2 Samuel 7:1-16 (KJV)
And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.
And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.
In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
I’ve been trying to preach my way through the life of David to discover what is a man after God’s heart.
It seems to me like that one thing that might be the pivot point was David’s heart for the house of God.
Israel had lost the ark of God sometime just prior to Saul’s coronation.
When the Ark was taken, Eli, the High Priest died, as did his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.
Though the Ark was recovered it seems like Saul had very little interest in it.
In David’s early years he was preoccupied with survival.
Saul was bent on killing him and David had all he could handle just staying alive and out of Saul’s grip.
In God’s good time Saul was removed and David was crowned.
Still his early years as king were far from peaceful ones.
But as soon as David’s kingdom was established.
As soon as he had opportunity, David’s immediate response was to:
· Find a place for the tabernacle
· Re-assemble the priesthood and
· Bring back the ark
Summers being what they are, it has taken me most of the summer to get it done, but we’ve had three messages on the restoration of the tabernacle and worship in Jerusalem.
I don’t remember ever putting it together like this, but it strikes me as significant that it was right after David got the Tabernacle worship going again that he suddenly wants to build a temple for God.
Consider the trouble he had getting the Tabernacle worship going:
You could say he fought for it for over twenty years as he watched Saul forget about it – biding his time until he could do it.
· Uzzah died in his first attempt to bring it home. David had some lessons to learn about worship.
· Three months were spent searching the Scriptures and re-assembling the priests and Levites
· His relationship with Michal, his first wife, was never the same after getting the Ark in the Tabernacle
David had paid a terrible price to worship God as he found Him in the Word of God.
Still, as soon as he witnessed the worship of God in the Tabernacle he sensed that it was too soon to stop.
God ought to be worshiped in a Temple – a permanent structure dedicated forever to God.
Such a Temple would accomplish a number of things:
· It would testify to the glory of God – a beautiful structure
· It would witness to the promise of God – they had possessed the land God gave them
· It would manifest their faith in God – no small amount would be invested
The prophet was consulted and the go ahead was given.
Or so he thought.
Nathan returned the next morning having heard from God.
I notice three key parts to the message Nathan brought.
I. DAVID’S CALL
2 Samuel 7:8-11 (KJV)
Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
Years ago I took a spiritual leadership course, it might have been from Elmer Towns, I can’t recall any more.
Towns was teaching about the importance of regular reviews of those under us.
We can’t expect to get what we expect if we do not communicate regularly what we expect.
An important part of that review is to clearly communicate failure – where did that subordinate not do what was expected of them.
Trouble is, people are so thin skinned, we can’t take much of that.
· We get upset
· We get depressed
· We get down in the dumps and sometimes
· We get ourselves out from under our leader
So Towns said the thing to do is to begin with praise. Before you tell that person one critical thing, give them four or five positive things.
Blow their balloon up before you pop it.J
This passage reminds me of that.
David wants to build a magnificent Temple
God is going to tell him he doesn’t get to do it
Notice what God says first:
A. I took you from the pastures to the palace.
2 Samuel 7:8 (KJV)
… Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:
You’ve not had too bad a run – have you David?
You started out a shepherd boy.
Now look where you are.
· If God did nothing else for you.
· If you never had another victory in your lifetime
Still, its been a good life for you.
B. I was the one who protected you – not the other way around
2 Samuel 7:9 (KJV)
And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.
Sometimes we forget things like that.
David was who David was because God is who God is.
C. I gave you houses – I don’t need a house you make
2 Samuel 7:10-11 (KJV)
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
We are so messed up concerning these things today.
I once heard a preacher recount how someone, just trying to honor God, said, “Wow, God has really built a great ministry here.”
He proudly told us that his response was, “Well, He didn’t do it without me.”
God uses us. That is clear.
· We ought to get up and be busy for the Lord
· We ought to be obedient, be faithful, be generous
God uses that obedience, faithfulnessand generosityto accomplish His purpose in the earth.
But it isn’t the obediencefaithfulnessand generositythat does it. It is God.
