“Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel … Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” ‘ “ (II Samuel 7:8,16).
“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).
In II Samuel chapter 7, King David makes plans to build a permanent temple to replace the tabernacle as a dwelling place for God. For His part, God makes a promise to David that his house and kingdom will be established forever. We know the rest of the immediate story. King David’s kingdom did not last. Soon after his son Solomon’s reign, it fell apart. So what does this promise mean that David’s kingdom will be established forever?
We see the first hint to the answer in Isaiah chapter 9. In this prophecy of the coming Messiah, the child born to us will sit on the throne of David. His kingdom will be re-established; this time with Christ Himself on the throne. Jesus is the promise of II Samuel 7. Jesus is the promise of a kingdom that lasts forever.
Jesus is not only the spiritual fulfillment of the promise to King David, He is also the physical fulfillment. Jesus was born in the line of David. “And when He had removed King Saul, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus” (Acts 13:22-23).
Our savior king, our shepherd king is Jesus!
Jesus sits on the throne of David, because Jesus was there from the beginning!