Sermon for Sunday Evening, January 4th, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Sermon Text:
[2 Samuel 7:1-17 ESV] 1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”‘ 8 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, that you should be prince over my people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'” 17 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
Introduction
I heard recently of a person saving up his money, being so frugal, that he bought his children each a house! There is no bigger thing in life than a house. It is our biggest expense, our largest possession, and the place where more of our time is spent than anywhere else. A house is important indeed. And to be given one! That is the lot or station in life of only a blessed few!
But even a house is nothing compared to our relationship with the Lord. And it is not just that we will have a better house in heaven (or mansions in heaven) but that we will know the Lord face to face.
We see in this passage of 2nd Samuel a section about houses.
David rests in his house.
David desires to build God a house.
God says “No, but I will build YOUR HOUSE,” and descendants will build MY HOUSE, both physically and spiritually, with the work of Solomon and then the work of Jesus Christ.
This is a beautiful section; a positive section of dialogue between God and David through the prophet Nathan. There are no enemies, no one dies in this section! There is rest. And ultimately there is spiritual rest in the house of the Lord.
What a great blessing that will be: spiritual rest in the house of the Lord. Let that be our desire fervently, It is mind, I pray that it is yours.
Well, our text starts off with David at rest in his own house, where he recognizes the need for a House for the Lord.
I. At rest in his house, David recognizes the need for a House for the Lord. (v. 1-3)
1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”
Some say this “premature advice” from Nathan? And premature desire of David to build a house for God. At this point God hadn’t asked for a temple to be built, but it is on David’s heart if we give it a positive interpretation. And David is on to something – the tabernacle was great WHILE THEY WERE MOVING THROUGH THE DESSERT, but now they are stationary. You lives in tents when you are on the move, but once you settled you build a house!
So David says “I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”
Cedar is of great value, and one of my favorite woods, especially by its smell. If I could build a house out of Lebanese cedar, well, man, would that be nice.
There is an application here:
Application: Make Honorable the House of the Lord
If the people of a church are living nicely, but their church building is in disrepair, that is a great shame.
This isn’t to say that we should build grand cathedrals. I think that medieval approach – while beautiful – was often a poor use of funds that could have been better put to use for the kingdom of God. Certainly the indulgences Luther fought against which went to pay for St. Peter’s Basilica at Rome were a great travesty. But while we are not to make the church building glamorous, would should make it respectable.
And when a church owns a manse/parsonage or other property, they should be good stewards of it. Even more so if the people and the pastor have the means to live in nice houses themselves.
Ok, so David thinks it is time to build a house for the Ark of God. But now God steps in to pause that suggestion.
II. Through the prophet Nathan, God questions David. (v. 4-7)
4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”
God is saying, in short, “Did I EVER ask anyone to build a house for me?”
So God clarifies that David and Nathan were presumptuous, taking things into their own hands. And so often that is a problem. We are warned, for example, with Nadab and Abihu when they offered strange fire to the Lord and were killed. And we’re warned in the Book of Revelation not to add to its words. And we are reminded of the error of Joshua when he didn’t pray to God before trusting the Gibeonites. So presumption and going your own way can be a great sin, and very problematic.
But here David and Nathan are not punished by God, for their desires were good – to do something great for the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon holds that opinion, saying of this episode:
“Though the Lord refused to David the realisation of his wish, he did it in a most gracious manner. He did not put the idea away from him in anger or disdain, as though David had cherished an unworthy desire; but he honoured his servant even in the non-acceptance of his offer.”
Later, in the Bible, in 1 Chronicles 22:8-10 we actually learn why God said “no” to David’s offer. He wants a man of peace, not a man of war, to build it.
[1 Chronicles 22:8-10 ESV] 8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’
Then, in His response it is as if God says, “I have something better.” Something better than a physical house. David is already in a house. And indeed a physical house will be built for the Ark, but not until Solomon. That which is better is, first, that God will make the “House of David” to prosper, but ultimately the great thing, the blessing that takes priority and precedence over everything else is the Covenant of God’s grace.
That is what we have here: the Covenant of Grace. More specially, this is called the Davidic Administration of the Covenant of Grace. That one covenant, traced through the Scriptures, that one promise of God, takes form and is shown through various administration.
The Adamic Covenant.
The Noahic Covenant.
The Mosaic Covenant.
And now
The Davidic Covenant.
In each of these we see the promises of the Lord.
III. What God Promises David. (v. 8-11a)
Here we see those promises with the repeated phrase “I will.”
Note how many times God says “I will.” These are his promises.
God responds to David’s suggestion for building a house for the Ark, saying, NO, “I” will do these things for you!
– I will make for you a great name
– I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them
– I will give you rest from all your enemies.
God promises also
– rest for the people
– His discipline
– and steadfast love.
These are undeserved. And that is such an important point to understand about the covenant. Covenants are no conditional. We don’t DO THIS and then RECEIVE THIS REWARD. Rather, God says I WILL bless you. It is an unconditional covenant. If any covenant were conditional, we would fail at it. That is why it has to be OF GOD.
I perhaps don’t preach enough about “covenants.” Maybe it is because I just haven’t gotten to those chapters. But we call Reformed Theology “Covenant Theology.” The entire Scriptures can be viewed through the lens of the Covenants of God. These should not be overlooked. They tell us much about the character of God – His grace, giving to us what we do not deserve, merely out of his love for his people.
That phrase “I will” comes through the administrations of the covenant of grace.
Adam:
[Genesis 3:15 ESV] 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Noah
[Genesis 9:8-11 ESV] 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
Abraham:
[Genesis 12:1-3 ESV] 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
And now our text, with David. And it doesn’t use the word “covenant” in our text, but it does have that promise of “I will.” AND, later in the Scripture (Jeremiah 33:21) this promise of God to David is referred to as a Covenant.
Now, finally, this covenant with David comes full circle to the idea of “a house and kingdom to be built.”
IV. The House and Kingdom to be Built (v. 11b-17)
There is this interplay, this play on the word “house.” “Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.”
Doesn’t David already have a house? Well God is talking about “house” as in a kingdom.
Who is it that builds the temple? It is Solomon, David’s Son.
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
But the “throne [that] shall be established forever” isn’t about Solomon. That is only fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
[Luke 1:32-33 ESV] 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Of HIS kingdom, there will be no end.
and similarly
[Matthew 16:18 ESV] 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
The rock, as you remember, is Christ, and/or the Gospel, (not Peter), and then Christ’s church is built upon that rock. Rocks do not move. They stand. And this kingdom of Christ stands … forever.
That is the promise of God, to David and to all God’s people. The kingdom stands forever, whether the Ark is the tabernacle or in the temple, or the temple is destroyed and falls into ruin. No matter what, Christ’s kingdom is forever.
We should take that to heart in the ups and downs of life. Trouble comes, trouble goes. Temporal blessings come and temporal blessing go. But Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
So let us rest in Him, and upon Him build our house.
Amen.