2 SAMUEL 7
God’s intention from the very beginning was to create a people who would live in unbroken relationship with Him and with one another. And they would be stewards of the rest of creation, partnering with God to create a place of meaning and real substance.
But, come to find out, these humans are rebellious. They turn against God and against one another. In the process, the whole world suffers the negative fallout of their sinful choices.
Fortunately, as stubborn as these humans are, God is more stubborn still.
Refusing to give up on the people He loves so much, God makes a promise that one day there will be an ultimate solution to this problem of sin and evil in the world. This promise becomes like a scarlet thread that weaves its way through the rest of the Bible’s Story.
The thread often appears as weak as a new-born baby, but it refuses to be broken. And though the Story often comes dangerously close to unravelling altogether, it never comes all the way undone. God simply won’t allow it to happen.
Just in case the people forget that there is a larger Story going on, God sometimes reminds them. He does it with the people standing in the desert after wandering around for 40 years, reminding them of the promises He has made to them and asking them to renew their commitment to Him. He does it again at the end of Joshua’s life.
Now, years later, there’s a good king on the throne. David has brought the nation to a level of unprecedented prosperity and international influence. Their enemies have mostly been dealt with. There is relative peace in the land. It might look like the Story has reached its conclusion.
But there is this one problem. The people are still broken, individually and corporately. There’s brokenness everywhere, and as a result of that brokenness, there are these sacrifices that have to be made on a daily basis. That’s bloody, exhausting, disgusting work, done because the Final Solution hasn’t arrived yet.
God tells David that the once-and-for-all fix is still on its way. In fact, He tells David this bit of great news: The fix will come directly through David’s lineage! The Deliverer promised to Adam and Eve back in Genesis 3, the One whom the Judges wanted to be, the quintessential King, the Promised One, the ultimate Way the children of Abraham would bless the entire world—the Messiah would be a descendant of David.
There were certainly times in David’s life when he must have thought he was part of the problem (and he would have been correct). But in God’s strange plan, weaving like a scarlet thread throughout history, David was also part of the solution.
God of Glory, the narrative of Your extraordinary and creative program of redemption that is revealed in the pages of Your Holy Word boggles the mind and transcends our imagination. In Your sovereign power and wisdom, you transmute evil into good. What people mean for evil, You turn to ultimate good, and all this without violating the dignity of freedom You have given us as moral beings who, though fallen, are nevertheless created in Your image. You have progressively revealed Your nature and purposes in the history of Your people and in the pages of Scripture. You accomplish Your loving intentions through the obedience of Your people and in spite of their frequent disobedience. I ask that I would be used by You as a willing part of Your purposes so that I can participate in what You are about.
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