The Sure Mercies of David

Continuing Adventures of Jesus #21: Acts 13:14-43

Introduction
We commonly sing and repeat that glorious refrain from Psalm 136 (and others) that the mercies of the Lord endure forever, and this is certainly true in a general way. But as we see here in Paul’s first recorded sermon, there is a particular meaning of that phrase and application in the covenant that God made with King David that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ and all who believe in Him. In other words, there’s a specific reason why David sung about it so much. God made a particular promise to David for the blessing of the whole world. 

The Text: “But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. And after reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them…” (Acts 13:14-43).

Summary of the Text
Attending a sabbath service in Antioch of Pisidia (in the middle of modern day Turkey), Paul is invited to preach (Acts 13:14-16). Beginning with the Exodus, Paul narrates the conquest of Canaan through the beginning of the Kingdom under Saul up to the covenant with David (Acts 13:17-22). From that Davidic promise, Paul preached Christ, the seed of David, from John’s baptism to His false conviction and crucifixion under Pilate, His burial, and His resurrection (Acts 13:23-31). Paul declares this good news and says that the resurrection in particular fulfills what was foretold in Psalm 2, Isaiah 55:3, and Psalm 16 (Acts 13:32-37). Forgiveness of sins and justification by faith are preached, with a warning to the Jews not to despise the message, as the prophet Habakkuk warned (Acts 13:38-41, cf. Hab. 1:5). And the response was many Gentiles requesting that Paul and Barnabas come and teach again the next sabbath and many began following them (Acts 13:42-43).

Historical Faith
One of the striking elements of Christian Scripture and our faith is its essential historicity. The central tenants of the Christian faith are historical narrative: God created the world in six days, Adam sinned by eating fruit, Abraham built altars in Canaan, Israel was rescued from Egypt, judges delivered, kings ruled, prophets proclaimed, Christ was born, lived, crucified, buried, raised, and ascended. As we see here (Acts 13:17-31), the Christian faith is grounded in historical facts, events that you could have photographed, and there is no way to strip away the history and retain the faith. 

But many have attempted (and continue to attempt) to claim that Christianity is primarily a spiritual relationship or experience, and that the history is merely the “shell” that holds the essential kernel of “religious” feelings and experience. The claim is that so long as you have that experience or feelings, the historical details and doctrines don’t matter very much. But this is patently false: “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain, and your faith is also vain…  and ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:14, 17). Why does it matter that we believe that God created the Heavens and the Earth in six twenty-four days? Because that is what Genesis 1 clearly teaches, but the vaguer our certainty of this history, the vaguer our certainty of salvation. If Genesis 1 doesn’t mean what it says, why not the Exodus? Why not the Resurrection?

The Sure Mercies of David
The center of Paul’s message is an historic promise of “sure mercies to David” (Acts 13:34). This “sure mercy” encompasses the selection of young David as king after Saul, a man after God’s own heart who would fulfill all of God’s will (Acts 13:22) as well as the covenant that God swore to David concerning his seed: “Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior Jesus” (Acts 13:23). This is referring to when God said to David, “I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever… but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul… thy throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:12-16 cf. 1 Chron. 17:11-14). This promise became a theme: “He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed forevermore” (2 Sam. 22:51). It’s striking that Solomon is a son born to David by Bathsheba, and Solomon appealed to God on the basis of the “mercies of David” (2 Chron. 1:8). This theme filled the praises of Israel – His mercies endure forever (1 Chron. 16:34, 41, 2 Chron. 7:6, cf. Ps. 18:50, 89:1, 106:1, 107:1, 117:2, 118:1-4, 29, and Ps. 136). God’s mercy is sure. God’s mercy is steadfast. God’s mercy is solid, and the particular promise to David is a King forever, which means blessing for all the nations, for all who love Him. 

And thus the prophets foretold the fulfillment of that promise in the face of Israelite decline: “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Is. 55:3). If the exiles were invited to draw near to God and be received into that everlasting covenant under David, then all are invited (Ez. 37:24-26). And so it becomes the believing prayer of many in Israel that Jesus, the “Son of David” would have mercy upon them (e.g. Mt. 9:27, 15:22, 20:30-31).

Applications
It is on the basis of the sure mercies of David, that God sent His only Son, the seed of David, into the world, to accomplish the forgiveness of sins and justification by faith for all His people. David was himself the great example these things: colossal sins and failures forgiven and justified by faith – a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). And Jesus is the fulfillment: the One who fulfilled all of God’s will and who therefore cannot see corruption, who sits on David’s throne forever. 

Specifically, it says, “justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:39). The law is good, but it cannot justify. And to the extent that people try to get it to justify them, it only exacerbates our sin. And this really is the temptation of religious people: “I thank thee Lord that I am not like other men: democrats, drug-dealers, BLM activists; I homeschool, go to church every Sunday, and sing in the choir.” And the liberal, LGBT activist sitting in the very back of church, beating her chest, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. And Jesus says that she went away justified (Lk. 18:14). God does not accept us because we are good. He accepts us because we are not good in order to make us good. And this is true throughout the entire Christian life, even as He works His goodness into us. We are like little kids slowly growing up, truly growing in grace, but it is always all about His grace, His sure mercies forever. 

God freely justifies sinful people in order that they may keep the law by the power of the Spirit (Rom. 8:1-5) – in order that all the glory may go to God. And this is only possible by evangelical faith. We look to Him, and what we see is sure mercy forever. And this is how we work, how we live in our families, how we teach and discipline our children. Nothing we do adds up to God’s blessing. We work because of God’s mercy and blessing. This is the difference between “get to” and “got to.” One is full of relief; the other is full of fear. But we have the sure mercies of David.