2 Samuel 7:18-29 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord ? “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord. Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant. “How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. You made Israel your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God. “And now, O Lord God, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. Confirm it as a promise that will last forever. And may your name be honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is God over Israel!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever. “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, I have been bold enough to pray this prayer to you because you have revealed all this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings!’ For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to your servant. And now, may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you have spoken, and when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”

Dear God, I think it’s important to know the context of this prayer. David is established as king, living in the palace and at peace with the world around him. Then he gets an idea about building a temple for you, he tells Nathan about it, and Nathan’s response out of his humanly wisdom is, “Great idea. Go for it.” Of course, as a prophet, Nathan might personally benefit from having a temple, but I think all of their motives are good. They want to worship you through the building of the temple. But that’s not what you want. You tell David, through Nathan (not directly), that his offspring will build the temple. You have other plans for him. The result of this news is a humble prayer of worship. 

So here is a little word from me to tell you how grateful I am. Even doing this prayer to you this morning, I have felt like I hear your still small voice speaking to me. “Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord?” (I love that line from David’s prayer). This makes me think that before I go back to work I need to sit down and read through 1 & 2 Samuel again. There is so much wisdom and so much of you there. 

Father, as I go through this day and the next few, traveling with a good friend, help us to be iron for each other. Sharpen him through me and sharpen me through him. Be glorified in us so that others around us and our family and friends might be touched by you trough our lives. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen