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[0:00] 1 Chronicles 17. Let's put it in context before we start reading in the 16th verse. Okay, so the proper context is David is sitting in his house of cedar and he wants to build a house for the Ark of the Covenant.

[0:14] He tells Nathan, he says, I'm dwelling in my house of cedar and behold, the Ark of the Covenant is in a tent. And Nathan says, do whatever you want to do for you're the king. And that very night, the Lord God approached Nathan and said, David's not going to build the house for me, but I will build his house.

[0:29] I'll establish his house. And we have what we call the Davidic Covenant. And if you're with us Wednesday night, or if you remember, the Davidic Covenant is really just a continuation of every other covenant of Scripture. It is the ongoing fulfillment, really the narrowing of the view of the promise of God that we find all the way back in the Garden of Eden with what we call the Adamic Covenant or the Covenant with Adam.

[0:52] It is a covenant of redemption. And we say we narrow the view, especially when we get into 1 Chronicles 17. This is where we narrow it from the original recording of it in 2 Samuel 7, in that in 2 Samuel, the implication seems to be it's going to be an immediate descendant of David.

[1:11] That is where we get where if he sins or when he sins, and I will correct him. And we say, well, surely he is speaking of Solomon. But by the time the chronicler compiles this record, and he's writing post-Babylonian exile, they have already seen the reign of Solomon in all of his glory.

[1:28] They've already seen the falling of Solomon as he has sought that multitude of wives. And they have seen his failures to be that awaited seed of David.

[1:38] So there's no mentioning in 1 Chronicles 17, the second mentioning of it, of this son of David who will be called the son of God, to whom God will be his father.

[1:52] There's no mentioning of if he will sin. There's no mentioning of that, because the expectation, as we were reading in just a moment, is that we are still waiting for this seed of David. And here we're narrowing our view.

[2:05] We're not looking for one coming soon, but we're looking for one. And then we narrow it just a little bit more, and it bears repeating. I know we heard it Wednesday night, but it bears repeating. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, God declares to David.

[2:19] Now, the revelation is the same. It is, we are not doubting. We're not saying Scripture is contradicting itself. We have to establish that, because we know that what we refer to in Scripture as progressive revelation.

[2:31] That is, the further we read in Scripture, the more we understand what God is doing. And the prophets and the authors of Scripture lived in much the same way. God was disclosing more and more of himself to them, until we get to the book of Hebrews, says, in these latter days, God has spoken to us through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the full revelation of everything that God is doing.

[2:52] It is the full and final revelation found in Christ. But until then, we have this progressive revelation. So, in 2 Samuel 7, the saying, the statement there is, that he will establish him in David's house and the throne in David's kingdom.

[3:08] But by the time we get to 1 Chronicles 17, the mentioning is, he will be established in my house, says the Lord, and his throne will be in my kingdom.

[3:19] So, now we see that this seed of David will have a throne in the house of God. Now, we've narrowed it down just a little bit more, that it could only be one, right?

[3:30] It could only be Jesus Christ. So, with that narrow focus, and here's the promise, again, that God has declared to David, starting in verse 16, we get David's response.

[3:41] So, I want you to see this evening, a proper response to the promises of God. If the Davidic covenant is just a continuation of the promises of God, because what God promises David is what God has been promising to mankind ever since man fell.

[3:59] A deliverer is coming. A deliverer is coming. And we see it. A deliverer is coming. Noah, the preacher of righteousness, as he builds the ark, a deliverer is coming, right?

[4:11] It is such an image. The ark is such an image of that. We have Abram, called out of the land of the Ur of the Chaldeans, from you I'll raise a deliverer. A deliverer is coming. We have these covenants that just keep saying, he is coming, he is coming, he is coming.

[4:25] John the Baptist is the last to say this. What does John the Baptist say? This is this contrast. By the way, this, I mean, that's why I love Sunday night and Wednesday nights, because we can slow down from preaching a little bit and do a little teaching, right? What does John the Baptist say?

[4:37] There's one small variation in the preaching of John the Baptist and Jesus himself. John the Baptist says, behold, the kingdom of heaven is near.

