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Cornerstone Chapel - Audio Podcast
His Mercy Is Great: His Justice Is Coming
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1 Chronicles 16:8-17:14
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We are making our way through 1 Chronicles. And so we're in the middle of chapter 16 where you left off last week. Let me first have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for this time in your word. Now speak to our hearts through the pages of your word, and we give you the praise and the glory in Jesus name. Amen. Well, if you remember, in 1st Chronicles 16, David is now firmly established as king over all of Israel. The number one thing that he does is to make the Lord central to the nation by bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, which he has established now as the national headquarters, as the capital of the nation of Israel. And so once the Ark of the Covenant has been moved there and a special tent has been made for it, David breaks out into song. And he writes in chapter 16 this song that is similar to a few of the psalms that he wrote in chapter 16. Starting at verse 8, it's a Psalm of thanks. And verse 8 down through verse 22 is the same as Psalm 105, verses 1 to 15. And we left off in the middle of this passage here, verse 15, where we talked about covenant. And I'm just going to revisit that briefly. Verse 15 says, Remember his that's God's covenant forever. The word which he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant which he made with Abraham and his oath to Isaac and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying to you, I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance when you were few in number, indeed very few and strangers in it. So we first had to define covenant. And so, just to revisit that briefly, a covenant is a solemn binding agreement initiated by God between himself and another individual to establish certain promises for humanity. A covenant can be either conditional, requiring human obedience, or unconditional, based on God's sovereignty alone. Unlike a mere contract, these divine covenants are based on grace, sealing relationships with either oaths and or blood. And then I mentioned to you that there are basically six major covenants of God in the Bible. Half of these are unconditional, the other half are conditional, and they are God's covenant with Adam, when God blessed them and said, be fruitful and multiply. And his blessing was conditional, though he said, do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. So they broke covenant with God, which God will reestablish through the sacrifice of Jesus. But that was a conditional covenant. Then there's the covenant of Noah, when God determined he would never again destroy the earth with a worldwide flood. The rainbow was the sign of the covenant and that was unconditional. And thank God it was unconditional because we would have been wiped out plenty more times since then if God was determined to judge us on the basis of humanity and our sinfulness. Number three was God's covenant with Abraham. Now that's the covenant that David is referring to here in 1 Chronicles 16. And that covenant that God made with Abraham was to establish a people and a land for that people in order for Messiah to be birthed through this ethnic people, the Jewish race, the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob descendants. And that was also unconditional. It was not dependent on how good Israel was or the Jewish people were. This was God's determination to bring about an ethnic group of people for the purpose of giving birth to Messiah for the redemption of the whole world. And land was a part of that covenant. Covenant agreement between Genesis 12 and Genesis 15. And then, and we spent time talking about that last week. Number four was the covenant with Moses, which is the law. Number five, God's covenant with David, which is chapter 17 we'll look at tonight. And then finally the new covenant of Jesus. His sacrifice on the cross so that we might have our sins forgiven. Remember when Jesus took the Passover meal and he took the cup and he said, this cup is my blood of the new covenant covenant which is shed for you. Drink all of it in remembrance of me. So God established a new covenant with anyone who would believe and receive in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And so covenant is important in understanding God's relationship to mankind. That's why our Bibles are separated into two covenants. Old Testament is Old covenant. New Testament is New covenant. God is a covenant making, covenant keeping God. And the covenant with David is spelled out for us here into chapter 17. So let's keep reading chapter 16 so we can get to that tonight. Verse 20. And when they went from one nation to another and from one kingdom to another people, he permitted no man to do them wrong. Yes, he rebuked Kings for their sakes, saying, do not touch my anointed ones and do my prophets no harm. Now note verse 23 because now verse 23 through verse 33 is identical to Psalm 96 if you want to write that in the margin of your Bible. Psalm 96, 1:13 is the same as what we're about to read here. This is verse 23. Sing to the Lord all the earth proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day Declare his glory among the nations, his wonders among all peoples. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Honour and majesty are before him. Strength and gladness are in his place. Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples. Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Tremble before him all the earth. The world also is firmly established it shall not be moved. Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad and let them say, among the nations the Lord reigns. Let the sea roar in all its fullness Let the field rejoice and all that is in it. Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth. Now let's pause there because that last statement is interesting that he, the Lord is coming to judge the earth. Now again, David lived about 1000 B.C. messiah. Jesus would not be revealed for about a thousand years. And yet he's prophetically talking about in this psalm how the Lord the Messiah is coming to judge the earth. Now interestingly, when Jesus came, he actually said he didn't come to judge the earth. Remember in John 3:17 where Jesus said, for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved. So that sounds a bit of a contradiction to what we're reading here in 1 Chronicles. In addition, Jesus also said in John 12:47, I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. So why is David saying that he is coming to judge the earth? Because in actuality, what David is seeing is not the first coming of Jesus, but he's actually prophetically writing about his second coming. Because when Messiah comes the second time, he doesn't come riding meek and mild on a donkey like he did at his first coming into Jerusalem just before he was crucified. The next time that Jesus comes, he's not riding on a donkey, he's riding on a white horse and he's coming to judge the earth. You can just stay there in Chronicles, or you can turn real quickly to Revelation chapter 19 and I'll read to you about the second coming of Christ. So David there is looking way ahead beyond even the first coming of Messiah. He's writing even about the second coming of Messiah. Revelation 19:11 John writes, Now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse. Well, there's evidence, by the way, that there will be animals in heaven. Everybody, a white horse. And he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness. Here we go. He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen. That's us, everybody. The ones who return with Jesus, who are already in heaven with him, these are not angels, because the ones who return with him, the armies in heaven, are clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. And the linen is a picture, white and clean, of the righteousness that we have been clothed with, that we have in Jesus. So these are not angels, these are the saints returning with Jesus to make war here. And we're all riding on white horses. I don't know if you've ever ridden a horse. Only twice for me. The first time it ran across the field and it was out of control. And they're to be reckoned with, those beasts. They're. Anyway, I guess we're all going to be riding horses at some time. And now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them. With a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and and wrath of God Almighty. And he has on his robe and on his thigh, notice this, a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords, by the way, that's written on his thigh. So there are tattoos in the Bible. Everybody, that's. I'm just telling you what the Bible says, but I want you to notice the contrast. First coming of Jesus, meek and mild, riding on a donkey, coming into Jerusalem for the salvation of the world, as he would lay his life down for the sake of the sins of the world. And his second coming. He's fierce. He's coming to judge the nations. He's coming to make war. He is coming to settle the war of all wars. Revelation 16. The Battle of Armageddon. And when the Lord returns, he will not be gentle riding on a donkey. He will be fierce as a warrior, King of kings and Lord of Lords, riding on a white horse. So when David back here in First Chronicles 16, he sees the Lord coming, judging the earth. And Jesus himself said in John 12:47, I came not to judge the earth, but that the world might be saved. This has to be a reference to his second coming. And he's coming again. And he's given us this opportunity in the meantime to get right with him. His mercy is great, but his justice is coming. And he writes here in verse 34. Now back here in 1 Chronicles 16:34, 36 is similar to Psalm 106, Psalm 106:1, and then verses 47 to 48. And this is what he writes, verse 34 here. O give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. And say, save us, O God of our salvation. Gather us together and deliver us from the Gentiles to give thanks to your holy name, to triumph in your praise. Blessed be the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. And all the people said Amen and praise the Lord. You know, when, when I finish praying, you know, on a Sunday or Wednesday, like I did tonight, when I finished praying, I typically say. And everybody said, and then you all say, amen. Well, you know, this is why I do it. Like, there's examples in the Bible of when the people in unison said, amen. Now, amen is actually a Hebrew word. Amen in the Hebrew means truly, or it means let it be so, or it means so be it. So whenever you say Amen, Amen in Hebrew, you're just basically saying, I'm in agreement with what somebody just prayed. And so you're coming alongside the prayer and you are agreeing with it that it might be