1 Chronicles 17:1–15—The Covenant with David

Matt Walker
May 8, 2016

Take your Bible and turn to 1 Chronicles 17. The books of first and second Chronicles were originally
written as one unified scroll, which chronicled the historical events of the nation of Israel. While we
don’t know the identity of the author we do know that it was written after the Jews began their return
from the Babylonian exile around 535 B.C.

It’s a masterful, historic treatise that begins with chapters of genealogical records tracing the tribes of
Israel all the way from the first created man in Genesis chapter 1. If you’re reading through the Bible
with us this year then you probably recognized a few of the names scattered throughout the nine
chapters of genealogies that begin the book of first Chronicles—men like Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, Boaz and David.

We first encountered David in our reading four weeks ago. He was a young boy (the youngest of eight
sons) who tended the flocks of his father. The prophet Samuel was sent by God to anoint David as
the unlikely future king of Israel. Years would pass, giants would fall, kings would be disposed of, and
eventually David reigned from the throne over Israel. The Lord was with David and gave him victory
after victory over Israel’s enemies.

1 Chronicles 14 and 15 show us how God had given David victory over the Philistines, and the ark of
the covenant of the Lord (the very symbol of God’s presence among His people) had been set up in the
tent of the tabernacle in Jerusalem. David gathered the priests and the people together and all Israel
worshiped the Lord with songs of thanksgiving and offered sacrifices of praise to God.

David’s song of thanksgiving in the middle of 1 Chronicles 16 is one of the most beautiful, theologically
rich songs that you’ll ever read. Pieces of that song even show up as portions of Psalm 96, 105 and 106.
When David concluded his song all the people said, “AMEN!” and praised the Lord. (1 Chronicles
16:36b) After their time of worship at the tent of the tabernacle was complete, the people returned to
their homes and we pickup the historical record in 1 Chronicles 17:1.

1 Chronicles 17:1–2
1
Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I
dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent. 2
And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.

Here in these first two verses we see our first point:

I. David’s desire to honor God

For the first time in almost 400 years since Joshua led the nation of Israel across the Jordan River into
the Promised Land, there was relative peace. The Ark of the Covenant (symbolizing the very presence
of God) finally rested in peace among His people in the Promised Land! When David finally paused
to absorb all that had happened, he saw ALL that God had done, and his heart overflowed with
thanksgiving to God. He knew that God had done this great thing!
As David returned home from that incredible worship experience at the tent of the tabernacle he looked
at his own immense palace constructed of massive cedar beams and he realized the disparity of the
situation. He was king of Israel and he lived in a palace. Yet, the Lord is the King of King and reigns
over heaven and earth… and He resides in a tent!

It doesn’t make sense from our limited human perspective, and in the ancient Near-Eastern culture
of David’s time it was even worse. The nations of that time-period would not have considered a king’s
sovereign reign fully established until he had built an appropriate palace. Likewise, they viewed the
temples of the gods as the palaces of the true kings. Yet the Lord resided in a tent!

David knew that he was second in command to the King of Kings and his desire was to honor God
by building Him a house—a temple. So, when he confessed this desire to the prophet, Nathan, he
responded with an encouragement to do all that was in his heart. (in verse 2)

But God had other plans!! Look at verse 3…

READ 1 Chronicles 17:3–15

3
But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, 4 Go and tell my
servant David, Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to
dwell in. 5 For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to
this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from dwelling to dwelling. 6 In
all places where I have moved with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the
judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, Why have
you not built me a house of cedar? 7 Now, therefore, thus shall you say to my
servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from
following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel, 8 and I have been with
you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you.
And I will make for you a name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 9
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, that they may
dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall waste
them no more, as formerly, 10 from the time that I appointed judges over my
people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that
the Lord will build you a house. 11 When your days are fulfilled to walk with your
fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will
establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his
throne forever. 13 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not
take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, 14 but
I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall
be established forever. 15 In accordance with all these words, and in accordance
with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

In verses 3–15 we see our second point…

II. God’s purpose to honor David

David’s desire was to honor God by building him a permanent house to dwell in—but God uses this
opportunity to reveal one of the most significant truths of the entire Old Testament!
The Lord first told Nathan in verse 4 to tell David that he would not be the one to build a house for the
Lord. Now, God didn’t need to give David a reason, but in His grace He gave Him three reasons—two of
them here in VSS 5–6 and a third later on in 1 Chronicles 22.