It isn’t you and me who does anything.
It is God using us.
David, don’t forget who is at work here.
Notice secondly
II. DAVID’S KID
2 Samuel 7:12-15 (KJV)
And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
God has a specific call for David.
He had a different but equally specific call for David’s seed – the king who would follow him.
Concerning David’s son – we know to be Solomon God promised.
A. I will be his father
2 Samuel 7:15 (KJV)
I will be his father, and he shall be my son.
I spoke with Pastor Jorge Lemus this week.
He is getting ready to have surgery on Tuesday.
They are going to remove a growth in his throat and do a biopsy on it ANDat the same time they are going to do reconstructive surgery in his nose.
But he called to encourage me since the passing of Brother Wolfe.
During the conversation he made reference to speaking to his dad about this thing or that in the ministry.
When he prayed, he would called God “Father” sometimes and “Dad” other times.
Romans 8:15 (KJV)
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4:6 (KJV)
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
What a wonderful thing to think of our Heavenly Father as “Dad.”
Psalms 27:10 (KJV)
When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up.
B. I will establish his throne
2 Samuel 7:14 (KJV)
…, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
I want to carefully make a distinction here because there are two promises being made in one.
· One a near promise to David’s son, Solomon.
· The other, a distant promise to David’s seed, Jesus.
God did some things in the reign of Solomon that were amazing.
· His wisdom
· His wealth
· His reputation
The Queen of Sheba said that the half had not been told her concerning these things.
Solomon’s reign was one of prosperity and peace.
He had the time to invest in:
· Developing his country
· Studying his world and
· Writing his findings
And he had
· The money to do it all
Who doesn’t want that for his kids?
Of course, there can be problems associated with that.
After WWII parents developed the mentality that they were working to make things better for their kids than they had it.
· They had lived through the Depression and two great wars.
· They likely had no more than a third or perhaps eighth grade education.
They were laborers or farmers working from dawn to dusk six days a week to provide a roof over their kids heads.
In those days a family of eight might live in an 800 square foot house.
After WWII the economy of the United States BOOMED.
· Unions brought wages up and the work week down.
· Highways had been built and almost everybody could afford at least one car.
And parents realized that they could give their kids what they had never dreamed of:
· A college education
· A chance to see the country, possibly the world and
· A life unheard of by their own fathers
That generation they raised grew up to raise children and children’s children who now think they DESERVE to have it better than their parents.
· They deserve peace
· They deserve an education (even without working for it) and
· They deserve to get paid even without jobs
Solomon had peace, prosperity and opportunities but we know that he abused them for a good part of his life.
God promised David
· That He would never forsake his son
· That He would establish the throne of his son and that
C. His son would build God’s house
2 Samuel 7:14 (KJV)
He shall build an house for my name, …
For a man like David, this was a dream come true.
His son would take the worship of God to levels David could only imagine.
But notice the third part of this message concerning
III. DAVID’S KINGDOM
2 Samuel 7:16 (KJV)
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
I said that there was a near promise concerning Solomon and a distant promise concerning Jesus.
Through David’s seed, his kingdom would be established for ever.
This is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ
Acts 13:22-23 (KJV)
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
You know what David did?
David spent the rest of his life:
· Buying materials
· Raising money and
· Saving his own riches
So that, when God was ready, the resources were ready for the Temple to be built.
· He didn’t fret that he was not going to build it.
· He focused on making it possible for those after him to build it.
My takeaway from all of this is,
A heart after God never stops building up the house of God.
We all have a different call and a different purpose God has for us to accomplish.
But we can all do something all the time to help build up God’s house.
Conclusion
I have a very difficult time understanding those who say they are Christians but aren’t heavily invested in a local church.
They remind me of the evolutionists.
For whatever reason they refuse to accept the teaching of the Word of God, knowing that to do
· Do you want to have a heart that God loves?
· Do you want to be the sort of person God chooses to use?
Then love the thing that Jesus loved and gave Himself for[1], the local church.
[1]Ephesians 5:25 (KJV)
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
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