2 Samuel 7. Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 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. And Nathan said to the king, go do all that is in your heart for the Lord is with you. But that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, go and tell my servant David, thus says the Lord, would you build a house, build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since they brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I've been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. 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? 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 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, but with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever." All right. Again, we looked at 2 Samuel 7, you may remember that we talked about the fact that the word covenant does not actually occur there in 2 Samuel 7, but we saw in Psalm 89 in particular how covenant is used there to refer to what God had established with David. Now what I want to do is kind of really look at two Psalms mostly today. We could have looked at any number of Psalms to help illustrate this point, but these two are very specific, they're very well known, they're cited often in the New Testament, and all of that can help reinforce what we're looking at. So first is Psalm 2. Psalm 2, and again, you might wanna just kinda keep a finger there at 2 Samuel 7. Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, that is, Jehovah Yahweh, and against his anointed, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us. He who sits in the heaven laughs. The Lord beholds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, As for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill. I will tell of the decree. The Lord said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise, be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. All right, so Psalm 2. Psalm 2 is ultimately about? It's ultimately about Christ. Who wrote Psalm 2? Probably David. New Testament pretty much attributes it to him. Even though there's no superscript or title to this particular Psalm, as it's given to us in our Bibles, as we see it in the Hebrew, it is probably attributed rightly to David. What do you notice about this Psalm? If it is attributed to David, in his context, he's probably immediately writing about himself. Now that's not wrong, but we also understand that at a fundamental level, it is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. But even with respect to David, what are some things you notice? Is there language that you see in this Psalm that we may have seen before. Like a few minutes before. And it doesn't have to be identical, just think themes. Okay. Yeah, okay, so you see a connection David recognizes that God is the one who established him as king, and it's a reflection in his Song of Psalm 2, and it is also what God promised there in 2 Samuel chapter 7, and the language of throne even throughout. What else? Okay, yeah. What else do we see? Okay, so you have the anointed chosen one. So you see how God's choice is now focused on a person again, but for the sake of all his people. What does God say to the anointed in Psalm 2? You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Now, of course, if we apply that to Christ, you have the whole eternal begottenness of the Son, and that's all fine. That's not really where I'm going with this. If you think back, we talked about this with 2 Samuel, or we touched on this, what did God say in 2 Samuel 7 to David with respect to the offspring? See, I lost my place too, so. What does he say to the offspring of David? Okay, he'll build a house. So there is a dynasty. Yeah, you notice that in verse 14 of 2 Samuel 7. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son." Psalm 2 in song form reflects David's faith that God is going to do this. And notice, David is okay with this. David is okay with the fact that his own offspring, his own seed, is really going to be God's son, not his own. That's his concern. He's more concerned about what God has promised and what God will do through his lineage. Oftentimes, and some of it is fictional, of course. We have a taste of it through things that we read or even movies that we watch. Kings are kings, and it's their lineage, their son, and so forth. And some ancients, of course, we even see this to a degree with Rome, sort of deify their kings. And it's all about them. But David is like, no, this is all about God and God establishing the throne, God establishing the very offspring of David, the seed of David to be God's son. So far so good? Let's just talk a bit more generally for a minute. What do kings do? They rule, okay, what else? They protect their people, what else? Everything here is mostly what they should do. They tax, okay. They eat whatever they want. They conquer enemies, yeah. Okay. That is certainly true. And you might hear something similar to that this morning later in 1 John. Okay, so these are examples of what kings do, what they're supposed to do. Now, we look in the Bible, there are other qualifications which we touched on last week from Deuteronomy. What did the king predict even in Deuteronomy? What was the king of Israel supposed to do? Yeah, write his own copy of the Torah. and study, meditate on it, live by it. Why is that significant? What else should you rule by? Yeah. These are God's people, right? Kings, generally speaking, think they can rule however they want. God is saying, no, kings can rule you, but first of all, this is God. I'm paraphrasing what he says there in Deuteronomy. I'm the