1 CHRONICLES 10-17 DAVIDS REIGN BEGINS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Chronicles 10-17 Davids Reign Begins

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

Well, this evening we're in 1 Chronicles. We'll be looking at chapters 10 through 17. The junior hires are dismissed for their class if you want to head out that way. But as we look at the book of 1 Chronicles here, we are looking at a book that has been put together by Ezra. We're going to get to Ezra in a few weeks or months as we continue our journey through the Old Testament. But Ezra, he compiled and put together this

this book for us, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, and it covers the time period of 1010 BC to 970 BC, which we'll look at in just a moment. And the theme or the focus of 1st Chronicles and 2nd Chronicles is the kings of Judah. Here in 1st Chronicles, we're really just looking at the reign of King David. And then as we head into 2nd Chronicles, we'll be looking at the rest of the kings of Judah throughout their history.

As we look at the kingdom books, I want to just remind you where we are at in the timeline because 1 and 2 Samuel and then 1 and 2 Kings are one consecutive historical account that

One picks off where the previous one left off. And so as we were going through the Bible together, we were just going through the history pretty much straightforward, just step by step, year by year, or decade by decade, going through the history of Israel. But now in 1 Chronicles, we're kind of deviating from that.

We're going back now, rewinding the clock, and we're covering in 1 Chronicles the same time period as we covered in 2 Samuel. And so the accounts are probably very familiar to you. They're very similar, although there are some differences and some unique perspectives that we have in 1 Chronicles that aren't in 2 Samuel and vice versa.

But we're covering that same time period, again, the reign of King David. And then in 2 Chronicles, we're going to cover the same time period that 1 and 2 Kings covered. And so we're revisiting that period of history as we go through 1 and 2 Chronicles. Here's what it looks like on the timeline.

So in that purple box there, that's the time period that's being covered by 1 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles is going to cover from the end of this all the way to the end when Babylon conquers Judah. And so it's going to be covering a great period

Period of time. Several hundred years. While 1st Chronicles is really only covering about 40 years of time. But again we've already went through this. In 1st and 2nd Samuel. And 1st and 2nd Kings. But now we're revisiting those things. From slightly different perspectives. In this Chronicles that Ezra has put together.

Here's what that looks like on the map. And in the time period that we're at, we're going back to the reign of King Saul. We're just going to look at the final days of Saul and his death as we begin this evening. And then into the reign of King David. He expands the borders. He actually expands them even more than what we see on the map. But we'll get into that as we head into 2 Chronicles. And so...

We're looking at the reign of David and the beginning of his expansion of the kingdom as he expands the borders to what God had originally given them when Joshua led the land of Israel, the people of Israel, into the land of Israel.

Well, that brings us to our first chapter this evening, which is chapter 10 of 1 Chronicles. Verse 13 is the key verse. It says, So Saul died for his unfaithfulness, which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance.

In verses 1 through 7, we have the record here of the death of Saul and his sons. They died in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines invaded the land and began to take more and more territory. And as Saul is leading Israel against the Philistines, he dies upon Mount Gilboa along with his sons.

When he dies, the Philistines take his body and attach it or post it to the wall of the city of Beth-shan. And so verses 8 through 14, you have the record of the men of Jabesh-Gilead who recover Saul's body. They go and take it off and then give him a proper burial. And so the men of Jabesh-Gilead recover or rescue Saul's body from being pinned onto the wall there.

What's interesting about this is we look at 1 Chronicles 10 and a theme that we'll kind of see later

In contrast to Saul is David. In many ways, Saul and David are kind of opposites of each other. And one of the primary things we see about Saul is that he really did not walk with the Lord. He started out really good, but because he had no depth in his walk with the Lord, he didn't stay good very long. He became bad very quickly in that he was disobedient to the Lord.

And we see in verse 13, it declares for us the reason why his life and his reign was cut short is because that he died for his unfaithfulness, which he committed against the Lord. And you see this contrast where David, we refer to as a man after God's own heart, Saul was unfaithful to the Lord. He was not committed and faithful to God and his word. And he did not inquire of the Lord.

