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God's Promise

A Mediator

10 For the sake of David Thy servant,
Do not turn away the face of Thine anointed.

Again, David serves as a type of Christ, this time as the Mediator. In David was the covenant established that led to Christ. In Christ is the covenant established by which the Church stands. It is for the sake of Christ that God turns not His face from us. It is because of His obedience that we stand. It is the grace of God shown to those for whom His Son died in obedience to His command.

Though the face of the church, though its membership, may change, yet the prayer of the church remains constant: Remember Your anointed One. Because of Him, remember me. We have nothing else to stand on. There are no other terms by which we can come before Him, there is no other claim we can make on His mercy. It's not a matter of when we fall. In many ways, we've never gotten back up. In many ways we ought not dare to look up. In the face of God's holiness, we ought to be on our faces before Him, begging for mercy. But only by the means He has provided, for only in our Intercessor can we hope to have the answer we seek from Him.

A Throne

1Ki 8:25 - O LORD, keep Your promise with David, by which You declared that He would lack no man to sit on the throne of Israel, so long as his sons walk before You as he did.

2Sa 7:12 - When you are lain with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant, and establish His kingdom.

God promised David a throne, and successors to occupy that throne. To the flesh, this was but a promise of power and fame. To the spirit, this was far more. David understood that. He saw the time of Messiah coming. He knew, as John the Baptist knew, that he must decrease as Messiah increased.

Ac 2:30-31 - David being a prophet, he knew that when God swore to seat his descendants on the throne, He was looking ahead to Christ's resurrection, for Christ was not abandoned in Hades, nor has His flesh suffered decay.

At the time of the promise, David had many sons, but the discord of his house made a successor doubtful. Yet God promised a continual line of kings. This serves to strengthen the faith not only of the king, but of the people. Earthly kingdoms are often taken by force, by underhanded means. Earthly kings may pay lip-service to God, but their actions almost always belie their words.

God's declaration makes all the difference. This was no longer a matter of earthly inheritance, it was a matter of godly decree. The covenant stood in spite of the sins of Israel. They were cut off from the land for a time, but they were restored. Their actions were far from the demands of the covenant, yet the Redeemer came. In spite of all the disruptions, the true King came of the line declared by God.

The conditions of the covenant were reason to break the line of succession. There have been periods when no son of David sat on the throne. However, the throne of David remains and will remain, in spite of mans unfaithfulness. The covenant has been suspended, but never cancelled. "When the condition shall be fulfilled through the repentance and obedience of Israel, the promise resumes its unabated force." (JFB)

Lk 1:32 - He will be great, known as the Son of the Most High; and God will give Him the throne of His father David.

Rev 3:21 - Those who overcome will be allowed to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.

God has made the same promise to us. We, too, are given to sit on the throne of David, the throne of Christ, God's own throne. But, as with David's children, we have to make a choice if we wish to have the promised privilege. Our seat upon the throne comes with a condition: Obedience. If you keep My covenant, If you overcome, then you shall sit on My throne. God is holy and just. He cannot allow just anybody to clamber up on His throne. There are rules in the house of God. Those who would sit with Him on the throne must overcome their flesh and obey His Word. This is not optional.

When God made His covenant with us, our house was also a house of discord. We had no reason to expect a posterity, no hope for eternity. But God's declaration makes all the difference! He has declared us His children. He has decreed for us an inheritance in His kingdom. How we treat His covenant, how earnestly we seek to obey His commands remains important. However certain our own hope may be (and it is certain: Heb 6:17-18 - To make His promise even more certain in the minds of His heirs, He added an oath, to show His promise unchangeable. Thus, in two unchangeable things, in neither of which could He lie, we have strong encouragement to lay hold of the hope set before us.) Though our hope is certain, there remain those who will follow. There remain not only our children, but our children's children. Salvation is by grace, but a godly heritage requires effort on our part. If we will rest on our own salvation, we will have failed God utterly. If we are satisfied with our own security, and abandon the rest to their fate, we have not obeyed our God.

If, on the other hand, we obey our Lord with our actions as well as our words, we are building faith not only in ourselves, but also in our children. If they see us living as we claim to believe, this is far more effective as a means of training them up in the way they should go. Children our a heritage from the LORD. They are also a responsibility given us by the LORD. They are the first good work He has prepared for us to do.

There came a time in the history of Israel when all that David understood was lost to his descendants. They no longer cared for God's ways, and it seemed that God no longer cared for them.

Eze 21:26-27 - Remove the crown, this will not continue. Exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high. I will make it all a ruin, so that it shall be no more until He comes whose right it is, and Him I shall give the crown.

