2 Samuel 7:1-29


The blessings of God are always so far and above what any of us could deserve.  Our relationship with God is often difficult because we desire to give back to Him at least a portion of what He has given to us; but we always feel like we come so far short.  The truth is that God does not need anything from us.  He is complete in Himself and has no needs.  Any service we might render to Him is a far greater blessing to us than it is to Him.  Of course that does not mean that we should stop serving Him or giving to Him; it simply means that we should stop imagining that by doing these things we are doing Him a favor.  We must recognize that we serve, honor and worship Him because it is our joy and pleasure to do so.  We were created for this purpose and will never find fulfillment in life apart from doing that for which we were created to do.

DAVID DESIRES TO BUILD A TEMPLE FOR THE LORD: David feels guilty about the fact that he is living in a big beautiful house made of cedar while the Ark of God is being housed in a tent.  He shares his concern with Nathan, the prophet who encourages David to go forward with his plan to build a temple for the Lord.  The plan seemed like a logical one that would be pleasing to the Lord, but it was not what God desired for David to do.  However, David’s desire was pleasing to the Lord.  The desire of His heart was a good one and revealed His passion for the Lord and the longing of His heart to please and serve the Lord.  David felt like he was indebted to God for the amazing blessing he had received from Him.  David was right.  We are all indebted to God for He has blessed us beyond anything that we deserve.  The longing to serve and please God is a good thing to be in all of our hearts.  However, we must be very careful to recognize that that we can never repay the Lord.  We are eternal debtors to His amazing grace.  We don’t like the feeling of being in debt, but when it comes to the Lord, we simply must get used to it.

GOD DECIDES TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF DAVID: God sends Nathan back to David letting him know that He does not want David to build Him a house.  He makes it clear that He does not need a house and that since David had shed so much blood; he would not be permitted to build the temple.  Then God proceeds to bless David even further by establishing his house, kingdom and throne forever.  God promises that a descendant of David will always have the right to rule over Israel and that this right to rule would one day be established forever.  Christ is the obvious fulfillment of this promise as He was the physical descendant of David.  David was not the descendant of Saul and so David could have been imagining that his kingdom would be given to another, but God makes it clear to David that this is not his plan.  It is so much “like God” to take David who desperately wants to be a blessing to God and give a blessing to David instead.  God’s love is truly overwhelming and His goodness is beyond our comprehension.

DAVID DEVOTES HIMSELF TO PRAISING THE GOODNESS OF GOD: David does the only thing that He can do in this situation; he praises the Lord.  He thanks God for His goodness and He prays to the Lord that His blessings really will come true.  David is truly please with God and delights in the promises that God has made to him.  God is most honored by us when we are the most pleased with His promises.  God has promised us an eternity with Him in heaven.  Besides that, He has promised us eternal rewards for our service to Him while on the Earth.  These promises should fill our hearts with joy, gratitude and a longing for these promises to come true.  It is pleasing to God when we are excited about his promises.  Our lives should be lived with a constant expectancy and the excitement of a child on Christmas Eve.  God has placed amazing gifts “under the tree” with our names on them.  We should find our greatest delight in day dreaming about ripping off the wrappings of these gifts and enjoying them at the feet of our Lord for all of eternity. 

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