[4:50] He says, the kingdom of heaven is near. Jesus stands up and says, behold, the kingdom of heaven is here. Big difference. John the Baptist is the last to narrow the focus, to point to the one that's coming.

[5:05] He's near, he's near, he's near. He must increase, I must decrease. Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Why is the kingdom of heaven at hand?

[5:16] Because wherever the king is, the kingdom is there as well, right? Where the king is standing, the kingdom is represented and the kingdom is present. The kingdom goes with the king. Nobody else could say that besides Jesus Christ.

[5:28] So now that's the full revelation. We've been looking for a king. We've been looking for a king. Everybody says he's coming. Everybody says he's coming. John the Baptist says, oh, he's near. He's right here, right?

[5:39] I'm the forerunner. I'm right before him. He's near, he's near. And Jesus says, the kingdom is at hand. Wow. Someone told me Wednesday night when I got done preaching and he was one of our younger adults and he said, you know, pastor, I met with you several years ago.

[5:54] And he said, when I met with you, I said, the Old Testament is such drudgery. And he said, and you kind of chastised me. I said, don't ever say that about the Old Testament. He said, I told you, I don't really, the Old Testament doesn't really excite me.

[6:05] He said, I just like the New Testament. And he said, you told me something. You said, you don't understand the New Testament until you read the Old Testament. He said, you know what I've done? He said, I've been reading the Old Testament a lot and you've given me a lot of books. And he said, I've come to the realization I cannot understand the New Testament without understanding the Old Testament.

[6:18] I said, wow, it's amazing, isn't it? Because you don't know what you're looking at until you've been told what to look for. So these promises, because what we're going to read is David's response and you say, oh, wow, that's how David responded.

[6:31] No, these are the promises of God and what we see is David responding properly to the promises of God. What is a proper response to the promise of God?

[6:43] You say, well, if God told me he was going to build me a house and my kingdom would endure forever, it's not what God said. God said, it will be my son. He will set up on my throne. His kingdom will endure forever. And as his kingdom endures, you are grafted into that kingdom and now yours endures because read Paul's book of Romans.

[6:57] Again, we can narrow that. I could stay here all night long talking about this. You are grafted into the nation of Israel. Therefore, the Abrahamic covenant is your covenant. The promises are your promises, right? So now, how do we respond to that?

[7:12] How do we say, oh, wow, look at what we see. Verse 16, then David, the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, who am I, oh, Lord God?

[7:24] And what is my house that you have brought me this far? This was a small thing in your eyes, oh God, but you have spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree.

[7:38] Oh, Lord God, what more can David still say to you concerning the honor bestowed on your servant? For you know your servant. Oh, Lord, for your servant's sake and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness to make known all these great things.

[7:55] Oh, Lord, there is none like you, nor is there any God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears. And what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for himself as a people to make you a name by great and terrible things and driving out nations from before your people whom you redeemed out of Egypt.

[8:18] For your people Israel, you made your own people forever and you, O Lord, became their God. Now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever and do as you have spoken.

[8:32] Let your name be established and magnified forever saying, the Lord of hosts is the God of Israel. Even a God to Israel and the house of David your servant is established before you.

[8:45] For you, O my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build for him a house. Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray before you. Now, O Lord, you are God and have promised this good thing to your servant.

[9:00] And now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord, have blessed and it is blessed forever.

[9:13] Here is a proper response to the promises of God found in 1 Chronicles 17 verses 16 through 27. How do we respond to the promises of God?

[9:27] Scripture tells us that every promise of God finds its yes in Jesus Christ. Right? So as we know the Savior, we're not naming it and claiming it. We're not doing that.

[9:37] We're not going to say, well, I'm going to name that in the name of Jesus and I'm going to claim it. It's going to be mine. But we're going to look at what the Word of God has promised and what God has declared to us and we want to respond properly to the promises that God bestows upon his people.

