Transcript

It's so good to be with you today. My name is Stephen Combs. I'm the pastor of worship and youth here at Eastgate Church. And I'm honored to continue our series called the Story. But before we jump in, we have a really big day coming up in just three weeks, and that is Easter Sunday.

And I just want to talk a little bit about what we're doing. We've been preparing for this since the fall. We started talking about it because Easter is a day that people who don't normally come to church any other Sunday will come on Easter. And so we're preparing that day not just for a crowd. We're preparing for change lives.

And here's our goal. We have two campuses. This is the Wilson campus at our Rocky Mount campus. We're praying for 250 to attend. We're praying for 20 first time guests here in Wilson.

We're praying for 600 in attendance. We're praying for 30 first time guests. And these aren't just numbers to us because each number represents a name, each name represents a soul. And every soul matters to God. And that's why you saw on your way in this morning, hopefully as you took a seat, there were some invite cards sitting in it and Gathering Place, you probably saw it on your table, I'm guessing.

And there are two invite cards there for. We encourage you to take this home with you. We made it this small size so that way you could fit it in your purse, fit it in your wallet, and maybe just as you're going, just give them to people. It doesn't even have to be people. You know, one thing I did last time we did this was I was in the Taco Bell drive thru, went for my debit card and was like, oh, and just gave that to the person there.

So we're trying to make it really easy for you to invite people to church. You'll hear about it more later in the service. But we have this container down here for our. It's time cards and something. Maybe you've already done this before.

You've already written down names of people that you're praying for. Maybe something different you would do for Easter is that you would specifically write down people that you're inviting to church on Easter that you'd like to pray for. I mentioned Gathering Place a second ago. Hey there, Gathering Place. And that is a fantastic service that takes place at the same time as our worship center.

They're doing folk music over there, but they watch the same sermon. And so if you've Never attended Gathering Place. Know that that is. We purposefully built that to make room for more for big days like Easter. But as our church is growing, we need that space.

And so if you've never checked out Gathering Place, man, you don't know what you're missing. It's a fantastic. Maybe Easter would be the Sunday where you're like, all right, I'm going to check out Gathering Place that Sunday and make sure that we have room for all these people that are coming. You heard us talk about the food drive in the announcement video earlier, and that's starting this coming Saturday. What we're doing this coming Saturday is we're going to be going around in multiple neighborhoods, and we're going to be hanging grocery bags on people's doors, and it's going to have a little message on there inviting them to donate goods to the local Hope Station.

What we know from talking to Hope Station is that they rely on this every year. We've been doing it so long, we're one of their biggest donors. And so we're going to be going and dropping the bags off on the 21st, coming back on the 28th, and we're going to be picking them up and then putting door hangers there. This is an opportunity not for marketing, but for mission. And it's a small, easy way to participate with us in reaching the city for Jesus while we're going to meet their physical needs and we're going to hopefully open spiritual doors.

Now, we do have some left we've been hearing us talk about for the last few weeks that we have yard signs. If you go out in the lobby, on your way out there in the corner, there are some yard signs left. We encourage you to put those up in your neighborhood and as a way maybe to even identify, like, hey, I'm someone that goes to church. I'm someone that you can come talk to. But I find, too, it's actually helpful for me, when I come home at the end of the day, I see the sign.

It's a reminder to me to pray for my street. And so we encourage you to put those up. Easter is going to be a big day. It's only a few weeks away. I'm so excited about it.

It's a time for us for prayer. It's a time for invitation. We're going to have a baptism that day. And so it's a time for us as a church, to arrive to Easter ready to go, that you're going to invite people you're prepared for the day you're prayed up pray for people to come to Jesus on Easter Sunday. Amen.

So back into the story. I'm really excited to be continuing this series. We're kind of like dead center in the middle of it. It's a 12 part series and what you've seen us talk about is that we started at the creation and our goal in this series to talk about from creation all the way to consummation from beginning to end. And what we're looking for is we're looking for Jesus on every single page.

And you've heard us talk about creation's beauty, but then about the catastrophe of sin. You heard us talk about Noah and you heard us talk about the covenant God made with Abraham. You heard us talk about Moses and the Red Sea and the commandments. Last week we learned about the conquest of the land. But now the land needs a king and there arrives.

