David Wants To Build God's House, God Build's David's "House.” Series

2 Samuel 7

David wants to build God’s house, God build’s David’s “house.”

“If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans”

David’s good desire to build a temple

We come to the point of David’s story where Saul and most of His family are dead; David was anointed as king of Judah first, then, after a brief civil war, king over all of Israel. He claims Jerusalem as his capital, and has the symbol of God’s presence, the Ark of the Covenant, brought to the Capital to make it the centre of religious worship as well as political capital.

David’s power is consolidated both inside his boarders and beyond – “the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him.”

It gives David time to think, and what he thinks is “"Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." He gets the dream to build a temple for God – a house for the Ark that would replace the Tabernacle.

David does very little without asking God if it is a good idea, So he asks the prophet Nathan if he thinks it’s a good idea. For Nathan, It’s a no-brainer, of course it’s a good idea! What could be wrong with blessing God with a temple!

"Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."

Nathan’s yes, God’s no

Nathan goes home, and God speaks to him, this is what he says: Read 5-17

God basically says, “What do I need a house for? Have I ever asked for a house?

He says the same thing through the Prophet Isaiah hundreds of years later in Isaiah 66:

1 This is what the LORD says:

"Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me?

Where will my resting place be?

2 Has not my hand made all these things,

and so they came into being?"

declares the LORD.

"These are the ones I look on with favor:

those who are humble and contrite in spirit,

and who tremble at my word.

God never says that David’s plan is morally wrong – maybe a little wrong-headed, but not “evil.” Nathan even thought it was a good idea!

David was not wrong – God just had a different plan

Peterson thinks that David is walking down a slippery slope to self-reliance rather than God reliance, that might be true, but it does not say that here.

Later David says that God said no because of his violence; but here there is no talk of that.

God says to David, you want to build me a house, but I’m going to build your “house.”

It seams that every leader is concerned with the legacy that he will leave – it may be that David was hoping that this temple that he would build would be a legacy monument – “David’s Temple” rather than “Solomon’s Temple,” or “Herod’s Temple.” God tells him that he is going to build a legacy much greater than a building in Jerusalem.

1. Peace

2. A Son who will build the Temple

3. A Son who will live in close relationship with God

4. A Son who will be disciplined, but not removed

5. A dynasty and a kingdom that will never end

This prophesy is fulfilled mostly in David’s son Solomon. It is God’s sheer grace that he was born out of David’s relationship with Bathsheba that began as adultery and murder!

Solomon’s reign was one of great peace and prosperity

Solomon built the temple – David amassed much of the materials for it before his death

Solomon was known for his Godly wisdom, he lived in close relationship for much of his reign – things went bad at the end, but God did not remove him.

The Kingdom did not last forever – the nation was split under Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. Even over Judah, the line of David did not last as kings.

But like most prophesies that we find in the OT, they have levels of fulfillment.

It is partially fulfilled in David’s son Solomon, and in the earthly kingdom of Israel. But it points to a greater fulfillment in Jesus.

This is why it is so important for the Gospel writers to show that Jesus was a descendant of David – to demonstrate to the early Christians that Jesus fulfilled the promises made to David so many years ago.

In Jesus, the statement “I will be his father, and he will be my son” will not just be symbolic.

Jesus builds a new temple

In John’s Gospel after Jesus drives the moneychangers out of the temple, the rulers are a little ticked, and they ask him;