First Chronicles 17:8

Nathan the prophet continues to give the word of the Lord to King David, and the Bible says in First Chronicles 17:8-14, “And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.[9] Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,[10] And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.[11] And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.[12] He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.[13] I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:[14] But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.” In verse eight God reminded David that God had been with David wherever David went. That is one of the great benefits of being a Christian. Jesus said, “I am with you always even to the end of the world.” God also said in verse eight, “cut off all thine enemies.” God knows how to handle our enemies. He knows just what to do and when. Remember that God loves them too and wants to save them, but He also loves you and wants to protect you. Leave it in His hands. He said, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay.” God reminded David at the end of verse eight that God had made David’s name “like the name of the great men that are in the earth.” God has a plan for your life. Just follow His plan. He will make of you whatever He wants to make of you, whether great or small. Find God’s way and walk in it. David was the great king of Israel. God decides who the leaders are of nations. Do not ever forget that. God lifts up whom He will, and He casts down whom He will.

In verse nine God said, “Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel.” God decides the fate of nations also. God made promises about the nation of Israel to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and God always keeps His promises. The hand of God is involved in the affairs of all the nations. A wise nation will be friendly to Israel, and a foolish nation will be an enemy. If you are an enemy to Israel, you are an enemy to God.

At the end of verse ten Nathan the prophet said to David, “I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.” David wanted to build the temple, a house for God. But God said, “No.” Sometimes God tells us “No” as a response to our prayers and to our desires. Of course, we know that David’s son, Solomon, built the temple. But it wasn’t even Solomon who built the temple: it was the Lord. The Lord does His work on this earth, and people are simply His instruments. It says in Psalms 127:1, “…Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it…”

In verses twelve and thirteen the words “forever” and “forevermore” are used. These verses are Messianic verses and they tell us about the eternal kingdom that the Messiah will have. The Messiah would come in the lineage of David, and the Messiah will have a kingdom that lasts forever. Jesus is the Messiah. Notice also that the word “mercy” is used in verse thirteen. In order to have a Messiah, there had to be all the kings in between who were in the lineage of King David, starting with Solomon. How would God use them, and how would God keep that lineage going: mercy. God said, “I will not take my mercy away…” It takes a lot of mercy for God to work with human beings because we are exceedingly sinful. Thankfully, God has infinite mercy. We can always count on His mercy and we can always rely on His mercy. Without His mercy we would be nothing and we would all perish. The great and wonderful and eternal mercy is available because Jesus died for all sins: past, present, and future. When you fail, hopefully, this is what you will think: “I can always turn to the mercy of God that is in Christ Jesus, and he will make everything right.”

The Bible says in First Chronicles 17:15-27, “According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.[16] And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?[17] And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.[18] What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.[19] O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.[20] O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.[21] And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?[22] For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God.[23] Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.[24] Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.[25] For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee.[26] And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:[27] Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.” David is very humble and he recognizes deeply how much God has blessed him. That is rare especially after someone gets to a point of success in life. Most people think they did it by their own wisdom and their own abilities, and they are not thankful to the Lord. In these verses David is not only thankful for what the Lord has done for him, but also what the Lord has done for the nation of Israel. David mentions Egypt. Never forget what God did to deliver the people from Egypt. It symbolizes salvation. If you are saved, you were delivered by Jesus from the clutches of the world. How blessed you are. And how much you have to be thankful for: just like David.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 18:1-14, “Now after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines.[2] And he smote Moab; and the Moabites became David's servants, and brought gifts.[3] And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah unto Hamath, as he went to stablish his dominion by the river Euphrates.[4] And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: David also houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them an hundred chariots.[5] And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.[6] Then David put garrisons in Syria-damascus; and the Syrians became David's servants, and brought gifts. Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.[7] And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.[8] Likewise from Tibhath, and from Chun, cities of Hadarezer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brasen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.[9] Now when Tou king of Hamath heard how David had smitten all the host of Hadarezer king of Zobah;[10] He sent Hadoram his son to king David, to inquire of his welfare, and to congratulate him, because he had fought against Hadarezer, and smitten him; (for Hadarezer had war with Tou;) and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass.[11] Them also king David dedicated unto the LORD, with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek.[12] Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand.[13] And he put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.[14] So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.” Of course, these verses show how successful and victorious was King David. That is because God gave him that success. We need God to do the same for us in the spread of the Gospel of Christ. Notice that other countries gave gifts and money to Israel because Israel was the victor. Strange that the USA has conquered other countries, and then the USA gives the other countries our wealth. For example, in World War II, basically we conquered the whole world; and then we gave everyone their country back, and we rebuilt those countries, and we paid for it. And now we give them all millions of dollars every year. We have foolish leaders sometimes.

Notice at the end of verse thirteen that it says, “Thus the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.” Even though David was often at war, God still preserved him. God gives life, God preserves life, and God takes life when He chooses. One of the benefits of following the Lord Jesus is that you are going to live as long as God has use for you. Have no fear of death. Even when you do eventually die, you will go to be with the Lord; and so what is there to fear?

It says in verse fourteen about King David, “executed judgment and justice among all his people.” What a great leader he was. If only we had some leaders like that. If only we had judges who were like that, and congressmen and senators like that.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 18:15-17, “And Joab the son Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, recorder.[16] And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Abimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Shavsha was scribe;[17] And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and the sons of David were chief about the king.” The purpose of these verses is perhaps to show us that everything was going well for King David. He had the right people in the right place to do the jobs that needed to be done. That also was the blessing of God. That is the way the Christian church is supposed to work: each believer fulfilling the work for which Christ has gifted him or her. Each Christian has one or more spiritual gifts. We use those gifts for the benefit of each and so that the work of Christ can be done properly. No one can do it all. Each has his or her specific jobs from the Lord. That is one of the reasons that Christians gather in church meetings: so that each Christian is working with the others in the body of Christ. If any of the body is missing, then the body is weaker for it.

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