In fact, there in verse 13, it says that he did not keep the word of the Lord, but he consulted a medium for guidance. So he didn't inquire of the Lord. He didn't keep the word of God. In verse 14, it says that specifically, he did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore, he killed him and turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

And so as you look at the contrast between Saul and David, you see this stark contrast in that Saul did not inquire of the Lord. He didn't know how to hear from God. He didn't know really how to walk with God. David, on the other hand, pursued the heart of God. And we see throughout his life, many times he's inquiring of the Lord. He's asking the Lord for direction, for instruction, for what God wants.

in a situation. And so we're going to see this a couple times as we look at our chapters this evening, David inquiring of the Lord. But it kind of leads me to ask the question, which life do you want? As you consider the contrast of Saul versus David, which kind of life would you want to have? A life more like Saul or a life more like David? Now, of course, we would all say, well, I want a life more like David. As we can see, Saul is not a very good example for us.

One of the main differences between Saul and David is the issue of inquiring of the Lord. And so I would encourage you to consider this evening, do you inquire of the Lord? Do you know how to hear his voice? Have you learned to look to him for direction, for insight? Do you ask him what he wants to lead you in the path that he has set for you?

What we see in David is that he inquires of the Lord regularly and consistently. And there's those times he doesn't inquire of the Lord. And we'll see him get in trouble for that in our chapters this evening. So very important thing that we need to consider. Are you inquiring of the Lord? Not just, you know, what does this verse mean? But...

What do you want me to do today, Lord? And where do you want me to work? And where do you want me to live? And how do you want me to get there? And all of those things, those decisions that we make, we need to give God opportunity to direct us and inquire of him and seek him for his will for our lives. And so we see this contrast between Saul and David, and we'll see David inquiring of the Lord throughout our time this evening.

Well, on the map it looks like this. Saul's death was there on Mount Gilboa. And that's where he fought with the Philistines. That's where he got hit with the arrows. He fell on his own sword in order to, you know, not be tortured. And so he tries to put himself to death. The Philistines find his body and mount him or post him to the wall of Beth-shan.

And then the men of Jabesh Gilead hear about it. And so they lead a mission to go rescue Saul's body from the city walls. But it gives you a little bit of insight here where how far the Philistines have, you know, come into the land. The Philistines originally were down in the south. They were just a little bit of area on the coast there. But they've gone and even up to Mount Gilboa, Beth-shan, they've conquered and they're inhabiting those areas in the midst of the nation of Israel.

And that brings us now to chapter 11, verse 9 is the key verse. So David went on and became great and the Lord of hosts was with him. Now here in this chapter, in the next couple of chapters, we're going to kind of be summarizing the beginning of David's reign, the life of David as he begins to rule over Israel. And then we'll begin a more traditional passage.

Look at the ministry or the reign of David as we go on in the further chapters. But verses 1 through 3, David is made king of Israel.

This is kind of summarized because it's actually in two parts. If you might remember, when Saul died, then they made Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, king. And so Ish-bosheth was the king of Israel for a time. And the people of the southern area of Israel, the tribe of Judah, made David their king. And so there's kind of this division now where Ish-bosheth is king, but then also David is king down in Hebron.

Well, then when Ish-bosheth dies, then that's seven years later that then David becomes king of all of Israel. But it's kind of summarized here in verses one through three, just looking at that David is made king over the whole nation.

Then in verses 4 through 9, you have him moving the capital. So he was in Hebron. He was reigning there for seven years. But then the whole nation recognizes him as king. And so he encourages his men to conquer Jerusalem, which had previously not been conquered. And so they invade Jerusalem. They take the city.

And now David makes that the capital. He makes that his home. And that is where he's going to move the tabernacle or actually the Ark of the Covenant and then later on build the temple there. Then in verses 10 through 47, you have David's mighty men. And so these are listed for us. These are the guys that fought alongside of David and were gathered to David throughout different periods. And we'll see that explained a little bit more in the next chapter.

Something I forgot to point out before, the parallel passage on the bottom, 2 Samuel chapter 5, this is just again to help you kind of keep on track with, we looked at these things, we read through these things, and the parallel for this, if you want to look and remember at those things that we previously studied there, is 2 Samuel chapter 5. And that'll be going along with all of the chapters that we have in Chronicles. So chapter 12, verse 38 is the key verse.