FIRST, in verse 5, God said, “For [signaling the explanation] I have not lived in a house since the day I
brought up Israel to this day.” God had no pressing need for a house since the ark had resided in tents
since the Exodus almost 400 years earlier. SECOND, from verse 6—God had not commanded His
people to build Him a permanent temple. The THIRD reason we discover in 1 Chronicles 22:8 is was
that David was disqualified from building the temple because he was ritually unclean due to all the blood
he had shed during his long reign.

Notice, David’s heart was right! His motives were pure. He simply desired to honor God by building
Him a house…but God said, “NO!” God does not always permit us to carry out our desires to honor
Him. You may think that the only way you can best honor God is by becoming a pastor or a missionary,
and because you’re not, you’re carrying around guilt and shattered dreams of what might have been.
Brothers and sisters, when you seek the glory of God and His desires for your life, then God’s Word
guarantees that you are on the best path possible to serve Him! For those who love God all things work
together for our good and His glory. (Romans 8:28)

You may think you have a good plan laid out but God often redirects us because He wants us to serve
Him in other ways. David’s son, Solomon would write in Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his
way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Verse 7 of 1 Chronicles 17 shows us God’s plan for David. God had called David from shepherding
sheep to leading a nation. David was not a temple builder, He was a kingdom builder! David was out
tending the sheep and God chose him. God’s choice of David was not in line with “man’s thinking” (1 Sam.
16:1,7) The young shepherd boy was not the natural choice. For man’s ways are not God’s ways. Man
looks on the outward appearance of the house, God looks at the heart!

We can’t forget our first point. David’s desire was to honor God, but God’s purpose was to honor David.

The final few verses of this section beginning at 1 Chronicles 17:8 is a pivotal text in the Old Testament.
The importance of this passage for David, for Israel, and, in fact, all mankind—cannot be overstated. This
is one of the most crucial texts in the entire Old Testament and its message becomes the central message
developed throughout the Psalms and the Prophets. 1 Chronicles 17 is like the roadmap that will guide
you home from your broken-down, stranded location in the desert.

I hope I have your attention! This passage is the key to our salvation. So, we are going to work through
this text and then we are going to look at several other texts in both the Old and New Testaments that
will hopefully have a new or renewed significance for you, based on your understanding of 1 Chronicles
17.

The message God gave Nathan to deliver to David is dominated by the pronoun “I” revealing it is God
who has worked, is working, and will work to see His promises through to completion. God starts with
what He has done in verse 8—“I have been with you wherever you have gone.” It was the Lord who
had give David victory before his enemies! Then, at the end of verse 8 the Lord made the first of many
statements regarding what He will do for David. God stated that He would make David’s “name, like
the name of the great ones of the earth.”

“The great ones” refer back to the patriarchs of the Israelite nation: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All the
way back in Genesis 12, God called Abraham out of his homeland and God promised in Genesis 12:2
that he would make Abraham’s name great! God has now connected David with the promises of the
Abrahamic covenant by committing to make his name great like He promised to Abraham. David’s
connection and role in the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant is further solidified by three promises
made in verses 9 and 10.

FIRST, At the beginning of verse 9 God promised to appoint a place for His people—in other words, a
land that they can call their own—just as God had promised Abraham. SECOND, at the end of verse 9
and beginning of verse 10, God said that His people would not be disturbed and they would have peace
and security in the land—another connection to the blessings promised to Abraham. The third promise
God made to David at the end of verse 10 was to build him a house.

NOW, this whole conversation started because David had said he wanted to a house for the Lord!
Instead, God said, “No, I’m going to build you a house.” But, there’s an important distinction to make
here. David was talking about a physical building. The Lord promises to build David a household
dynasty(in other words, descendants), a people—the third key part of the Abrahamic Covenant.

While the language of “covenant” is not used here in 1 Chronicles 17 or its corresponding passage of 2
Samuel 7, the promises God makes in these passages to David and his descendants is referred to as the
Davidic Covenant.

The Davidic Covenant is irrevocably connected to the Abrahamic Covenant because it outlines in great
detail the means by which the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant would be received. From Genesis
chapter 12, when God first gave the covenant promises to Abraham, all the way to 1 Chronicles chapter
17 the path to receive the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant was unclear. God promised to make
Abraham into a great nation—and HE had! God promised to give him land—and HE HAD! God
promised to bless Abraham and cause his descendent to be a blessing to the whole world, but until 1
Chronicles 17 the path to that blessing was unclear!

Beginning in verse 11 of 1 Chronicles 17, we see the prophetic path through which the blessings of the
Abrahamic Covenant would finally be realized. The blessing would come through the promises of the
Davidic Covenant.

