It has been years since God made the original promise to David to give him a house and a kingdom (2 Sam. 7:12-13). Kings have come and gone, and Israel today is in rebellion against God. Many Davidic kings became apostate. Rehoboam, son of Solomon and king of Judah left the faith and became a vassal of a foreign king. The question rings in our ears. What about the great Davidic promise? Is it still in play? Has God forgotten? Will He go back on His word because of the unfaithfulness of Israel?

Ethan, the Ezrahite, testified to the faithfulness of God in Psalm 89. Ethan began by singing of the mercies (chesed), the loyal love, of God. The very next thought that hit his mind was God’s faithfulness (emunah) to all generations (Psa. 89:1). The Hebrew word chesed means “loyal love,” or the loyal love of God that never changes. The other word, emunah, means “faithful.” To say the word faithful about a fallen human being is one thing, but to use this word for the living God is much more meaningful.

Ethan recalled God’s covenant promises to David of the continuation of his seed and of the perpetuation of his throne. God is faithful to all of those who have been set apart to know Him. Ethan’s thoughts turned to the fact that God’s righteousness and His justice form the foundation of His throne. He will never go back on His promises. Not one will fail.

God’s loyal love constantly goes before His face. He is reminded of it forever. No matter what happened in the life of David, God’s promise to him would remain (Psa. 89:2-4). If David’s sons were not faithful, they would be disciplined, but that could never negate God’s promises to David. God would not break His covenant with David, no matter what happened (Psa. 89:30-33). God says that He has sworn by His holiness that He will not lie to David. Like the sun and the moon, David’s seed and his throne will endure forever (Psalm 89:36–37). God is faithful and true to His Word (2 Sam. 7, 1 Chron. 17, and Psa. 89).

S. Lewis Johnson shared a testimony by Harold Singen of his days in the old city of New Orleans. Singen chatted one night with a resident whose family had been in New Orleans for generations. In the old days, there were outbreaks of a virulent kind of fever that took many lives – similar to Covid 19. The man’s father was walking outside the city when he chanced upon a little boy of seven years of age, lying on the grass with a raging fever. He asked the little boy what he was doing there. The child said, “I’m waiting for God.”

“Waiting for God!” the man said. “What do you mean?” The little boy answered that his father had died on Monday, his brother had died on Tuesday, and his mother had died last night. He was the only one left. His mother told him before she died that he must wait for God and that God would come and care for him.

“Oh,” said the man, “your mother said that!”

“Yes!” said the child. “And mother never told a lie.” The little boy’s trust was in his mother’s character and in her word.

Likewise, the only real basis for our faith and our future is the credibility of God’s character and the truth of His Word. King after king had been unfaithful to God. Surely God’s promise concerning David’s kingdom would be abolished. God said that in the latter days one called “the Assyrian” (a.k.a. the Antichrist, the Beast, the Man of Sin) would come against Israel, but victory would lie in the hands of a young child who was yet to be born. Isaiah said that unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall rest on His shoulders (Isa. 9:6–7). Now we understand the proper context of this passage. John described that battle and victory saying, “Out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron” (Rev. 19:15).

Jeremiah also said it: “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’ but, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land” (Jer. 23:5–8). Stay safe and stay tuned.