The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house
for you: When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors,
I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood,
and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house
for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I
will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by
human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I
took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your
house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne
will be established forever. – 2 Samuel 7:11-16

As we start this series on the line of David, we begin with the promise
God gave to David. Early in David’s reign, it was the intent of David to
build a temple for the Lord. David was feeling guilty for living in a
palace of cedar while the Ark of the Covenant was dwelling in a tent.

At first, Nathan the prophet, told David to go ahead and build the
temple; however, the Lord came to Nathan in a dream to stop David
from doing so. For the Lord had a different plan. Instead of David
building a house for the Lord, the Lord was going to build a house for
David. The verses above are part of the covenant that the Lord gave
to David through Nathan, promising that the throne would never
depart from the line of David.

The covenant also included the promise that it would be David’s son
(Solomon) that would build a temple for the Lord. Even though David’s
descendants (and David himself) would not always obey the Lord, and
they would experience earthly punishment, the Lord would limit that
punishment and would preserve the line of David. Over the years, the
Lord was faithful to His promises – and at times, He went to great
lengths to keep His covenant with David.

Ultimately, we see that God fulfills this promise through Jesus Christ,
the Son of David. Through Christ, God has established His eternal
throne through the line of David – a reign that will have no end. And
just like God’s faithfulness to the covenant He established with David,
we can also be certain that God will be faithful to the covenant He has
established through His Son, Jesus Christ. He will remain faithful,
even when we, at times, fail to obey Him. What a reassurance it is to
know that our salvation is based not on our faithfulness to God, but
His faithfulness to His promises – the promises that are ours through
Christ.

Blessings, Pastor Barry