Village Schools of the Bible

A Devotional Study of 2 Samuel 7
by Max Frazier, Jr.

God is faithful to His promises. He is faithful to all He has written in His Word. God is consistently consistent in all that He does. In a world where change is about the only constant, it is so refreshing to just rest in an unchanging God. At times I am just overwhelmed with Who God is. And I marvel that He has chosen me to serve Him. I wonder if that is how David felt when God shared with him His plans. The answer is found in Second Samuel 7, our focus for this week.

I. David's desire to build a temple for the ark (vs 1-3)

II. God's message to David through Nathan (vs. 4-17)

A. God had not dwelt in a house before (vs. 4-7)

B. David to become great (vs. 8-11)

C. David's throne to be established (vs. 12-17)

III. David's prayer of commitment (vs. 18-29)

David's great disappointment at being told that God would not allow him to build a temple for the Lord was tempered by the overwhelming magnitude of God's great gift to him. David could not build a house for God, but God was going to build a house for David. That house would be an eternal one. David is overcome as he thinks of the magnitude of God's sovereignty. How long has it been since you, since I, have been so moved. We hardly give thought to God's sovereignty today. Our emphasis is upon His love and mercy, His grace and faithfulness. In their own right, those are great attributes of God. But because we are self-centered we are slow to emphasize God's sovereignty. God is still the ruler yet. God still sits on the throne. God still orchestrates the affairs of this world and of my own life. We may not understand the how or the why of God's ways. But, like David, we just need to praise God for His ways.

The promise God made with David was an unconditional one. It was not based upon what God had done or would do. Furthermore, it was not based upon what David's children would do. God knew that they would mess up and need disciplined (see verses 13-16), but yet God would not take the kingdom from the hands of David. This very fact is what makes the promises of God so awesome. They are all grounded upon the eternal, unchanging nature of God. We can and will err, but God is so very faithful (read 2 Timothy 2:13). Praise God!

2Samuel 6 Return to the Table of Contents