Tuesday: Forever Faithful to His Covenant
Daily Lesson for Tuesday 27th of February 2024
Read Psalms 89:27-32,38-46 and Psalms 132:10-12. What is the Davidic covenant about? What seems to have endangered it?
The Davidic covenant contains God’s promise of everlasting support of David’s line and prosperity of God’s people (2 Samuel 7:5-16; Psalms 89:1-4,19-37; Psalms 132:12-18).
Image © Linda Lovett from GoodSalt.com
The permanence of the covenant was established on God’s solemn oath and the king’s faithfulness to God. However, even the devoted kings, such as King David, were not always faithful to the Lord. Psalms 89:1-52 laments over the harsh reality that seems to indicate that the glorious promises of the Davidic covenant have been lost. Is Israel hopelessly deserted by God? The answer, of course, is—no!
God’s wrath is, yes, an expression of divine judgment (Psalms 38:1, Psalms 74:1). Yet, it does not last forever because God’s everlasting love forgives people’s sins when people repent. However, while it lasts, God’s discontent with His erring people is serious. The people feel the bitter consequences of their disobedience and realize the gravity of their sins (Psalms 89:38-46). Yet, they ask, “How long?” appealing to the passing character of God’s wrath (Psalms 89:46). Renewed hope springs from new assurance in God’s faithfulness to “remember” His grace (Psalms 89:47,50).
In short, although the human component of the covenant failed, the people could rest in the promise of God’s unchanging purposes through the Messiah, who embodies all righteousness and salvation of Israel and of the whole world. That is, in the end, God will prevail, and His eternal kingdom will be established forever—but only because of Jesus and not because of God’s people.
Jesus Christ is the Son of David and the Messiah (Matthew 1:1, Hebrews 1:8). He is called “the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15, NKJV), alluding to Psalms 89:1-52:27, which calls David, who was a type of Christ, God’s firstborn. “Also I will make him My firstborn, / The highest of the kings of the earth” (NKJV).
Clearly the title “firstborn” does not express David’s biological status, because David was the eighth child of his parents (1 Samuel 16:10-11). It’s the same with Jesus. This title signifies His special honor and authority (Colossians 1:16,20-22). God made Jesus the supreme King over the whole world when He raised Jesus from the dead (Acts 2:30-31).
Read Colossians 1:16,20-22. What do these verses teach us about who Jesus was and what He has done for us? What promise can you take away from this for yourself?
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The word "covenant" is used 21 times in the Psalms. Typically it is used in the sense that God is faithful but we are unfaithful. Sometimes it involves a prayer because the Psalmist's perception is that God needs to keep his end of the covenant.
Seventh-day Adventists carry a lot of association with the idea of covenant mainly because of the use of the words "New covenant" in Hebrews. However, the term "new covenant has its roots deep in the Old Testament and it is worth reminding ourselves how it is used.
All along, God wanted our hearts, not the legalistic following the letter of contract. Jesus' life demonstrates a heart covenant, not the fulfilment of a legal contract.
In the Bible, God has shared with us the covenants He made with Adam, Abraham, Moses, David. They are like bits of His job description that He has written for Himself. They show how He wants to work for us. In each of these covenants, He offers all of His heart, mind, soul, strength ...
...and we receive all of Him when we offer all of ourselves. Not because it's a petty tit-for-tat, but because if we put a wall up of distrust we will constantly misinterpret God's loving actions and can't receive what He has for us. We see this in the Davidic Covenant. In the centuries after David died, David's grandchildren kings were disobedient to God and brought the nation to ruin. How could God pour His blessings through leaders who turned Him away?
God had to intervene to keep His promise that a son of David would always be on the throne (Jer.23:5-6). Is.9:6-7 shows us that God Himself had to come as a human in order for one of David's sons to be righteous enough -trusting God enough - to receive the blessings and sit on the throne. God always has to intervene to fulfill His job description of helping us.
We know from Rev.7:9 that the subjects of King Jesus, the righteous, faithful son of David who will reign forever, includes everybody, not just people who identify as Jewish and from Israel. King Jesus is more than a righteous ruler risen out of Israel, He is Ruler over the church and over all the world (Rev.11:15 KJV). When God has finished His work described in His covenants, the "house of David" will be planet Earth. Isaiah 55:1-3 tells us that the Davidic Covenant is for all of us:
I fail, and I keep on falling.
But God never fails and never falls.
I need to remember what I forget.
God never forgets to remind me.
I go negative when I look at myself.
God sees my potential and gives me strength.
If I want to live positively
I should not get distant from God,
Because He is the One Who gives me breath.