It says, So here in chapter 12, we kind of have summarized the gathering of David's army.

He had his close guys, the mighty men of David, but he also had the other guys. And remember when we were looking at 2 Samuel, we saw when David was in the cave of Adullam, how there was this gathering of men to him.

They were disgruntled. They were in debt. They were discontent. You know, this kind of ragtag group of guys who gathered to David. And that was happening all throughout David's time in the wilderness when he was being pursued by Saul. And then finally, the whole armies of Israel came to David when he was anointed king. And so this is kind of breaking down the different guys who came during the different seasons. So the men who joined David at Ziklag are there in verses 1 through 7.

Now this is the time period where David is in Philistine country. He went there to escape Saul's pursuits. So we're looking at the time during Saul's reign when he was trying to put David to death. And there in Ziklag, where he's kind of hiding out amongst the Philistines, these men gathered to him.

Then in verses 8 through 18, it describes the men who joined David while he was in the wilderness. And so there was times where he was being pursued by Saul. These are probably referring to those who were with him in the cave of Adullam. And they joined him while he was there fleeing from Saul in the wilderness.

Then there was men who joined David when he was with the Philistines in verses 19 through 22. And this is talking about a little bit later when David was in Ziklag, he was, you know, gaining favor with the Philistine Lord that was with him. And then when the Philistines were going out to battle, David tried to go with them. But the other Philistine Lord said, no, you can't come with us. But at that time, as David goes back to

To his own city. Back to Ziklag. These other guys join with him. And so again he's continuing to grow. These men are being attracted to David. And gathered to David. Then the last part. Verses 23 through 40. The men of war come to David at Hebron. This is fast forwarding to. David has been king in Hebron for seven years. And he's going to be king in Hebron for seven years.

Ish-bosheth has died. Now all of Israel is recognizing David as king and that's what this is describing. All the men of war and the people from the different tribes, the numbers from all the different tribes that come to David at Hebron to make him king. And so you can see the parallel passages in 1 Samuel 27, 1 Samuel 30, and then 2 Samuel chapter 5 to revisit those things.

What that looks like on the map, well here David reigns for 40 years altogether. In Hebron, he reigns for seven years and that's just over the southern part of the nation, the tribe of Judah. And then he is...

king by the whole land of Israel. He moves the capital to Jerusalem. He begins to live there, to reign there, and he reigns there for another 33 years. So altogether he reigns for 40 years. Seven of them were in Hebron and 33 were in Jerusalem. Chapter 13, verse 7 is the key verse. It says, "...so they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart."

Now that David is settled in Jerusalem, he wants to make the worship of God to be the center of the life of Israel, the people of Israel. And so he wants to bring the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem now. And so to do this, they put together a new cart. They have these two guys, Uzzah and Ohio, and they're going to be the center of the life of Israel.

lead the cart and they're taking it from Kirjath-Jerim, which is where it's been for a while. They're traveling now down the road to take it into Jerusalem. And so they're looking to bring the ark from Kirjath-Jerim and everyone thought this was a good idea. In verse 1, you see it says, David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds and with every leader and

So it wasn't just that he decided to do this on his own, but he talked with the leadership. He said, hey guys, this is what I'm thinking. This is what I'd like to do. You know, it's really important that we have the ark of God here, that we make this the center of worship, as well as the capital of our kingdom. And we need to restore the people back to the worship of God. And all the captains and the army and the leaders, they say, yeah, that's a good idea. We like that idea.

In verse 4, it also tells us, it says, all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. So the whole gathering of people that had been gathered together for this agreed, this is a good idea. This is what we need to do. This is, you know, right for us and it's what God wants. So everybody was for it. They were all in agreement.

He sought counsel. The leader said, yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do it. All the people agreed. We like that idea. We need to, let's do it. Yes. And so they put together this cart and they began to carry the Ark of the Covenant on this cart to Jerusalem from Kirjath-Jerim. But here's the problem. In Exodus chapter 25, you can look at verses 12 through 15 as it describes there the construction or gives the instruction for the building of the Ark.

God says you need to cast four rings for it in gold and put on each corner. Then there's going to be two poles of acacia wood. You overlay those with gold. They go through the rings. And then he goes on to say, the pole shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it that the ark may be carried by them.

