House has three meanings in Sunday’s first reading — palace, temple, royal family. When David becomes king, he captures Jerusalem, makes it his capital, and builds a palace for himself. Then David thinks he should also build a house for the Ark of God — a temple.
In this passage God’s interest is not in either the palace or temple but in the third kind of house — a royal dynasty to rule Israel. Through the prophet Nathan, God promises David that his throne and kingdom will stand forever. The story makes clear that David is great for the same reason as Mary. God was with him.
God’s promise to David
When King David was settled in his house, and God had given him rest from his enemies on every side, the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God dwells in a tent!” Nathan answered the king, “Go, do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.” But that night God spoke to Nathan and said: “Go, tell my servant David, Thus says the Holy One: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?
“I took you from the pasture, from caring for sheep, to be commander of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. And I will make you a great name like the great ones of the earth. I will fix a place for my people Israel and plant them so that they may dwell in their place and be disturbed no more. Neither shall the wicked continue to afflict them as they did of old, since the time I first appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also reveals to you that the Lord will establish a house for you.
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.
“Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before me; your throne shall stand firm forever.”
2 Samuel 7.1-5, 8-12, 14-16
David’s house is Israel’s royal line that rules the southern kingdom of Judah for nearly 500 years, beginning about 1,000 B.C. Most kings from this line failed to trust God to be with them, leading God’s prophets to envision a greater king who would be Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.
Isaiah imagines the royal family tree of David’s descendants as a dead stump and the king who would fulfill God’s promise to David as a new shoot or root. The prophets trust God’s faithfulness. Jesus fulfills God’s promise to establish a lasting reign in those the Spirit animates and unites in faith.
- What promise do you see in those who share the limb of your family tree?
- What Christian practices do you inherit from the way your ancestors lived?