What is the Davidic covenant?

It was in the counsels of God from the beginning, that royalty should be established in Israel, and that He whom we know as the blessed Heir of all things — David's son and David's Lord — should, amid all His other glories, sit "upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice for ever." (Isaiah 9:7.) This was the purpose of God from the beginning; but the due time for its disclosure had to arrive, ere it was made known. From Moses to Samuel, the government of Israel was a pure theocracy - God was their king. He raised up officers, indeed, such as Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the Judges, by means of whom He administered the government of the nation; still there was no, king, but "the King eternal, immortal, invisible." In the law itself, however, God had provided for the event of a king being placed over the nation, and directed both who should be appointed ("him whom the Lord thy God shall choose") and how he was to conduct himself when he had been placed upon the throne. (See Deut. 17:14-20.) All this was anticipative; and, like all God's gracious provisions for man's need, its application was reserved, till man's sin afforded the occasion for its actual introduction. It was Israel's sin, in the days of Samuel, to ask a king — thereby rejecting the Lord from being their king; and Saul, the first king who reigned over them, was an answer in judgment to their request: — "I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath." (Hosea 13:11.) It was with David that the kingdom, according to God's thoughts and counsels, began. He was the "man after God's own heart." With him God made a covenant. Some things in this covenant were conditional; others were unconditional. Of his son, who was to succeed him on the throne, God said, "If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men." (2 Sam. 7:14.) So far the covenant was conditional. But it is immediately added, "My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee." Nothing was to cause the total forfeiture of God's mercy and favour by the house of David. However his sons might fail, and whatever chastening they might in consequence endure, nothing should interfere with the fulfilment of God's covenanted mercies. "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever." It is well for us distinctly to bear in mind this two-fold character of the covenant with David. On the one hand, there were pledged and secured to him, and to his seed, an unfailing house, and an inalienable kingdom. On the other hand, if any of his offspring should commit iniquity, the transgressors were to be chastened with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. In either case, it is with the house, and the throne, of David, that Israel stands or falls.

Israel's history in the land, all are familiar with. The book of Judges shows how soon they began to depart from the Lord, and how, by one enemy after another, he chastened them for their iniquities. In the days of Samuel, their sin, and especially that of the priesthood, brought on a dreadful crisis, in which God suffered his own ark to be taken captive by the enemy. After its restoration, they desired a king, and God granted them their request. He first gave them a king after their own hearts, who ended his days in disgrace on the mountains of Gilboa. Then God placed over them the man after His own heart, David, of whose seed, according to the flesh, Christ is, who is God over all blessed for ever. With David, God made another covenant, in part conditional, and in part unconditional. (2 Samuel 7:10-16.) As to his offspring who immediately succeeded him on the throne, their retention of the throne, and the blessing of the nation under their sway, depended on their obedience; and if they disobeyed, they were to be chastised. But the covenant was so far unconditional, that God's mercy was never to be finally removed from David's house. There was to be one proceeding from his bowels, who was, without fail, to sit upon his throne; and in him was to be accomplished the faithful word, "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever." We need not be told who is this blessed Son of David — the heir of God's throne and kingdom.

What are the sure mercies of David? Perhaps Psalm 89:3-4 provides the answer. God is speaking: “I have made a covenant with Mine elect, I have sworn unto David My servant: Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah”. God's promise to David was that his seed would continue and his rule in His Name would also continue. The prophet Isaiah's appeal to Israel invited the Nation to turn away from unfruitful pursuits and partake of the rich bounty of God's grace. God said, “come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David”. When God sought to impress His people with the offer of stable and satisfying blessing He reminds them of His irrevocable covenant with David. Well might the Nation revere the memory of David.

IV. The third promise awaits, as we have seen, its complete fulfilment. It had, however, a partial and tentative fulfilment in the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan and their subsequent chequered history in the land. At length God called to their head a man after His own heart, and to him He gave the last of the four leading promises above enumerated. The passage containing this promise is remarkable. "I took thee," says the Lord, "from the sheep-cote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before-time, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And [I] have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also Jehovah tells thee that He will make thee an house; and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sam. 7:8-16).

IV. The third promise awaits, as we have seen, its complete fulfilment. It had, however, a partial and tentative fulfilment in the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan — and their subsequent chequered history in the land. At length God called to their head a man after His own heart, and to him He gave the last of the four leading promises above enumerated. The passage containing this promise is remarkable. “I took thee”, says the Lord, “from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, and as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also Jehovah telleth thee that He will make thee an house; and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever“ (2 Sam. 7:8–16).

In Acts 13 we find Paul in Antioch of Pisidia. He enters the synagogue and is given the opportunity to address his audience. In the course of this highly interesting speech he refers to the ‘faithful mercies of David’ (v. 34). He begins by presenting a brief history of the people of Israel, quickly leading up to the point that God fulfilled his promise to his people Israel by giving them Christ in incarnation (vs. 32–33). But Israel rejected and killed their Messiah. Humanly speaking, at this point, all was lost. But what did God do? He ‘raised him from among the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke thus: I will give to you the faithful mercies of David’. God had promised that David would have a descendant to sit on his throne (2 Sam. 7:16). This promise is absolutely certain, sure and inalterable. In order that it be fulfilled, God raised up Christ from among the dead.

