Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
When was the last time you were simply overwhelmed as you contemplated the majesty, the immenseness of Almighty God and that He loves you and is watching over every detail of your life, even though you may feel lost in the vastness of 8.1 billion people, living on a planet that is but a grain of sand in the vastness of our universe?
Join me again with King David and his trusted spiritual advisor, the prophet Nathan, about 1000bc as David is contemplating his place in the paragraph I just wrote for you! Yesterday we watched as David sought counsel from the prophet Nathan regarding what David felt was the out of balance way in which he was living, in a cedar lined palace he had built for himself, as compared to the tent David had set up for the Presence of God as symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant of the God of Israel. Nathan had come back to David with God’s perspective on David’s inquiry about that imbalance, as we saw yesterday in 2 Samuel 7:1-16.
As David processed what Nathan told him David was so overwhelmed that he went and found a quiet place where he could meet alone with God, and when finally, words came to his lips, what David expressed is remarkable. I am imagining that tears are streaming down David’s cheeks, and his arms are uplifted to God as these words prayerfully flow out of his heart: “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, O Sovereign LORD, You have also spoken about the future of the family of Your servant. Is this Your usual way of dealing with mankind, O Sovereign LORD? What more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Sovereign LORD. For the sake of Your word and according to Your will, You have done this great thing and made it known to Your servant. How great You are, O Sovereign LORD. There is none like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears…” (2 Samuel 7:18-22)
What do you hear in David’s words my friends? I’m sure you noticed that David used the title “O Sovereign LORD” 5 times in these short 5 verses! The Sovereignty of God is a very significant attribute of Almighty God. It means God has full authority over everything, everywhere, at all times. God has authority to do anything He desires at any time. Nothing happens, anywhere in our universe, without God’s full awareness, His full understanding and outside of His full Sovereignty.
As God had given David HIS perspective on the storyline of David’s ancestry, and on the story of David’s life lived thus far, and even more as God had given David God’s perspective of some of the future events of David’s life and his descendants, David was simply overwhelmed at God’s Sovereignty over all things through the generations. Are you and I sufficiently aware of and deeply respectful for God’s Sovereignty over all things, especially when you and I see great dysfunction and evil that seems almost out of control in our world?
As you and I slow down enough to consider God’s hand upon the long story of your family history to the present moment, the story of who you are and where you are in life, are you awed by God’s Sovereignty over your history? Do you feel an uprising of thankfulness and praise to God in your heart?
God had reminded David of his simple boyhood as a shepherd and how God had brought him to the point of being king over Israel! What a remarkable journey! God promised David that among all the children he would eventually have there would be one whom God would choose, just as He had chosen David from among all his brothers. And that son of God’s choice would actually lead in the accomplishment of the deep desire of David’s heart… the construction of a massive Temple which God called “a house for My Name.” (2 Samuel 7:13)
However, God wanted David to understand this would be accomplished after David had completed his life, thus David’s eyes would not see this Temple, but God would use David to develop the plans and preparations for the future accomplishment of this great dream of David’s. I wonder, my friends, if you’ve given much consideration to HOW your life, the life you have lived, the mentoring you have given to your children, the example you have given your descendants by the life you have lived… will bear fruit, perhaps after you are gone from this earth? How will that life fruit of your descendants contribute to the further accomplishment of God’s purposes in future generations?
I suspect David paused in his prayer, overwhelmed. Words were insufficient, so he sat quietly, reflecting. And then after some time, David again lifted his arms to heaven and spent a few moments reflecting in praise to God for the great miracle of a unique NATION of people, selected by God from all the peoples of the world, to be God’s people.
David said: “And who is like Your people Israel – the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for Himself… You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O LORD, have become their God.” (2 Samuel 7:23,24) David knew well the long and unique story of the people of Israel, beginning with Abraham and stretching through Moses and their miracle rescue from Egyptian slavery.
I have no doubt, as we saw a few days ago, that David had studied, perhaps with Nathan the prophet, the writings of Moses and the story of Israel’s deliverance from slavery and then several months at Mount Sinai, where God declared them to be a special people. God had said to Moses and the people: “If you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all the nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:4-6)
As David now felt the privilege, but also the burden, of being the God selected leader of this unique nation of people, I’m sure David felt the only way he could bear this heavy burden, and live out his responsibility, was with God guiding him, protecting him, teaching him, and pouring great wisdom and deep faith into David’s heart and mind.
It causes me to ask myself and you, my friends: how often do you and I pause to spend this type of time with God, reflecting on the journey of our lives and the place in our world in which God had placed you and me? What about the roles God has given us in our families, our neighborhoods, our towns? What about the legacy we each are building and what impact we will have had when our life journey comes to an end?
I think we should pause and spend some time sitting with God, as David did, do you agree? What would God like to speak into your heart and mind about these things? Here’s a song to help us reflect and tomorrow we’ll look at the last few, powerful things David said to God…
Today’s Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:18-24.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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