October 14, 2002

LifeWay Family Bible Series for Oct. 27

Have faith in the face of unfilled promises
___ 2 Samuel 7:8­16; Psalm 89; Isaiah 9:6­7
___By Rick Willis
___First Baptist Church, Roscoe
___You have tried to understand and follow God's leadership the best way you know how. The promise of Jesus, "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33) has been your guiding principle. But right now "all these things" don't seem to be going right! Your job, your resources, your health or your relationships lie in a pile of rubble. Is God's kingdom real after all?
___For everyone who lives in tension between faith and frustration, there is a lesson of hope for today from an ancient throne.
___Promise of a never-ending throne
___The lesson of hope begins with a remarkable psalm. Psalm 89 is remarkable because it holds together great faith in a promise of God and great frustration that the promise seems to be nullified. The psalm has its context in the stream of God's covenant promises.
___By the time David became king, certain parts of God's covenant with Abraham had been fulfilled. God promised Abraham a multitude of descendants, the land of Canaan, a nation and kings from his offspring (Genesis 17:4–8). True to God's word, Abraham's descendants multiplied in Egypt. Under Moses, God brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery and forged them into a covenant nation at Mount Sinai. In God's power, they conquered and settled the Promised Land.
___With first Saul and then David as king, Israel centralized military leadership and continued to conquer their enemies. God's promises to Abraham all were fulfilled except for the far-reaching promise to bless all nations through him (Genesis 12:3).
___2 Samuel 7:8­16 narrates God's covenant with King David (see also 23:1, 5). God promised David's throne would last forever. The throne of David stood for God's rule through his anointed king. By promising an unending throne of David, God reaffirmed his covenant with Abraham to bring blessing to the whole earth through an everlasting kingdom.
___Psalm 89:1­4 celebrates this covenant with David. The psalm acknowledges God's sovereignty over all creation (89:5­14). It testifies to God's favor on those who put their faith in him (89:15­17). It intensifies the assurance that God promised a Davidic king forever (89:28­37).
___Then the psalm takes a dramatic negative turn.
___End of the throne?
___"You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust" (Psalm 89:39). So the psalmist laments. Clearly this psalm was written at a time of intense calamity for the Davidic monarchy, perhaps even after the destruction of Jerusalem and during the Babylonian exile (89:40).
___God had warned that David's royal descendants who did wrong would be punished (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 89:30­33). Yet the throne of David, a king in the lineage of David, would never be forsaken. The situation of the psalmist, however, sees David's crown "in the dust," his walls in "ruins," his throne cast "to the ground" (89:39, 40, 44). Certainly the people of God who were in exile had a special interest in the psalm's cry, "O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?" (89:49).
___How could God allow such devastation? Had God turned his back on his promise? Was the throne of David finished? Would the promise to Abraham of blessing the nations never be fulfilled? The psalmist could only leave the tension in the hands of God with a closing exclamation of trusting praise (89:52).
___Like Psalm 89, every Christian heart can find itself divided between faith and doubt. The answer is the prayer for God's help to choose faith (Mark 9:24).
___A different kind of throne
___The psalmist could not see beyond the sphere of an ordinary, earthly king with all the regal trappings--a throne with four legs, standing on a piece of real estate. The fulfillment that God's covenant had in view all along is much more mysterious and wonderful.
___The prophets had glimpses. Isaiah predicted a redeemer king. "He will reign on David's throne ... forever" (Isaiah 9:6­7). Jeremiah brought the Lord's declaration of a "new covenant" to supersede the one at Mount Sinai (Jeremiah 31:31­34). God would inscribe his law in the hearts of his people. He would forgive their sins.
___To Mary, the angel would say, "You will ... give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ... The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and ... his kingdom will never end" (Luke 1:31­33).
___To the Twelve, Jesus would say, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20). And to John, the angel would show a time when "no longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him" (Revelation 22:3).
___The great covenant story of God can be your story too.
___Questions for discussion
___ How "successful" were the covenants of the Old Testament? How are they fulfilled in Jesus?
___ Can you compare your experience with Psalm 89?

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