I just wanted to share an article I wrote a couple years ago that may be helpful to today's lesson discussion.
https://ssnet.org/blog/the-new-covenant-promises-new-hearts-to-keep-an-everlasting-law/
The lesson writer asks, "What do these verses teach us about who Jesus was and what He has done for us?"
I like to think of the "New Covenant" as the same Old Testament Covenant that has now been sealed by both parties (God/Humanity) at the Cross. Because God is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), the Old Testament Covenant remains the same but following Christ's sacrifice/resurrection, God has fulfilled both sides of the Covenant on our behalf. He is both Suzerain (Lord) and Vassel (King).
https://thebiblesays.com/tough-topics/suzerain-vassal-treaties/#:~:text=God's%20covenant%2Ftreaty%20with%20Israel,obedience%2C%20and%20curses%20for%20rebellion.
Just as He did when He established His Covenant with Abraham, God fulfilled the vassel's role of passing through the divided sacrifice while Abraham lay sleeping. God fulfilled both sides of the Covenant with Abraham and at the Cross.
It is the same Covenant sealed at the Cross for eternity with the blood of the God/Man Jesus Christ and we are left with a new appreciation/respect for the Covenant and the great mercy and grace of our God. We are left in awe and can only respond by allowing His Spirit to renew in us a new heart/mind that respects this sacrifice with our service.
Thoughts to: “What has Jesus Christ done for us”?
He introduced humanity to its Creator God! Why did God send His Son? So man could know its true God! God through Jesus showed man there is only one true God who holds all authority over life and death - He introduced God as our heavenly Father!
Man without God is spiritually bankrupt; with no ability to find and know its true God. This is why our heavenly Father started the process of reclamation/salvation of His Creation after the fall of our first parents.
John 3:16 - From the beginning of mankind's existence here on earth, all that which needed to be done to reclaim His children God did without fail.
His rescue plan completed with His Son coming in form of man's own flesh to introduce the Father to all the world by revealing Him through the Holy Spirit.
This reveals the Love of the Father - He wants His children to know who their true God is, and that it is He who loves and cares for us!
Perhaps "introduced" is not the right word, Brigitte. Our Creator God introduced Himself to humanity at the very beginning. He spoke with Adam and Eve, He even spoke with Cain and walked and talked with Enoch. He spoke with Abraham. He spoke with Moses face to face. And the Psalms seem to indicate the David was quite well acquainted with His God and ours.
But thousands of years later, He became one with humanity to reveal Himself more fully and associate even more closely than He did with Adam and Eve, Enoch, Moses and the Israelites.
He revealed Himself not so much as a God of "authority over life and death," but as Immanuel, God with us - a God starkly different from the heathen gods who were impassive and unfeeling. The heathen deities were not moved by compassion but needed offerings to meet their demands for appeasement.
That is why Christ was explicitly called "Immanuel." It is beyond human comprehension that the Creator God of the universe should so lower Himself as to actually become human - become one with His creation! And if that wasn't enough, He identified Himself with the poorest of humanity. He lowered Himself even further by allowing Himself to be mistreated and killed on a Roman cross. That is a love beyond human comprehension!
The lesson author refers to God being faithful to His covenant with humanity. But there's more: Through Jesus Christ, He fulfilled humanity's part of the covenant! Thus it God and only God who is the root and finisher of our salvation.
And the result of God's restoration effort through Jesus is that humans are and will be even more closely connected to their Creator than they were at creation. Throughout eternity, Christ will be with His children, their Brother in the flesh!!
Inge – I appreciate you expressing your thoughts in response to what I tried to convey through my comments. I know one thing for sure – our God cannot be understood through theological thought or discourse.
He can only be understood through our spiritual, living, loving and reciprocal practical, caring relationship with our fellow man. Jesus showed us how this is done, and the Holy Spirit He provided man gives us understanding from whom we receive our blessings.
The Davidic covenant was always about Jesus. Even if Israel had been faithful, it was never God's plan to have an earthly king forever. Jesus was always the true fulfillment of that covenant.
As much as obedience makes it easier for God to work, God's covenants have never been dependent on us. It wasn't because the Israelites got it together that Jesus came. They never got it together for very long. They repented and returned from exile but the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Malachi show that it wasn't long before they were making all sorts of mistakes again. And when Jesus came, only a few were waiting for Him. It really was all about God keeping His promise.
And I suppose the same is true for those of us who are Adventists and believe we have a special part to play in Jesus return to earth. We do, but it will never depend on us. Perhaps we need to remember that more often.
Great sermon I have found assistance in learning the Sabbath school lesson