2 Samuel 7:1-17
Now it came about, when the king lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I live in a house of cedar, but the ark of God remains within the tent.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But in the same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, 5 “Go and say to My servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: “Should you build Me a house for My dwelling? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; rather, I have been moving about in a tent, that is, in a dwelling place. 7 Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’
God’s Covenant with David
8 Now then, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I Myself took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; I will also make a great name for you, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. 10 And I will establish a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will malicious people oppress them anymore as previously, 11 even from the day that I appointed judges over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. 12 When your days are finished and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and with strokes of sons of mankind, 15 but My favor shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’” 17 In accordance with all these words and all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
David, comes to a point where he realizes how much God has blessed his life and a desire wells up in him to give back to God. It seems to not only be a desire to give back to God but he seems to feel convicted about it. So he has this conversation with Nathan. He trusts Nathan. Nathan is perhaps one of the few people in David’s life that he trusts fully.. They are in different roles but have the same heart for God and are moving towards the same end. Nathan does not see his relationship with the king as a means to advance in status. Maybe that’s why David trusts him. And they have this conversation about this paradigm shift that has occurred in David’s life. And after David explains to Nathan this epiphany, Nathan, a prophet and deeply spiritual guy, is on board with David’s plan immediately. He just says, “Go do all that is in your mind for the Lord is with you”.
The text then says, “But in that same night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan…” This is a good reminder to me that no matter who is giving me advice and no matter how good it sounds and even when it seems spiritual, I still need to pray about it. No one knows the mind of the Lord except the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11).
No one would have argued with David or Nathan about this idea. It has merit as an expression of gratitude towards God. But it wasn’t God’s will. Our values and God’s values are not the same. That is why God goes on to make this everlasting covenant with David and promises to build him a house and establish a kingdom through David that will last forever!
It is scary how much I rely on my own thinking and advice from people I trust to guide me in my decisions and yet the amount of prayer that guides me is almost non-existent!
So I guess the point is that no matter how spiritual I think I am and no matter how great the idea seems and no matter who affirms the idea and plans, I still need to inquire of the Lord before taking action.
What I also find amazing in this story is the irony of it. The idea that David is compelled to do something great for God because he feels indebted to Him, and yet it is God who does something great for David! I have to wonder how the story would have gone had David allowed himself to get sucked into his career. Had he not thought about God and had he not had this conversation with Nathan, how different this story might be. God is still God and is forever pouring His goodness into our lives, but how much can the story of our own lives change just by bringing our awareness to God’s presence in our lives!
Had David just acted on his good idea and conviction no one would have judged or even thought to stop him. He would have been doing what seemed to be a good thing and possibly “the right thing” as a godly king. I wonder how God would respond to that. How would God have gotten David’s attention.
10 The Lord nullifies the plan of nations;
He frustrates the plans of peoples.
11 The plan of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has chosen for His own inheritance. Psalm 33:10-12
I believe that despite our faltering grasp of God’s movement in our lives, God’s will still triumph’s over everything. The story of how it came to be would just be different. God always shows up in our lives in the way that we are able to see and understand Him. God could have shown up and spoke directly to David but instead He showed up through the prophet Nathan not because God needs to show up that way but that is how David needed God to show up.
I believe that God shows up in all our lives in the best way for us to see and understand Him. It may be through nature, it may be through church, our prayers, a TV commercial, a neighbor or whatever but God will show up however God needs to in order for us to be able to grasp Him.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:5-7
This promise from God to David played out very differently than anyone could have ever expected. They were expecting a king and messiah from the line of David to rise up and with military strength defeat the enemies of Israel and set the world straight but instead a bond-servant appeared claiming to be the Son of God. It is interesting that the promise was made surrounding David building God a great temple to live in and God’s response was that he is comfortable in a tent, and then God comes to us in a stable and the messiah as a slave! I find it to be yet another reminder of how God is often not where we are looking for Him. He comes to us where we are at because He is not where we think He is at.
God was with David his entire life. Shepherding was his training. Shepherding models the leadership qualities of God. Shepherds live in tents, perhaps that is why God is fine living in a tent. Jesus embodies who God is. The promise and covenant that God made with David was more than just about David’s bloodline. Jesus is the “Good Shepherd”