2 Samuel 7:16, 28
And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever . . . And now, O LORD God, You are God, Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.
What of Today’s Verse…
These opening words are promises from the Lord to David. They made certain an everlasting kingdom for David’s line. These closing words are David’s response to God’s promises. They make clear how we should respond to the promises of God.
The kingdoms of man come and go. The kingdom that God establishes for His people is forever. This kingdom is made available to man by the promises of God. The Lord ordained that King David would have a key role in this plan. “And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” It would be through David that the promised Messiah would come. This divine King would sit upon David’s throne in a rule that would have no end. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa_9:6-7).
When the angel was announcing to Mary the conception of the Messiah, these promises were reiterated. “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luk_1:31-33). These promises will be eternally fulfilled some day. “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ “(Rev_11:15).
Ultimately, Jesus offered this kingdom when He walked upon this earth. “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Mat_4:17). For all who would respond in faith like David (“Your words are true”), a place would be given in that everlasting kingdom!
Let us Pray:
Eternal God, I believe Your words are true. I have repented of my sins and have turned to Jesus as my Saviour and my King. I praise Your holy name for giving me a place in the everlasting kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen
Words of Wisdom
The Overmastering Direction
The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was no passing emotion, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him, and he says, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Our Lord said, in effect, to Paul – Your whole life is to be overmastered by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine. “I have chosen him.”
When we are born, again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained. It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ. Verse 16 is immensely commanding – “to make thee a minister and a witness.” There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship. Paul was devoted to a Person not to a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing else, and he lived for nothing else. “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
“I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.” Acts 26:16