[9:51] Because I think too often the people of God fail. I was reading something, a book on corporate prayer and the reality that the people of God fail to prayer boldly together because they expect very little from God but they have forgotten that the God, the Father they call out to is the one who shook the walls in the early pages of Acts who responded wondrously to the prayers of the saints.

[10:15] Right? And we don't look at that and go, oh, well, that was a different time and a different era. No, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It's just responding to those promises and seeing who God is.

[10:26] A God who hears and a God who knows. Number one, a proper response to the promises of God is a realized weakness. It seems to be an odd way to be about it but it is a realized weakness.

[10:40] Look at what it says. We alluded to this Wednesday night but it is telling in this one statement that the chronicler likes to use here. We say the chronicler because we don't know who wrote this but we do know that when it was written, it was written shortly before the book of Malachi so near the end of your Old Testament.

[10:57] It is written to a people that are trying to establish themselves as a nation. The first and second chronicles was written to the grandchildren of those who responded to the decree from Cyrus to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

[11:10] So it was a kind of a fledgling nation. It was a people who were trying to find their identity. So the chronicler exalts two people, David and the Levites because you need to know who your king is and you need to know who to worship and the Levites have a prominent position in the worship of the nation at that time.

[11:27] But it is David who is highly exalted as the pinnacle king. But look at what the chronicler says. Then David the king, David the king, by the way, this isn't David the shepherd boy. This isn't David the one with the ruddy appearance.

[11:40] This isn't David with the sling. This isn't David in the cave. This isn't David with his mighty men. This isn't David fighting the Philistines. This is David the king. Don't let his position escape your notice.

[11:53] David the king went in and sat before the Lord. He who was highly exalted on earth found a place of humility in the presence of the Lord.

[12:12] Because it is the promises of God that revealed to him and caused him to realize his own weakness. It says, Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I?

[12:31] He who was greatest among men at that time. He who had songs written by him and about him. He who was leading the nation. Who brought them in in triumphant procession.

[12:44] He who sat on the highest position of the throne of God's people with the backing of the Lord's army behind him. He who was victorious in battle.

[12:56] Who knew all these earthly accomplishments. Who had wealth untold. Who put up and placed up all the abundance of gold so that his son can plate the inside of the walls of the temple with gold.

[13:11] The one who had this fine establishment establishment of a house. The one who could have anything he wanted. Sat in the presence of the Lord and said, Who am I? You know the one thing that causes us to realize our own weakness is when we begin to realize what God has declared.

[13:30] When we say, Who am I? It takes us kind of off of our man exalted position and it puts us on a level playing with everyone else around us.

[13:40] because who we are among men matters little when we realize that we are really nothing before God. That's a hard thing for us to do because too often in our lives we spend so much energy and so much effort trying to make ourselves somebody and I'm reminded of Moses, right?

[14:00] And I like to tell the account because Moses was 120 years when he died. so his life can be broken up into three different stages of 40.

[14:10] For 40 years Moses became somebody. He was raised and reared in the courts of Pharaoh. He was educated in the highest courts. He was taught the greatest tactics of warfare. He was taught all the Egyptian writing and understanding.

[14:22] He knew who he was but for 40 years Moses became somebody. Then God sent him out of Moses and he spent 40 years in the backside of the wilderness becoming a nobody. Right? Nobody remembered him.

[14:32] Nobody knew him. Nobody understood anything about him because he's off the scene so he spent 40 years becoming somebody then he was 40 years becoming nobody so that God could use him to do something for 40 years. Too often we want to stop at the becoming somebody where God has to bring us to that place of humility where we understand that in the presence of God we need to take our sandals off our feet and stand on holy ground or like David we may be a king among men but we need to sit in the presence of the one who is greater than us.

[15:05] It causes us to realize our weakness because David says who am I? Oh Lord and what is my house that you have brought me this far? You've exalted me.

[15:16] You've put me up. He says this was a small thing in your own eyes. What David is acknowledging and what David is saying because God has told him I took you out of the sheep field. I took you out of the sheep field. I took you and put you not only in the battlefield but also put you in the higher courtrooms and he says I've made you all these things and David says who am I?

