2 Samuel 7
1 King David was living in his palace, and the Lord had given him peace from all his enemies around him. 2 Then David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a palace made of cedar wood, but the Ark of God is in a tent!”
3 Nathan said to the king, “Go and do what you really want to do, because the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the Lord spoke his word to Nathan, 5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: Will you build a house for me to live in?...
… 12 “‘When you die and join your ancestors, I will make one of your sons the next king, and I will set up his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for me, and I will let his kingdom rule always.
NCV
I could talk about David's faith and patience in reference to tons of moments in his life besides this incident in 2 Samuel. After all, he was approved as king by the Lord way before he was on the physical throne. Both while he was waiting and after he was recognized as king by all Israel, God was with him. David lived through war and battles, through being hunted by his enemies, through sin and redemption, through serious family issues...and all of this happened over many years. David's life as a whole shows that God's plan doesn't start and stop somewhere in the middle.
In 2 Samuel 7, David desires to build a stationary temple for the Lord, who has been worshiped in the mobile Tabernacle for years. At first, David receives approval. However, Nathan soon informs King David what God's approval actually means in this case. You see, David kind of jumped the gun a little here. In the Lord's reply, we recognize support of King David and support of the project...just not support of King David accomplishing the project. Instead, the work is to go to David's sons.
Physically, it is the next generation's King Solomon who constructs and finishes the first Temple for the Lord in Jerusalem (this first Temple is later torn down and then a second one is eventually built, which also gets destroyed).
Spiritually, it is the Son, Jesus, who comes many generations later in David's line that builds up The House of the Lord (the Temple that can never be torn down).
Pastor Jeremy Treat says in a sermon on 2 Samuel 2:1-17 that to give David a sense of these long-term goals, "God doesn't just say, 'No,' to David. He essentially says to him, 'Not yet, and not you.' ...and God says to him, 'I'm going to do it.' ...'and it's going to be through someone else,' and his son Solomon is the one who builds the Temple."
Do you ever feel like God says something similar in your life? "Not yet, and not you."
I know I have.
When I was younger, I went through a very strong phase of wanting to be a global missionary. I didn't just want to go on a mission trip, I wanted to travel, meet people, and serve others in ways that defied American cultural norms. I wanted to make a difference, especially starting as young as possible to prove that my generation could do this.
Basically, this phase ended when God taught me, "Not yet, and not you." My plans to be a missionary were good and godly...but they were my plans for me, not the Lord's plans, and not in His timing.
Does He want to send people like I wanted to go? Of course. Does He want to use me to do great things for His kingdom? Yep! But when it came to being a young missionary and Kingdom worker at the time? The answer was clear. Not yet, and not you. I was used in other ways during that part of my life, and now I have other career dreams...and, perhaps most importantly, I recognize other meanings to being a missionary.
You see, like David, I felt I had received approval of my mission-intended desires.
However, like David, support of my big idea needed a bit of explaining...because God's support didn't mean what I first thought.
Like David, I've had to learn to be patient. I've had to realize I won't get to see all of the Kingdom work I imagine. I won't get to choose my timing for my role. I'll leave it all up to God.
David may have had other times where he had to be patient in his life, but I believe it is 2 Samuel 7 that truly makes him a Patient Hero. From this little section, we see acceptance and even praise from David to the Lord for saying, "No."
And to conclude, let me reiterate, it wasn't just, 'no,' but more effectively, "Not yet, and not you."
So here's the big question:
Will we praise God today, like David did, if we get the same response to our big ideas?
Title of sermon from Church Reality LA is The Partial Kingdom: http://kingdom.realityla.com/the-partial-kingdom/ and part I referenced is 43:10-43:54 (although I highly recommend listening to the whole thing if you get the chance)
