Day 3: The Kingdom
Read: 2 Samuel 7:11b-16
Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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, 15 but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ”
Ponder:
The promises of God are always fulfilled, sometimes very quickly, sometimes years later. In 2 Samuel, we see the promise God had given Eve and Abram continue in the life of King David. Again, His promise to David involves a child to come, a child from his own line, a child that will be a king unlike any king before or since the creation of the world. This child would be a great, great king. He would be the Son to God the Father. This king’s kingdom would have no end.
But the fulfillment didn’t come quickly. David had to endure desolate years spent running in the desert from an angry king Saul before the promise that he would be king even came true. After David, the kingdom went through turmoil and exile and splits that made God’s promise seem obsolete. But God wasn’t done. Long after David and his children and his children’s children had died, the promised eternal king arrived on Christmas Day in Bethlehem, the town of David.
Pray:
God, sometimes we wait a long time for your promises to be fulfilled. The people waited hundreds of years for their king. This season, as we focus on You, I am, once again, reminded that we celebrate Christmas because of the birth of the King, born two thousand years ago. I thank You that I am a citizen of His kingdom. This is a blessing beyond blessings. In a world of instability and chaos, where kingdoms rise and fall, I am a citizen of an everlasting kingdom. Please Father, help me to trust in You and in Your promises. You are faithful. You always keep your promises.
