#534 Honored

After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

2 Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.”

3 But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. 5 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. 6 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders[a] whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

7 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. 9 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 10 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.

“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: 11 When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. 14 I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

15 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

David’s Prayer

16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:

“Who am I, Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, Lord God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.

18 “What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, 19 Lord. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.

20 “There is no one like you, Lord, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 21 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? 22 You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God.

23 “And now, Lord, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised,24 so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The Lord Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.

25 “You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you.26 You, Lord, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.” 1 Chronicles 17 NIV

In Galatians 5 the Bible tells us of such things like gentleness, goodness and peace, that against such there is no law. Nathan hears the heart of David, grateful for what the Lord has provided him, but look at my house and where the ark resides, this doesn't seem right. The prophet can find no fault in what David says, for the king wants to honor God, and they are no longer a people wandering, so why is God's house still a tent? He leaves the king with his blessing to do as he sees fit, what is in David's heart, but that night the prophet stands corrected; he must go back and withdraw his earlier statements. It's not utterly wrong or despicable that you should want to build a house for God, or do some great thing, be part of some immense project of sacrifice, but this is not God's will for you. Men may set out to do all sorts of things that can even earn them earthly regard, but concerning the will and that God is love, I don't see that David was actually wrong in that, not like those in 1 Corinthians 13:3 where it says: 

If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

I think this is clearly from David's love and gratitude towards God, for reading on we see that God has never asked in all this time, but He, Who does not need a building is actually pleased that the king would suggest something that has not been asked, as Elijah looked for a way to repay the woman who kept him, so David would like the world to know how great is his God, how much He is esteemed by the king. God's answer to David is: I took you from a job tending sheep, unqualified to be king, I had Samuel anoint you. Then I made sure that the way was prepared before you, that I was with you all the way, in the face of a giant, in battles, before courts and kings, in patience, I qualified you. So now instead of David building God's house, God is going to build David's house, a covenant of his line, that it will continue, but David will not be the one who builds the house of God. David's house will go on, his seed will see the coming of Messiah.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of might,

the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—

3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11: 1-3

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ Jeremiah 23:5-6

We also learn elsewhere that David was a man of war, of bloodshed, and God's plan for His church did not rest in the blood of war, but in that of Christ. His temple would be built in a time of peace, by David's son. David does not retire this all together but actually sets aside materials to help build it, for his son to know that it was in his father's heart. We should always be investing in the next generation, teaching our children the greatness of God, they should see in our eyes and hear in our prayers the thankfulness for His blessings. They should know the word of God from our own lips and see humility in the knowledge of our creature and our infirmities, that we were born like them, dead in our trespasses and sins. What tools shall I leave behind that they may know of things that are not perishing?  

The Lord inhabits the praises of His people, and here David gives the testimony not only of his own life and God's providence, but that even of the times before him. Who has redeemed this people from Egypt? So much has happened before me and it is marvelous what You have done with me in this time, and most assuredly You can, so I pray yet You will see it through. I know I can not, and my years will come to an end, but my son will build your temple and Your blessing is all I need to know. 

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7 It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace,[d] both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1: 3-11

We don't always get to set up the building and all of us have different gifts, but if it is truly God's honor that we seek then we shall find it in His will, whatever that may be. Sometimes what we set out to do is not wrong in our intent, but we should not limit think to limit God in His way, go to Him in everything.