The Promise

1 After the king was settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”

3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:

5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

8 “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. 9 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 men on earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 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 will establish a house for you: 12 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. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.’”

17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

King David had time to reflect on things after his palace was built and God had given him “rest from all his enemies around him.” Maybe he felt a tinge of shame that the home of God’s ark of the covenant was merely a tent.

Through the prophet Nathan, though, God revealed that he had bigger plans to share with his servant.

David’s (and our) plans are often much too small. God told Nathan that nothing in the heavens above or on the earth below could be big enough to house the Lord. He is the God who moves with his people wherever they might go, wherever they might be. Actually, he is the God who is everywhere at once. How could a mere building be the Lord’s residence?

In the book Leap Over the Wall, Eugene Peterson notes that God is the first-person subject of 23 verbs in the message that he gave Nathan to share with David. The Lord is the active, working, speaking, being, promising, establishing, eternal God who is faithful forever.

God promised that his love would never leave David. The Lord’s promise to be the father of his offspring would be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ as the heir to David’s throne. The statement “I will be his father, and he will be my son” set the stage for the coming of Jesus as God’s Son, our Savior. That’s real love.

Lord and God, your work of salvation is vast and comprehensive. Help us to embrace the tremendous gift of your faithful love for us in Christ today. Amen!