Today's message is called the crown. The crown where God promised David that a king would come through his line who would sit on the throne of an eternal kingdom. God promised a true king of an everlasting kingdom. Now last week my son Deacon, as I was coming to the lobby, he had one of these crowns on his head that our kids ministry gave out. And he was a cute, cute little guy.

You know, I look at the crown and I think about when you're a kid and how fascinating the idea of being a king, how fascinating the idea of being a queen is. And then you get older and you learn that crowns are like the most anti American thing that we can have. Like 1776 was we were trying to get away from this. And so the idea of a dominant ultimate ruler whose line would also continue, you don't get a vote on that is not something that sits well with us. In fact, I would say that maybe the idea of a king is falling on deaf ears for some of us this morning because you have a leadership wound we just had.

I mean, it's an election year this year and I feel like we just had an election and here we are doing it again. And with each election people get their hopes up like that my person is going to get elected and they're going to change everything and it's going to be so perfect this time. But then you have the opposition who thinks completely opposite of you. If we were to survey our two rooms here, the worship center and gathering place, I guarantee you we would have so much division over whose right to sit in that office. But no matter who we elect, they never do actually fix things in the way that we perfectly imagine they never do live up to our expectations, because in our heart, what we really want is someone who's perfect.

And the message this morning, the encouraging thing that I want us all to hear, is that there is one who is perfect. There is a king who we can all look to, who we can all find unity under, even though we might have disunity over who's sitting in office and it might scare us. There is one king who reigns forever, and that is King Jesus, the king of kings. And we can all come together to worship his name. Amen.

That's a king and a kingdom that will never end. And 3,000 years ago, the Israelites were looking for a king. God was trying to discourage the idea because he was saying, I'm your king. You don't need a king. You've got judges.

You don't need a king. But they insisted, and so he allowed them to select a king. Who'd they pick? They picked the coolest guy they could find. He was tall, he was good looking, he was strong, he was good with his words.

Man, the guy was charismatic. He was awesome. His name was Saul. And they were like, man, we've really done it this time. But no, Saul turned out to not be such a good king.

And so then the story picks up to God selecting a man named David. And we're going to talk all about him today. That at the age of 37, God spoke into David's life and he revealed to him a covenant that he wanted to make in and through him. We see in 2nd Samuel, chapter 7, the word of the Lord came to David through the prophet Nathan that God would establish a throne through David's lineage that would reign over an everlasting kingdom. What does that mean to us?

We might not feel like we can trust the person that's sitting in the presidency or in the senate or in the house, but we can trust this king. And we're going to hear three reasons this morning why you can place your ultimate trust and confidence in this eternal king. I'd like to invite you right now to stand to your feet as we read the Word of God together. We're going to be turning to the book of Second Samuel, chapter seven. Where is Second Samuel?

It's page 259. It's right after First Samuel if you're looking for it. We're going to look at verse 8, 2nd Samuel 7, verse 8. And I'll just kind of, you know, listen along. But when we get to verse 16, let's read it out Loud together.

So here we go. Verse 8. Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David. Thus says the Lord of hosts. I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

And I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers. I will raise up your offspring after you. And you shall come who shall come from your body. And I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. Let's read this last verse together. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me.

Your throne shall be established forever. And may God bless the reading of his word. Amen. Amen. You can have a seat.

As I said, there are three reasons here that we see that we can trust in Jesus. The first reason we want to identify here is because in him we experience unmerited favor. In him we experience unmerited favor. Notice throughout the passage, the word I is said a lot. It's sprinkled all through it.

And what God's saying here is he's speaking of his own sovereign role in the fulfillment of his eternal plan. He's saying, I'm going to do it. I have done it. I'm going to do it. This is not reliant on your strength.

This is something that I'm going to do. And as we were reading this passage this week, we learned that this is actually the most that God has spoken in one setting since he spoke to Moses back at Mount Sinai, which is really cool. So God has something really big he's trying to tell us here. So let's pay attention. He says there in verse eight.

Now, therefore, you shall say to my servant David, who's God talking to? He's talking to the prophet Nathan. Why is he wanting to speak to David? Well, a little bit of context here. David, I said, was 37 years old.

He is king of Israel, king of Judah. And the ark, which had been stolen by the Philistines, has now been returned. And then you get the story of David dancing in the kingdom and just so excited that he brought the ark home. And then he's sitting there in the evening and he's looking around at his house, and he says to the prophet Nathan, man, here I am sitting in a house of cedar while the ark sits out there in a tent. This isn't right.