God had designed the Ark of the Covenant to be carried on these poles, not on a cart. And this becomes a serious issue as you see in verses 9 through 14. As this procession is going on, the Lord struck Uzzah because he touched the Ark. Picture the scene for just a moment, okay? Again, David, he's not just doing his own thing. He seeks out counsel. He talks to all the leaders and

The heads of the families, the heads of the military. He talks to all the people. Everybody says this is a great idea. He has great motivation. He wants to restore the worship of God to the center, to the heart of the nation and call the people to worship God. He wants it to be central to their life, central to their nation. And so everybody's rejoicing, everybody's celebrating as now they begin to do this work. And the Ark of the Covenant is on its way.

And there's great excitement here. And people are rejoicing and praising God. But then there's an issue because, well, the oxen stumbles. The cart begins to tip a little bit. Uzzah is afraid that the Ark of the Covenant is going to fall off. And so he extends out his arm. He touches to hold steady the Ark of the Covenant. Great motivations. I don't want it to fall on the ground.

You know, we don't want it to fall over or the lid to fall off. You know, try to keep it safe. Great motivation, great intention, just like David. And yet, as he touched the Ark of the Covenant, he was struck by the Lord. Because it was in direct contradiction to what God had declared. He had designed the Ark of the Covenant to be carried. He had commanded for it to be carried. It was not to be transported on an ark. And it was not to be touched by anybody.

The only thing that they were to touch is the poles in order to carry the ark. But they were not to touch the ark of the covenant. And so the Lord struck him. He died as a result of this. Probably just a reflex, right? I mean, he just saw it happening. Boom. Before he even really thought about it, he was touching the ark and then put to death. Everybody had great intentions. They had great motivations. They wanted to see the ark of the covenant put there in the center of Israel.

For the worship of God to be the central thing of the nation of Israel. Great, great intentions and motivations. They were all excited about it. They had sought counsel. But this is one of those areas where they did not inquire of the Lord. And we'll see that in two more chapters. We'll see the ark is finally brought in because they inquired of the Lord. They figured out, oh, this is the right way to do it. And what we learn from this, it's an important lesson to learn that

It's not good enough to just be sincere and have great motivation and have good intentions and to have good counsel and have lots of people excited and passionate, you know, for what is going on or for what you're about to do or trying to do. That we see here the essential of inquiring of the Lord. That it needs to be not just, you know, something we're all in agreement on, something that everybody can testify or other people around you can say, that's a good decision, go for it.

The end result, it is what God wants. But the way that you get there is important. And so this illustrates for us the necessity, the importance of inquiring of the Lord. We need to hear from God on how to do the things that He wants us to do and how to do the things that we want to do, not just what needs to be done.

I think David Guzik had a good point to consider on this. He said, They were worshiping, they were praising as they were bringing in the Ark of the Covenant. And Guzik is pointing out, they felt great.

But that's not a valid measurement for that worship experience because that worship and what they were doing was not pleasing to God because it was in disobedience to God. And so we need to get back into the word to know how does God want to be worshiped?

There's lots of things that we might do to try to please God, but what does the Word say? What does the Bible say? How is He declared that we are to be pleasing Him and seeking Him? How is He declared that we are to be worshiping and praising Him? And so it's an important lesson for us to remember the importance of inquiring of the Lord.

That we don't just go by what we feel or if a lot of people agree with us or if it's all that we're really excited about or if the end result is, you know, something that we think God would want. But we need to inquire of the Lord as we go so that He's directing our steps and directing the way that we get there.

Well, here's a flashback from the book of Exodus when we were looking at the Ark of the Covenant. This is the object that we're talking about as God gave them the instruction to build the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be built out of acacia wood and then it was to be overlaid with gold all around.

And then on top of it was to be this mercy seat with these two cherubim. That was solid gold. This lid that was placed on top of this ark. It was hollow on the inside and inside they would have the Ten Commandments. That's all that was in there at this point. But originally they also had Aaron's rod that had budded and they had a pot of manna from the wilderness. But now there's only the Ten Commandments inside. Again you can see the rings and the poles and that's how it was to be carried. And then

What they did instead was put it on the cart and then he held out his hand and touched it instead of carrying it by the poles. So it was about 3.75 feet long, 2.25 feet wide, and 2.25 feet high. So it was not huge, but it might have been a little bit hefty considering the gold that went into it.

