The Covenant with David the King

The covenant as recorded in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 gives the following promises to David: (1) God will make David’s name great (v. 9), (2) The nation of Israel will have peace with and security from their neighbors (vv. 10, 11), (3) David’s descendants will rule after him forever (vv. 12, 13), (4) David’s son will build a house for the Lord (the temple), (5) The Lord will have an intimate relationship with David’s son, and will not depart from him (vv. 14, 15), and (6) David’s house, kingdom, and throne will be established forever (v. 16).  The promises of the covenant as given in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles can be divided into two main areas, “the promises concerning the establishment of David’s house and the promises concerning the intimate relationship between God and David’s descendant.”⁴ 

David’s house, his line of descendants, would continue to rule over Israel forever (2 Sam. 12, 13, 16; ).  Three times in each passage the house, throne, and kingdom are said to be “forever.”  The “house” refers to David’s physical descendants, beginning with Solomon and continuing forever.  The “throne” refers to David and his descendant’s right to rule, their authority given to them by God.  Thirdly, “kingdom” refers to those whom David and his descendants would rule over, the nation of Israel.⁵  Psalm 132:11 repeats this aspect of the covenant, “The LORD has sworn to David a truth from which He will not turn back: ‘Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.’”  Finally, 1 Chronicles 17:14 emphasizes that this Davidic kingship will be established beneath God’s position as Israel’s ultimate king⁶, “But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”

In addition to the eternal position promised David’s descendants, the Davidic Covenant revealed the relationship between God and David’s descendent as intimate; God would be like a Father to him (2 Sam. 7:14, 15; 1 Chron 17: 13; Ps. 89:26-27).  The king can rest in the security that God promises him, “My lovingkindness shall not depart from him.”  When Saul was disobedient, the Lord took the kingship away from his line, and took the Holy Spirit from him (1 Sam. 16:14).  However, at the end of Solomon’s life, when his heart had been turned to idols by his many wives, the Lord remains faithful to the promise made to David (1 Kings 11:11-13).  Although God would bring discipline on unfaithful kings, one from the house of David would always be the chosen person to reign on the throne.

The Davidic son’s response to God his Father is to build the temple of God (2 Sam. 7:13).  Not only would God have an intimate relationship with the king, the king’s response was essential for the spiritual vitality of his subjects.  “The promise to David was that his son would establish the mode by which God would be present among his people, and by which the people in turn would worship God.”⁷  David’s son Solomon was chosen to build the temple (1 Chronicles 28:3-6), the completion of which involved the arrival of the glory of God (1 Kings 6:12, 13; ).  The temple provided the center for worship and sacrifice, a place where the priests fulfilled their duties.  The king must then be seen as serving some priestly role for the nation, for both David and Solomon exercised authority over the priesthood.  When David ordered the ark of the covenant to be brought into the city, he “was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod” (2 Sam. 6:14).  David had led the other priests into the city, and had even worn an ephod, a priestly garment.  David further exercised authority over the priests by reorganizing them in anticipation of the building of the temple (2 Chronicles 23:18; 29:25-30; 35:2-6; Ezra 3:10; Neh. 12:24).⁸ Solomon also performed priestly acts, offering sacrifices (1 Kings 3:1-9), and presiding over the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8:5). 

The descendants of Levi were to be the priests serving the nation, yet David was of the tribe of Judah, so the king’s authority for priestly service must come from somewhere other than the Levitical priesthood.  Psalm 110:4 discloses the justification for this priestly role, “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.’”  David, by virtue of the conquest of the ancient city of Salem (now Jerusalem), had assumed the role of priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18).  Melchizedek, the king-priest of God Most High, received a tithe from Abraham to validate his greatness (Gen. 14:20; Heb. 7:4).  David, as the new Melchizedek, “restored worship of the one true God”⁹ to the city of Jerusalem.