David's desire for building a Temple - Charlotte Villa
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be truly acceptable to you - Amen
Ø WHAT WE DO - even things that on the surface look righteous and pleasing to God
o Mean nothing to God - if we don’t do them with a truly sincere heart
Ø Our Old Testament reading, today from second Samuel, shows us how even one of the greatest heroes of scripture, King David, gets it wrong
o Wrong, yet on the surface it all seemed right
Ø I will set the scene for you
o In the two chapters right before today’s some pretty significant events transpire
§ All the leaders of the tribes of Israel have come together - and in their uniting together they anoint David as King over all Israel
§ Jerusalem is made capital of the united Israel
§ David leads the March of the ark covenant to Jerusalem
· He was dancing before the ark of covenant with all his might
Ø Then today’s passage - which starts out innocently enough
o we are told that the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies
Ø David - in this moment of rest - gets a bright idea
o David contemplates that he is living in a mansion - a house built of cedar and he wants to build a temple for the Lord to house the ark of the covenant
§ The prophet Nathan, which seems to be David closest advisor agrees
· As far as he can see the Lord has been with David, therefore the Lord must be with David in his intention to building the temple
Ø On the surface it all looks to make sense
o On the surface David’s intentions seem honorable
§ David is showing his respect for God and the things of God by wanting to build a temple for the ark of the covenant
Ø But God knows better!
Ø There is an old joke “how do you make God laugh?
o tell him YOUR plans” (pause)
§ This joke runs to the very heart of passage today
Ø You see God instructs Nathan through a vision that David’s is to be rebuked (told that his plans for building a temple are not going to happen and why)
Ø So what was God saying when he rebuked David
o God questions David with a wonderfully sarcastic line “Are you the one to build me a house to live in?”
Ø God knew David’s heart - knew his intentions and his motivation
o You see David thought he was doing something for God
o And God called him on it
§ He says through Nathan…
· “Go and tell my servant David”
· no longer is this David the King - but David the servant
· he says that God has been present with them in all their wanderings in every situation
· God says through Nathan that All of David’s success is due to God and not to David’s effort alone
o David is taken “From the pasture to the prince”
· He says that It is God has defeated his enemies
· That God will appoint a place for his people - and they will be disturbed no more
Ø Why was God putting a halt to the best intentions of David
§ Or at least - what on the surface seems like the best intentions
o Because God knows our hearts - God sees through it all - and knows our true motivation
o God knows that David was trying to do something FOR God
o God doesn’t want our stuff
§ God wants our hearts
§ There are countless examples of how God through the prophets telling us that what WE give to God is not the important thing.
Ø So why David - why his house - his lineage
o why does David get such an important role
Ø Because David gets it right some times
§ gets it right in a big way
o Like his righteous zeal against the taunting of Goliath - the cursing of the Lord by Goliath
o Or like dancing before the procession of the ark of the covenant coming into Jerusalem - and it says “dancing with all his might”
Ø David was rightly rebuked for thinking of doing anything FOR God
Ø David is there to show us that attitude is everything
o and God’s knows our hearts and knows when our attitude is rightly pointed to His will not our own
I will close with a story involving Mark Twain
A businessman well known for his ruthlessness once announced to writer Mark Twain, "Before I die I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mount Sinai and read the 10 Commandments aloud at the top." "I have a better idea," replied Twain. "You could stay in Boston and keep them."
Amen