"No, I’ll Build The House For You” - David’s Good Desire And God’s Better Promise Series

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Introduction

So far in the book of 1 Samuel the pace as been very fast. The narrator has us zooming along through all kinds of events. In just six chapters we have seen numerous wars and murders, assassinations, the rise and fall of Ish-Bosheth, two coronations of David, and all the adventures of capturing Jerusalem and setting up the capital and bringing the Ark there. Those chapters are made up almost entirely of words out of the narrator’s mouth, telling us what happened.

But here in chapter 7 that all changes. Very little happens in this chapter, and the narrator does not really say much. It is almost all dialogue. David speaks, Nathan speaks, God speaks, and then David speaks again – the narrator says almost nothing. When a Bible writer slows down like that the implication is that he is showing us something that is especially important. If your tour guide has been zooming along at 80 mph, but then slows down to 5 mph in one area, that tells you something. This is an area you really need to see. I don’t know how long it will take to get through this chapter, but we are going to keep the speed limit at about 5 to 10 mph so we don’t miss anything important.

Grace in times of rest

So let’s begin with verse 1. It all started because of a time of rest that the Lord had given David.

After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent." 3 Nathan replied to the king, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."

So the occasion for all this was a time of rest – which was a rare occurrence for David.

What do you do in times of rest? Sometimes your life is a turmoil of crises and problems and emergencies, and other times the Lord gives you a period of rest from all that. And I preach a lot about what to do during those times of crisis, but Scripture also has some things to say about how we are to handle the times of rest. In fact, at least in my case, the times of rest are a greater threat to my faith than the times of trouble. Trouble tends to strengthen faith. It makes your need for God’s grace more obvious, and it puts a desperation in your soul that drives you to seek grace from God no matter what the cost. Trouble drives us to Scripture. It drives us to seek wisdom. It drives us to our knees in prayer. It makes us think about God and about the condition of our own hearts. And it makes us grateful for His deliverance and strengthening.

But times of rest – those are the times when faith tends to fall asleep. You have a paycheck coming in every week, your marriage is OK, kids are OK, job is OK, car is running, no big conflicts with friends or family, no big, gross besetting sin that is creating problems – life is relatively smooth; (some of you hear that description and think, “Oh what I would give for a season of rest like that! If I could just get a break from all this trouble…”).If you could get a break from all the trouble what? What would you do with that time of rest? What would happen to your faith? If the troubles went away would your faith get stronger or weaker?

I can tell you what the answer is for me. Almost inevitably my faith falters in times of rest. When times are easy it is not long before I start to get real interested in sports, or some TV show, or movies. Suddenly leisure becomes real important. Prayers become less frequent and less passionate, and Bible study becomes routine. I am still praying and spending time in the Word, but the earnestness starts to fade. The world starts getting really big in my eyes and seeming really important, and the kingdom of God starts fading and seeming less and less important – and less and less real.

Now, I am not saying that has to happen. Certainly that is not what God wants to happen when He gives us times of rest. And it should not happen. But what should happen? Why does God give us times of rest, and how can we guard our faith in those times? Let’s take a look at what this text teaches about God’s purposes in giving David this period of rest.