2 SAMUEL 7: 18-29 [The Life of David]
BROKEN DREAMS RESTORED
[Psalm 73:25-28]
While David's proposal has been turned aside, God's acceptance of David's desire is not denied. God takes the desire of David's heart to build Yahweh's house and sovereignly declares that He will build an everlasting house for David. While God had other plans for David's life, God has dramatically and astoundingly promised to respond to the desire of David's heart by making an everlasting covenant promise to him.
It was with great gratitude and awe that David learned of God's gracious plans for him and his descendants. For he is overwhelmed at the magnitude of the Lord's promise. His emotions tumble over one another as they seek expression. There is thankfulness, delight, gratitude, and praise. God has supercedingly reciprocated to the request of David's heart (Psalm 37:4) and has done so in ways that far exceeded his wildest dreams. [Knowing that only God could do it David addressed Him as 'adonay Yahweh Sovereign Lord (NIV, LORD God, NASB) seven times (vv. 18-20, 22, 28-29).]
The Lord still delights to honor those who serve Him. Often we react to a negative response from Him or life in ways He never intended. We then blindly ignore His numerous blessings that He has lavished and continues to lavish upon us as we bemoan our supposed loss.
The way David responded to God's correction and the new Word from the Lord is a good example to follow for any Christian. For David could then be over whelmed by a sense of God's grace. He humbles himself before God and called himself the servant of God ten times. His prayer of praise and thanksgiving acknowledges the Sovereignty of God and the magnitude of His promises (CIT).
The covenant God had just established with David was unconditional. All David had to do was affirm it and let God do the work. So David pours out his heart before the Lord in thanksgiving for God's promises to him and his people.
I. PRAISE FOR THE PRESENT PROMISE, 18-21.
II. PRAISE FOR THE PAST PROVIDENCE, 22-24.
III. PRAYER FOR THE FUTURE PROMISE, 25-29.
David's initial response to this magnificent revelation concerning the covenant of eternal kingship was to acknowledge the Lord's graciousness in bestowing it (vv.18-21). David is so overwhelmed all he can do in verse 18 is go before the Lord to sit and wonder. "Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?"
David has just heard God tell him the answer is no. God states in verse 10 that, "I have a plan to establish a center of worship, but not now, and not by you." You're not going to fulfil your dream. I'm going to honor you though, because such a noble dream was in your heart, but it is not part of My plan for your life.
David does not question the veracity of Nathan's visionary words. He accepts them as coming from the Lord. He requires no further confirmation of God's will. He goes and in humility sits in the presence of the Lord. Then in wonder asks, "Why would You allow me to be a part of this grand plan?"
There is a genuine sense of humility. David picked up on God's reminder that He had taken him "from the sheepfold" (v. 8) and raised the question many reflective Christians raise: "Who am I that You have brought me this far?" Sitting before the Lord, David's mind ran back to the beginning, to Samuel's visit to his father's house. He was overwhelmed at the memory of all the good things which God had done from that day on to bring him to the throne in Jerusalem and to bring peace and prosperity to Israel.
One of our great temptations is to take for granted the blessings of God. It is good for our spiritual life to sit before God and remember how far He has brought us.
David softened God's "forever" in verse 16 to "a distant future" in verse 19. "And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And this is the way of man, O Lord God.
As David sits in God's presence he sees himself as he really is and the king recognizes his weakness, his insignificance. Thus he is overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for God's promises. It was God's grace that had brought David this far-from the sheep to the throne-and now God had spoken about his descendants far into the future. Only as we realize our shortcomings can be struck with awe and wonder that God would bless us as He has.
David had lived through a period of great uncertainty, not sure whether he would ever be king over Israel. And now he has the promise the one of his descendants would be king forever and ever over God's people.
In verse 20 David acknowledges he doesn't know what to say in response to God's promise. "Again what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant!"
A poet and a songwriter, David was a very verbal man. But here he was tongue-tied, silenced by God's grace and kindness. But in his being still before the Lord the realization of God's covenant promise is being processed and sinking in deeper and deeper.
Able to keep quiet no longer, praise begins to flow from David's heart in verse 2.
"For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know.
David is overwhelmed. He says Lord, You've blessed my life and You've blessed my house. You've brought me from leading sheep to giving me this magnificent throne? Who am I?"
You know, it's important that every once in a while we sit down, take a long look at our short lives, and just count our many blessings. Who are we to have been protected from the rains that fell, the mud that slid or the fires that burned -leaving hundreds homeless? Who are we that He has blessed our house and kept it safe? Warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Who am I, Lord, that You should give me health & strength to be able to hold a job or pursue this career or get this degree? Or to have parents who have encouraged me? Or to have these kids & to watch them grow? Who am I?. . .to be so blessed?
