Finally, David is ruling over both Judah and Israel. He’d “settled in his palace and the Lord had given him rest from all the surrounding enemies” (II Samuel 7:1, NLT). What was David’s next step? He “summoned Nathan the prophet. ‘Look,’ David said, ‘I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!’” (II Samuel 7:2).
Nathan, although a prophet of God, was still human. He, like David, thought building a more permanent dwelling place for the Ark was a great idea; so Nathan spoke without consulting God – something we all need to be very careful not to do. Nathan told David, “Go ahead and do whatever you have in mind, for the Lord is with you” (II Samuel 7:3).
“But that same night the Lord said to Nathan, ‘Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth!’” (II Samuel 7:4-5a, 8b-9).
“‘Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you – a dynasty of kings! For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house – a temple – for my name. And I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever’” (II Samuel 7:11b-14a, 16).
“So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision” (II Samuel 7:17).
David couldn’t have begun to comprehend the great work that God intended to do through his family line. Through the house of David would come the Messiah, the Savior of the World!
Even though David may not have seen the whole picture at that time, he realized that God had given him an overwhelming promise and blessing, and for that he was wholeheartedly grateful and in awe.
So what did he do? He “went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, ‘Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant” (II Samuel 7:18-19a, 22a, 25a, 28).
As we look back over this past year, may we realize the many ways God has worked in our lives: sustaining us, blessing us and comforting us. And may we cry out with David, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”
We serve a great God. Let’s determine to serve Him even more.
Copyright © 2012
Judy Woodward Bates
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