Psalm 89: 19-37
Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said:
“I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people.
I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.
My hand will sustain him; surely my arm will strengthen him.
The enemy will not get the better of him; the wicked will not oppress him.
I will crush his foes before him and strike down his adversaries.
My faithful love will be with him, and through my name his horn will be exalted.
I will set his hand over the sea, his right hand over the rivers.
He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Saviour.’
And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.
I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.
“If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,
if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,
I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;
but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to David—
that his line will continue forever, and his throne endure before me like the sun;
it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.”
Luke 2: 1-13
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God.
“Once upon a time there were three little pigs and one day they each decided to build a house. The first little pig built a house of straw, the second little pig built a house of sticks, and the third little pig built a house of …what?”
Now do you know this Bible story about the three houses?
Hint- it’s in the Old Testament.
Hint – it involves a king, a prophet and a dream.
Hint – it’s a very important key to understanding the New Testament.
“Once upon a time there was a shepherd boy who loved God and God made him the king of Israel. After years of struggle, he had time build for himself a magnificent house in Jerusalem. But he felt ashamed that the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s marriage to his people, was still housed in a tent. So, he decided to build a house for it. That night a prophet had a dream and next day he told the king, ‘O king, God doesn’t want you to build him a house, but your son will. But also, God promises to build you a house, a line of kings descended from you who will rule over Israel forever.
Of course, we’re talking about David and the prophet Nathan. The three houses are
- first the palace he built himself
- second the temple he wanted to build for God
- third the dynasty, the House of David, which would last forever.
There was never a king as great as David. He took Israel from being the weakest nation in the Middle East to being an Empire encompassing modern day Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. There was never a king as great as David and the Golden Age of Israel he ushered in ended abruptly on the death of his son and heir Solomon.
In today’s reading from Psalm 89, God says of the kings of David’s line “He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Saviour.’ And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth”. So, a thousand years before Jesus God accorded the title “Son of God” on David and his successors to emphasise their authority and, also their role in upholding and administering the Law God had given to Moses.
BUT sonship also meant responsibilities as well as privileges. And responsibilities mean consequences. Psalm 89 continues with God saying if they “forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.”
And so it came to pass, beginning with David who killed Uriah to cover up his adultery with Bathsheba, that God punished his kings to teach them to be good kings and role models for their subjects. The rest of the Old Testament is about the many bad kings and even the few relatively good kings being disciplined by God for failing their responsibilities.
Meanwhile, God’s people kept hoping and praying for a king who like David would usher in a Golden Age by defeating their enemies, upholding God’s laws, reigning with justice and mercy. This longed-for king was called the Anointed One (Hebrew Messiah, Greek Christ).
A thousand years later the prophecies of the Messiah were fulfilled. In todays’ reading from Luke’s Gospel a descendant of David was born in David’s birthplace, Bethlehem, and angels announced to shepherds, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
SUMMING UP:
So, what happened to the three houses? (Not the little pigs houses of straw, sticks and bricks, but the houses in the David story: the palace, the temple and the dynasty.) Where are they now?
- The house David built, his palace, is now buried under three thousand years’ worth of rubble for archaeologists to search for.
- The house of God David’s son Solomon built was the first of three Temples and now it is the site of the Al Aqsa Mosque. This is ok because there is no need for a temple because since Jesus died on the cross the priesthood and sacrifices have become redundant, and since he sent his Spirit Christians are now God’s earthly dwelling place, his spiritual temple.
- The House of David, the promised eternal dynasty has culminated in Jesus the Messiah, the forever Shepherd king of God’s people, who is the Son of God not just as a title but in his very character.
TAKEAWAY:
As in the last two weeks and next week today we see how God made promises to his people in the Old Testament that he fulfilled in Jesus in ways to wonderful to imagine.
Through Jesus, we have become sons and daughters of God. He will never abandon us. We will experience pain and suffering, but we know he will teach us through the ups and downs of life. Sometimes we will ask “Why? What’s gong on? How long do I have to put with this?”. But be reassured of his promises we heard in Psalm 89 today, “I will never take my love from you…I will never betray my faithfulness.”