Religion in the Life of a Nation

II Samuel 7:17-29

GOLDEN TEXT: “The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory:”—Isaiah 60:19

THE subject of our lesson is one of the most charming incidents in the life of David. It is the account of his reaction to the gracious design of God to establish his house as the ruling house, His representative, on the throne of Israel. In the first verse of the chapter from which our lesson is taken, we are told that David sat in his house—the house for the king, built in Jerusalem through the co-operation of King Hiram of Tyre (II Sam. 5:11)—and that “the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.”

This rest was only temporary and we are told his wars with the enemies of Israel were shortly resumed; but in this little period of peace, David began to think of his dwelling in “a house of cedar,” while the ark and the tabernacle were housed within curtains. He evidently felt that this was inappropriate; and the Prophet Nathan, to whom he mentioned the matter, perhaps merely expressing his own sympathy with David’s feelings, advised him to do all that was in his heart.—Chapter 7:3

That night, however, the Lord sent a special message to Nathan instructing him to communicate it to David. In it God reminded David that He had not dwelt in any house from the time He brought up the children of Israel from Egypt, that “in all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes [margin, ‘judges’] of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying, Why build ye not an house of cedar?” (Chapter 7:7) Then God promised the ultimate establishment of the nation of Israel in their own land. He said that they would “move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more;” and this, said the Lord, has been illustrated by the periods of rest that I have given from time to time—“as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and [as I] have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies.”—Chapter 7:10,11

Then followed the promise to David which so deeply impressed him and is the subject of David’s soliloquy before the Lord recorded in our lesson. This promise was, that while God had not suggested that any of the rulers of Israel should build Him an house of cedar, He would “make thee [David] an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, … and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. … My mercy shall not depart away from him. … And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”—Chapter 7:11-46

David was not permitted to build a house for the Lord, but was told that his son Solomon would do so. David is spoken of as a man of war, and the period of his reign seems to fittingly represent the period in which The Christ has been carrying on a “militant” service, engaged in a war against the world, the flesh and the adversary. Until that work and the period of development of The Christ is completed, God’s temple will not be erected. In this period of trial in which each member of the temple class has had a part, suffering with their Head and Forerunner, the materials have been prepared for The Christ in glory, to be the Temple of God and the meeting-place between Him and the restored nation of Israel and the world of mankind.—Rev. 20:1-4,9,10

This is what David was permitted to do—prepare for the erection of the house of God, the temple which was later built by his son. In his subsequent wars we are told that he put aside of the spoil suitable materials for the building and instruments of the temple, as in the conflicts and tribulations and persecutions of the Gospel age, the antitypical stones have been prepared for their special places in the true Temple.

David was so deeply impressed by these wonderful promises and assurances of God’s favor to him and his posterity that he went into the house of the Lord, sat down before Him to consider and offer his thanks for so great condescension and favor. Humbly he asks the question: What is his house that the Lord should so greatly favor him; and still further that God designed to set it up “for a great while to come.” (Chapter 7:18,19) How much greater favor has each one of the body members of The Christ, the true “Beloved,” received! And our reaction, if we have a proper appreciation of our personal insignificance, cannot be different from that of David. By nature we may be said to be a minus quantity—born in sin, shapen in iniquity.

Appropriately we feel our personal unworthiness of so great favor; but, like David, we respond, “For Thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things. … And now, O Lord God. … Thy words be true, and Thou hast promised this goodness unto Thy servant: Therefore now, let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant [The Christ, the House of which we have the great privilege to be members] … for Thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with Thy blessings let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever.”—II Sam. 7:21,28,29

QUESTIONS:

What is the typical significance of the fact that David was not permitted to build the temple?

Were the wars of David in any way illustrative of the Gospel age experiences of the true church?

What will constitute the antitypical temple of God during the Messianic Kingdom reign?

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