"Fulfilled dream or no dream, I'm a blessed person," says David. Here is more evidence that David was a man after God's own heart.
What a powerful moment. What a statement of praise David offers to God, even when he has just received what must have been huge disappointment for him.
II. PRAISE FOR THE PAST PROVIDENCE, 22-24.
Next David praise God's incomparable sovereignty which has been evidenced particularly in God's selection of and marvelous provision for Israel in the past (vv. 23-24). Verse 22 thanks and praises God for who He is, as demonstrated by His works on behalf of Israel and David. "For this reason You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears."
Praise be to the God who has reveled himself down through history, particularly Israel's history. God alone is God. There is no other true god; there is no God like Him. He is the great and awesome God. This is in accord with all that they have heard of Him and from Him.
God has done great things for David, but these were not done for David. God has worked in David and through David, to bring about the fulfillment of His promises to the nation Israel. Verses 23 and 24 recount the greatness of God as revealed in His acts on behalf of His people, Israel. "And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods? [24] "For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
David has recovered sufficiently to compare the God of Israel with the gods of the other nations as he places God's gifts to him in a historical context. David understood that these promises had come to him and his descendants that Israel might benefit from them. God design has always been that through the nation of Israel the whole world would be blessed (Gen. 12:1-3).
God is the Lord of all nations but He did great things for Israel, His chosen people. David recognized the wonderful truth that God had chosen Israel to be His people forever! [Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Joshua-Esther. David Cook. 2003. Colorado Springs, CO. p.325].
III. PRAYER FOR THE FUTURE PROMISE, 25-29.
Then David prayed that the promise God had made might indeed find fulfillment to the glory of His of His own holy name—so that His name would be great forever (vv. 25-29) In verse 25 David begins to lay before God the promises that God has made to him. "Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken,
God gave the promise, David believed it and prayed for the Lord to fulfill it. The Lord intends that when He promises something that we should confirm that we understood it and remind Him of it. God's promises were never meant to be wasted but to be used. Whenever God gives a promise, if a man does not use that promise, the promise fails in effect to that man, and God's great intention it contained is in some measure frustrated. God sent the promise for He desires it to be used. If I receive a US Treasury note, it is a promise for a certain amount of money, I take it and use it. But dear friends to often we do not cash in God's promises. Nothing pleases God better than to see His promises put into circulation. He loves to see His children bring them up to him, and say, "Lord, fulfill Your promise."[Spurgeon, Charles. ] [Vv. 22 and 25 use "Yahweh Elohim," the God of power.]
Verse 26 indicates that it glorifies God when He fulfills His promises. "that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel'; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You."
David remind himself again of the greatness of God as reflected in His promises. He asks for the house of God's servant to be established before God and for God to be magnified through Israel. That God's name be magnified forever is the desire of ever faithful believer. I pray it is the desire of your life also (1 Cor. 10:31).
David confess in verse 27 that it is because of the word he has had the courage to ask such request of God. "For You, O Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, have made a revelation to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house'; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to You.
The thrust of verse 28 is the accepting of God's will and a final pleading that God makes good on His true words. "Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth, and You have promised this good thing to Your servant.
David desired no more than God's word and he expected no less. Even though it was disappointing to David that he wasn't allowed to build a house for God, he focuses on what God's will for him was. "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done!" Our prayer should be: "Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen."
In 1902 ADELAIDE POLLARD was hoping to go to Africa as a missionary. Despite her best efforts she was unable to raise the funds needed to make the journey. In her great discouraged she attended a prayer meeting. As she sat there, she overheard an elderly woman pray, "It really doesn't matter what You do with us, Lord, Just have Your own way with our lives."
Those words burned into the heart and mind of Adelaide Pollard. And she pondered those words: "It really doesn't matter what You do with us, Lord, Just have Your own way with our lives."
Before she went to bed that night; Adelaide Pollard wrote four stanzas of a poem. What was the poem? ‘Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!' [Hymn # 591]
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit 'till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
[29 "Now therefore, may it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You. For You, O Lord God, have spoken; and with Your blessing may the house of Your servant be blessed forever."]
IN CLOSING
In our passage David receives grace by receiving God Promise. First, he gave praise for the promise, then he prays in the promise. That's a winning combination. When you read the Scriptures, give praise for what you're reading, then pray it in.
My prayer is that you would marvel that God has built you a house, that He lives in your heart, and that He'll build your house to the glory of His Son.
Perhaps instead of asking "why?" or "why not?" concerning our "broken dreams" we should be asking "what?" as in, "OK, God, what do you want me to do with this situation?" or "Very well, Lord. What do you want me to do in light of your answer?" Our attitude in responding to God will make the difference of receiving His blessing or not receiving it. If we realize that sometimes the answer is "no" and understand that it is "no" for our own good, we, too, can begin to praise God for His blessings on our lives.