But how is this possible? If Israel had crucified the very One who was to bring them blessing, and if they had broken the covenant that promised them blessing, how could God still bless them? This could only become true out of pure grace and mercy. In using this expression ‘the faithful mercies of David’, Paul alludes to a verse in Isaiah 55 which confirms this thought and sheds further light on what exactly was meant by the ‘sure mercies of David’: ‘Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David’ (v. 3). This verse links the sure mercies of David with the new covenant, a covenant of pure grace where God takes all the obligations and Israel receives all the blessing (Jer. 31:31). There is only one foundation on which this covenant can be established: the shedding of the blood of Christ (Matt. 26:28; see also Isa. 54:10).

That night Nathan received an important message. The Lord told Nathan that David thought of building Him a house, but that the Lord would build David a house. Then He promises him a son. "He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever." Solomon is first in view, but he is only a type of Him, who said while on earth "a greater than Solomon is here." In Christ alone this great covenant-promise is to be fulfilled. Chastening for his offspring is announced, but a disannulment of the covenant is impossible, for God's gifts and calling are without repentance. "But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee, thy throne shall be established forever." More than that, this great covenant was confirmed by the oath of Jehovah. "Once I have sworn by My holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me" (Ps. 89:35-36). And when He was about to come, the Son of David according to the flesh, but also David's Lord, He who spoke these words to Nathan, it was divinely announced "the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign forever and of His kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). That throne and that kingdom He has not yet received. He fills the Father's throne in the highest heaven, but all heaven and earth wait for the appointed time when He will come again to claim His crown-rights and receive the world-wide kingdom, which David in inspired songs of praise so often beheld (Ps. 72).

In the promise to David already quoted, God said, "I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime." Again, "Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever" (2 Sam. 7:10, 16). This promise has never been fulfilled to Israel; and the question is whether it is to have a literal fulfilment in their history, or a spiritual fulfilment in the Church. There is nothing in the prophecy that seems to point to the Church, nor anything in the Church that seems to point to the prophecy. Naturally interpreted, the promise is that Christ shall inherit the earthly power which David, as a mere imperfect type, wielded; that His throne shall be permanent; and that under his sway the security and blessing of Israel, only enjoyed in fading shadow before, shall truly commence.

Let us examine a little the position of this kingly power according to the word; for responsibility and election met in it, as well as the foreshadowing of the kingdom of Christ. In chapter 7 of the Second Book of Samuel we have seen the promise of a son whom God would raise up to David, and who should reign after him, to whom God would be a father, and who should be His son, who should build the temple of Jehovah, and the throne of whose kingdom God would establish for ever. This was the promise: a promise which, as David himself understood, will be fully accomplished only in the Person of Christ (1 Chron. 17:17). Here is the responsibility: "If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men" (2 Sam. 7:14); which David well understood also (1 Chron. 28:9). The book which we are considering shews us that this responsibility was fully declared to Solomon (2 Sam. 9:4-9), Psalm 89:28-37 sets the two things also before us very plainly, namely, the certainty of God's counsels, His fixed purpose, and the exercise of His government in view of man's responsibility. In the Book of Chronicles we have only what relates to the promises (1 Chron. 17:11-14), for reasons of which we will speak when we examine that book. From all these passages, we perceive that the royalty of David's family was established according to the counsels of God and the election of grace; that the perpetuity of this royalty, dependent on the faithfulness of God, was consequently infallible; but that at the same time the family of David, in the person of Solomon, was in fact placed upon the throne at that time under the condition of obedience and faithfulness to Jehovah. If himself or his posterity were to fail in faithfulness, God's judgment would be executed; a judgment which nevertheless would not prevent God's fulfilling that which His grace had assured to David.

Moreover God would subdue all his enemies, and would build him a house. It should no longer be saviours occasionally raised up to deliver a people from the miseries into which their unfaithfulness had plunged them; but the counsels of God on their behalf should be accomplished, and blessing established for evermore in the house and family of the king. The son of David should sit upon his throne; he should be a son unto Jehovah, and Jehovah should be his Father, and Jehovah's mercy should not be taken away from him. He should also be settled in the house, and in the kingdom of Jehovah for ever, and his throne should be established for evermore.

It will be remarked here, that all question of the responsibility of David's seed* is left out, and that the whole refers to the fulfilment of God's purposes in Christ, the true Son of David according to the promise. God takes the matter in hand. While His people are still deprived of rest, He is pleased to go with them from tent to tent, and desires not that they should build Him a house. At length He will Himself raise up the One who shall build up a house, and under whose reign the people, established in power for ever, shall enjoy the rest which God Himself shall have procured them. David, with overflowing heart, makes answer to Jehovah, who, for His servant's sake, and according to His own heart, had done all these great things, and had revealed them to make His servant know them. Whilst acknowledging Israel's glorious privilege, in being the people of such a God — the only true God, he prays that the God of Israel will in fact be a God to Israel, and that He will fulfil all that He had spoken to him concerning his posterity.