I want to build a house for the Lord. And so Nathan at first is like, yeah, that sounds pretty good. But then God, who knows what needs to happen, decides to intervene right here. And so what does he do? Here we pick up verse 8.

Now say this to my servant David. Say what? Verse 8. I took you from the pasture from following the sheep that you should be prince over my people, Israel. David was just a shepherd.

He wasn't looking to be king. He didn't seek this out. This isn't a contract that David asked for. It was a rescue from God to pull him out of that pasture. And to do what?

To send him to the prince's court. We call this covenant, the Davidic Covenant. And it's not built on David's resume, it's built on God's resolve. And what does he say in verse 9? I have been with you.

And this word been with is like the word abide. I've stayed stuck with you wherever you went, and I've cut off, I've killed all your enemies from before you. He's here claiming that every victory you had, I was behind it. I was the one who made it possible. So he starts by telling David, here's the things I've done.

Just to be clear, I did it. And now here are things that I'm going to do. And there are nine I wills in this whole passage. Granted, one of them says, the Lord will, but it's the same intent. He tells us nine things that he's going to do.

And as you read this, the way that it's spoken is meant that each promise is meant to stack on the other one. I'm going to do this, then this, then this, this, and this. And so as you read it, you read things like, I'm going to make for you a great name. I'm going to appoint A place for you. I'm going to plant your people in one place.

Finally, I'm going to give you rest. And then what does he say in verse 11? I'm going to make you a house.

Didn't this whole thing start by David expressing that he was going to build God a house? God turns that on its head and he says, I don't want you to build me a house. I'm going to build a house. Now when he says the word house here, God's not talking about a wooden structure that's going to at some point go away. He's talking about a dynasty here in David.

When he says, I'm building in you a house, he's saying that I'm going to build a household. You, a household that would last forever. And just like how God called David to be king and that he gave him this favor that was unmerited. We have another word for that. It's called grace.

He gave David this grace that he just did not deserve. This God has also called us into the kingdom of God. And it's a gift, and it's not because of our work. Look, in Ephesians, chapter two, it says, for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. So we read in verse 11, God says, I will make you a house. The gospel is right there, guys. We try to do things for God to earn our spot, but he's saying, stop trying to build me a house. Stop trying to work your way to me.

You can't do it. But I have already built a house for you. And the house is King Jesus. And he's calling us not to be subjects to his kingdom, but to be heirs to us, to be part of the household of David that he talks about right here. And we see evidence of that In Romans, chapter 8, where it says, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry Abba, Father.

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and fellow heirs of Christ. Here God, through the apostle Paul in Romans is telling us, that household that I was talking about back there with David, that didn't. That's not just a bloodline, that's a spiritual bloodline that.

Guess what? You are part of that household that I was talking about back there. Now, each part of this series We've been kind of. Just as we're talking about each character, let's capture their story together and see how it speaks to. Like I said, we're looking for Jesus on every page.

And I mentioned earlier that David was king at the age of 37. Well, it didn't start that way. When David was around 12 to 15 years old. As I mentioned earlier, Saul had been a disappointment and God had turned away from him, and it was time for them to select a new king. And Samuel was still grieving over this because what a huge letdown.

Samuel was part of that whole process. And God's talking to Samuel, trying to encourage him. He's like, it's okay, I've selected someone else. I want you to go to the house of Jesse. Jesse's a shepherd.

Okay, that's fine. Go to the house of Jesse. And when his. When his sons come into the room, I'm gonna tell you which one is gonna be the future king. And so he goes to the house of Jesse.

And the first son comes into the room. And Samuel looks at him. He's like, man, look at that guy. Look how impressive he is. Is that him?

God says, no, second son comes into the room. He's like, surely that's. I mean, look at that guy. That's got to be him. God says, no, third son comes a fourth son, comes a fifth son comes a sixth son.

And then God still hasn't said yes yet. And he asked Jesse, is that all? Is that all your sons? And Jesse is like, well, I mean, there is another one, but he's David. And he's out there and he's tending the sheep.

