In this chapter, David notes that "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the Lord remains in a tent."
And Nathan receives from the Lord a revelation, which is passed on to David. The Lord, in a nutshell, says "I never asked for or desired to have a house" and he also says, instead, that he will establish David's house, and that a descendant of his will be the one to build the temple (this turns out to be Solomon). The Lord promises that his kingdom shall endure forever and his throne will be established before God.
David responds by praying to the Lord in humility, thankfulness, praise, joy, and with glorification, saying "Who am I, O sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?." He continues to praise the Lord for his blessings, and asks for God to fulfill his promise, "so that your name will be great forever. Let men say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' " One thing that I am in awe of is David's sense of perspective, of how he can see himself through God's eyes, and humbles himself knowing how small he is, and it is incredible that he glorifies God in every turn. The amazing thing being is that he has given over his victories to God's glory from the beginning. When he came to Goliath, he said to him:
"You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day, the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the Earth, and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. All those who are gathered here know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
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Yeah...I have had that kind of righteous indignant confidence from time to time in "battle" but I wish I had it all the time (when appropriate). What I always tell people who are facing a giant in their lives is that David went over God's track record in his life. He reminded himself and King Saul of all that God had done in his life and gave confidence to King Saul that God would show up again. That's why I journal..I can go over just a few pages of the past and I'm reminded of who my God is and what He's capable of.
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