[15:33] And the realization that in his own efforts and by his own abilities David could have done none of these things. That's a great place to be by the way is to come to the realization that where I am is simply because of the grace and the mercy and the amazing presence of God that has rested upon us.

[15:55] It is not our own efforts not by works not by will but by my way says the Lord right? It's not because we've determined so not because we said I'm going to be so but because God in his mercy has made it so and when we read the promises of God and we see what God has declared to us we understand that the promises of God extend beyond the ability of man and cause us to realize our weakness.

[16:24] The word of God declares for us that no man can pay the redemption price of another man because man cannot even redeem his own life and if we're not fit to redeem our own life how can we redeem our brother?

[16:36] That's the weakness of man. But what does the word of God say is the promise of God but whosoever believes in Jesus Christ shall be saved right? He has the ability to redeem not just one individual but everyone who believes in him and when we see the promises of God we realize we are weak and we say wow in our own flesh and our own abilities we can't do what God has declared he will do which leads us to the second thing it is the realized weakness there is a recognized greatness because when we realize our own weaknesses and our own inabilities then all of a sudden we have to recognize and this is the one thing that is so hard for us to do we have to recognize that there is one greater than us because he says in verse 17 this was a small thing in your eyes oh God what I couldn't do on my own abilities is but a small thing in your own eyes he said you're so grand and great that what you have done it is small he says but you have spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come that is in the distant future the literal translations and he says and have regarded me according to the standard of a man with high degree oh Lord God he says what can I say you know me and you understand me but he says in verse 19 oh Lord for your servant's sake and according to your own heart you have wrought all this greatness to make known all these great things he said well sure

[18:07] I mean how great is that he said I'm going to establish your house forever but the promise is that David don't forget this David said he said David when the day comes and you die so the promise starts with the fact that David's going to die I will establish a king forever we think that David is saying oh this is going to be awesome I'm going to be blessed no he says after you die it is much like the book of Job says Job says though I perish I know that I will see my redeemer in the land of the living that is the first testimony in all of scripture historically speaking of the realization of the resurrection by the way because the book of Job is the oldest book in scripture I know it's not recorded first for you but it's the oldest book and Job says though I die I know that I will see my redeemer with my own eyes in the land of the living what Job is saying is I know there's one great enough to bring me back to life to put me back on earth and let me look with my living eyes at my redeemer that is a recognition of his greatness right and David is saying the same thing he says what you're promising what you say you're going to do it is according to your greatness and great and awesome things and it's just a small thing to you he says oh Lord there's none like you when you read the promises of the word of God

[19:27] I mean I'm not just talking about those confined here to the covenants but when we just make our way through scripture we look at them and we say oh wow isn't God good the promises according to scripture where God says he's going to rebuke you and correct you the Bible says in the book of Hebrews that a loving father disciplines his own children but then we go back and we read it in the Old Testament prophetic word it says that God strikes yet heals one of my favorite portions of the Old Testament striking yet healing God says I'm going to correct you I'm going to rebuke you I'm going to strike you then I'm going to heal you that's the promise right we can no one can say well I can strike anyone but do you have the ability to heal right Peter can swing a sword and cut Malchus' ear off but only Jesus could touch the ear and heal it what an astounding thing look at the greatness of God and when we see the promises found in scripture the proper response is to recognize the greatness of the one who is declaring them because we realize we are too weak to do what he is promising but these are but small things to him we recognize how great he is not only do we realize our weakness we recognize his greatness number three we understand redemptive purpose what's the purpose of redemption have you ever thought about that why are we redeemed you don't have to answer it out loud but just think about it because the Lord wants to forgive me and restore me so I can spend eternity with him in glory you're right that's part of it so the man can be reconciled to God and I could be saved and I could be forever in his presence and yes that's a grand part of it and we've said this before but if the overall purpose of redemption is your eternity in his presence then wouldn't it seem fit that if when he redeemed you he immediately called you to himself if all the purpose behind redemption was that you may live with him forever then it would just seem fit that the moment if that's the grand purpose that the moment