And in Jesse's head, He's thinking he's 12 to 15 years, like he's a little teenager. Do we have any 12 to 15 year olds here in the room this morning? Like, that could be you he's talking about right now. Okay. And your parent is sitting there next to you, going, yeah, I probably wouldn't have sent you in there either to be king, you know?

But as soon as Samuel lays eyes on David, God tells him that's him. And so I kind of like this illustration right here that it shows maybe what this could have looked like. There stand the six strapping young men, his brothers, watching their little teenage brother get anointed as king.

And then what does David do? Does he get to go now to the king's courts? I'm king now. He goes back to shepherding. In fact, later on, King Saul, who God had put a spirit in him, that was a negative one.

It was conflicting. It was stirring him up in a bad way. And he's like, I need some music around here, man. Do we have any good musicians in the kingdom? And somebody was like, I heard from the house of Jesse that David's a pretty good musician.

So he sends for David, who is supposed to be king. But Samuel's afraid to tell Saul because Saul will probably kill him. And so David gets sent to the courts of the King Saul. And now he's his musician. He's sitting there with a lyre.

He's sitting there with like electric guitar, you know, and he's just playing music. Now when he's around ages of 15 to 18. Do I have any 15 to 18 year olds in the house? Yeah, just imagine this. He's playing in the courts for the king, but he's also still got his duties as a shepherd.

And so he's back and he's tending the sheep. When the Israelites and the Philistines, their lines have been drawn and they're getting ready to have this big battle. And all of a sudden comes from the line of the Philistines, this beast of a man named Goliath. And it said that he was over nine feet tall. It said that his armor itself weighed about 125 pounds.

He's just a monster. And he comes stepping out and he's like, if any one of you can strike me down, then the rest of us will be your servants. And immediately the Israelites ran.

And so then the next day they come out and he declares it again. And they just cower in fear and don't do anything. This happens for 40 days. And finally David's father, Jesse says, hey, I want you to bring some food to your brothers, you little anointed king. I want you to bring some food to your brothers.

And so he leaves the sheep and he goes to his brothers to bring them food. And there steps out Goliath again. And Jesse's like, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God? And the brothers are like, hush, you. What are you doing right now?

And David just can't let that go. And so he goes to King Saul himself and he says, look, I've had to fight bears, I've had to fight lions. This guy's no different. I struck them down. He's going to fall just like they did.

And so Saul says, well, okay. And he gives his armor to David. The king's armor now is sitting on David But David decides not to wear that now. Man, like, that was like students. Like, that was the greatest aura, like, you know, you could have possibly had, you know.

But he says, no, I can't wear this, it's too restrictive. And so he takes off the armor and he goes down to a brook, which is a little stream, and he gathers five smooth stones because he's going to take his slingshot to fight Goliath. Now, when I say slingshot here, when I was a kid, I always imagined Dennis the Menace with a little like, oh, this is going. I'm going to put his eye out, you know. No, this is what this thing was like.

That is terrifying.

How in the world are you accurate with that thing? I have no idea. And you gotta imagine there probably were some other slingers there that were like, they could have tried this. But you gotta remember there's this beast of a man with a javelin and a spear running at you. And you have to somehow hope and pray that you hit the guy, because if you don't, you're gone.

And David approaches him and, I gotta read this. This is so good. He says, where is it at? You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you had defile. He takes this sling, wham.

Hits him right in the forehead, knocks him down. It says, the stone sunk into his skull, grabbed Goliath's sword, chopped his head off. You read this story and you're like, man, how great of a man is David? But God now at the age of 37, is correcting him and saying, you know, I know when you were like 16 years old, you struck down the giant. I did that.

You didn't do that without me. Most of us here maybe are living on the treadmill of performance. We think that in order to stay in God's good graces, we have to be the best employee, we have to be the perfect parent, we have to be the most put together Christian. But the Davidic covenant says that the king's favor for you is unmerited. You will not earn it, you cannot earn it.

That to be right in God's eyes is not something you can do or have done, but it's only by grace that God has decided to give you. So quit trying to earn the favor of the king. Quit trying to reach heaven based on your resume, because God's offering you his and it is perfect. The same God who made a shepherd into a prince. Is inviting us sinners to be children of God.

The second reason that we can trust Jesus is because in him we serve an eternal kingdom. In him we serve an eternal kingdom. Now, in verses 12 to 13, we're getting to the heart. I think of the matter here is that kings will come and go, nations will rise and fall. But God is establishing something altogether different here.