It seemed He didn't care, but in fact He was faithfully chastising His beloved children. He loved them too much to let them go their own way, so He did what was necessary to see that they learned of their mistakes, and learned from their mistakes. In His love, justice was not forgotten, but in His justice, neither was His mercy forgotten. They were swept out for a time, but restoration came. They had forgotten God, but He did not forget them. He who created them knew their stubbornness, and had prepared the remedy from the start. Yet even when the Remedy came, their obstinate ways continued.

Lam 4:20 - The LORD's anointed was captured in their trap: Him of Whom we said, We will live under His shadow among the nations.

In this, God was not taken by surprise. Rather, all continued in accord with His purpose. All still continues in accord with His purposes. Because His chosen ones rebelled, cause was given to open the doors to the Gentiles. Because Israel was unfaithful, the Church was able to bring news of God to the world. Yet, He has sworn that His chosen people will return to Him in truth. Their blindness was to His purpose. Their chastisement is by His purpose. His purpose is unchanged. His people will remain His people. His promises are yea and amen.

All that has happened in Israel's long history serves to show us how we must serve Him. If we would serve Him, we must serve in obedience to His own word, not by the fashions of human convention. It is not for us to determine the order of worship. It is not for us to decide what is fitting and what is not. God has already decided. Ours is to obey. God has done His part in teaching us. He has given us Scripture and He has given us teachers. Our part in the covenant is to do as we have been taught, to obey His commands.

A House

David swore to build God a house. God also, as we are reminded here, swore to build David a house. Both were faithful to their vows. We have declared our desire to build God a house, and He also declares His desire to do so.

"The LORD has chosen you. He has desired you for His habitation. "Your heart is My resting place forever. There I will dwell for I have desired you."

This is what it's all about! God is still in the house building business. Jesus went to prepare a place for us in the Father's house. Meanwhile, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to prepare a place in us for Himself. This is the preparation of the bride all over again! Look again at the steps of preparation we have seen in these Psalms so far:

Recognition:

until we recognize our true condition, we see no reason to prepare.

Provision:

Knowing we must prepare, as spiritually poor as we are, how will we do it? God provides!

Worship:

The first active step in preparing for our Husband, in making a house of rest for Him, is to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Servanthood:

We must learn to serve in His courts. We must learn, as the servant learns, to recognize His slightest gesture that we might hurry to satisfy His desires.

Help:

He has not left us to struggle through this alone. He is our help. His Holy Spirit is ever with us to remind us of the things we must know and do. Yet, we must call upon Him. He will not force His way.

Security:

As we grow in Him, we recognize the fullness of His care for us. Our betrothed cares for us utterly. Nothing is going to turn Him from His love for us. We must trust Him Whom we would spend our eternity with.

Joy:

Knowing this, knowing His devotion to us, how can we not be joyful? What cause for sorrow when the wedding is drawing closer each day! We are commanded to be joyful.

Work:

But the wedding will not prepare itself. The house we long for Him to occupy will not build itself, nor keep itself clean. We have more than enough to be busy about while we are waiting for His command.

Happiness:

Even in our work, we are happy, for we know we work to prepare for Him. Even in our hardest times we are happy, for we know He is preparing us for Him. Sometimes, happiness takes work. We are being trained to work at our happiness until it is a part of us.

Perseverance:

He strengthens us to every task. He strengthens us through every task. He is showing us ourselves as we can be through Him. We learn to persevere until He comes.

Hope:

Because we know Him, and know Him to be true, we have a hope that nothing can shatter. It has taken effort to come to this trusting hope. It takes effort to keep hope alive.

Humility:

Slowly, we learn to set aside our pride. It's hard to let go of, but He is able. And, if we will not let go of pride, we must let go of Him.

Obedience:

It's taken all that went before to prepare us for this. Obedience comes hard for us. We don't like authority. Until we've learned all that preceded, this will remain an impossibility for us. Until we learn this one, we cannot continue on to finish the race. Humility and obedience go hand in hand. They are the two great obstacles that remain to us in this life. They are the two obstacles that continue to plague even the most senior saints. Oh, but the things that will come when once we learn!

All of these steps have been preparing us for our husband. All of these steps have been preparing the house He has chosen as His eternal resting place. He has chosen the place of His desire. He has purposed to see our hearts prepared, and He will not be denied. His word does not return void. He does not spend Himself in vain pursuits. What He has declared will come!

Prepare the way! Learn obedience and humility that He may quickly complete the work, that He may quickly come to His rest. For we cannot hope to enter into His rest before He comes to His resting place. The preparations are costly, but the results are beautiful beyond description.