A Word From Joel - July 24, 2024

“When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your
offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his
kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.”
2 Samuel 7:12-14

Here God makes a promise to David unlike any other. This is the Davidic covenant, and
it’s completely unconditional. There’s no quid-pro-quo here, where God promises to
raise up a descendant of David if he obeys. No, God says, I’m doing this, and that’s the
way it’s going to be. It’s such an extraordinary promise that many scholars see this as
the most important chapter in all the Old Testament, because it establishes messianic
hope for Jews, a hope that Christians believe is realized in Jesus.

God promises to be a father to David and his descendants. Unconditional love, though,
does not mean a life without consequences. God also says of David’s descendant,
“When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows
inflicted by human beings. But I will not take my steadfast love [hesed] from him, as I
took it from Saul. If David or his children make a mess of things, they will have to deal
with the consequences and they may well hurt, but God’s steadfast love would remain
on them no matter what. The word for steadfast love in Hebrew is hesed, and it’s one of
the most important words in the Bible. It’s impossible to translate but speaks to God’s
resolute commitment to keep God’s promises, to keep the covenant, no matter what.
Though we may falter and fail, God’s hesed endures forever. Though we may be
unfaithful to God and to one another, God’s remains faithful still. God’s hesed is more
certain than the rising sun. Civilizations rise and fall, but God’s steadfast love will not let
us go.

Of course, David and his descendants fail miserably, and it appeared the covenant
failed. Nevertheless, God’s hesed endured and centuries later found its way to an
obscure Jew living in Palestine, who when he emerged freshly baptized from the Jordan
River heard these words, “And a voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:11). Jesus inherits the promises of the
Davidic covenant. Where his forebearers failed, he will not. Where they abused their
power, Jesus’ power is in his compassion. He receives this word of grace before he’s
healed or taught anyone. It is the pre-existing condition of Jesus’ life. Grace is not
Jesus’ reward for a job well done but is the foundation upon which Jesus will do all
things well. In fulfilling his calling as God’s son, Jesus shares those benefits with us all,
which means we now inherit that same grace given to him. It’s ours now—yours, mine,
all of ours. We now live over lives under the assurance of God’s hesed that never fails
even when we do. In a world of uncertainty, this is our blessed assurance.