A Reminder for God
2 Samuel 7:18-29
18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?
19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods?
24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.
25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken.
26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you.
27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.
29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
One of the aspects of our faith that make us unique on a global scale is the many promises of God. The Judeo / Christian faith is the only one where the leader of the faith, in this case God Almighty, has made promises that He intends to keep (or has already kept.) Our religion stands alone in that God does it all. We are His children and recipients of His gracious action. In other faiths, there are works to be accomplished in order to earn your way into heaven or earn the love of your god. Not so in Christianity!
David has settled into his role as king and is well on the path to establishing the kingdom that God had prepared for him. He has set about strengthening his capital in Jerusalem and is drawing close to successfully eliminating the enemies of Israel. This is the kingdom God had planned for His people for so long. At this juncture, David sits down with God and has a little review. The conversation, on David’s part, goes something like this; “God you said you would bring about a great kingdom and establish my name forever. Remember? You said you would make your people strong and you promised to bless my family forever. Remember?” And while he is saying all of this, David is also giving praise to a mighty God for keeping His promises and following through with the plan. This conversation depicts a relationship that is strong, personal and comfortable between David and God. Can your relationship with God be defined like that?
It is always a good idea to see how we are treating our relationship with God. There are several discernable levels in how important we view that relationship and where it stand at any given time.
1. Don’t know God at all – There are multiple millions out there who don’t know God at all. He is at best a mystery to these people or they don’t believe He exists at all.
2. Believe there is a God – But He is distant and not a part of their lives. This group of people are not ready to discount God all together, nor are they ready to engage Him as important in any way. Might attend church on holidays.
3. Believe in God – And accept that Jesus, His Son, has saved them. Their faith goes no further than this and God is not a part of their everyday lives.
4. Have a relationship with Jesus – This includes a stunted prayer life and a small amount of knowledge of the Bible.
5. Are intimate with God – And include Him in every part of their lives. Prayer is rich and all inclusive and knowledge of the Bible is precious because it means knowledge of God.
Level 5 is where we find David. He is always ready to sit down and talk with God honestly and holding nothing back. While the words are couched in heartfelt praise, they also resound with “this is what You said You would do.” That is a real relationship. Nothing is hidden or held back. David isn’t afraid to expose what lies in his heart and for him God is real and God is present. Did David walk around with his heart always firmly planted in God’s kingdom? Sadly, no, as we will learn in a few chapters. But for the most part, David was God’s man. We all waver in and out of the different levels. Hopefully we don’t dip into the place where we are not connected with God very often or for very long. But it happens sometimes.
We’ve all had friends with whom we’ve lost touch or who we don’t get to interact with often enough. But we all know how to use the phone or jot and email. We just don’t take the time. The same can happen with God as we forget to pray or ignore reading the Bible for a time. But with our true friends, and definitely with God, the relationship can be renewed and move into life together again.
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