This Ark of the Covenant was originally placed in the holiest of all in the tabernacle. You had the holy place and as you first went in or as the priest first went into the tabernacle there was the table, the lampstand, the altar of incense and remember there was the veil.

Because nobody was allowed into the holiest of all. Because there between the wings of the cherubim and the ark of the covenant is where the presence of God dwelt. And so this was a holy article. This was the item that God says, I'm going to meet with you there. This is where my presence dwells. And so he gave very clear and specific instruction about how it was to be handled. But they didn't inquire of the Lord.

They didn't go back and look at how God had instructed them to handle it. They just did what they thought would work, what they thought would be best, and they found out it wasn't pleasing to God at all. Let's go on now to chapter 14, verse 2 is the key verse. So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.

And so now you see Israel becoming a great nation and they're rising to prominence under King Solomon. It's going to rise to the pinnacle, the peak of Israel's history where they reach their glorious times under the reign of King Solomon. And it's beginning here under the reign of King David.

And so in verses 1 through 7, he's reigning in Jerusalem. He's working with Hiram of Tyre and they're building, you know, his houses out of cedar. And, you know, God's beginning to bless and prosper the nation. And then also to give them victory in verses 8 through 17, we see that David drives back the Philistines.

Remember, they had, you know, gone into and reached, you know, much of the land of Israel. They'd inhabited different parts of Israel. And so now David is driving them back and putting them back in the area on the shore of the Mediterranean that they had originally inhabited. And so that's what we see here on the map.

They begin the battle at Gibeon there and he pushes them back all the way to Gezer and he's victorious over the Philistines. Now he will later on push them back even farther and again he will extend the borders but we'll get to that later on in David's life.

But, you know, here in the beginning of his reign, he's got an early victory. And again, as we see here in chapter 14, God's giving him instruction on how to defeat them. And you see that David inquires of the Lord. In verse 10, it says, and David inquired of God saying, shall I go up against the Philistines?

And so he asked God, do you want me to go into battle? And then the Philistines gathered together for battle again. And then in verse 14, it says, David inquired again of God. And God said, don't go up, circle around after them. And so he gives them instruction how to attack. And both times, now David has victory. So in chapter 13, he doesn't inquire of the Lord. And there's this pretty serious defeat. Uzzah reaches out, touches the ark, he's struck dead.

But here in chapter 14, David inquires of the Lord and he has this great victory against the Philistines. Again, we see the contrast between Saul and David. Which kind of life do you want to live? It's really determined upon, do you inquire of the Lord? How often do you inquire of him? Do you give him opportunity to lead you, to instruct you, to guide you the way that he wants you to go? Well, we go on now to chapter 15, verse 2 is the key verse.

Then David said, no one may carry the ark of God but the Levites. For the Lord has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before him forever. So now as we go on into chapter 15, now we're picking up again this mission of bringing the ark into Jerusalem.

In verses 1 through 24, David gathers together the priests, the Levites, and many of the people of Israel. He gathers them all together and now he gives them some specific instruction. In verse 2, David says, "...no one may carry the ark of God except for the Levites."

At this point, David's done some homework or someone has done some homework and instructed David, one or the other, but they've consulted the word of God. They've realized God gave specific instruction. Only the Levites are to carry the ark of God. Not only that, but it is specifically the family of Kohath that was instructed to carry the ark of God. God had given specific instructions about who can carry it, who can take it, and now they realize that. And so they've

looked at the word of God. They've understood here's the proper order. Here's the proper procedure. And so in verses 25 through 29, they're successful. And the ark of the covenant is brought into Jerusalem. And David had put up a tent there where they were able to go in and place the ark there. And that became the place now where they would worship the Lord because that's the presence of God was there in the ark of God within the tent.

We see this illustration continued though. The importance of inquiring of the Lord. Consulting the Lord. And we see the contrast between Saul and David. Because Saul did not inquire of the Lord. But here David learned his lesson. And he sought the Lord. He inquired of the Lord. And so he is successful in bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.

