God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 17:7-10a My people Israel
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Friday, January 26, 2024
God’s message to David through Nathan the prophet continues:
7 Now, say to my servant David: ‘This is what the LORD of Armies says. I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, so that you would be prince over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you went. I have cut off all your enemies before you, and I will make a name for you like the name of the great ones of the earth. 9 I will establish a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them so that they will live in their own place, and not be moved again. And wicked men will not devastate them again as they did at first, 10 when I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies.
God is reminding David that he, the Lord, does not need looking after. He does this by replaying David’s life over the backdrop of Israel’s long history. First, God is the one who brought David out of the fields when he was watching sheep. The word-choices of the Lord, common to every language, are well worth paying close attention to. David used to follow the sheep, but now he is prince over Israel, the flock of the Lord.
God uses the word nagid, “prince, ruler,” which is not the same as “king.” David was king, but he was a ruler with another authority over him, just as a prince is a ruler with duties and authority but with another ruler over him. God is reminding David that he, the Lord, is the true Sovereign of Israel.
It was God who defeated David’s enemies, just as it was God who gave David his name, his reputation, both inside and outside of Israel. “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). It would be God who protected his people from their enemies—until Israel rejected God. This is the sad point we must remember today, when the nation or state of Israel is at war within its own borders. Modern Israel is no longer under the protection of God because they have rejected the Messiah. He will continue to allow them to be chastised, punished, until they either return to him in repentance and worship Christ as the Son of God and Savior of mankind, or until the end of the world brings eternal judgment on all who did not put their faith in Christ. Until that time we pray for God to bring the gospel to his ancient people, to turn their hearts once again to the faith of Abraham and the fear of Isaac.
God raised up judges once to lead his people; this was also a reminder to David that Israel does not require either a king or a prince to lead them. David was only king because the people asked for a king, and Saul was wicked. But Israel’s true king was God himself, and God was going to use this same oracle as an opportunity to renew his promise about the coming Savior, Christ, directly to David. For Christ would come from David’s own family line.
David’s response shows in his many responses to the Lord, his Psalms. The promise about God’s help in battle? “The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies” (Psalm 110:2). The Lord raising up judges? “He will judge the nations, crushing the rulers of the earth” (Psalm 110:6). The Lord not minding that he did not have a permanent temple for himself, as if he had to dwell on the earth in a house? “He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head” (Psalm 110:7). And as for David understanding who was truly the King of Israel, lord over himself: “The LORD says to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’” (Psalm 110:1). David called his descendant Jesus Christ, his Lord. David understood what Israel sadly does not comprehend now. May they “come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved,” as Paul prays (1 Timothy 2:4). And Peter also reminds us that “our Lord’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:15), even patience with Israel. And again, Peter says: “God exalted Christ to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel” (Acts 5:31). That they would live here on earth in peace would be a blessing; that they would live in heaven forever with all who trust in Jesus would be the greatest blessing. We pray for everyone who does not know Christ, or who has forgotten him, that they might once again turn to Jesus and be saved.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.