
of building the temple
when he was not supposed to,
but for the wrong action
of failing to trust
the promise of God.
That's what.
Because this is it.
The gospel is God
freely making
a generous promise
and our response
is not to insist
on our own plans,
but to trust him
to follow through
with his.
You see,
the implication
of 2 Samuel chapter 7
is that the only place
of safety in our world
is knowing what God's plan is
and trusting it.
That's the only safe place.
All your other ideas
and plans for your life
are wobbly,
aren't they?
Don't build on those
because they may not happen.
The safe place
in our world
is knowing what God
has promised
and trusting him to do it.
It means,
doesn't it,
for us as Christians
our two big dangers
in life are these.
One is a preoccupation
with our own plans
and the second
is the assumption
that God should do
what I would do
if I was him.
Think about that first one.
There is a terrible
spiritual danger
in self-preoccupation.
You know that,
don't you?
You know,
if we are so preoccupied
with what we want to do,
with what we want to achieve
with our lives,
if we think this world
is really about my story,
about what I am doing,
then actually that's the opposite
of trusting in Christ
and following him.
Jesus summarizes
the Christian life
as taking up our cross
and following him,
which is by definition
the laying down
of our own plans
to follow him
and trust in his.
The apostle Paul
says to the Ephesian elders
in Acts chapter 20
that he counts his life
as little to him,
if only he may finish
the race
that the Lord
has set out for him.
Listen,
what I want
doesn't really matter anymore.
It's what he wants.
I'm trusting him.
I'm living for him.
Galatians 2 verse 20
says the same sort of thing.
I've been crucified
with Christ
and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live
in the body,
I live by faith
in the Son of God
who loved me
and gave himself for me.
This life I live
trusting his promise,
doing what he wants,
following his way.
Because trusting God,
trusting the promise
that he makes
goes along
with abandoning
our own plans,
just as it did
for David here.
So if you're not
a Christian this morning,
again,
this is the point
for you, isn't it?
This is your David-like
moment, if you like.
You know,
it's not the prophet
Nathan speaking to you.
I'm speaking to you
from God's word,
but this is the message,
isn't it?
Those things
that you've planned to do,
just pause on those
for a moment
and listen to what
God has planned to do.
God says to you this morning,
I know that you've planned
to go here,
to go there,
to do this,
to do that,
but I am promising
to say through Jesus Christ,
will you trust me?
Will you trust me?
Come follow me.
The second danger
for us if we're Christians
this morning
is this assumption
that God would have
to do what we would do,
as if God's priorities
for our lives
are the same
as our priorities,
that his aspirations
for my career
are the same as mine.
But that's really,
that would be another
alternative ending
to the story,
wouldn't it?
You know,
imagine this,
David says to Nathan
the prophet,
I'm going to build
a house for God.
Nathan says,
well,
let me ask God
what he says.
God says,
oh,
what a brilliant idea,
David.
I've never thought of that.
Please do,
go ahead.
Tell me what else to do.
Tell me what next.
That would be a total disaster,
wouldn't it?
All of a sudden,
David would have
a responsibility
way above his wisdom
or power
because for David's joy,
for God's glory,
for David's hope,
God must be God
and David must be David.
But the truth is,
sometimes we treat God
as if God must do
what we say.
We assume that God
needs to hear
our good ideas
and our plans
and our hopes
and our dreams
as if God doesn't have
an agenda of his own
for our lives,
but he does.
God in Christ
has a promise
for the future.
It's a solid one,
one that he's committed to.
It's a plan
not for our pleasure
or for our ease
in this life,
but for a glorious
eternal kingdom
in the next.
Listen,
if we've been taught
anything this week
and if we're going to think
about one thing
this evening,
it's this,
isn't it?
God has a way
of surprising us
and reminding us
that he is God
and we are very,
very temporary.
Our lives are short.
Where is the solid ground
in this life?
Trusting God
and his promise.
It's the only solid ground
because the only thing
that you know
will happen in life
is that God
will save his people
through Jesus Christ.
That you know to be true.
And you and I
are invited this morning
to find our joy
and our hope
and our confidence,
our consolation
and our comfort
in trusting God's
unfailing promise
kept in Jesus Christ.
Let me pray
as I close.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father,
we thank you so much
for this wonderful promise
that you will send
the Lord Jesus Christ
to be king
forever and ever.
We thank you
that we see
with even greater clarity
than David
how you've kept that promise
in the first coming
of the Lord Jesus.
You died for our sin
and rose again
and ascended into heaven.
And thank you
that you have promised
that he is returning one day.
And Lord,
we pray now
that you would help us
to live our lives
trusting in him
and his promise,
not in us
and our own brilliant ideas.
Lord,
we pray that increasingly,
day by day,
we would take a back cross,
die to ourselves
and live for you
and your glory.
Forgive us
that so often
we are preoccupied
with ourselves
and our own ideas
and we cast rather
just light thoughts
to you and yours.
Help us to have big thoughts
about who you are
and little thoughts
about us.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.