“In your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”
– 2 Samuel 7:16
Did you hear the repetition of forever twice in that verse? This is God speaking to David, his entering to covenant with David. This is one of the most important chapters, really, in all the Old Testament, because it represents the Davidic covenant. God’s commitment to David to bless David and his line, his house and his kingdom, 2 Samuel 7:16 says shall be made sure forever before God. His throne shall be established forever, and whenever we see that word in the Bible, forever, we see it twice here in this one verse, I think it should really blow us away.
2 Samuel 7:16 Reminds Us of God’s Promises
God’s commitment to David to bless David and his line, his house and his kingdom, shall be made sure forever before God.
This is mind-boggling to consider how, what we read in God’s word is not just about a particular time and a particular place. It’s about all time and all people throughout all time forever. What God is doing here will last forever. He’s making a promise that would last forever. That means that promise is still in place today, and 10 billion years from now, that promise will still be in place.
The promise specifically here is for God’s blessing on the line and the kingdom that would come through David, which we know as we get into the pages of the New Testament, is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, who came from the line of David, who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who is the savior and Lord and king of our lives and who will be savior and Lord and king forever. When you read God’s word and you see the word forever, just stop and realize that what you’re reading about has implications for your life, and not just for your life, but for everyone’s life, for all of eternity.
2 Samuel 7:16 Leads Us to Thank God
We pray based on this picture in 2 Samuel 7:16. Oh God, what a word, forever. To think that thousands of years after these words were written, after you spoke these words to David, that I’m sitting here, that all of us who are praying right now, who know Jesus as savior and Lord and king of our lives, that we are a part of this kingdom, that I’m a part of this kingdom that will last forever.
What a thought. Jesus, I praise you, we praise you as our king. You are our king forever. You’re our king today. You’re our king tomorrow. You will be our king for all of eternity, because you are the king. Jesus, there is no one like you. You are the king who has died on a cross for our sins, who has risen from the grave, who has ascended to the father’s right hand, who’s coming back one day to fully consummate your kingdom in a new heaven and a new earth that will last forever and ever.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for the Spread of the Gospel
Jesus, we praise you for the privilege of being a part of this story, being a part of this kingdom. We pray in light of what you taught us to pray, Jesus, may your kingdom come, oh God. May your will be done in our lives and on the earth as it is in heaven. May your kingdom spread. And may outposts of the kingdom, may new kingdom citizens be made. Also, may we make disciples. May outpost of the kingdom, new churches be planted among more and more people in more and more places.
God, we pray for the spread of your kingdom to all the nations, all the peoples of the earth, particularly among the 3 billion people in the world, 7,000 people groups unreached by the gospel right now. God, we pray for the establishment of your kingdom. May you be exalted as king among every single one of those people groups. And may you use our lives and our families and our churches toward that end, even as we pray right now in awe of the fact, the reality that we’re a part of this kingdom that will last forever. We pray this in Jesus’ name, in the name of our king according to 2 Samuel 7:16. In light of his eternal kingdom, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
