Pastoral Letter 74

Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,

Grace and peace to you all.

Unfortunately, the lockdown has been extended to the end of the month, so all our weekly activities will remain suspended until further notice. Sadly, the Market Morning scheduled for Saturday 7 August is certainly in doubt and it seems that we will again miss this much anticipated activity. We will let you know soon what we have decided on setting an alternate date.

The Lower North Shore Uniting Churches Study Series on Zoom, based on Dr. Kenneth Bailey’s book “The Good Shepherd – A Thousand Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament”, was cancelled for last Wednesday for technical reasons, but will commence next Wednesday 21 July at 7:30 pm with Session 1 and go over following four Wednesdays: 28 July, 4, 11 and 25 August. We have to skip the 18 August, due to the Sydney Central Coast Presbytery meeting. The short one-hour sessions will include a 30-minute video followed by a 30-minute discussion.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://uca-nswact.zoom.us/j/94813548762

Meeting ID: 948 1354 8762

As the restrictions go on, please pray and join the rest of the members Sunday morning for worship from home following the Order of Service, sing along to the hymns chosen and read the Message. Thanks to Mark for suggesting hymns every Sunday. This Sunday the majority are from Mark’s suggestions.

Continue to pray, remembering those who need our care, support and love.

Here are some prayer points for this week:

1. Pray for our Service tomorrow and hope soon to return to our face-to-face services and weekly activities.

2. Pray for the local and federal governments, as they struggle with the vaccination rollout and controlling the spread of the virus.

3. Pray for those who need care and support, especially at these difficult times.

4. Pray for Ivy, as she undergoes knee surgery on the 22^nd of July, asking the Almighty’s care during that difficult time and wishing her a quick recovery.

5. Continue to pray for Margaret Murden, as she is having rehab 3 times a week, with slow improvement.

Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.

Remember, whatever challenge we face, God is with us to keep us safe. Thanks be to God.

Krikor

MESSAGE

God’s Promise Beyond Words

2 Samuel 7:1-14

Promise is a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something. The promise and the words uttered or written by someone, means the person vows to fulfill his or her pledge when the time comes. We, as people, hope and expect that promises made to us will be implemented according to the word of honour of the person who made the promise. It is a set of words, which states what is expected.

In our passage today we see a promise that God makes to his loving servant and the king of Jews, David, who came to God with a request to get His blessing to build a temple to the Lord Almighty. It was a genuine request, but God had different plans for David and the people of Israel. And to implement His plans, He makes a promise which goes far beyond words. A promise of hope and a promise for something which is not bound to the limits of this world and time. It was a promise for a greater plan of salvation and an eternal kingdom.

When King David had secured peace within his kingdom and with the surrounding nations, he desired to honour God by building a “house” for Him in Jerusalem. In the ancient world a god was truly established when he had a fitting home. The temple that David decided to build for the Lord was to replace the tent that had sheltered the Ark of the Covenant since the days at Sinai; he also intended it to be a place of worship, where praise and sacrifices would be offered to God.

Instead of affirming David’s plan, God surprised him by revealing a much greater plan. Through the prophet Nathan, God told King David that he was not to construct a dwelling place for Him. Rather, God intended to build a “house” for David, that is, a dynasty that would rule over His people. The Lord declared to David that one of his descendants would always sit on the throne, thus promising to establish David’s house for all time: “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever” (2 Samuel 7:16). Notice the word play and variety of meanings for the word “house” as God spoke to David through Nathan: palace, (7:1), dwelling (7: 2, 5, 6, 7), temple (7:13), and royal dynasty (7:11, 16).

This promise to David amplified the covenants with Abraham and with Israel at Sinai. God did not expect or require anything of David in return for the promise; it was a grant made freely to King David and his descendants, not a treaty that stipulated obligations.

Solomon succeeded to his father David’s throne, but soon after his death, Israel and Judah, which had been united as one kingdom under David, broke apart. The monarchy was plagued with strife and began to decline under Solomon’s son, King Rehoboam, and his heirs. Two centuries later around 722 B.C. Israel was overcome by Assyria. In 587 the Babylonians wiped out Judah, destroying the temple, burning Jerusalem, and sending many of the city’s inhabitants into exile. Yet, memories of the brilliant days of David’s reign lived on in God’s chosen people.

Despite the failings of the kings of Israel, Judah, and His chosen people, God did not retract His promises to them. Instead, He continued to love them steadfastly and unfold His plan for salvation through the prophets that He sent to them.

The Jewish people recalled the promises God had made to King David, promises of an eternal dynasty and of a kingdom that would last forever. Faced with the disasters and sins of the monarchy that unfolded after the reign of David, they came to hope that these promises would be fulfilled by a future “king” or “Messiah” who would be descended from David, a conqueror who would throw off the oppressor’s yoke, restore the kingdom, and establish perfect justice. Jewish expectations were focused on the “David” of the future—a figure who would revive and carry on the glorious reign of David forever.

Many of the Old Testament psalms have royal and messianic effects. Several are quoted in the New Testament as prophecies about Jesus, who fulfilled Israel’s hopes and yearnings for the rule of one who would truly be God’s anointed king and Messiah. Psalm 89 in particular recounts God’s dealings with Israel and joyously celebrates the absolute and unconditional promise that God made to establish David’s dynasty. Although David and his descendants failed to keep God’s commands and were to be justly punished as a consequence (Psalm 89:31-33), God nevertheless declared:

I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His line shall endure for ever. (89:34-36)

However, in events that seemed to contradict God’s word, Israel fell into disgrace at the hands of a foreign nation; her king was brought down, and it appeared that David’s line had been cut off (Psalm 89:38-45).

How could Israel reconcile this destruction with God’s promises?

The situation required that God’s promise to David be understood in a new sense—as a description of an ideal king who would one day inherit David’s throne.

Psalm 89 ends with a great cry twisted from the heart of a disappointed yet hopeful people (89:46-52). In anguish, the psalmist implores God to remember His promise and restore His people by sending a righteous king to reign over them again:

Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you did swear to David? (89:49)

The people of Israel were mistaken in their understanding and expectation of a political ruler, yet their faith would finally be vindicated: God would answer their pleas not by restoring the ancient monarchy but by raising up, “great David’s greater son.” A descendant of David would in the end rule as king over all.

God’s promise is summarised in the following four points:

1. I will make your name great

2. I will provide a place for my people

3. I will plant the house/home/dynasty

4. I will give them rest

Following his account of Jesus’ baptism, John records the first proclamation of Jesus’ messianic identity: “Andrew first found his brother Simon, and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah Christ” (John 1:41).

Ultimately, God’s promise to David and Israel’s hopes would be fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.

Though Solomon, David’s son built the desired temple by David, yet God was giving the real promise of building the house of the Lord through His son, our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

That’s God’s promise which initiated its fulfilment by the coming of Jesus as the son of David. Hence His promise is beyond words. It is a solemn promise, not only of erecting a temple or a house of worship, which was and is still essential, but rather it was a promise of a Messiah, a king whose kingdom will be established for eternity and all who become part of that kingdom, will inherit eternal life and have salvation through the promised eternal King of kings and Lord of Lords, our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. To whom be the glory and honour for all ages.

Amen!