one who chooses. And not only am I the one who chooses, he needs to rule in accordance to my law. He doesn't get to make up things on the fly. He needs to judge according to the law. Now, even there, we tend to think you have kings, and then you have other judges. But even you think about just by way of what Even in David's lifetime appeared to be something of the practice based on what his son Absalom did. His son Absalom sets himself up at the city gates to do what? Usurp the king, but by how? What did he do? He judged. Oh, if only there was a king who would judge like he should. Here I am. And he won the hearts of the people because he heard their disputes and he judged. So even Absalom seemed to understand that the role of the king is not just make up rules, but judge things according to those rules. Follow? Does that make sense? Jake? Yes, he did, and oh, what hair he had, right? Absalom, he was handsome, he had the hair, he was the envy of everybody. But even there, his manipulation of the system indicates the kind of system that was obviously in place that he tried to use to his own advantage. So King's rule, They judge, they protect. There's actually something else the king of Israel did. And it really is more, it's not so much that it's something else. It summarizes the whole role of the king. And if it helps, think of Christ. Christ is our, He's our king, he's our prophet, he's our priest, all of which sum up his role for us as our, wait for the theologians to catch on this. Think the shorter catechism and work your way backwards. How does Christ execute the office of? And then you go one step behind that. What's that? Mediator, yes, the king serves as a mediator between God and man, just as the prophet does, just as the priest does. So David on the throne, whose throne by the way? God's throne, remember last week we've talked about Solomon and how he was placed on the throne of the Lord. It's really God's throne we're talking about. And so you have a man serving on the throne of God, and the reason why that's the case is because he's functioning as a mediator. Christ as our mediator executes the office of a prophet, priest, and king, both in his state of humiliation and exaltation in both ways. So far so good? Trish? Yeah, that's true. Yeah, the coronation of Charles is happening Saturday, I guess. It is a historical moment. Almost everybody in this room was not even alive the last time a king or queen or royal was coronated in England. You think about that. Yeah, so it gives you kind of a sense. You will, of course, hear some Bible language and theological language kind of mixed in there, but yeah. But it gives you a sense. The king is supposed to be a mediator. And truth be told, Church of England understands that in principle, but you know, that's fine. All right, so the king serves as mediator. That's the key aspect. And you see the language that David uses here in Psalm 2. Anointed ones, setting the king on Zion. That's key. That's another key aspect of the Davidic covenant is that there's a central location where God meets with his people. And then, of course, what you see there in verse seven, the Lord said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And please note why we know, not just from the clear teaching of what the New Testament does with Psalm 2, but even in the Psalm itself, this is clearly beyond David. David seemed to understand that because notice what we have here in verse eight. Ask of me and I will make Israel? Jacob? No. The nations, plural, your heritage, and the ends of the earth, your possession. That's why even in Psalm 2, we see messianic overtones that are clear. This is beyond just David. And David understood that and what this king will do. And then, of course, the general warning, serve the Lord with fear. It's to all the other kings. Apparently, David was not well versed in the modern two kingdoms way of thought. I'm just saying. Okay, I'm sorry, I was a little sarcastic on my part, I realize. Now therefore, O kings, plural, rulers, be warned, be wise, serve Jehovah with fear, kiss the son, the same son that God has established on the throne. This is clearly messianic in its intent, and it's ultimately fulfilled in Christ. All right, let's jump then, also in the Psalms, to another wonderful Messianic Psalm, Psalm 110. This too, highly quoted in the New Testament, particularly those beginning verses. You see here at the beginning, Verse one, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. Now, first thing I want you to notice, notice the two different spellings of Lord in verse one. Wait a minute, L-O-R-D, they look the same. Well, they're not really if you look close. What do you see? One is all caps, which indicates? Yahweh, Jehovah, what scholars like to call the Tetragrammaton, the four letters of God's name. And the other one, Lord in capital L but lowercase O-R-D, that's Adonai, my Lord. So Jehovah said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. What's significant about that statement to my Lord? Sit at my right hand. What's that? Seat of all authority. It's not just that there happens to be a chair on his right side. That's the seat of power and authority. The execution of Jehovah God's throne. sit at my right hand." And notice it's until I make all your enemies a footstool. All right, so you see the rule here in the first portion of the psalm, like verse 2. The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power in holy garments from the womb of the morning the due of your youth will be yours. Okay, so you see the kingly language there. Verse four. This is where things take a rather