Faithful King
Robert Greene   -   February 10, 2013

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This sermon on Faithful King from The Drama of Redemption was preached by Robert Greene at Redemption Hill Church on Sunday, February 10th, 2013.

 

Sermon Reflection Guide:
2 Samuel – King David
Some starter questions:

  • How well do you keep your promises?
  • How faithful are you to your vows? Are you a person of your word? For richer/poorer…sickness/health…sagging skin/balding head? What about God? How faithful is He?
  • He’s made some bold promises…commitments…covenants.

1) David’s Presumptuous Plans

2 Samuel 7:1-17

  • What do we learn about David?
  • What’s behind God’s rebuttal of his offer?

2) God’s Promises to David

  • What are some of the promises he makes? (great name, safe borders, establish throne through son)
  • Where have we heard these before? (Abraham) Is this significant?
  • Which ones can we connect with?
    • Permanence (eternal son on the throne) note the “forevers”
    • Unique Relationship (vs 10,14)
      • the son was to be a reflection of the father, so were the kings to be a reflection of God
      • God says, “You can have a king, but the whole design is the earthly king needs to represent me as heavenly King.”
    • Real rest
      • The ark settles, temple is built…encounter glory of God

3) David: the Problem
2 Samuel 11:2

  • God’s promises were great. Where does stuff break down?
  • Where does David’s sin start? (a look, fear, pride)
  • What do we learn about sin?
    • Sin appears so subtle, and it harms so deeply.
    • Who can measure the effects of sin, just one sin?
    • Our sin never just affects just us individually.
      • Any sin in me affects my wife and my children and the people God has entrusted me to lead.
      • Any sin in your life goes far beyond you. You may think it doesn’t; you may think we’ve got it compartmentalized. It is not compartmentalized. It is having huge effects.
      • Sin harms so deeply. It controls & spirals down so quickly.
      • It devastates so painfully.
  • Thinking about self-deception last week. What does self-deception sound like in sight of this?
    • You’re not going to be the exception to the rule…you can’t play with this, you can’t nurse this sin…it will become the plant from little shop of horrors demanding more and more until it is out of your control…put it to death!
  • In spite of the consequences… what is the real collateral damage of this sin? Ps 51
    • when David prays in confession, what does he say to God?
    • “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
    • What? No, you sinned against Bathsheba, and you sinned against Uriah, but the reality is that pales in comparison to sin before an infinitely holy God.
  • What do we learn about God from this?
    • If you think you are hiding in secret sin. You cannot hide your sin from God.
    • God hates it, and it’s good that he hates it.
    • It’s good that he hates what hurts you.
    • Sin is so severe, that one sin against this God is enough to condemn you or me to an eternal everlasting hell.
    • See His hatred for sin in your life and His grace in bringing you into this room at this moment – see it as evidence of his great love for you.
  • What are the personal and natural consequences of David’s sin? (in exile, nation is torn apart, family torn apart, living in a foreign land as a slave)
  • What would we do in this situation? (doubt, despair, harden heart, turn away from God OR look to the promises)
    • Jeremiah 23:5-6: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.


4) The True and Better King

  • Luke 1:31 – “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.”
  • Jesus is (finally) the earthly king who is a perfect representation of the heavenly King.
  • Where else do we Jesus references as the fulfillment of the promises made to David?
    • Acts 2. The Holy Spirit descends and Peter steps up to preach to a crowd of Jewish people and who does he talk about?
    • “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.”
    • David is dead. These pictures that the Old Testament was pointing to are pointing us to someone else.
    • verse 36, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ; this Jesus, whom you crucified.”
  • What does this mean for us?
    • Peter says to a crowd of Jewish people, “You took the Messiah, the Lord’s anointed, the one who came in the line of David as the son who would reign and you nailed him to a cross. You crucified him.”
    • Though Israel was unfaithful, he never removed His steadfast love…just as He promised back in 2 Samuel 7:15
    • We must repent, to turn from our sin, turn from ourselves and trust in Jesus as our only hope.
    • Trust Jesus, not just as savior, but as KING! He is powerful to deliver us from the power and penalty of sin.


5) The Reign of the True and Better King
Revelation 5:1-14

  • What is striking about Jesus in this scene in light of all the kings that came before?
    • He is worthy to open the scrolls (not David, not solomon, not abraham, Peter, Paul)
    • What does it mean to open the scrolls?
      • usher in God’s kingdom, once and for all
      • no more sickness, pain, or presence of sin
  • The Kingdom is already, but not yet. In spite of our sin and pain, we can look toward the true and better David to save us.
  • God is a God of promises and God is a God who has always been and always will be faithful to His promises.