[21:48] I'm redeemed he would just call me to his presence there's got to be more behind it than that right but when we read the promises of God we see the redemptive purpose look at what it says verse 20 oh Lord there is none like you nor is there any God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears we've been around I mean by the time they're writing this they've came out of Babylonian captivity they've seen all this right there's no God like him and what one nation in the earth is like your people Israel whom God went to redeem there's our word who God went to redeem for himself as a people we see redemption here right we've said this before we don't properly understand our salvation until we properly understand the exodus event that is why we need to understand what's going on in the book of exodus these were people that were born in captivity that knew nothing but captivity who were moaning under their captivity and the only way they got out of captivity is because God responded to their captivity right they didn't say well let's set ourselves free no

[22:48] God raised up a deliverer a redeemer and God took notice of them and God initiated the whole purpose and God redeemed them and he made them a nation and he redeemed them and called them to himself as a promise he brought them out in order to bring them in there's so much that we it's the Haitian people they were enslaved in the sugar camps and all those slavery and that's the only other nation in all the world and they redeemed themselves set them free from their own slavery they revolted and they set themselves free but they didn't do it with the aid they didn't become a new people they didn't do it with the!

[23:37] of any God no one they they just did it in a murder thing because I mean rightfully so the terrible conditions that were going on in that industry and you know they cast the British out and they took over the island and said now we are a people we're these people they set themselves free no other nation in all the world that their God took notice of them led them out brought them out in military array and said them if you're reading the same reading plan that some of you have read for a number of years you're reading this right now through the book of Exodus right you're understanding this redemption God has got them leaving right now why look at what it says he says what one nation is like that who redeemed your people Israel whom God went to redeem for himself as a!

[24:29] people look at this to make you a name by great and terrible things why did God redeem his people to make his name great we talked about that we did our Q&A a couple weeks ago right why the ten plagues God was revealing to everyone watching that he was God including the nation of Israel themselves to make you a name you redeemed them to make you a name by great and terrible things and driving out nations from before your people whom you redeemed out of Egypt he did it to make his name great why did God call Abram out of the land of the earth of chaldeans to make the nation of Israel in the beginning he called Abram to proclaim his name among the nations right why did he redeem them he called the this is what it looks like to worship holy

[25:32] God they were to make the name of God great to be a nation of priests they revolted they rebelled they complained they murmured and then they became a nation with priests right so they revolted against that but still the reasoning is there to make the name of God great why all the laws why the regulations why all the separation why do that every seventh year don't plant your crops every 50th year set your slaves free why do they do that because they were a peculiar people that means they were weird right to be a peculiar weird people so that everybody would say wow look at them they're different that is called being a city set on a hill a light set on a lamp stand so that people would take notice of going hungry did you see that they took a whole year off in worship the year of jubilee but there's still crops growing it's not their work it's not their effort it must be that

[26:41] God they serve now they didn't do any of that and why did God cast them into captivity you say oh it's because they did this they did that did this did this no but what do we read because you defiled my name so what is the purpose of God in redemption what's the redemptive purpose of God to make his name great how did God redeem you one of the grand purposes of your redemption sure redemption brings you into the presence of holy God redemption reconciles the debt that you owe to him for your rebellion redemption cleanses you and sets you free but one of the grandest purposes of your and my redemption is that the name of God may be magnified in the world while we're living wow that's how we respond to the promises of God that God be glorified then all of a sudden the things that happen to us are secondary if the name of the

[27:49] Lord be magnified because that's one of the grandest purposes of redemption so we see a realized weakness we see recognized greatness we see redemptive purpose fourth finally we see a reassured acceptance all these promises of God give us such holy boldness when we understand them look at verse 23 because David's praying and he's declaring and David starts in his prayer by the way the way we ought to start in our prayer realizing his own weakness recognizing God's greatness knowing that what God is doing is for his name sake if you go read the model prayers it's often referred to you see that our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name right what are you saying that you are our father you're in heaven you're greater than us were before you may your name be glorified hallowed be thy name may your name be magnified right and then we get into all this petitions and realization but look now