He's established, he's promising an eternal king and an everlasting kingdom. And this is going to give us, as a church, the purpose and permanence that we could never experience apart from the kingdom of God. In verse 12, he says, when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, basically, David, you're going to die one day. I'm going to raise up your offspring. And this is important.

He doesn't say this in a singular or like a plural sense. He says it in a singular sense. Offspring is meant to say the word seed without an s at the end. Why does he say it that way? Because in Galatians 3, we read this now, the promises that were made to Abraham and to his offspring, it does not say to offsprings referring to many, but referring to one, and that's to your offspring who's Christ.

So right here, here he is talking to David, and all David was trying to do is build him a temple. And he's saying, through your offspring. And David, I'm sure, is thinking about his son, his sons. But here, God is already talking about Jesus. Isn't that cool?

And he says, 13, he shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. So right here, God's breaking the sad news to David. You said you wanted to build me a house. You're not going to be the one that does it. It's going to be your son.

Y' all know who the son is that builds the temple for God? Solomon. So his son Solomon is going to be the one who builds it. But it says he will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. If my history is right, that temple got torn down.

That kingdom, Israel was conquered. That's because God was speaking to something bigger than Solomon. Right here, he was speaking to a forever kingdom. So there was an immediate word here, and there was an ultimate word here. And the coming of Jesus depicted everything that God had promised to David.

As we look to the book of Luke, chapter one, you're going to see some parallel language here that I think is just amazing. In verse 30, it says the angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have Found favor. There's that unmerited favor again with God. And 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. And he will reign over the house of God forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end.

There was thousands of years that went by there between David's covenant and now this new word to Mary. And here God is saying, I didn't forget my covenant. Here it comes. It's coming through Jesus right here. What does that mean to us, though?

It means that because Jesus is king, we now have a clear purpose in what we are to do. And that's to make disciples. Matthew 28, it says, and everybody should be hopefully familiar with this. If you've been around for any length of time with our church, this is the Great Commission. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. Maybe we don't focus on this last part as much as we are today, but listen to this. Behold, I am with you. There's that abide word he's saying, I'm going to be with you like I was David, always to the end of the age. So here God is saying to you.

And I. I said I would be with David. And I said the kingdom would last forever. It's same for you here this morning. This word in the book of second Samuel is a word for you. And I remember that God's authority is eternal.

Our mission is essential. God's authority is eternal. Our mission is essential. So when you pour into your kids or when you share the gospel with your neighbor, what's the gospel? That's like this scary word, right?

Like what is. How do I share the gospel? Where do I start? What is the gospel? Means good news.

Well, what's the good news? The good news is that I was dead in my sin with no way to get to heaven. No matter what I did, I couldn't work my way there. But God sent his son Jesus, to live the life that I just could not live. To die the death that I deserved.

To raise again on the third day, a thing that I couldn't possibly do, to ascend to heaven and establish a throne in which he will Call me heir and son and reign forever in him. That's really good news. Why do we over complicate this? Why can't we just tell somebody the good thing that God did for us? Maybe it's because we've over complicated what the word gospel means.

Go tell the good thing that he did. Why wouldn't you tell everyone about this? God's inviting you that this is part of your mission. Go do that. And here's the relief right here to me because I think I get so freaked out by like, what if I say the wrong thing?

Well, he says in Matthew 16, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. If you'll be the church, he'll build the church. If we'll be the church, he will build the church. So let's go be the church and let's serve a kingdom that will never end. Let's trust in a king who keeps his promises.

Speaking of keeping his promises, let's pick up where we just left off. David was 15 to 18 years old. He is 30 when he finally becomes king of Judah. So there's this window of time here between 18ish to 30, where here's what's happening. He kills Goliath.

And then the people of Israel began to sing songs about David and saying, Saul has killed his thousands, David's killed his tens of thousands. And this word gets to Saul's ears. And Saul, remember, he's not a good king. He's jealous. David's sitting over there playing his lute or whatever, you know, but maybe he's playing some violin, I don't know what he's playing.

And Saul just randomly just throws a spear and barely misses his head. And David begins to run for his life. The person who was anointed king, who had killed Goliath, was now running in fear from the king who he was trying to serve. And all the while in his head you got to assume like the promise of God was resonating. Like, was that true?

