God's Covenant with David

It was the prophet Nathan who came to David with the following words of promise: "The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom" (2 Sam. 7:11-13, NIV). Even though the word "covenant" is not used in this passage, the language that God uses is covenantal in nature, for "the essence of covenant is promise" (Richards).

The fact that God entered into covenant with David is confirmed in Psalm 89:3,4 where David says, "You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations." Even though the covenant initially began with David's natural son named Solomon, the exciting part of the unfolding covenant is that it is truly fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of David. Isaiah 9:7 says that Jesus would "reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever" (NIV). This is something no natural son of David could do, for only Christ could "establish" and "uphold" David's throne forever!

We know that the coming of Jesus Christ has been God's plan from all eternity. In announcing His plan, God chose David, "a man after his own heart" (1 Sam. 13;14, NIV) to be the one with whom the royal line would begin. The condition of David's heart reveals once again that the ability to keep covenant always begins in the heart. A willingness to submit one's life to God paves the way for this ability to live in covenant with both God and His people. Out of such submission develops a covenantal loyalty that cannot be broken by difficulty, tough circumstances or hurt that may come our way while relating to people in the body of Christ. This is why Charles Simpson has written, "Loyalty is defined as the ability to keep covenant."