interesting turn. Now, we need to understand that reading this and David writing this in an Old Testament perspective is rather fascinating. For us, it's just like, yeah, we get it. We understand because we see it throughout the New Testament. But there was no New Testament yet. And so, you see here in verse 4, the Lord has sworn What kind of language is that when God swears? Covenantal, okay? The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. Notice the language said to this one at the right hand in the position of kingly authority, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. This king is also priest. Why is it so significant? And I know you know this, but it's just kind of putting all the juices and all the pieces together. Why is it significant that David, under the inspiration of the spirit, indicates that God is saying to this priestly king that he'll be a priest after the order of Melchizedek? There's a few different ways you can come at this. Okay. Okay. Yeah, those are really kind of the key things. Melchizedek, why is he so significant according to Hebrews? He has no beginning or end, but also, even more to the point, it's related, he precedes, well, who were to be the priests? Levites, and not all Levites, but, and then the high priest had to descend from Aaron, et cetera. But Melchizedek predates the Levites, Levi, by quite a bit. So it's prior to Levi, but also the fact that there's sort of this mysterious character that just comes on the scene. Melchizedek is given a tithe by Abraham. What's so significant about that? Who gives the tithe? The superior or the inferior? The inferior. He's a king. His name means king of righteousness. And he's king of Salem, peace, So he is a king and a priest. And so there you see the connection between the office of king and the office of priest in the one that the Lord sets at his right hand. See, that kind of goes over and above even what we see David explicitly told by God, but somehow, somehow, right? Somehow David knew. that the promised seed would not just be a king, but would also be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And more to the point, the Lord Jesus Christ points this out when he confronts the Jews of his death. Who's David's son? Well, you know, who's the Messiah? David's son. Well, if that's the case, then why did David say My Lord said to my Lord." How could it be David's son and David's Lord? In a certain sense, as it was said there, it was a rhetorical question to show that they had no understanding of all that was entailed. Because you think about it in terms of earthly thinking, the superior one would be David, not David's son, because David was first. But David understood that the seed that would come from him would be his Lord. Trish? Yeah, he wasn't even the firstborn. And that's actually significant because you look throughout redemptive history, particularly in the Old Testament, most of the types of Christ that we see, none of them are firstborns. Some may argue that maybe Abraham was, but the language seems to indicate he wasn't. It doesn't explicitly say, but you think about this. Seth, the first type of Christ, not the firstborn. Which, well, you have Isaac, but even there, Isaac is technically not the first born from Abraham. It's Ishmael. And then from Isaac, you have Esau and Jacob. Notice I put it in that order because that's how they were born, Esau and Jacob. And then even from Jacob, who's the son Joseph, but it's not Judah, and he's not even the firstborn. So you even look at Joseph and his two tribes descending from him, Manasseh and Ephraim, and then you look at Judah, who also is not the firstborn. David, not the firstborn. Moses, not the firstborn. So you see all these examples of types of Christ in the Old Testament, none of them are the firstborn. They all receive God's blessing, why? Because at the end of the day, the only firstborn that is adequate to really fill the position properly is son of God himself. Trish? Correct. It is, that's correct, by God's choice. That's what it boils down to. And who is God's ultimate choice? Christ himself. So he is a priest after the order of Melchizedek, which of course, as we go through the highlights of the New Covenant, we'll come back to this concept. But notice what this king priest does, and notice how this language is not that different in substance to what we just saw in Psalm 2. The Lord, notice the spelling there, it's not Jehovah, the sovereign one, Adonai, is at your right hand. He will shatter kings on the day of his wrath. He will execute judgment among the nations. plural, filling them with corpses. He will shatter chiefs over the wide earth. He will drink from the brook by the way, therefore he will lift up his head. And that very last clause, a lot of people see a redemptive historical relationship to Christ's resurrection. I don't want to get too much into that, but that is not insignificant there. But you notice how this one from David is not just king over all Israel. He conquers all nations. He judges all people. This is pointing forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. So far so good? Thoughts, comments? Yeah, right. Yeah, Derek. It could be to a certain extent. And you think back to 2 Samuel 7. David had rest, and he's looking, he goes, I have this house of cedar, and my God lives in a tent. And Nathan says, hey, the Lord is with you. Go and do all that your heart desires. We're quick to judge Nathan, but Nathan was half right. Where was Nathan right? The Lord is with you. And that's a fulfillment of the promise of the covenant throughout. I will be God to you and you will be