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2 Samuel 7

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2 Samuel 7; Psalms 2, 40, 110


 

Taken together 2 Sam 7 and Pss 2, 40, and 110, argue for a ‘storyline’ understanding of Scripture. In the immediate these passages referred to David (and perhaps other kings of Israel as well), detailing the rule and glory of Israel’s royalty. These texts cast a long shadow, necessitating fulfillment in the reign of Jesus Christ; only He could satisfy the language of power, dominion, suffering, and fellowship with God contained here. From the time Samuel anointed David in 1 Sam 16, the reader has anticipated a further affirmation of the LORD’s plan for His servant—especially since David had endured so much from Saul and those who opposed the peaceful establishment of his rule. This affirmation arrived in the covenant the LORD made with him in 2 Sam 7. 

 

The LORD’s covenant with David was established in response to David’s desire to construct a palace for the ark (vv. 1-2). While noble were David’s intentions, the LORD’s message to David through the prophet was clear: “Are you to build a house for Me to live in?...In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’” (vv. 5, 7). The LORD commanded Nathan to speak to the king, and to:

  1. Review what God had purposed to accomplish through David’s reign (vv. 8-11). David was to lead God’s people as He established them in the land and gave them rest from all their enemies. In Ps 2 Israel’s king was considered a son of the LORD, and He exhorted the king, “Ask of me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will shatter them like pottery” (vv. 7-8). Ps 110 paints a similar picture, where perhaps a court herald announced that the LORD had said to David, “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool” (v. 1)
  2. Announce what God would do with David’s descendant (vv. 12-16). Concerning a yet unnamed son of the king the LORD spoke, “He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (v. 13). Further though, the LORD assured David, “Your house and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever” (v. 16)
 

David responded to Nathan’s words with a reverent and courageous prayer:

  1. Thanking the LORD for His covenant with him. The king recognized the LORD’s goodness in the past, but also that He had revealed His future plans to David—and such esteemed plans at that (vv. 18-21). Perhaps most telling in David’s initial response was the confession, “Because of Your word and according to Your will, You have revealed all these great things to Your servant” (v. 21); David had resigned himself to the fact that God’s will must be consulted even above his own plans to honor the LORD (cf. Ps 40. 6-8).
  2. Thanking the LORD for His LORD’s covenant with Israel (vv. 22-24)
  3. Petitioning the LORD to be faithful to the covenant He had made (vv. 25-29). These verses are saturated with the temporal reference, “forever,” referring to both the length of David’s reign and the length of LORD’s glory that would result (vv. 25, 26, 29)
 

During the writing of the New Testament portions of 2 Sam 7, and Pss 2, 40, and 110, were seen as indicative of something greater than the reign of King David, as great as that was. It is from the use of these in the New Testament that one can see the storyline aspect of Scripture, the old leading to the new, to Jesus. Several verses from these were employed:

  1. To verify that Jesus was in the family line of David. Luke cited 2 Sam 7.12-13 in both his Gospel and in the book of Acts. Luke records that the angel Gabriel told Mary that her son would be named Jesus, and that “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end” (1.32-33). Likewise, when Paul witnessed of Jesus in Pisidian Antioch, he said: “After removing him (Saul), He raised up David as their king, of whom He testified: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will carry out all My will.’ From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus, to Israel” (Acts 13.22-23)
  2. To verify that Jesus is God’s Son. In light of Ps 2.7 the author to the Hebrews wrote of Jesus’ superiority over the mediators of the Old Covenant, saying, “For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father” (1.5). The remainder of the verse, “or again, ‘I will be His Father, and He will be My Son’” (1.5b) is rooted in 2 Sam 7.12-13. Further, the author to the Hebrews understood from Ps 2.7 that Jesus “did not exalt Himself to become a high priest, but the One who said to Him, ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father’” (5.5). Luke records that in Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch the apostle saw in Ps 2.7 a basis for understanding the resurrection, “We ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our forefathers. God has fulfilled this to us their children by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father’” (Acts 13.33)
  3. To validate Jesus’ royal status—even over that of King David. When Jesus questioned the Pharisees saying “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is He?” (Mt. 22.42), He answered His own question by quoting Ps 110.1, and concluded “If David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how then can the Messiah be his Son?” (22.45); Jesus was David’s Son by lineage, and yet David’s Lord by position (cf. Mt 22.44; Mk 12.36; Lk 20.42-43). Toward the end of his sermon on Pentecost, Peter quoted Ps 110.1 to explain Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to the place at God’s right hand—something David never knew (cf. Acts 2.34-35). Likewise, Paul directed the Corinthians to consider Ps 110.1 as a basis for understanding Christ’s resurrection and the climax of history—a reality that in itself guarantees the resurrection of all believers (cf.1 Cor 15.25). Finally, the author to the Hebrews called his reader’s attention to Ps 110.1 to show Christ’s superiority over angels—those who mediated the old covenant (cf. 1.13)
  4. To confirm the fact that Jesus’ royalty included an eternally valid priesthood. According to Ps 110.4, David’s kingship included a priestly function—and since the LORD had promised that David’s throne would endure forever, then naturally his priesthood would also be eternal. It is thus natural to understand why the author to the Hebrews would find in Ps 110.4 grounding for his argument that Jesus, God’s Son, was the Priest of the new covenant—appointed to the position, serving there eternally according to the oath of the Lord (cf. Heb 5.6, 10; 7.17, 21)
  5. To describe Jesus’ suffering in the language of what David endured. It may be that the second Psalm was composed to honor the victorious king of Israel either before or after a battle (cf. David’s victories in 2 Sam 8-10). These triumphs may have been in the author’s mind when he wrote, “Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and His Anointed One” (Ps 2.1-2). When the disciples were facing opposition in Jerusalem, they gathered in prayer and interpreted this text as ultimately referring to Jesus, not David (cf. Ac 4.25-26)
  6. To emphasize the significance of Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice for sin. The flow of Ps 40 includes both praise for God’s deliverance and petition for the same. In the midst of this the Psalmist confessed his piety before the LORD, “You do not delight in sacrifice and offering; You open my ears to listen. You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering. Then I said, ‘See, I have come; it is written about me in the volume of the scroll. I delight to do Your will, my God; your instruction resides within me’” (vv. 6-8). The author to the Hebrews saw in the Psalmist’s confession phrases that not only illustrated Jesus’ disposition in suffering and dying for sinners, but also evidence for the shift in redemptive history (cf. 10.5-8); for centuries sacrifices were offered according to the Mosaic Law, but Jesus’ unique self-sacrifice fulfilled these forever. The author inferred: “He (God) takes away the first to establish the second. By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all” (10.9b-10). According to Hebrews, the significance of Christ’s finished work can be seen in the fact that after He offered Himself during His first advent, He “sat down at the right hand of God” (10.12), and is now “waiting until His enemies are made His footstool” (10.13; cf. Ps 110.1)
 
 

*For a complete list of references, please see scripturestoryline.com