Following Christ-Rediscovering the Jewish Faith of Jesusಮಾದರಿ

Day 7: God Can Bless Our Intent

In 2 Samuel 7, we read the story of King David and his desire to build a house for God. The dwelling that God so carefully described to Moses was a portable tabernacle that moved from place to place with the people of Israel as they occupied the Promised Land. David thought this was inappropriate now. He lived in a palace of cedar while God lived in a tent covered with animal skins! So, David purposed to build a house for God—a permanent temple.

God sent a message to David through the prophet, Nathan, that this was not according to His plan, but He made a couple of promises to David in the process. One was that it would be David’s son who would build a temple for God—not David.

But the greater promise was that God would build David a house, a dynasty. God told David through Nathan that “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).

This promise that the line of David would always include the kings of Israel was reinforced by the prophets, many of whom predicted that when God gathered the tribes of Israel back from exile into the land that He promised them and sent a permanent King Messiah, He would be a descendant of David.

David is an excellent example of someone who wanted to honor God, but found that the way He had planned to do it was not according to God’s plan. Nevertheless, God blessed the intent of David’s heart and gave him great rewards anyway.

We don’t always know what God’s plans for the future are. If we make it our intention to honor God, He will reward us—even if our plans don’t succeed the way we want. In David’s case, he remained engaged with his vision and actively gathered materials for the temple before he died, even though it would not be his project, but his son’s. David submitted his plans to God and was content in that.

God’s promise of an eternal kingdom to David’s progeny would have been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus if His offer of the kingdom had been accepted by Jewish leadership. Since it wasn’t, it will be fulfilled when He comes again to rule from Jerusalem. Revelation 11 says this: “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever’” (Revelation 11:15). Jesus, our Messiah, will rule and reign forever. What a great expectation we have!

Reflection

This day’s lesson was all about submission to God. David submitted to God about the temple, and God rewarded David’s heart by establishing David’s house as a royal house. We are each houses to God—houses He builds for Himself. Just like David, we are required to submit our plans to God and allow Him to make of us what He wants. Name some things you have submitted to God.

Submission sounds weak, but it’s actually a position of great strength. You’ve given your innermost dreams to the Master of the Universe in exchange for His. Imagine what He is going to do with that exchange.