Did I do something wrong? Because now I'm living in a cave and I'm here with about 400 guys who are in debt, who are discontented, we're distressed, we're depressed. And these are the men that the Bible later calls the mighty men. These are my mighty men. These are the mighty misfits.

And I'm in a cave, not a kingdom. This cave that you see in the picture here is called the cave of Adullam. And that's where you read about these 400 guys living there. So here David is running for his Life for about 12 to, sorry, 10 to 12 years. And you got to imagine, I mean, I'm sure we would all be this way.

That little voice inside of you here that's talking to you, because guess who talks to me more than anybody. I talk to myself more than anybody else talks to me. And it's the same for you. We all talk to ourselves more than anybody else does. And here's the beautiful thing about David, is that he knew how to take that self talk and to turn it to no matter what it started out as.

He would speak promises and speak a redemptive word. So check this out. You gotta imagine this is the kind of thing you write when you're living in a cave. Psalm 13. How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? And then he begins his pivot. I love reading the Psalms because of this.

He begins his pivot. So I'm going to. I came to him honestly. Now here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to ask God, consider and answer me, O Lord, my God, light up my eyes lest I sleep in death, Lest my enemies say I have prevailed over him.

Lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. So he comes to God in prayer now. And now what is he going to do? He declares what he's going to do. Here's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to trust in your steadfast love. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt with bountifully with me. What did David do to war against his bad self talk? He worshiped.

He sang. That's why we do stuff like what we're doing here on Sundays. Maybe you've even wondered to yourself, why do they sing music every Sunday? It's because of this kind of reason I need to be reminded the truths of God. I need to sometimes sing in order to get rid of that negative self talk that wants me to be isolated, depressed, angry, full of anxiety.

I have to let the word of God bathe over me instead of me bathing myself in negativity. So maybe this morning you're in a cave. Maybe you're here this morning and you're in a season of waiting and the delay to God's promise has caused you to Doubt whether it was true or real. Consider David, who was anointed king between 12 and 15 and didn't become king till he was 37. How long have you been waiting on God, and will you continue to trust him?

Maybe a good recipe for learning how to overcome this is to read Psalm 13 out loud as if it were you saying it. You've already accomplished what I would argue would be one of the best recipes for this negative self talking. I said go to church, hear the word of God spoken, sing a song together and come alongside brothers and sisters who you we need each other because otherwise the negative talk will take over. And then stop overthinking everything about what going and making disciples means. Stop overthinking.

I just want to know what my purpose is. We believe here that what we do on Sundays is of great importance in the process of making disciples. Otherwise we wouldn't be doing this. We're trying to follow the Great Commission here. And what that means is from the parking lot to the lobby to the kids ministry, to the kitchen to the worship center to the TED Booth, everything that we're doing here is a part of the disciple making process.

People come to Jesus here at church and people grow more like Christ here at church. This is the disciple making process. So if you're trying to figure out what you're here for, just take the first step. Can you hold a door for somebody? Can you go and sit as an assistant in one of our kids classrooms?

Can you hit the space bar on the computer, you know, and go the next slide? That seems insignificant. But God is using all these things to create this environment in which friends, he speaks to me, he corrects me, he gets some junk straightened me that needed to be straightened out. And then would you continue to serve? Don't give up.

God's given you something that he wants you to do. Don't give up on his calling. Remember that he will build the church. Remember that he's building an everlasting kingdom and it will not crumble. So keep investing in it.

Don't stop. Even though it might look tough right now, do not stop investing in that kingdom. Because if you live in a cave, you can live for a kingdom that never ends. And then finally we can trust in this king. Because in him we receive steadfast love.

In him we receive steadfast love. So Our scripture today 14 through 16, we've saved the best for last. This is the best news of all time. Here he is saying that there is one who will coming, that will endure the pain of the rod of men and suffer their strife, and that he's going to give us a steadfast love of a God who will never depart from us. So let's break this down a little bit.

It says in verse 14, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I have done something really weird with my notes here. There we are. We're back on. Back on track.

And so here he is. He's saying, I will be a father to these people. What do fathers do? Sometimes they say, no, sometimes the thing I'm asking for is not really the thing I need. My son Deacon will ask for milk and yogurt all day long.

Now it's cereal. He has the worst preference in diet of any human being, I think. And if I just go along with that, he's just going to be a nasty, milky man when he grows up.

