The King’s Eternal Throne 

“He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”—2 Samuel 7:13 (HCSB)

By Danny Saavedra

God keeps His promises. In the Old Testament, God made several promises, or covenants, with His people—Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Israelites, and David to name a few. 

David’s journey was an interesting and colorful rollercoaster ride, to say the least. From the modest upbringing as a shepherd boy in the shadows of his brothers, to the courageous Israelite who took down a giant and spent a fair amount of time on the run from King Saul because he refused to kill God’s anointed, to the beloved, conquering king who led Israel to the peak of its reign, to the adulterer and murderer whose son rebelled against him . . . David ran the gauntlet when it came to the life of faith. But even through all that, he was a man after God’s own heart, and he provided us with an example of passionate love for the Lord and a variety of beautiful, touching Psalms. 

Along his journey, David certainly had to endure a lot, but God never turned His back on David, and David faithfully waited on Him and His promises. He had the expectation that all God declared would take place in God’s time. In 2 Samuel we read the greatest promise God made to David. 

David wanted to build a temple, a house for the Lord. But that was not God’s plans for David. Why? Well, God essentially told David that because of the blood on his hands, he could not build a house for Him. But from David’s house, through his seed, the Lord promised to build an everlasting kingdom. 

Today’s verse in 2 Samuel 7 is a clear nod to the promised Messiah, the seed of Abraham through whom all would be blessed. In no uncertain terms, God made a glorious promise to David, that the Savior would come from his line. And just like with the Abrahamic covenant, God confirmed that the salvation of mankind was coming!

Can you imagine being David in this moment? Can you imagine his reaction to hearing this? The God of the universe, who knows all things from the end to the beginning, who is eternally sovereign over the entire universe, is declaring that David’s lineage would never lose the throne to another line. It would be a legacy unlike any other, and it was ultimately fulfilled through the birth of a descendant roughly 1,000 years after David died . . . Jesus of Nazareth! 

We learn from both Matthew and Luke that Jesus was a rightful heir to David’s throne. Matthew traces Jesus’ legal claim to the throne through David’s royal line via his step-father, Joseph (Matthew 1:6-16), and Luke traces Jesus’ genetic connection to David via His mother, Mary (Luke 3:23–31)—though Mary’s name isn’t mentioned, most scholars maintain that Heli was Mary’s father. Joseph was mentioned because he was Jesus’ earthly father and this genealogy only lists males. We can go so far as to say that Jesus was “twice David’s!”

Of course, Jesus took David’s rule to an entirely new and eternal level. He isn’t just some passing king like all the others, but He’s the King of all kings and Lord of all lords (Revelation 19:16)! Christ’s empire encompasses absolutely everywhere because all things were created by and for Him (Colossians 1:16)!  Moreover, because He has died and resurrected, His reign will never end, because He can never die again (Romans 6:9)!

Through the amazing realities of who Jesus is and what He has done, the promise to David has come true. David’s throne has been established for all eternity, because his power has been generationally and genetically passed down to the eternal Christ! No earthly legacy of any sort can begin to compare with this.

What promises of God do you rest on? How have you seen these fulfilled in your life? Today, we want to leave you with this promise to reflect on: “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 NIV).