I think verse 13 is really interesting as David is explaining what happened before and what they're doing now. In verse 13 he says, He's saying, look, we have to carry it and because we didn't carry it the first time, well, that's why the Lord broke out against us. In other words, that's why Uzzah died.

Because we didn't consult God about the proper order. We didn't consult the Lord about how he wants it to go. We didn't consult the Lord about the things that he wants us to do. We just did what we thought was best. And although our motivations were great, our intentions were great, the end result was something that God wanted.

Because we didn't consult him about the right way to do it, about the way he wanted us to go, well, the Lord broke out against us. And we see again this clear picture of the importance, the necessity for you and I to inquire of the Lord. That we can't just do what we think is right, what we think is best, what people tell us is best, but we need to hear from God.

And you can apply this, again, this isn't just talking about, you know, spiritual things, you know, well, what does this verse mean? Inquire of the Lord. But the things in your own life, the decisions that you have to make in the workplace, at home, things dealing with your job, things dealing with your home and where to live, those kinds of decisions are

What kind of vehicle to purchase? How to get from here to there? The lifestyle that you're to live? You know, all of those decisions that we make, we need to inquire of the Lord. Even if the end result is good, even if people agree with us, if we're not consulting the Lord about the proper order for our lives and the things that He's called us to, well, the end result could be

The end result could be great destruction. There could be some problems that arise because we're just doing what we think is best, even if our intentions are good. And a lot of times we just think and consider that, well, since our motives are good and the end result is good, then that's fine. That's enough. That's enough.

But you see, God wants the end result to be good, the motives and the intentions of the heart to be good, and the way that you get from point A to point B, the way that it happens, he wants that to be of him as well. So we need to seek the Lord about the proper order, to inquire of the Lord. Again, I would ask, do you know how to hear the voice of God? Do you inquire of the Lord? What kind of life do you want to have? A life like Saul or a life like David?

Wiersbe points out at this point, he says, the time to find out how to do his work is before the job begins, not after the funeral. Something to consider. The time to figure out how does God want this to happen? It's before it begins. And so we need to seek the Lord, not just rush into our own decisions or what we think is best, even if our motivation and intentions are great.

But we need to seek the Lord about the proper order. That He would give us the way that we are to go.

Well, as the ark is brought into Jerusalem, it's come from Kirjath-Jerim, which is there just west of Jerusalem. And so it's been there in Kirjath-Jerim for a while, but now finally they're able to bring it into Jerusalem. And the center of worship, as well as the reigning over the kingdom, is now there in Jerusalem. And so we're going to see that continue to develop under the reign of Solomon as the temple is built there in Jerusalem.

Chapter 16 is our next chapter. Verse 4 is the key verse. It says, And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to think, and to praise the Lord God of Israel.

And verses 1 through 6, now we have the story continue. The ark now is set in the tabernacle that David had set up for it. And so it's moved into the tabernacle. And then David gives a song that he wrote for the occasion to Asaph, who was a worship leader there for the event. And so verses 7 through 36 record that psalm that he gives to Asaph, which is rejoicing and thanking and calling the people to praise God.

And then in verses 37 through 43, he sets up men to minister before the ark continually and daily. So it's not just this one-time thing that they're having this, you know, worship.

But he's set up and scheduled and established people to continually and daily serve the Lord and minister to the Lord there at this tabernacle that has been set up and there before the Ark of the Covenant. And so they're leading in worship. They're leading the sacrifices are happening there. And they're doing the things that are required by God in the law. And so that's all set up and established here in chapter 16.

Chapter 17, now verse 27 is the key verse. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant that it may continue before you forever. For you have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever. So the Ark of the Covenant is now in Jerusalem. It's a great thing. People are worshiping God. It's set up there in Jerusalem. And David's happy. But then he gets a little bit concerned because he's looking around at his own house. His house was built of cedar from cedar.

from Hiram there in Tyre up northern, just north of Israel. Now cedar was a luxury material. It was, you know, expensive. And so he's looking around at his nice expensive home and then he looks over at the Ark of the Covenant inside this tent and he's like, that doesn't seem right that, you know, my home is nicer than where God's presence dwells.

And so he's talking with Nathan the prophet and he says, you know, this doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem to, you know, be fitting that God would dwell in this tent while I dwell in this nice, luxurious house of cedar. David here desires to build a house for God. And we see that there in verses 1 through 6.

And so Nathan, the prophet says, yeah, that sounds good. Go, do whatever's in your heart. But then God speaks to Nathan that night. He says, Nathan, you need to go back to David. No, no, don't go build a house.

I know you want to. It's a great desire. There will be a house built, but that's not for you to do. So David desires to build a house. But then in verses 7 through 15, God sends Nathan back to David to say that, David, your throne will be established forever. Essentially, here's what happened. God, or David says to God, I want to build you a house. God replies, no, you're not going to build me a house. I'm going to build you a house.

And I'm going to establish your throne. I'm going to establish your seed, your descendants. You will always have someone on the throne. That it's going to be your line that carries on the kings of Israel. But what we also see prophesied here, what God is declaring is that the Messiah, the Savior that's been promised...

will come from your line, David. He will be a descendant of David. And so he explains to David, Solomon, his son, will build the house, but then his throne will be established forever, promising that the Messiah will be of the line of David. And so David desires to build God a house, but God says, no, but I'm going to do something great for you. You want to do something great for me, but instead I'm going to do something great for you.

I'm going to establish your home, your son. He'll build the house and the savior of the world will be a descendant of you. And so verses 16 through 27 records David's prayer to the Lord. His prayer of just being overwhelmed really. Being grateful. Recognizing who am I? Recognizing the grace of God that is involved in this.

I think this is appropriate for us to consider. David's response to the Lord was, you've already done so much for me in taking me from nothing and establishing me as king. I'm not worthy of that. I don't deserve that. But now these promises that you've made are even far greater. That my sons will be the kings of Israel.

That my son Solomon will build the temple. And that one of my descendants later on is going to be the Messiah. The Savior that you've been promising since the beginning of time. These are great. And David is overwhelmed at this promise of God. At this word from the Lord about what God is going to do for him. He's recognizing it's not because I deserve it. I've not earned it. You know, David has a right heart in this. He's recognizing this is about, well, it's God's grace.

But here's the thing that I want us to consider as we finish up our chapters for this evening. The grace of God. The grace of God is, well, you know what grace is, right? It's undeserved, unmerited favor. That means that God's good and he blesses even though we haven't earned it or couldn't deserve it. We can't work hard enough to receive God's goodness.

He gives us goodness. He does good things for us. He blesses us because He is good independent of what we are. And so even though we don't deserve it, we're unworthy, God's grace is His goodness poured out on us because He is good. And so you cannot earn the grace of God. You cannot deserve the grace of God. However,

There is a condition for the grace of God to be, you know, fulfilled in your life. And that is, you and I, we must receive it. Right? You understand that about the gospel. Jesus Christ died upon the cross, taking the place, paying the penalty for all of our sins. So that we, by believing in Jesus, can have right standing before God. Because all of our sins were paid for. So it's as if we had never sinned. We are justified. That's grace.

We didn't deserve a savior. We didn't earn a savior. And we cannot earn or deserve salvation. It's the grace of God that brings salvation to us. But not everybody has that salvation. Because God has made it clear in his word that it must be received. That receiving the salvation that he's offered comes by faith in Jesus Christ. And by believing in Jesus, we receive the grace of God in salvation.

But I want to ask you to consider this evening that the grace of God being poured out in your life is not just for salvation. And what I see demonstrated by David here is that he is receiving God's grace that he has promised to him. Look with me at verse 25 here in 1 Chronicles 17. He says, "...for you, O my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build him a house."

Therefore your servant has found it in his heart to pray before you. And now Lord you are God and have promised this goodness to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant that it may continue before you forever. For you have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever. David here is receiving God's promise. He is receiving God's grace.

He says, God, here's what you have revealed. Here's what you have said. And so I'm praying this prayer and I'm saying, yes, Lord, do it. Yes, Lord, be faithful to your word. I receive what you're saying. I believe you at your word. He's not saying, yes, Lord, that's right. I deserve it. Yep. That makes sense because, you know, I've earned it. He's not saying that. He's saying, who am I?