Say, I'm going to be a father, I'm going to correct you. Which means, sometimes I need to discipline you. Sometimes I'm not going to give you the thing you ask for because you don't understand what you're asking for. And he's saying, that's the kind of relationship I'm going to have. But he's saying that to David here.

And then he says, when he commits iniquity, which means does wrong. And so that's clear, like, okay, he's speaking to my son here, and he's a human being. He's going to make mistakes. But if we're trying to argue this whole time that the promises he's making to David and to his son then extend to Jesus, how does that make any sense? Because Jesus didn't do anything wrong.

Jesus never sinned. How do we justify this? Maybe we're not talking about Jesus here. No, that's not true. Jesus may not have sinned, but check this out.

Second Corinthians 5, for our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Even here, when he's talking about the iniquity, that still applies to Jesus. Jesus took on your sin. He lived the perfect life and was sinless until he took on that cross. And then he became sin who knew no sin.

It says in v.14, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men. Now we kind of have another problem, because if you're thinking about Solomon, Solomon inherited the throne from David. He lives a full life to completion without ever having to face war. He never Took on the rods of men. He never took on the stripes of men.

This doesn't make any sense. Well, it's because this prophecy was to Jesus. Listen to this. In Isaiah 53. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we esteemed him, stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him. By his stripes we are healed.

This is what I love about reading the word of God. And this is why I want to be a student of this Word. Because this wasn't written by just like one great author, like, I love J.R. tolkien. Okay, great. This was written by the greatest author who wrote this book over centuries.

And you find these words like this pop up through the prophet Isaiah. By his stripes we are healed. There he is speaking of the thing that he covenanted with David. And he's not talking about Solomon. He's talking about Jesus here.

And then it just continues to get better in verse 15. But my steadfast love will not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put before you. Here he is saying, my love is anchored. It's not going anywhere. It's steadfast.

It will not depart from your line. And that line is us. He's saying, I will not depart, my love from Solomon. I will not depart, my love from Jesus. I will not depart, my love from you.

And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure before. Sorry, this verse 16. Your house will be made sure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever. As I said earlier, we know Solomon's temple was torn down.

We know that the kingdom of Israel was conquered. I'm confused by this. How does it rain forever? Check this out. John 2.

Jesus answered them, Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up. Well, every disciple is like, looking at the temple and going, it took us 46 years to build this temple. How are you going to raise it up in three days? He was speaking about the temple of his body that says that right there in verse 21. So this house that God was building, Jesus is saying, I'm that house now.

It never was about this. Ultimately, it maybe was at that time, but ultimately it was about this. But it doesn't stop there. Listen to this. When Jesus ascended to heaven, we became the temple.

First Corinthians 3. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells within you? Thousands of years ago. He talks about a house that he was going to build that would last forever. Jesus comes and he becomes the house.

And now, because Jesus is with the Lord, I am that house. You are that house. This word is for us. And he's saying, you will live forever. You serve a kingdom that will never end.

You are my temple now, and you will not be destroyed, declares the king.

So David's around 37 years old. He was 12 to 15 when he heard when he was anointed. 15 to 18 when killed. Goliath lived in caves. Around the age of 30.

They actually did make him king over Judah, but Judah and Israel were separate, so he's still not really king yet. But around the age of 37, Saul was assassinated. And so then they made David king of Israel. All these years later, he's finally king at the age of 37. And so then God makes this covenant that we just read.

But David's life's not over yet. He still has a lot of reigning left to do. And David's going to test the promise. When God says, I will give you steadfast love, David's going to put that to the test. In the spring.

It says, when all kings go to battle, the warrior king, the killer of Goliath himself, doesn't go to battle. He stays home. And he's like, I think all of us are you at first. You're like, I just need some time off, man. And now he's bored.

What do I do now? So he goes up on the roof and he's just looking around. There's a woman bathing over there. He looks away and then he goes and does the long look again. There's a woman bathing over there.

And that wasn't good enough. David then sends for her, finds out that her name is Bathsheba. What a hilarious name to be named if you were taking a bath.

Finds out she's married. Okay, I'm married too. I'm David. I've got a few wives. And he sleeps with her and then sends her back home.

Alright, nobody needs to know about that that happened. Nobody needs to know. She reports back a few weeks later, she's pregnant. Oh, no. All right, what do I do?

