WWUTT 599 God's Covenant with David?

The Meaning of Scripture After Suffering

Have you ever had a verse that maybe you've read a thousand times, but then something happens in your life and that passage of scripture becomes all the more meaningful to you? Will that even happen to Israel when we understand the text?

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of 1 Chronicles. Today we're up to chapter 16. But before diving into the text, recapping some of our main themes. There are three main themes to the book of 1 Chronicles.

The Davidic Covenant, the Temple, and the People of Israel

Number one, the Davidic covenant, the covenant that God made with King David. This is being written at a time when the Israelites have returned from exile. They've come back to Jerusalem. They've rebuilt the walls.

They've rebuilt the temple. And as they're looking back on the events that led up to being led into Babylonian captivity, why is it that God delivered them from this punishment that they deserve because they rebelled against God and worshiped false gods?

And the answer is because God is merciful and He is faithful to His promises, especially that promise that He had made to David, which had not yet been fulfilled. That from him was going to come a king who was going to sit on the throne of David and establish his kingdom forever.

Well, if there is no Jerusalem, there is no palace, there's no king sitting there, then maybe that promise is null and void. But God is showing to Israel, to Judah in particular, who is the tribe of David, that God is going to be faithful to fulfill what He promised that He would fulfill.

And so Israel has been allowed to come back. They've done some rebuilding. And now they're looking for that king who is going to sit on the throne of David and establish the kingdom forever. Now, we know that this is prophetic concerning Christ, but Israel didn't know that.

So they're looking back on these events. And that's what's being talked about in 1st and 2nd Chronicles. So we get to chapter 16, the chapter 17 is where we're going to have the Davidic covenant repeated.

The first time we read it was in 2nd Samuel, chapter 7, and we're going to see kind of a shortened form of it when we get to chapter 17 here today. So the first theme is the Davidic covenant. The second theme is the temple, because the children of Israel had just rebuilt the temple.

So we're going back through 1st and 2nd Chronicles and we're seeing the events that led to the building of the temple. Right now, the ark, at least where we are in 1st Chronicles, the ark doesn't have a place to be except for in a tent.

And David wants to build a temple for the ark of God, for God's presence to be in that place. And we talk about that when we get to chapter 17. So the Davidic covenant's the first theme, the temple is the second.

We see the temple is a reoccurring theme over the course of 1st and 2nd Chronicles. Solomon will eventually be the one to build the temple when we get to 2nd Chronicles. And then finally, the third theme is the people of Israel themselves.

In 1st and 2nd Kings, the emphasis was more on the kings, those that ruled over Israel and Judah. But in 1st and 2nd Chronicles, it's more on the people. And that's to show that's not just to make the people feel important, but it's to show that the people were just as responsible for the sins that led to them being sent into exile.

Wasn't just what the kings did, but it was what the people did as well, all in rebellion against God. They were participants in the sins that were committed by these kings so that the people would know not to repeat the same sins, to repent of their sin and to worship the Lord God as holy and as merciful because he had delivered them from the hands of their enemies.

So as we continue with our study of 1st Chronicles and getting into chapter 16, we're really going to see the prominence of all three of those themes today. The Davidic covenant, the temple, even though the temple doesn't get built until 2nd Chronicles, it gets talked about here.

And of course, the people of God. So let's start here in 1st Chronicles chapter 16. They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.

And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisins.

Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord to invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel. Now, before we started in on our study of 1st Chronicles, I mentioned that the Levites play a prominent role because as we're talking about the construction of the temple, the Levites are going to be the ones that are administering the sacrifices and all of the worship that's supposed to be going on in the temple.

David's Song of Thanks and the Composite Psalm

So they come up, they're mentioned a lot more than they were in 1st and 2nd Kings anyway. And here we have one of their mentions here. We have a list of names starting in verse five. Those who were the musicians as these Psalms were sung.

And then we get to verse eight where it says, and this is David's song of thanks. Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, sing to him, sing praises to him.

Tell of all his wondrous works, glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered.

Oh, offspring of Israel, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord, our God. His judgments are in all the earth. Remember his covenant forever. The word that he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.

When you were few in number of little account and sojourners in it, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, he allowed no one to oppress them. He rebuked kings on their account, saying, touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Tell of his salvation from day to day, declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.

And he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and joy are in his place. Ascribe to the Lord, oh, families of the peoples.

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory. Do his name. Bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Tremble before him all the earth.

Yes, the world is established. It shall never be moved. Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice and let them say among the nations the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar and all that fills it. Let the field exalt and everything in it.

Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Save us, oh God, of our salvation and gather and deliver us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said, amen, and praised the Lord. And you were when you remember and you recognize that first and second Chronicles have been written after the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt it.

