Through Responsible Leaders

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee.” —II Samuel 7:22

II SAMUEL 7:8-10, 21-29

KING David, because of his faith and complete reliance upon God, was greatly beloved by the Heavenly Father. The Lord was with him in all his dealings and battles with the nations round about. When peace had finally come to his kingdom, his thoughts turned to his God, who had been his buckler and strength. It was his desire to build God a house—a permanent structure—to take the place of the tent, or tabernacle, that had been with the nation of Israel so long.

But the word of the Lord came to Nathan instructing David not to build him a house; that the arrangement was satisfactory in the past and was satisfactory to him then. But the Lord told David, through the prophet, that he would build him a house.

“And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. … My mercy shall not depart away from him. … Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.”—II Sam. 7:12-16

This wonderful promise is referred to by the prophets as “the sure mercies of David” and is a prophecy by God that foretells of Christ and the eventual establishment of his kingdom.

The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the wonderful time of the kingdom, applies “the sure mercies of David” to Jesus and the footstep followers of the Master, both Jew and Gentile. Those will be “the responsible leaders” who, in the kingdom, will administer the righteous and just laws of God’s arrangement.

“Incline your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.”—Isa. 55:3-5

Again, in the wonderful prophecy in Isaiah, 11th chapter, he begins, “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.” Jesse, of course, was David’s father. Then the prophet proceeds to describe the kingdom under the righteous rule of Jesus.

In following the genealogy given to us in Luke, the 3rd chapter, we find that the seed is traced through Nathan (David’s son) down to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The genealogy given to us in Matthew shows the seed to come through Solomon to Joseph. The Bible teaches, however, that Joseph was not the father of Jesus, but God, and therefore the seed did not come through Solomon’s line from David. This is in accordance with the scripture recorded in I Kings 11:9-13.

One of the signs that would help the people recognize the One who was to receive the sure mercies of David was that he was to be resurrected from the dead. The Apostle Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, (emphasized this fact about Jesus: “Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David. … being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”—Acts 2:29-31

The Apostle Paul, in addressing the Jews in the synagogue in Antioch, told them that they were the ones who had slain Him whom God had sent to them, but in doing so they “fulfilled all that was written of him.” “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again … And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.”—Acts 13:32-34

When God made this promise, David uttered a wonderful prayer expressing his thankfulness and humility: “For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things … Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”—II Sam. 7:21,22

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