2 Samuel 7:26-29 – True Prayer Loves What God Loves
The focus on a king of Israel who is also described as the Son of God is preparing the ground for the coming of Jesus Christ, the true seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Just in case we still think this covenant with David is irrelevant to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul quotes it in 2nd Corinthians 6, but very significantly he changes it slightly, and he quotes it not as ‘I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son’ as it is back up in v14. But ‘I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me’. So the promise becomes plural, and daughters are added as well as sons. The promise to the king becomes a promise to all God’s children. In fact, the only reason we can be called God’s children is because of God’s covenant with David, which was ultimately fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ.
God focuses in on Israel here for the sake of the world. The application for us is that if you want to see God’s glory recognised in this community and around the world, then your prayers too need to have a specific focus. And for us that’s not Israel, but the church, of which the true Israelites of old were members.
We can say of the church today, just as David does of Israel in v23, that it’s ‘the one people on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people’. The church is God’s priority. Not because he doesn’t care about the rest of the world, but because he plans to bless them through his church. So the mission of the church must be a central theme of our prayers. True prayer loves what God loves. If the church is right at the centre of God’s plans and purposes for history – it should be right at the centre of our prayers. By God’s grace, and with the Spirit’s help, may David’s prayer refocus and reinvigorate our own prayer lives in the week ahead.
Questions
- How does the promise of David become a promise to you?
- What should be a focus of our prayers?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.