Apr 24 - David's Prayer

Read 2 Samuel 7:18-24

Context: David has just recently added Israel to his kingdom and has settled into his palace. He realized that it wasn't right for him to live in a palace of cedar when God 'lived' in a tent. He decided to build a temple. God told him (through the prophet Nathan) to stop work; David's son was the one who would build the temple, and He promised that David's descendants would rule for eternity.

Text:
18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said:
"Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD ?
20 "What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign LORD. 21 For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
22 "How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? [a] 24 You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God. (NIV)
Footnotes:
2 Samuel 7:23 See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 17:21; Hebrew wonders for your land and before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt, from the nations and their gods
taken from www.biblegateway.com

David was really excited about his idea to build a fabulous temple for the Lord. He knew that this would be a way to serve God that would have lasting value and he knew he was capable of the task. Yet God had other plans.

There have been several times in my life when I decided that God 'needed' me to do something special for him. I had all the skills, the idea, and the means to be a fantastic servant. Unfortunately that wasn't what God wanted from me at the time. He had other plans...sometimes the plans were even more amazing, other times he just wanted me to wait. It was often frustrating and I wasn't nearly as quick to give God praise as David was. Now if I can just learn to wait for Him to tell me what he needs instead of trying to tell Him!