Then you understand the significance of this particular psalm. It's actually a composite psalm. Meaning that different it's taken from different parts of other psalms, most prominently psalms 96, 105 and 106 are featured in this particular song of thanks that goes from second Chronicles chapter 16 verses eight through 36.

And the chronicler has specifically chosen the pieces of this psalm, which very likely were written by David during the time in which this celebration was being given about the ark. But the chronicler is taking it upon himself to take pieces of those psalms and put it together in a kind of this one composite psalm, not only to celebrate the ark, but also in remembrance of what God has brought Israel through.

And now, as they look back on these events, they're being reminded of the promises of God that were given even before the children of Israel were punished for their sin against God. You notice in that that first sort of a section, it mentions that, oh, offspring of Israel, his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones, this people of God has been chosen from all other nations on earth to be loved by God, to be the objects of his mercy, to be the people through which would come the savior of the world.

God chose the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob. And that's what comes up in the next particular section, where it also mentions God's covenant. Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations.

The people of Israel were few in number and they were sojourners, but God protected them when even they were few and the rest of the nations and the kingdoms around them were great in number. They couldn't touch Israel.

God had protected them. And then sing to the Lord all the earth, verse 23, tell of his salvation from day to day. That's particularly meaningful to the children of Israel at this point in time when they know they have been saved from exile, from the hands of their enemies and allowed to return to the land that God had promised them, which was mentioned in there as well.

He confirmed to Jacob, a statute to Israel is an everlasting covenant saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised for.

He is to be feared above all gods. What was the reason that the Israelites were punished by God and sent into exile and taken into captivity by their enemies because they worshiped false gods and that's being reminded of them again.

So they would not fall into the same mistake. Guard yourself from falling into the error of the pagans that are around you. Do not worship their gods. They're empty. They're nothing. The only God to be feared is the Lord God.

Do not fear the pagan gods. Fear the true God for all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. You make the worthless gods. God made you. He is the one who is to be feared.

Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and joy are in his place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Give him the praise that he is due. He is worthy to be worshiped and worthy to be praised.

Let all of the earth rejoice. The Lord reigns. And then we have at the conclusion of this composite psalm, save us, O God of our salvation. Once again, a reminder that God is the one who has saved. So continue to deliver us.

Keep us steadfast in the land that we've re-inherited and help us to continue to remain faithful to you. Gather and deliver us from among the nations, which is exactly what God did to bring them back to this place that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. He's still the God over Israel. So you can see the significance of why this psalm was pieced together the way it was from all these other psalms.

The significance it would have for the Israelites at the time that they were reading this, remembering this following the time of their exile. It's beautiful. It's an even more gorgeous psalm when you consider those things.

It's kind of like how there are certain words in the Bible that mean so much more to you once you went through something. And then the Holy Spirit reminded you of a promise of God that had so much more significance to you after going through that trial than it ever did before.

It's not like you doubted the promise the first time that you read it. Maybe you were a person of deep faith and deep reverence before the Lord and you believed his promises. Whatever the Bible said, that was true and you received it as true.

But maybe it just didn't have that deep, specific meaning to you until you went through something really tough and then suddenly that that verse said something to you in a much more powerful way. I'll give you an example of this from my life.

So there was a period of time in my mid to late twenties when I had just come out of a very devastating relationship and I had moved to a new town. I had to get away from everything else. And in this new place, I didn't have family or friends.

I was all by myself and it was in re-submitting myself to the word of God because I really only had the Christian life on the outside. Underneath, it was kind of dark and seedy. I had some private sins that I was indulging in.

I really was not pursuing God. You would have thought that I was a good, moral, Christian young man, but then there were sins that I was hiding and the Lord was beginning to convict me of that and even showing me that the affliction that I was under was my own doing, that I had put myself in the positions to be hurt the way that I was.

And that's not to say that the people who hurt me were right in doing that. It's just I could have avoided those situations had I been living in holiness and pursuing God in the first place. And so during this period of time when I'd moved to a new town and I was all by myself and I'm falling in love with the word of God again, I was just beginning to appreciate the words of David in Psalm 119 where he was saying, Oh, how I love your law.

Psalm 119 and the Word as Light

It is my meditation all the day. And there's a particular section in Psalm 119 that really stood out to me. Verse 105 is where it begins. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it to keep your righteous rules.

I am severely afflicted. Give me life, O Lord, according to your word. Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.

The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever to the end.

And it was that verse in particular in 109 where it says, I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. Because see, while I was indulging in sin and I was doing my own thing, my parents had raised me in the training and the instruction of the Lord.

And so, the word of God had been written on my heart. I had been reading it my whole life. There's just many times in my life I wasn't paying attention to it. So, at a time that I was indulging in sin, it could have been worse.

I could have been indulging in worse sins, but there was enough of the word of God on my mind and on my heart that I knew those things were wrong and it kept me from falling farther than I could have fallen.

God still had a hand on me and was holding me close. He could have turned me over to my own depravity, but he didn't. He protected me, convicted me, and rescued me out of that sin. And that's just one of those examples where, you know, a passage I remember learning when I was a little kid, memorizing when I was like five years old, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

And then coming to read that as I'm being convicted over my sin and I'm pursuing the holiness of God again and seeing that again and falling in love with it all over again, suddenly that passage meant so much more to me than it did when I was five years old.

And so, that's just one of those examples. And this would have been the case for Israel, reading these psalms, this composite psalm that has been put together in a post-exilic period, looking back on the events that led up to their exile and then their deliverance back into the promised land and appreciating these passages before.

They would have had these psalms memorized. They would have sung these psalms in the history of Israelite worship. But suddenly, these passages mean so much more to them when they know what it is that God has delivered them from.

So, surely you've got verses in your life that mean the same thing to you. And so, this is how that would have been for the nation of Israel, remembering the salvation of their God. So, then verse 37, so David left Asaph and his brothers there before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to minister regularly before the Ark as each day required.

They were singing. They were just continually singing and praising there before the Ark. And so, they were probably doing all of Psalm 96, 105, and 106, but the chronicler had just pulled together these portions as a reminder to the people who were reading over 1 Chronicles.

Also, Obed-Edom and his 68 brothers, while Obed-Edom, the son of Judithun, and Hosa were to be gatekeepers, and then we have a list of other names going on there. So, then all the people of Israel departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his own household, and that's the end of chapter 16.

The Davidic Covenant Repeated in Chapter 17

So, here we are at the Davidic covenant in chapter 17. Now, when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under a tent.

And Nathan said to David, do all that is in your heart, for God is with you. But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, it is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.

For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent, and from dwelling to dwelling in all places where I have moved with all Israel. Did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, 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, to be prince 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 for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth, and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more.

And violent men shall waste them no more, as formerly from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house.

When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.

In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with this vision, Nathan spoke to David. So this is the Davidic covenant. This is a little bit smaller version of the covenant than what we read in 2 Samuel 7, but so thematic to what it is we're reading in 1 and 2 Chronicles.

And even the things that God is saying here to David, though they pertain to the Israelite people at the time that they're reading it, and the one that is being promised that is going to come from the line of David and sit on his throne and his kingdom will be established forever, we know is referring not to Solomon, but to Jesus Christ.

That is the one who is going to come, and that's the one that the people of Israel are still waiting for because they know, as they're going back over this covenant again, they know it was not talking about Solomon.

So they're still looking for that king who is going to sit on the throne of David, and through that king, God will establish his kingdom forever. So when Jesus showed up and the disciples knew that he was the fulfillment of this covenant, what they were expecting him to do was restore the kingdom of Israel.

They even said it before he ascended into heaven at the start of Acts 1. That was what they expected him to do. But it was not a kingdom on earth that Jesus had come to establish, but a heavenly kingdom, and we are all part of that kingdom, all who are in Christ Jesus.

So there are spiritual aspects of this covenant that apply to us even now, for God is dwelling in tents on this earth, not in a single place, but in the people of God who dwell all over the earth, just as the Ark of the Covenant was in a tent and not in a single standing place that did not move.

But right now, God dwells within the hearts of his people, the Holy Spirit whom we have within us. But a day is coming in which his throne is going to be established on earth forever, and that is when the new heavens and the new earth are presented as the perfect consummated kingdom of God.

And so there are even aspects of this Davidic covenant as they pertain to Israel that pertain to us in a spiritual way now that we're still waiting for. We're waiting for Christ who is on his throne reigning in heaven to also put all of his enemies under his feet and usher in his peaceful kingdom forever.

We're still waiting for that day, just as Israel was waiting for the revelation of this one who was going to sit on the throne of David. Now verse 16,. And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come and have shown me future generations, O Lord God.

And what more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, for your servant's sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness in making known all these great things.

There is none like you, O Lord, and 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 yourself a great name for great and awesome things in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt.

And you made your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. And now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever and do as you have spoken.

And your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel is Israel's God. And the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him.

Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray before you. And now, O Lord, you are God and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant that it may continue forever before you.

For it is you, O Lord, who have blessed and it is blessed forever. Amen. And indeed, that is our God. He is the one who has blessed us with all of the riches in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You are seated with Christ in God, in glory, even right now.

So do not forget the things of heaven and keep your eyes on Jesus.