As with much of the prophesy in the Old Testament there is often a partial fulfillment that is observed
by the recipients of the prophetic word, but there is sometimes a final, more perfect fulfillment that
comes at a later point. That’s exactly what we see with the Lord’s statements here in verses 11–14.

Look at the path beginning in verse 11:

• David will die and “walk with his fathers.”
• God will then raise up one of his own sons. (We know from the history that after David died, his son
Solomon took the throne over Israel.)
• God said he will establish his kingdom (Solomon’s reign over Israel was a time of unparalleled peace
and prosperity for the nation of Israel. )
• In the beginning of verse 12, the Lord said David’s son shall build a house for me. (Solomon did build
the temple for the Lord, a massive temple that has no equal—even to this day.)

So, up to the middle of verse 12 it’s easy to see how Solomon could be viewed as the son of David the
Lord was talking about, but then we get to the middle of verse 12 when the Lord said “I will establish
his throne forever.”

Stop the presses! Solomon’s reign on the throne lasted 40 years—certainly not close to “forever.” Then,
there are 4 more things listed in verses 13 and 14 that Solomon did not and could not fulfill.

• Verse 13 “I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son” This other Son of David would also be
the Son of God! …Not something that was on Solomon’s resume.
• Verse 13b “I will not take my steadfast love from him” This other Son of David would continually have
the loyal love of the Father guiding Him and the Son walked in perfect obedience. …Not something
that Solomon could do.
• Verse 14 “I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever”
• Verse 14b “His throne shall be established forever” …Solomon’s throne ended.

Those are the promises of the Davidic Covenant, which means the path to receiving the promised
blessing to Abraham can only come through the Son of David who fulfills the statements here in 1
Chronicles 17. God’s kingdom will be established only when the perfect king (Son of David, Son of
God, filled with the steadfast love of God) will be reigning from the throne of David forever. Throughout
the rest of the Old Testament the prophets of God expound upon the person and work of this coming
King…giving more insights and details of His coming reign.

Here are just a few of places where the Davidic king is referenced by three different prophets:

The prophet Isaiah 9:7

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the
throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.

The prophet Jeremiah 23:5

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.

Ezekiel 37:24
My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.
They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes.

For hundreds of years the people of Israel waited in eager expectation for a righteous descendant of
David who would usher in God’s promised Kingdom. Finally, almost 1,000 years after David reigned
in Jerusalem, we come to the first book of the New Testament… Matthew 1:1 “The book of the
genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Jesus is the anointed
one, the son of David, the son of Abraham through which all the families of the earth would be blessed.
Matthew’s Gospel uses the phrase “Son of David” ten times because the focus of his Gospel was aimed
at Jews who would have understood the significance of that title!

Our third point this morning:

III. Jesus is the promised Son of David

Jesus was speaking to a group of Jewish religious leaders in Matthew 12:42 and he said, “behold,
something greater than Solomon is here.” Without the context of 1 Chronicles 17 that statement has
little meaning. We now understand that Solomon was a son of David (who built a house, a temple, for
the Lord), but something greater than Solomon is here. Jesus—the son of David has come!

Even the pronouncement of the angel Gabriel in to the virgin Mary, in Luke 1:32–33, has a completely
new level of meaning when viewed in the shadow of 1 Chronicles 17. Here’s what Gabriel said to Mary
“32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will
give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

5 things about Mary’s Son, Jesus, pertaining to his position, his role, and his origin:

(1) He will be great!

• The term is “megas” and when it’s used by itself, as it is here, it often refers to God alone. For the one
who defines greatness is God Himself.
• His position will be great—in line with the great name that David was promised in 1 Chronicles 17:8

(2) He will be called Son of the Most High

While Mary’s mind must have been spinning because of this whole encounter, she couldn’t have
overlooked the significance of this phrase.
• Her baby was to be called the Son of the Most High—the Son of God.
• This means that he is equal with the Most High—Yahweh of the OT
• 1 Chronicles 17:13 “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.”
• When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River, the voice of the Father announced from the
heavens that Jesus was “His Son” (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22). A similar announcement was
made to Peter, James and John as they stood on the mountain with Jesus during His transfiguration
(Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35).
• The writer to the Hebrews also makes use of these words as proof that Jesus was the promised Jewish
Messiah (Hebrews 1:5; 5:5). In Hebrews 5:5, the author specifically refers to the language of the Davidic
Covenant in 1 Chronicles 17 having been fulfilled in Christ.

While Jesus had a divine Father in the MOST HIGH… he is also fully human…

(3) He will be given the throne of His father David.

• Jesus, as the Son of David, would sit on David’s throne
• 1 Chronicles 17:12 “He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever.”
• God’s eternal—undeterred promise to David… the day is coming when Jesus will return to earth and
take his rightful place on the throne of David, where he will reign as the King of Kings and Lord of
Lords
• There he will reign, which leads to the next statement:
(4) He will reign over the house of Jacob forever
• The house of Jacob refers to the nation of Israel ( Jacob was renamed Israel.)
• Jesus’ reign as King over the nation of Israel will begin in the Millennial Kingdom and continue on into
eternity, thus…

(5) His kingdom will never end

• Again referencing back to the eternal Covenant God made with David.
• It is an everlasting covenant!

Certainly, there was little doubt in Mary’s mind that Gabriel was speaking of the promised Messiah.
Her little baby boy would be the ONE whom nation of Israel had been waiting so long for. Even many
people in Israel recognized how Jesus perfectly fulfilled the role of the Davidic King.

Three different pronouncements of various people:

Matthew 12:22–23 “22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was
brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the
people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”

As Jesus was riding the donkey into Jerusalem, people were waving the palm branches. Little kids
were running up asking him to autograph their scrolls of the Torah… ok, maybe not. But they were
saying “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)

Peter said during his amazing, Spirit-empowered sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:29–31 “29
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. 30 Being therefore a prophet,
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his
descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the
Christ.”

JESUS is the promised Son of David! Why did Israel reject Him? Because they expected the Messiah,
the Son of David, to bring about the promised kingdom. They had incorrect expectations.

Even after His death, burial, and resurrection; when Jesus gathered with His disciples on the Mount of
Olives, they knew something special was about to happen. So, here’s what they asked in Acts 1:6:

Acts 1:6–8
6
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them “It is not for you to know the
times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth.”

He ascended into the clouds and they were left there looking up into the sky… they had to be in complete
dismay!
Two men (presumably angels) suddenly appeared next to them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same
way as you saw him go into heaven.” Jesus is the promised Son of David, but we still await the ultimate
fulfillment of the kingdom promises when Jesus returns and establishes His righteous rule on the throne
of David.

When the disciples met with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, they asked if Jesus would then restore the
kingdom—I think it’s because they were familiar with another OT prophet’s writing:

Zechariah 14:4–9
4
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before
Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to
west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward,
and the other half southward. 5 And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains,
for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled
from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God
will come, and all the holy ones with him.
6
On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost. 7 And there shall be a unique
day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there
shall be light.
8
On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the
eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in
winter.
9
And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and
his name one.

That is our great hope—the glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior—Jesus!

Before we conclude, I want to draw your attention back to 1 Chronicles 17:12. I hope you still have
your Bible open. It’s part of the prophesy concerning David’s son that is often attributed to the partial
fulfillment of Solomon building the temple. Here’s what it says, “He shall build a house for me and
I will establish his throne forever.” Jesus said in Matthew 16 “I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Jesus is now building His church, to present His church as holy and blameless to God the Father, to the
praise of His glorious grace.

Ephesians 2:18–22
18
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you
are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints
and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole
structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him
you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Only those who are a part of His house will experience the blessings of the Kingdom! Are you a part of
His house—the church? Acknowledge you’re a sinner, repent of your sin, believe in Jesus as your Savior,
and the promise of Scripture is you will be saved.

If you are a part of His house then there are 3 responses (attitudes) we need to have. We must be careful
to not have incorrect expectations for the Christian life—like the Jews had incorrect expectations of the
Messiah.

Application:
It’s the response of David in 1 Chronicles 17:16, “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and
said, ‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?’”

David’s response—Who am I?

Humility
Who am I? God chose David when he was still a lowly shepherd boy.

Ephesians 1:3–6
3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in
Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless
before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,
according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with
which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

As Christians, we should ask who am I that God would chose to love me? We should first respond in
humility…

Holiness
Romans 12:1
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Every Christian is a living stone of God’s temple. We are God’s house. We have a KING who is never up
for re-election! He’s a perfect king! The requirement is that the king perfectly obey God.

Hope (In the face of suffering, pain and seemingly hopeless situations)

Romans 8:18-23
18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager
longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected
to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that
the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain
the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole
creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And
not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a
publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

© Geist Community Church

Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the
content in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. Questions? Email: church@geist.org. Please
include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Matt Walker. © Geist Community Church—McCordsville,
Indiana. www.geist.org