1 Chronicles 17.4 “Go
and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to
build me a house to dwell in.’” – God
One day, David got a bad case of the guilties: he was walking around in his palace while the Ark of God was sitting out
in a tent. So, he tells his main man,
Nathan, the prophet, “I’m going to build
a palace for God where His Ark will dwell.” And Nathan, always the
encourager, says: “Whatever you have in
mind [your highness], do it, for God is with you.” But God had other ideas.
God told Nathan, “Go
and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to
build me a house to dwell in.’” And God went on to explain that David had
it backwards: instead of him building a palace for God, God was building a
dynasty for David. When God says, ‘No’, we must listen.
It seems so often in life that we get the guilties and want to do God a favor. I
think God smiles, but I think He says: Child,
if you want to do Me a favor, then listen to Me and obey me – there is so much
more in life that I desire to do with you and through you. Your favors are
measured by your obedience.
That isn’t to say that God, with furrowed brow, taps a
baseball bat in His hands and warns, Obey
Me! God loves us and cares for us, and life is about Him and how we relate
to Him. Our life is not about us. We think it is, but God has other plans –
plans that are not our plans, and ways that are not our ways. And a life, that
is infinitely above self-centeredness, no matter how good and right it may
appear.
Psalm 51.16-17 offers a glimpse of what doing a God a favor
looks like:
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would
bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a
broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
David’s problem was he ignored what was going on in his heart
– and that led to his penning this
praise.
God isn’t offended by our
plans – a broken and contrite heart you,
God, will not despise. But God is never going to take His eyes off His plan
for us no matter how noble we want to appear in making plans for Him. God is
the Master of keeping the main thing the
main thing. We might keep that in mind.
I read a poignant piece this morning written by a friend
who wanted (according to his words) to get back to the place of heeding Psalm
46:10 – Be still and know that I am God.
God can accomplish infinitely more in us, in our cooperative stillness, than we
could ever accomplish in infinite lifetimes. Like David, God desires to show us
what He is doing in us, not what we are doing for Him. Good to remember…
Father in Heaven,
You are also Father of my heart. Lord, may I find that place of stillness, that
in that stillness in me, that You do Your greatest work. I was created for good
works, but they are Your works, not mine. Help me to remember that. Help me to
be still in Your presence and trust that whatever needs to be done – O Lord –
You will do. My place is only to listen and obey - Amen
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