[28:51] David does the same thing now oh Lord verse 23 now oh Lord let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever and do as you have spoken why do we need to know ask God to do David goes before him and David knows his prayer is going to be heard and David already knows his prayer is going to be answered and the reason David knows his prayer is going to be answered is because he is only asking God to do what God has already said he's going to do you know how when we pray for missions and we can we can boldly pray and we can pray that the nations would worship and glorify him and we can pray that people would come to the salvific knowledge of him because he says that every tribe every tongue every nation will bow in his presence we can pray that the gates of hell would be pushed back because the

[29:56] Bible tells us that hell will not prevail against the church there are these promises! that were told in scripture there are these promises that are declared to us that we can pray back to the father and we can say yes Lord that's who you are he says Lord as you have said let it be done there's a great comfort in that by the way you ever wonder how do I know if God even respond to my prayers well if you're in the word of God and if I tell you hey I'll do this for you all you have to do is come ask you're not scared to ask you're not afraid you don't think that I'll give it if I say well I've got this for you all you have to do is come and ask me for it then I'll do it you have an assurance you have a confidence you have boldness you say is

[31:03] Andrew Murray who just really made his commitment and dedication to say I'm not going to ever ask for financial gain I'm never going to ask for any of this it was really he wrote so many great writings on prayer and his declaration would be to know what God has promised and to know what he has said and to know what he has declared there's so many people that would understand that George Mueller took the Lord at his word and saw the Lord send millions of dollars through his hand because he took him at his word over and over and over again we got into that discussion in our men's group this past Saturday morning testimonies of the Lord's goodness I said well you know we just there's goodness sure there's struggle is sure but the word of God is sure it does not fail he says Lord you've done that and he says let your name there you go again verse 24 let your name be established and magnified forever saying the

[32:06] Lord of hosts is the God of Ezra so this is for your name sake right for you oh my God have revealed to your servant that you will build for him a house therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you he says why did I find courage why do I have an assurance because you've revealed it to me already this is what you said you wanted to do now oh Lord you are God and have promised this good thing to your servant and now it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant see what he's saying how do we respond properly to the promises of God we go to him with a reassured acceptance that what we're petitioning him to do is what he wants to do but if we don't know the promises of God then we don't really know how to pray before him if we don't know our word then we don't know what to ask and sure there are going to be seasons in our life as the book of Romans tells us where the spirit will have to intercede in our moanings and groanings and we do not know what to say we get abandoned in those times of what we call silent prayer but even then we know that

[33:22] God hears! after time after time again the word of God tells us God hears our prayers those are promises promises that bring us assurance we respond properly to the promises of God but realizing our weakness recognizing his greatness understanding redemptive purpose and being reassured of our acceptance because he is God and he has spoken to us why we'll never know because what is man that you would take thought of him we can be just like David the king and sit before the Lord and say who am I that you would speak to me but since you have let me pray to you when you open up your word and you say who am I that God would ever speak to me but when he does then go before him and say father since you said it

[34:28] I'm going to ask you to do it because he is God and he can let's pray Lord Jesus we are so thankful that you are that king of kings and lord of lords that you are on the throne in the father's house eternally reigning above all we thank you for every promise that we find in scripture and father we thank you that every promise in scripture finds its yes in Jesus Christ we don't want to be those who name it and claim it but father we want to be those who understand it and are reassured and confident by it so give us an understanding of the word of God give us a desire to know the word with boldness and assurance and ask you to work mildly in ways that glorify your name we know you long to magnify your name among your creation through your people so father here we are make your name great through us if it must be through trials if it must be through tribulations then let it be if it be through mountaintop experiences and wondrous activities then may it be so but all we ask is father make your name great and we want you to make it great for your sake we just want to be those who are used by you we want to be those who sit at the feet of you and say oh

[36:04]  Lord who are we but we understand who are you you are great and you are awesome and you are far beyond all of our comprehension but understand just the tip of the iceberg of your greatness and all we can say is oh wow so as we prepare to leave here may we leave as tools and ambassadors in your hands at your disposal for your glory and yours alone and it's in Jesus name we ask all these things amen