What do I do? What do I do? My army's at war. Send for her husband, Uriah. Bring him home, and he'll sleep with his wife because he's home with her.

He's missed her. Uriah comes home from battle, sleeps on his front porch and says, how could I sleep in the bed of my wife when My brothers were out there sleeping in the dirt. Come on, man. Like that was the plan. I was gonna.

It was gonna be a cover up. Like you were gonna sleep with your wife, you're gonna stay with your baby. So what does he do? He sends for Uriah and he writes a note for Uriah to deliver to the general. And in that note, he commands, send Uriah to the front line.

And when you were at the heat of battle, pull back and leave him. And then he hands that note to Uriah, who delivers his own death sentence to the general. Now David has killed to cover up his own sin, but God knew about it. God saw it. And God told Nathan the prophet about it.

And Nathan came to David and said, the truth has found you out. The Lord knows what you have done. You may have hidden it before men, but he knows. And David, who is not like the king before him, Saul, who was unrepentant when he sinned, David repented. And this is beautiful right here.

He wrote down what he was thinking and feeling in that moment. When you look at the book of Psalm, chapter 51, it starts by saying, he said, this is after Nathan had confronted him. This is after he had sinned with Bathsheba. What does David write? Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.

Oh, I got chills just thinking about that. I'm quoting the covenant back to you. God, according to your steadfast love. Would you, according to your abundant mercy, blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin? Oh God, I've screwed up so bad this time.

You said your love was steadfast. Are you keeping your promise with me because I've really screwed up?

And then God delivers that same promise to you and I in the book of Hebrews 13:5. I will never. This is God and this is you. I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. His love is steadfast for you and I as well.

And maybe you're here this morning and you're like, boy, what I did last night is unforgivable. The thoughts I had on the way to church this morning were unforgivable. How could God love a dirty soul like me through his son, Jesus Christ? A death that we did deserve, but a grace we didn't. He gave that to you and I.

And he says, I love you in spite of you. I chose to love you before you existed. I sent Jesus a long time ago because I love you now. So Would you come to Jesus? He stayed through the nails.

He'll stay with you through your struggle, friend. We can trust in the King because his favor is unmerited. His kingdom is eternal and his love is steadfast. He's the only kind of king that does these kinds of things, by the way. He's the only kind of thing king that does things for us that we don't deserve.

He's the only kind of king that will build his own kingdom and ask us to come along with him and can build an eternal one. And he's the only kind of king that would love you unconditionally, steadfastly. You don't have to trust in the government of this world anymore. You can be a citizen to a kingdom that never crumbles. Citizen to a king who is perfect and his name is Jesus.

Pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I don't deserve it. And I'm full aware of that right now. When I read the story of David, I feel like I'm Saul. I feel like I'm the screw up. But yet you declare to me this morning that this word is for me and that you love me in spite of me.

You've given me things that I don't deserve. And above all else you gave me Jesus Christ, who I did not deserve deserve. And I do not deserve to be called his son. I do not deserve to be called an heir. I do not deserve to serve a kingdom that never ends.

I deserve the little sandcastle kingdom I'm building right now. But yet you chose to love me in spite of me. Maybe you're here this morning and you've never given your life to Jesus, but you realize now is the moment. It's time for me to stop trying to wear the crown. It's time for me to stop looking to the crowns of earth.

I'm going to look to the crown of the King right now and I'm going to to give him my life. Would you pray this with me, Lord? I make you Lord, I ask you to be my Savior and to be the King of my life. Forgive me for my sin because I know that there's no way that I can work my way to you. Wash me clean by Jesus blood and love me forever like only you can do.

Maybe you're here this morning and you've given Christ your life, but you're recognizing right now that you've been putting some hope and expectation in earthly kings. You've been putting it into maybe your own little kingdom. And you're recognizing right now God before God that this little sandcastle kingdom you're building is going to wither away and it's not going well for you. Pray with me right now. God.

I realign my commitment right now to you. Forgive me for trying to do things on my own. Forgive me for being so lazy and not getting up and and letting you build the kingdom while I be the church. Lord.

I got to get back to work and doing the going of making disciples. You told me to do it. It's time for me to get back to it. To trust you with my life and trust you with the results. Would you?

I reinstate you as king.

I lay my crown before you now. Ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.