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David’s Incomparable Prayer to the Incomparable God
Why is prayer so hard? We have difficulty setting aside to pray. Once we start to pray we get distracted far too easily. Sometimes we aren’t sure how we should pray. Why should we pray if the LORD has already determined what will happen?
As we come to the end of 2 Samuel 7, the LORD, through the prophet Nathan has just revealed the promises of the Davidic covenant, that David’s house will endure forever. David, overwhelmed by God’s grace, gives thanks and praise to the LORD and asks that all of God’s promises would be fulfilled just as He said.
Our prayers also should be in response to God’s glorious revelation to us. We are participants in a better covenant, in Jesus Christ the Son of David. Our praise is fueled by our gratitude for God’s grace in choosing us in spite of our unworthiness. His promises inform us as we pray for This Kingdom to come and His will to be done.
David’s prayer gives us a pattern for prayer:
- Confessing our unworthiness and God’s grace. v. 18-21
- Praising the LORD for His Person and work. v. 22-24
- Praying His promises. V. 25-29
Bless the LORD, O My Soul
Psalm 103:1-4 - Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
The Davidic Covenant
Throughout the Bible the LORD deals with His people through covenants. Through the covenants God progressively reveals His plan for redemption which was first promised to Adam (Gen. 3:15) then given in further detail to Abraham (Gen. 12,15,17) and in type through Moses (Exodus, Deuteronomy). In the Davidic Covenant the LORD focuses the hope of His people upon David’s descendants.
The fulfillment of God’s promises to David is experienced in part in his own life, and through his dynasty, especially through his son Solomon (1 Ki. 8:20). Even in the dark days when God’s people were under foreign dominion, they looked forward to the day when a Davidic king would reign in glory (Isa. 11:1f Amos 9:11 Ezek. 37:24ff).
The ultimate fulfillment of a son of David who is also Son of God who reigns forever is through Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:5 Luke 1:31ff). It is astounding to see how Jesus fulfills God’s promises to David.
We will also be reminded of why the Davidic covenant still matters to us today. We share in the covenant blessings with the assurance that the LORD will keep His promises to us. The remarkable fulfillment of God’s promises through Christ is yet one more reason that all people should turn to Jesus, the King Whom the LORD has established to reign universally and forever.
Recent Sermons
Consecrated to God
This week I am diverting from our studies in 2 Samuel and will be expounding Romans 12:1-2.
I plan, on certain Sundays over the next few months, to preach through Romans 12 with a special emphasis on our love and devotion for one another in the body of Christ.
Because our love for one another springs from our devotion to the Lord, Paul starts Romans 12 by exhorting us to be living sacrifices who are not to be conformed to the world.
Of course the foundation of our devotion to the Lord is the sovereign mercy which He has shown us in Christ — which was the subject of the first 11 chapters of Romans and forms the basis of Paul’s exhortation in Romans 12:1.
Portrait of a Godless Culture: An Appeal to Repent of Sinful Boasting
We will be doing a fairly rapid overview of the first nine chapters and then drawing some application from near the end of chapter nine, where Jeremiah writes, “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” (9:23-24).
Jeremiah’s theme leading to these texts is that of judgment: A judgment precipitated by the sinful lifestyle and arrogant living of the kingdom of Judah. The modern day parallels to our own day are truly amazing: Truly there is “nothing new under the sun.”