done. So amen. It's a Hebrew word. Verse 37 says, so he that's David left Asaph and his brothers there before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, to minister before the Ark regularly, as every day's work required. And Obed edom with his 68 brethren, including Obed Edom, the son of Jeduthun and Hosah, to be gatekeepers, and Zadok the priest and his brethren, the priests, before the Tabernacle of the Lord at the high place that was at Gibeon. So just note that in your Bible, Gibeon is where the tabernacle was still located. And Gibeon was about 5 1/2 miles northwest of Jerusalem. So remember that when God gave instructions to Moses for this temporary place of worship, a tabernacle, a tent, there were different articles that were present inside the tabernacle. What David did was he took one of those articles, the Ark of the Covenant, and he moved it to Jerusalem. Because the Ark of the Covenant was the Place where God's glory would often manifest between the cherubim. And he wanted the presence of God to be central to the worship of the nation of Israel. But the rest of the tabernacle and the sacrifices were made in Gibeon, not in Jerusalem. And not until David's son Solomon builds a permanent temple will the sacrifices come to Jerusalem. So it's still separate here, just the Ark of the Covenant is in Jerusalem. It's under a tent that he's made for it. And he's assigned these various priests and Levites to tend to it and to care for it and to, you know, be gatekeepers of this tent that covers the Ark of the Covenant. But the rest of the tabernacle is still at Gibeon. And he says there, it says there in verse 40, to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel. And with them he, man and Jeduthen and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name to give thanks to the Lord because his mercy endures forever, who is grateful for his mercy. And with them he met in Jeduthun to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now, the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers. And then all the people departed, every man to his house. And David returned to bless his house. Then we come to chapter 17. We'll see how far we get here in this chapter. But if your Bible has a subtitle like mine does, at the beginning of chapter 17, it says, God's covenant with David. So on our covenant list, this is number five. You will note with me that I put an asterisk there because this is again an unconditional covenant. Now, what exactly is this covenant with David? Well, we're going to read it, you'll see it. But I want to point out as we read it that the word house is mentioned several times, and sometimes it actually means a dwelling place, and other times it means a lineage or a family. You know how. You know, somebody might just kind of nonchalantly say to me, hey, how's the Hamrick house doing? They don't mean, how are the four walls of my home and the kitchen and the bathroom? They mean, how's the family? How's the Hamrick house doing? So I'm going to point it out to you as we read through it, because sometimes it's a little. It's a little wonky to figure out like what house? Are we talking about an actual structure or a lineage? So let's look here. Chapter 17, verse 1. Now, it came to pass when David was dwelling in his house, okay? Now that's an actual abode that David said to Nathan the prophet, see, now I dwell in a house of cedar. That's a literal house, but the ark of the Covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains. Now, cedar was a luxury, so David's own palace was very well adorned with the cedar. And he gets convicted about this. God's not convicting him, but he is. He's like, you know, I don't feel right that I'm living in a. In a house that's paneled with cedar. And the ark of the Covenant that I've had brought here to Jerusalem is just under a canopy. He says, I don't feel good about this. He says to Nathan the prophet. Now, the implication is he doesn't specifically say, I want to build a temple of the Lord, but that's what he's implying. And Nathan said to David in verse two, do all that is in your heart, for God is with you. But verse three. But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan saying, and now we're going to hear the heart of God. And this has to do with the covenant that he's going to make with the house of David, the family, the lineage of David. Verse 4. Go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, you shall not build me a house to dwell in. For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent and from one tabernacle to another, wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, why have you not built me a house of cedar? I mean, you know, God's saying through Nathan, like, that's a great idea, David, but you know, I'm not asking you to do this. Verse 7. Now therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep to be ruler over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no More. Nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them any more. As previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people, Israel, also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore, I tell you that the Lord will build you a house. Okay, now here's the different use of the word. He's saying to David, not, I'm going to build you a structure. He's saying, I'm going to build a lineage, a royal dynasty through your line. He says, I'm going to build you a house. Verse 11. And it shall be when your days are fulfilled, when you must go to be with your fathers, when you die, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons. And I will establish his kingdom. Okay? Now this is Solomon. He, Solomon, shall build me a house that's a literal temple, a house, a dwelling place. And I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. And I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it from him who was before you, Saul. And I will establish him in my house and in my kingdom forever. And his throne shall be established forever. Did you notice the number of times God says forever? Forever. Forever. Okay? Whenever I hear people say, oh, God's done with Israel, and the church has replaced Israel, I don't think so. Like, out of the mouth of God, he establishes a covenant here through the house of David, forever. Now, what exactly is this covenant? Here's the covenant he's making with David. Out of your life, David, from your tribe shall come the Messiah who will be the redeemer for the world. In fact, I just spelled it out for you. For you. Note takers. The Davidic covenant. This is an unconditional covenant made between God and David in which God promised David and Israel that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would come from the lineage of David and the tribe of Judah, that's David's tribe, God promised to establish a kingdom that would endure forever. The Davidic covenant is unconditional because it is based on God's faithfulness and does not depend at all on David or Israel's obedience. That's the Davidic covenant. And God determined that Messiah would come through the line of David. So when he says here that you will always have someone on your throne forever, it doesn't mean, and we know this because we can see in the rearview mirror, it doesn't mean continuously have a king on the throne, but it means, I am not done with your lineage. Because out of the line of David will come one who will rule the world and scepter. That's what we read in Revelation, chapter 19. This is a messianic prophecy about Jesus who would come for the salvation of the whole world. And the promise that God made through the line of David is that Messiah would be revealed. And of course, Jesus was born of the line of David. Now, it's interesting because when you look at the genealogical records, you have two in the New Testament. You have Mary's line that is spelled out in Luke's Gospel, chapter three, and you have Joseph's line that is spelled out in Matthew, chapter one. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David through different sons. Mary was a descendant of David through his son Nathan. Joseph was a descendant of David through his son Solomon. Now, Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. We know that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, impregnated her with the seed of God. But Joseph still gave legal credence to the birth of Jesus as the legal guardian of Jesus, though not the biological father. And thus Jesus is entitled to the throne by blood and by law, because by both the descendants of David through Mary and Joseph came this fulfillment that Messiah would be born of the line, King David. And this is the covenant that God makes, and it's for the sake of the whole world. What he initiated with David was God's determination. It's not that David did anything. In fact, God is very. He's very gentle with David here. He's basically saying, you know, this is great. You want to build me a temple. I didn't ask anybody to do this. So this comes out of your heart. Let me tell you what I'm going to do for you, David. Don't you love that about God? It's like we can never try to do anything, outdo God. He's always going to do more for us than we could possibly do for him. So he turns the table on David. He goes, thank you very much for this kind gesture, by the way. It's going to be your son who builds the temple for me, not you. Why? Because the Bible says later in First Chronicles, I think it's chapter 21 or 22, that David, your hands have shed blood in war, and so your hands are unclean. It'll be your son who builds me a temple. But. But God is honored by it. But he flips the table and he says, let me just tell you what I'm going to do for you. Your son is going to build this temple, and through your line will come the ruler, the Messiah, because I'm making covenant with you for the sake of the whole world. This unconditional covenant, David didn't do anything to deserve it, but God did it to initiate it for the sake of the whole world. So we'll pick it up there next Wednesday night. Read ahead. We'll pick it up there at verse 15. But for tonight, let's pray. Father, we thank you for your covenant with David, that you are a covenant making, covenant keeping God. And that what you promised to David, you fulfilled through Jesus. And you initiated a new covenant that came through our Messiah, our Lord, who died on a cross and shed his blood. And by his blood offered to us a new covenant that as many as believed in him, to them that received him, he gave the right to become children of God. Children not born of flesh, but born of the Spirit. Thank you Lord, for loving us. Thank you Lord, for always outdoing us. No matter what we try to do for you, you always do exceedingly, abundantly. More than we could ever hope or imagine. Thank you, Jesus for loving us and saving us. And we give you the praise and the glory and the honor tonight, in Jesus name we pray. And everybody said Amen. Amen.