TRUTH LESSONS—LEVEL TWO

LESSON SEVEN

THE COVENANT WHICH GOD MADE
WITH ONE
AFTER HIS OWN HEART

OUTLINE

1. The One who made the covenant—Jehovah of hosts:
   1. The Commander of all the host.
   2. This divine title used beginning with the fall of the priesthood.
2. The one with whom the covenant was made—David:
   1. A man after God’s own heart.
   2. The one who prevailed against the enemies to become the king.
3. The contents of the covenant:
   1. God would be with him, would cut off all his enemies from before him, and would make him a great name.
   2. God would cause his territory to rest from all his enemies.
   3. God would make him a house.
   4. God would set up his seed after him and would establish the kingdom and throne of his seed.
   5. His seed would build a house for God’s name.
   6. God would be a Father to his seed, and his seed would be a son to God.
   7. If his seed would commit iniquity, God would chasten his seed, but His lovingkindness would not depart from his seed.
   8. His house and his kingdom would be made sure before God, and his throne would be established forever.
4. The result:
   1. Solomon his son succeeding him to the throne and building the holy temple for God.
   2. Solomon lusting after foreign wives and following them to worship idols.
   3. The kingdom of David becoming the tabernacle that has fallen and his throne thus being suspended.
   4. In His coming back, Christ, the seed of David, to rebuild the tabernacle of David that has fallen and to succeed to the throne of David to reign forever.

TEXT

After the children of Israel entered into the good land of Canaan, and from the time that David became king and there was peace in the entire nation, David desired to build a holy temple for God. At that time God made a covenant with him through Nathan the prophet, the seventh covenant that God made with man (2 Sam. 7:8-16).

I. THE ONE WHO MADE THE COVENANT—
JEHOVAH OF HOSTS

A. The Commander of All the Host

The One who made this covenant is Jehovah of hosts (2 Sam. 7:8). This title indicates that Jehovah God is the mighty One, the Lord of all the heavenly host, the Commander of all the host (1 Kings 22:19; Job 1:6). He is the King of glory (Psa. 24:10), the One who is strong and mighty in battle (Psa. 24:8). He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two, and He makes wars to cease to the end of the earth (Psa. 46:9); He will be exalted among the nations, and He will be exalted in the earth (Psa. 46:10). He has the authority to rule over all nations, and His hand holds the authority to remove kings and to set up kings (Dan. 2:21). It is such a Jehovah God, the Commander of all the host, who made this covenant with David.

B. The Divine Title Used
Beginning with the Fall of the Priesthood

The Bible first uses the title “Jehovah of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. At that time the two sons of Eli were priests of Jehovah. But they did not know Jehovah, and they despised His offering. Eli knew the iniquity of his sons, who brought a curse upon themselves, yet he did not restrain them (1 Sam. 3:13), for he honored them above God (1 Sam. 2:29). Hence, in Eli the priesthood fell to the uttermost. At this time God revealed His name as Jehovah of hosts, indicating that when His administration was in such a destitute state, He would come out to rule over the entire situation to usher in the reign of His kingdom.

II. THE ONE WITH WHOM THE COVENANT
WAS MADE—DAVID

A. A Man after God’s Own Heart

David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22), who served his own generation by the counsel of God (Acts 13:36). He did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of his life, except in the case in which he fell and sinned because of the wife of Uriah the Hittite (1 Kings 15:5). He submitted himself to the God-ordained authority (1 Sam. 24; 26:6-25), fought for the interest of God, and established the kingdom of God. In the days of his life he did his best in his affliction to prepare the materials for the holy temple of Jehovah (1 Chron. 22:14-16; 29:1-5), even to the extent of neglecting his sleep and meals (2 Sam. 7:1-2; Psa. 132:1-5). Therefore, God testified that he was a man after His own heart.

B. The One Who Prevailed against the Enemies
to Become the King

David was a man of war (1 Chron. 28:3) and a victorious king. He prevailed against Goliath (1 Sam. 17:48-51) and the enemies round about (2 Sam. 8:1-14; ch. 10). Jehovah gave him victory wherever he went and delivered the enemies into his hand to be subdued by him (2 Sam. 8:14; 1 Chron. 22:18). Therefore, David, the one with whom this covenant was made, was not only a man after God’s own heart but also one who prevailed against the enemies to become the king.