Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends on this Thursday,
What do you think about when you are not under pressure or deadlines and you are able to let your mind run free? Are you the creative type who then starts imagining what could be, and new projects begin to take shape in your mind? If you are also a self-motivated person who likes to be active, perhaps new ideas move to action fairly quickly. It seems young King David was like that.
Yesterday we watched as King David led a huge parade bringing the historic and precious Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem for the first time. (1 Chronicles 15 & 2 Samuel 6) Why? Because David wanted God’s Presence very close to him, guiding him as he tried to be a God honoring leader of the 12 tribes of Israel. While we don’t know exactly where this special ‘Ark tent’ was located in Jerusalem, I believe it was very near David’s house, in fact close enough that David could see it and hear Asaph and other worship leaders singing and praying at that special Ark tent. Close enough David could go there whenever he needed a fresh word from God or just wanted to worship there.
That challenges me and I hope you! What is the authenticity of your desire for closeness with God? What about your hunger to immerse yourself in God’s Word and receive guidance from God through His Holy Spirit giving you understanding through God’s Word the Bible?
Finally, after so many years of turmoil and warfare under King Saul’s frantic, disoriented leadership, Israel was at peace and King David had some time to quietly reflect and seek God’s guidance for the future. I wonder if it reminded David of his boyhood when he watched over his father’s sheep flocks seeking to provide them food, water and safety.
A man named Nathan had evidently become God’s prophet as advisor to David and 2 Samuel 7:2 tells us an idea was brewing in David’s heart. David said to Nathan: “Here I am living in a house of cedar while the Ark of God remains in a tent.”
Perhaps Nathan was still a young, immature prophet, for it seems he blurted out a response to David: ‘Go ahead, do whatever you’re thinking’! Well, later that night God spoke to Nathan, and I think helped him understand that the role of a prophet was to speak God’s words, ONLY AFTER the prophet had RECEIVED a message from God! Perhaps you remember God’s words to a ‘man of God’ who spoke this to Eli the High Priest when Samuel was a little boy in his care: “I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart and My mind.” (1 Samuel 2:35) Samuel grew up and became that prophet faithfully doing all God guided him to do, but old Samuel had died several years before, and David needed Nathan to be true to God’s Word like Samuel had been.
So, Nathan had to go back to David the next day saying ‘oopps, I spoke too quickly, and now here’s God’s message for you…’. Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever spoken before thinking or answered a question without reflection? That’s an uncomfortable place to be isn’t it, especially if you were giving spiritual guidance!? Nathan was learning, and David was grateful that this time Nathan brought him God’s answer to a big plan that was developing in David’s heart.
Now watch this my friends. You’ll recall the Holy Spirit of God came upon David when Samuel first anointed David as king, back when he was a boy. (1 Samuel 16:13) David was very familiar with a sense of the Holy Spirit stirring in his life. David knew this idea of a house for God was a Holy Spirit given idea, but David now needed lots of details, and Nathan’s message from God started that process. Pause.
Can you discern when the Holy Spirit is stirring in you, my friends? Can you tell when the Holy Spirit is convicting you of sin which God wants you to deal with? Or the Holy Spirit is giving you God’s answer to a question you are pondering? Or God’s Spirit is giving you guidance and direction for some action God wants you to take toward accomplishing something God is calling you to do?
As we read through 2 Samuel 7 today, we’ll see Nathan telling David it was by God’s design that the Tabernacle, Moses built at mount Sinai 400 years earlier, had been a mobile home for God’s Ark of the Covenant and God’s Presence among His people through these centuries of traveling. But now with the Israelites settled in the Land of God’s Promise, and Jerusalem as the central capital city of Israel, YES, it was God who was stirring in David this idea of building a permanent structure, a Temple, for the Ark and God’s Presence in Israel.
But… while God would give David the building design details it would NOT be David who would have the privilege of constructing this Temple, rather it would be one of David’s sons! Oh my, by this time David had many sons, so I can imagine David engaging the quiet, discreet evaluation of each son wondering who had the skill set and talents to oversee the construction of a Temple for God?!
Perhaps you know it was none of David’s sons alive at that moment. It would be a son born to a woman who was not yet a wife of David! In fact, as far as we know she and David had not yet met! This is another evidence of God’s working in the present in anticipation of what He knows the future will be!!
May I draw your attention to something my friends. 1 Chronicles 17 is a duplication of 2 Samuel 7, and I urge you to read both chapters but watch for some key word differences. I notice in 2 Samuel 7 David uses the phrase “Sovereign LORD”. That’s important, especially when David refers to himself so often as ‘Your servant’. David was overwhelmed with the remarkable concept that the unwavering Sovereignty of God would guide David, God’s servant, in being Israel’s king, including preparations for a future great Temple which would house the Ark of the Covenant and God’s awesome, holy Presence!
As you read through those two chapters today, I urge you to pray, asking God to help you more fully understand His Sovereignty and renewing your commitment to be His faithful servant for the remainder of your life, fully obedient to anything and everything God calls you to or places in your heart!
I’ve found a very special song that will help us worship as David was, as David prayed the very powerful prayer of consecration which we find in 2 Samuel 7 & 1 Chronicles 17. More study notes are in the Grand Narrative link below. Oh, may God speak to your heart through His Word today, my friends, and I’ll meet you here again tomorrow!
Today’s Scripture: 2 Samuel 7.
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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