my people. This is why you see God through Nathan use that play on words. You wanted to build me a house. No, I'm gonna make you a house, make you into a house. So it's that play of word from a physical body, a physical structure to a dynasty. That's the kind of house that God is going to build, a dynasty. And the true temple of the Lord is, as the New Testament points out, the church itself. That's the dynasty. So I don't know if that answers your question, but... Yeah. Right. Correct. Chase. Okay. Sounds good. Trish. Two doors down. Yeah, those of you that were there, you remember. And the point of that is that even in that storefront that flooded that occasionally had mice that had. Yeah, we did name the mice after heretics. That's right. The first one we named Cervetus. But you had occasional mice. There weren't too many. But the cricket infestation, some of you remember that. We would show up, our family would show up, and our first task, we'd open the doors and we'd have to collect all the crickets and get them out. I mean, there were just so many. And it wasn't just our church. It was our building where we were. It was a problem everywhere, it seemed, that year. But the point there is that here we had this simple structure, and our kitchen consisted of a microwave and a coffee maker. That was it. And a fridge. We did have a fridge. And you had to, you remember, you couldn't run the coffee maker and the microwave at the same time. And see, a lot of us that were there were kind of smiling, oh yeah, I remember that boy, that was something. But we were still the house of God. That's the point. And so even at times, even as Providence had its first worship service as a mission work of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the living room of someone's home, that was still the house of God there. So this building is great. It's wonderful that the Lord dropped this in our lap right before COVID hit. It is a little cleaner, right. But the truth of the matter is, the house that God has built for David is all of us. We're that dynasty. Because the Lord, Jesus Christ, as the Son of David, as the Son of God, is conquering the nations. and subduing us to himself. That is Christ as our King. That's what David prefigured. That's what God promised to David. David understood that. We see that in Psalm 2. We see that in Psalm 110. We really see it throughout much of the Psalms, not just there. I just picked those two because they're foremost in our minds because of how often they're cited in the New Testament. So, there's your Davidic covenant. Look at that, we're gonna be done early, maybe. Jonathan? The gospel goes forth. That's the bottom line. And you think about, I think a wonderful picture, and it's a figurative picture, but in Revelation 19, the one who rides the pale, pale horse. and he conquers the nation, he strikes down the nations with what? The sword that comes from his mouth. And what is the sword that comes from his mouth? The word. And the word always does two primary things. It subdues his people to himself or judges the nations with equity. That's Psalm 96 and Psalm 98. So, that's how the nations are conquered. It is through the faithful proclamation of the Word. Yeah, there will be a point where it is finished. But yes, it is currently happening. And I realize, and this is where we as Christians need to remember to live by faith and not by sight. Because I realize, you turn on the news, you read the newspaper, you watch stuff that people post on social media, it sure doesn't look like the church is doing much good. But Christ Jesus is conquering. He reigns today. See, I'm an optimistic oatmeal. Yeah, yeah, that's the basic understanding. Great. Uh-huh, yep. And we even talked about this in the men's study yesterday. We're going through Revelation. And last week we had looked at chapter 13 and the mark of the beast and all that. Now chapter 14, and you see the 144,000, the chosen, the elect, that's what that represents. You see the mark of the beast, you move into chapter 14, they're not gearing up with their weapons of warfare. What are they doing? They're worshiping. They're not panicked, their king reigns. And that's for all of history. Christ reigns today. The world is just too stupid to realize it. And yes, I said it. Yes, I'm aware, right. It is a preschool curse word, I know. It definitely is. Oh, Pastor Jim said the S word. Yeah, I did. Okay, I get it. It's true. But you know, unfortunately, sometimes the church is just as stupid and we forget that Christ reigns. We need not panic, but because Christ reigns, we also need not fear. That's really the point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, correct. Yep. All right, look at that. We got done a little bit early. Next week, well, yeah, next week, we'll start looking at the New Covenant. We'll probably hover there. There are a lot of different things, a lot of misconceptions that we need to do away with, and then try to bring it into a more biblical focus. So let's go ahead and close in prayer. Our Father in God and heaven, we do thank you that you have indeed established Christ Jesus to sit on the throne of David, which is really your throne. That he is the priest after the order of Melchizedek who will rule and judge the nations. Lord, we pray that we would ever be those who kiss the sun. that we would be those who recognize that we are his house, that he, that you have established. Lord, may these truths fill our hearts with joy and with gratitude and a zeal to serve Christ. Prepare our hearts as through Christ, we come and worship you. We pray all this in Christ's name, amen.