David - Dwelling With God Series

God didn’t need David to build a hose for Him, but David did need God to build a house for Him. And God promised to build David a house that would last far longer than the temple his son Solomon would eventually build. And God wants to do the same for all of us. So now do you see why I said earlier that…

Dwelling with God is not a matter of me building a home for Him,

it is a matter of God building His home in me.

APPLICATION

So if that’s the case, then it seems to me that it’s important to know if what I can do to cooperate with God as He builds His home in me. And I think we find that answer to that question in the last part of the chapter, beginning in verse 18, but before we do that, I want to ask you to think for a minute about how you would have responded to God if you were in David’s position.

I can think of at least a few ways I would have been tempted to respond:

• I might have been mad at God. And it might have gone something like this. “God, here I am trying to do something nice for you and you’re going to reject my gift. Just see if I ever do anything for you ever again.”

• I might have tried to assert my authority. “God, maybe you don’t realize who I am. I’m the king of Israel, Your people. You need to listen to me.”

• It’s also possible that I might just ignore God altogether and just carry out my plans anyway.

Perhaps you can even think of some other possibilities. But fortunately, David was a whole lot more godly than me and as a man who had a heart for God, he chooses a different path.

[Read 2 Samuel 7:18a]

Remember I said earlier that I would tell you when we got to the most important use of the verb “dwell” because it would be hard to see in our English translations? Well, here it is.

Every single English translation I looked at reads something like “David… sat before the Lord…” But the verb “sat” in that verse is the exact same Hebrew word that has been translated “live” or “dwell” everywhere else in this chapter. David didn’t just stop by for a quick chat with God. He dwelled with God for a while.

So when God denied the building permit for the temple. David didn’t pout, he didn’t get mad at God. In fact, his focus wasn’t on himself at all, it was on God.

• When God said “no”, David worshiped.

Let’s see how he did that.

[Read 2 Samuel 7:18b-29]

There is so much we could learn from this prayer, but let me just briefly point out a couple characteristics of David’s prayer.

o He humbled himself

I need you to help me out here. In verses 1-3 how is David referred to? [The king]. His name is not mentioned even once there. I think that probably indicates that at least to some degree David was pretty impressed with himself and his position.

Now look at God’s response to David in verse 4-17. How does God refer to David? [My servant]. God, who had put David on the throne, isn’t quite as impressed with David’s position.

So when David begins to pray, he has to make a choice. Is he going to pray as king or as God’s servant? Which does he choose? [Servant].

o He responded to God’s revelation