DAILY BYTE
In 2 Samuel 7:1 we read that David was well settled in his kingship, well settled in his royal palace, and well settled in the land. His former struggle for the throne with the house of Saul is over, his struggle in establishing Jerusalem as his capital is over, and his struggle with his enemies around him is, for the time being, over. We would say that David’s star had risen, he was flying high, he was at the top of his game.
And so his thoughts turn to the Ark of the LORD, and the concern that there was no formal structure to house it, just a tent. It seemed to David that in the midst of all the signs of his success, there should be something more substantial for God, something more dignified, more fitting, a proper temple that would match up to the standards David had set for his own royal palace.
On the face of it, it appears as if David’s plan came from a noble desire to honour God. But God’s response was quite clear – He didn’t want a temple. For two reasons. Firstly, it’s the height of human arrogance to think that any man-made structure could contain the infinite God.
Jim Harnish writes, “The Almighty God cannot be confined, pinned down, or boxed by human efforts. The God we meet in the Bible is constantly on the move. This is the God whose very nature is freedom and who is always doing some new thing. Years later, when God finally gave a building permit for a temple and the project first proposed by David was completed by his son, King Solomon was wise enough to pray, ‘The highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!’ (1 Kings 8:27).”
Secondly, it is not external structures that indicate our religious devotion, but rather the inner disposition of our hearts. Authentic spirituality begins with the commitment to look at life from the inside out. This is what God is interested in – the space we create within us for the Spirit of God to be at work within the deep, inner core of our being to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives.
The word of re-assurance that came to David is a word that God speaks to us too: “I have been with you wherever you have gone…. And I will prepare a place for my people…so that they can have a home” (2 Sam 7:9-10).
PRAY AS YOU GO
O Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Remind us of who you are. Remind us that our lives depend upon you and not the other way around. Help us to make more space for you in our lives, that you might come and take up residency within us, and move us into the wide-open expanse of your loving purposes for all the world. Amen
FOCUS SCRIPTURE
2 Samuel 7:1-2, 4-10
After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent."
That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" '
"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the great ones of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed.”
