2 Samuel 7:2

WHICH IS GRANDER? GOD’S HOUSE OR MINE?

‘I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.’

2 Samuel 7:2

I. The first lesson we should note is how well David employed his time of rest.—He was at peace just then, and all was well with him, yet his heart was full of the glory of the Lord. Erasmus, in one of his witty letters, tells a story about a storm he had been in. One of the passengers, when the ship was like to sink, was overheard praying to the Virgin very earnestly, and vowing to her any number of great candles if only she would bring him safe ashore. Some one upbraided him for such a vow, knowing well he had no money to fulfil it. But the man said, ‘Hush! If I once get ashore, catch me giving her a single candle.’ Now as this passenger acted towards the Virgin, so do a great many people act towards God. In times of peril or distress or illness they are ready to promise all kinds of strange obedience; but when the quiet days come, and when the sun is shining, and when they are free from pain and are at rest, how quickly they forget the eager promise and the vows they so passionately uttered in the storm! But David was a man after God’s own heart. He cried to Him when the sky was black as midnight. When the lion and the bear came up to rend his flock, when he stood against the champion Goliath, then he relied upon Jehovah’s help. But when all was at rest with him, he did not forget. When the peril was over, he walked with his Redeemer. And it is that stability, through storm and peace, that is the sure sign-manual of the saint.

II. Learn how God honours a good purpose.—God said to David, ‘It was good that it was in thine heart’ (1 Kings 8:18). Not for David was the building of the Temple—never by his hands was it to be reared—yet the fact that he had dwelt on such a scheme was very pleasing in the eyes of heaven. So God refuses David’s offer to build Him a house, but He wraps up His refusal in such a burst of grace and glory and revelation that David forgets to be disappointed, and can only marvel at the greatness and goodness of God. It was not that God was displeased with David’s desire to build Him a house; indeed, He said, ‘Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.’

III. The last lesson is how God tempers and illuminates His disappointments.—This was a very sore disappointment to King David, yet what a chapter of glorious promises conveys it! God shows him how he had watched him in the past. God tells the honour and glory of the future. He opens the eyes of David to the wings of love that are arched over the whole of his career. He says to him, ‘To-day I disappoint you; but do not think of to-day all by itself. Lay it against the background of a love that never failed you yet, and never will.’ But God had another plan for His loved servant; and when David saw it, it was so much better than his own plan that he cried out in an ecstasy: ‘Wherefore, Thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.’

Illustrations

(1) ‘I knew a girl who made the early resolve that she would give her life to foreign missions. But as she grew to womanhood her health gave way, and she knew that never could she build her temple. Yet that early purpose so impressed her character, and so filled her with loving interest in Christ’s kingdom; it made her such a blessing to her friends, and touched so many with missionary zeal: that she has heard God saying not once, but fifty times, “It was good that it was in thy heart.” ’

(2) ‘When Æneas, in the tale of Virgil, flies from Troy, he makes his father, Anchises, carry the sacred things. Fresh from carnage as Æneas was, he felt it would be impiety to touch them. And a similar feeling broods upon this story, and keeps David from his cherished purpose, as if the hands which were imbrued in slaughter, must not erect the house of heavenly mercy.’ (See 1 Chronicles 22:8.)

(3) ‘Note the gentleness and considerateness of God’s dealings with His people. David seems surprised, almost overwhelmed, by the graciousness of the message which he received. His disappointment was so sweetly tempered by recallings of past mercies, and assurances of continual favour. Illustrate from the expressions used in Psalms 18:25. If we can plainly see that God’s ways with us are gracious at one time, we can trust that they are gracious at another time, when they may seem strange to us. “He doeth all things well.” ’

(4) ‘How good it is to sit before the Lord—not exactly praying or asking, but communing—speaking as a man with his friend. We can but say, Do as Thou hast said, and may solace ourselves on the absolute certainty that every word will be fulfilled.’

(5) ‘Here we meet him in a new light. He is devout as well as daring. He has his hour and his place for prayer as well as for statesmanship. If David and Daniel, men of business, were also men of prayer, surely we have no excuse for neglecting this privilege. He who makes a business of prayer will be pretty sure to make a prayer of business. We need learn the lesson with which our study opens. The busiest man in all that land was the man who “went in and sat before the Lord.”

For we, brought forth and reared in hours

Of change, alarm, surprise,

What shelter to grow ripe is ours,

What leisure to grow wise?’