READING: 2 Samuel 6-8, Luke 15:1-10
“Who am I, O Lord God?”
2 Samuel 7:18
The contrast is dramatic. Like “wet and dry.” Or “black and white.” Or “night and day.” Or “rich and poor.” It’s the contrast of a sinful man who wanted to build God a house, and a perfect God who planned to give the man a dynasty.
The man was David, the king. He was first a shepherd boy, the youngest of Jesse’s sons – a nobody in the world’s eyes. While he was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22), he was also a man who would commit adultery and be instrumental in murder. It was he who offered to build God a house, concerned that God’s ark dwelt “within tent curtains” while he lived in “a house of cedar” (2 Sam. 7:2). It seemed only right to honor God that way.
The God was Yahweh, the God of Israel. He was David’s God, but it was not His plan for David to build Him a house. He had led His people from Egypt without having a permanent dwelling, and He had not asked anyone, including David, to erect such a structure. David himself had been such a man of war who caused bloodshed that God would not allow him to build the temple (1 Chron. 22:8).
Nevertheless, the Lord also told David that He would “make a house for you,” and “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:11, 16). From imperfect David would come Solomon and then eventually Jesus, whose throne would be eternal.
All David could do in response was marvel at the grace of God: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” (2 Sam. 7:18). Thus, in another contrasting picture, David may have been the king, but he understood that he really was only God’s servant (evidenced by his calling himself “Your servant” ten times within his prayer in 2 Sam. 7). He served the God who called out His people, who redeemed them from Egypt, whose word is truth – and about whom David concluded, “there is none like You, and there is no God besides You” (2 Sam. 7:22).
None of us, of course, is the king. In fact, we are so not the king that we even more so can only conclude with David, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” All that we are, and all that we have, are products of the grace of God. There truly is no God besides Him.
ACTION STEPS:
- God is God, and we are not. Let that thought guide you today.
- Be amazed by His grace.
PRAYER: “God, You are the only God. There is none like You. I praise You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Samuel 9-11, Luke 15:11-32
