Last time we saw how bitter David's
first wife, Michal was. She resented him in her heart as he danced
with all his might to the Lord. Even though she had reason to be
bitter, we learned that it is never a good thing to stay bitter. We
must look up to a new day dawning and follow God to where He is
leading us. New dawns are always around the corner, we should never
miss it just because we wanted to stay behind the closed doors of
bitterness. It cost Michal in the end, and we must make sure that
the same doesn't happen to us.
God had given David rest from all
his enemies all around. David was blessed indeed. David wanted to
portray his gratitude to the Lord by building a Temple for the
Lord. He conveyed his wishes to Nathan the prophet, who
replied:
"Go, do all that is in your
heart, for the Lord is with you." 2 Samuel 7:3
But Nathan responded too quickly,
because that night the Lord spoke to Nathan and said that He didn't
want David to build Him the Temple. God declared that His Temple
was going to be built by David's son. He however spoke kindly about
David and solemnly promised that David's lineage will last forever.
His throne shall be established forever. Nathan then returned and
gave this message to David.
David immediately turned to the
Lord and praised Him.
"Therefore You are great, O
Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides
You, according to all we have heard with our ears. Now therefore,
let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may
continue before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it,
and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed
forever." 2 Samuel 7:22, 29
David was truly remarkable. He
could have been sour that God didn't choose him to build His Temple
for Him. He could have been resentful towards his son who will have
the honor to build the Temple instead of him. But he wasn't.
Instead he immediately praised God. He knew that God knew best. He
exalted His Name and glorified Him. Isn't it wonderful?
We might also have plans, plans
that we view to be good plans, but God may have other plans for us.
We should always consult Him and hear from Him. It happens often
that we follow our own heads and our own planning, and then we get
tired and things don't work out as we have planned, then we go
crying to God asking why He allowed this to happen. But in the
meantime, we never made the effort to actually hear if this is the
route that we should take.
We should also make sure that we
get more than one confirmation. Nathan firstly responded in the
flesh and told David to go ahead, but God intervened and Nathan was
humble enough to go back to David and tell him that he was wrong.
But if the person is not humble enough to come and correct their
'word' to you, make sure that you have more than one confirmation
on what you are planning to do. Now of course you don't need
confirmations for every small thing, I am talking about quite big
decisions in your life. Make sure that you clearly hear from God.
You can hear yourself, through His Word and through other people as
well. Then move on with confidence once you are sure what He wants
you to do.
And if His plan is not your plan,
don't resent what God is planning for others, but rather rejoice
for all that He is planning for you. At the end you will look back
and know that it was all for the best. He knows your personality,
your circumstances, He knows everything and knows what will fit you
best. Trust Him, truly trust Him. You will be glad that you
did.
Father we want to honor You in all
that we do. Help us on this journey and give us clear guidance as
to where You want us to go. We cannot do this on our own; we will
make too many mistakes. Thank you that we can know that when we
humble ourselves before You that You will lead and guide us as we
go. We love and praise You. Amen