I don't deserve this, but you've said it. And so Lord, I'm praying it. Not because I deserve it, but I'm praying this because you have said it. And I believe you. So fulfill your word. And so he asks God to fulfill his promise of grace. To fulfill his promise upon him, not on the basis of what he has done, but on the basis of who God is and what God has said. Grace must be received.

And I would suggest to you this evening that you and I need to follow suit. Follow the example of David. That we need to take the words that God has said and say, yes, Lord, I receive this. Lord, I'm praying that you would do this. Recognizing I don't deserve it. I'm not saying that I've earned it. I wouldn't claim that. I recognize it's your grace. But Lord, I receive it. I ask that you would do it because it's what you promised.

George is going to come up and he's going to lead us in a couple songs. And I want us to take the time as he is leading us in these next two songs to pray to the Lord and say, yes, God, I'm taking you at your word. I'm praying this, not because I deserve it, but because you said it. And let me give you some examples. Now maybe you already have some things on your heart where you know God wants you to pray for these things. He's already promised you things. And so you can lift those up before the Lord and say, yes, God,

You've said it. Lord, I'm asking that you would do it because I want to receive your grace towards me. But here's a few examples that we could consider. Just latch on to any of these as they speak to your heart. Latch on to them and pray these things before the Lord and receive these promises of grace. In Philippians chapter 4, 19, Paul says, My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

The promise is God will supply your need. Not because you deserve it, not because you earned it, but by the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. And if you have need, then you can pray to the Lord and say, this is your promise, God. Pour out your grace according to your word. Similarly, Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Those, these things is the needs that we have. Now there's a condition here that you seek first the kingdom of God. So you need to be putting God first. But you can also pray, Lord add those things. I need those things. I don't deserve it. I don't, I haven't earned your help. But you said that you would. And so I'm praying this to you. That you would be faithful to your word. Romans chapter 8 verse 28 is one we know.

Paul says, we know all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. And this is one we need to go before the Lord often with. As we are going through things, we're experiencing things, and we can't figure out how could good come from this. But we can look to God at his promise and say, Lord, this is what you said. And so I'm asking that you would be faithful to your word, that you would work all these things together for good.

Receive these promises of God. Receive the grace of God. Isaiah chapter 40 verse 31. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. If you need strength, wait upon the Lord and ask the Lord to be faithful to his word. Receive what he has promised. Receive the grace that he extends to you.

Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, Paul says, being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Do you have that frustration over where you are at in your spiritual life? Do you have that frustration of why do I still wrestle with these things of the flesh? Why do I still wrestle in trusting in God? Why do I still wrestle with

Well, these issues. I've been a Christian for this amount of time. I should be over this. I should be done with this. Why do I still struggle with these things? This is a promise you can claim. This is a promise you can present to the Lord. God, you said we could be confident that you will complete the work that you've begun in us. And so, Lord, I'm asking you to be faithful to your word. I don't deserve it. I haven't earned it. But because you said it, I'm asking this. Lord, work in me.

Bring me to completion. Make me more like you. Of course, 1 John 1.9 is a popular one as well. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you've got some unrighteousness, some sinfulness that has kind of been adding up in your life, it's time to confess it and to ask God to fulfill His word, to be faithful, to cleanse you, forgive you.

And you can have right standing with God once again as if you had never ever sinned by asking God to be faithful to His word, to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness as you confess to Him. One last portion. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 4. As Peter is talking about the promise that we have, he says that he's called us to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you.

Who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation. Ready to be revealed in the last time. What's the ultimate thing that we don't deserve? It's our inheritance. The things that God has in store for us for eternity. And you may not feel like you deserve it. Because you don't. You may wonder, I don't even know if I'm going to get there. But you can look to God and say, Lord will you be faithful to your word.

Not because I've earned it. I don't deserve it. But I believe in you. And you said it. And so I'm asking God, will you fulfill your promise? Just as David said, I don't deserve it. But here's what you told me. And so God, here's what I'm asking you to do. Because you said it. The grace that God extends towards us needs to be received.

And so let's take this time as Pastor George leads us in these next two songs. Let's take this time. Whichever of those things or maybe something else that God spoke to you personally, just present it before the Lord. And say, yes, Lord, I want your grace. I want your promises. This is what you said. Please be faithful to your word and do what you promised you would do. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.