2 Samuel 7: 1-5; 11–17

March 3, 2023

When David was finally moved into in his beautiful gorgeous cedar house, and God has given him rest from all his enemies, the king, said to Nathan, the prophet, “See, now I dwell in the house of cedar, but the Ark of Covenant lives in a tent.”

This is such a significant statement that just reflects David’s hard for the greatness of God. He has a tender heart for God, and he loves God. That’s what we want to be, and that inspires me! When he sat down his beautiful, gorgeous palace, he looked outside and saw the arc of God‘s covenant dwelling in a tent outside, and he feels bad. He feels the urging of his heart’s desire. That pleased God so much that God promised David through prophet Nathan, to tell his servant, David that He will give him rest from all his enemies. Moreover, the Lord will raise a new king up from his offspring, from his body.

God said, “I would establish his kingdom. He shall be the house for my name, and I would establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And his throne shall be establish forever.”

This is a lent time written by Tim Keller. When David desired to build a house for the Lord, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, telling David that instead of allowing him to build a temple, the Lord, will establish the house of David, culminating in one who sit on the throne forever. Obviously God is not simply promising that he will ensure the continuation of David, as a sort of memorial to him – the common belief of many religions that we live on in our descendants. He’s promising to raise up his own Son, from a descendant of David, one who would bear our stripes and our iniquity.[1]

How like God this is! We offer God some grandiose plan of how we planned on him, to honor him. And he counters with a completely counterintuitive plan, one in which he is glorified by becoming both king and substitute. [2] This is really something enormously powerful plan God has for bigger than our little finite mines feeble mind can even ever to handle. Imagine David was thinking beauty in physical palace, God turned around calling Nathan to bless David with a descendent sits on the throne, forever and ever. But that son is actually the Son of God himself incarnate into this world, Jesus Christ. It is amazing how God enlarged a request to a phenomenon unmatched that is ultimately far bigger than our wildest dream.

Pray and pray, prayer so that they are far more than we would dare to ask. Imagine like Tim Keller said this is truly incredible. I’ll just pray and pray and pray to the limit of our vision and faith, and then be prepared for God to do something even better.[3]

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[1] Tim Keller, Lent Devotional 3/3/23, https://gospelinlife.com/lent-devotional/?mc_cid=a1a56d4a76&mc_eid=3a8d3b536a

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid