Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said:
"Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, O Sovereign Lord, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?”
“What more can David say to you? For you know Your servant, O Sovereign Lord. For the sake of Your word and according to Your will, You have done this great thing and made it known to Your servant.”
“How great You are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for Himself, and to make a name for Himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.”
“And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise You have made concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You promised, so that Your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.”
“O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, You have revealed this to Your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So Your servant has found courage to offer You this prayer. O Sovereign Lord, You are God! Your words are trustworthy, and You have promised these good things to Your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever in Your sight; for You, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever."
2 Samuel 7:18-29
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
At the beginning of 2nd Samuel, Chapter 7, the Lord sends a message to David via the prophet Nathan.
You’ll remember that David had spoken to Nathan about an idea he had founded on his guilt feelings. For David was living in a “palace of cedar” while the ark of God was in a tent. The implication was that David planned on building a structure to house the holy ark and Nathan didn’t say anything to discourage David’s idea, instead urging him to go ahead and do whatever was on his mind because the Lord was with him.
Well, the Lord entered in and sent word to David that He and He alone would choose when and where and by whose hands the house for the ark would be built. He also reminds David that He had taken him from the pasture to where he was…king of Israel and Judah…blessing him along the way. He also reminded David that He had set apart the people of Israel as His people and would continue to watch over them. Finally, the Lord assured David that his offspring would be blessed as well, assuming his throne and kingdom while being the one who would build the house for His name.
As we know, this will fall on David’s son, Solomon, who will later ascend to replace David as king and build the temple for the Lord.
So David had received a very special word from the Lord. What would he do next? Hopefully what we all would do. He turned to the Lord in prayer and in that prayer taught us some important elements that we should likewise emulate anytime we come before the Lord.
First, note how David consistently acknowledges God’s authority.
He calls Him “Sovereign Lord” and “Lord Almighty”, establishing God as being THE King…THE Sovereign Ruler over all things who was also Almighty…with power above and over anything and anyone. David knew he had been granted a powerful, ruling position but he paled in comparison to the King he served…the Sovereign, Almighty Lord of Lords.
And this leads to the second element we see in David’s prayer that we should copy…humility.
For the first thing that David says to his Sovereign, Almighty Lord is:
“Who am I…and what is my family, that You have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in Your sight, O Sovereign Lord, You have also spoken about the future of the house of Your servant. Is this Your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?”
David saw himself and his family as completely unworthy and undeserving of God’s favor. And yet, God had blessed David immensely and had brought him to the time and place where he was in prayer. But God didn’t stop there. He promised future blessings on the house of David well beyond David’s passing. All this led David to wonder is this was the usual way of dealing with man. And as we all can well profess, it is for God has continued to take undeserving sinners like us and show us a favor, grace, mercy and love that we haven’t earned nor deserve…yet He grants it to us still because He is our Father and we are His children. And like any parent, He has a plan for us in life.
David knew this and acknowledged God’s will and the power of His word over His people…the third element important in prayer.
For we have our fixations on what God should do for us but we must remember that He will do for us and to us as He wills. We aren’t in control...He is…and we need only submit to the authority of the Sovereign, Almighty Lord…our Father in Heaven who favors us even though we fall short of living up to His expectations.
Again, hear David’s prayerful words:
“What more can David say to you? For you know Your servant, O Sovereign Lord. For the sake of Your word and according to Your will, You have done this great thing and made it known to Your servant.”
Indeed, what more can we say to a God who knows us better than we know ourselves? The Lord knew David and knew that he was fit to rule over His people. By His word and will, He appointed David king and by His will and word, He chose to bless Israel and future generations of David’s family.
As things play out in our lives, we would be so much better off to just surrender to God’s will and word instead of resist and fight against it. For if we would only give control over to God and acknowledge that He knows what is best for us…if we would only understand like David that He knows us and thus will use His will, way and word to put us in the place He wants us to be to fulfill the purposes He wants us to fulfill…then we would find ourselves so much more content in whatever our circumstances because we have placed our full trust in the Lord…the only place our trust should be.
And when we do this, when we surrender all to the Lord and fully place our trust in Him, then we are taken to a place where we can praise Him for everything that He does in our lives because we are allowing Him and Him alone to lead and guide us each and every day. Thus, nothing comes to us by way of our own works but His and His alone.
David was brought to this point…the point of praise in prayer…the fourth important element.
Again, we return to the words of David:
“How great You are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You, and there is no God but You, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for Himself, and to make a name for Himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? You have established Your people Israel as Your very own forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.”
We see where David takes time to acknowledge God’s greatness and distinction. For what else would one say about a God who had created and made everything? If that isn’t GREAT then what is? And since God and God alone created everything in heaven and on earth, then truly He was and is in a class by Himself with no rival…not then…not now…not ever.
David went on to extend his praise of God by wondering if there were any other people like the people of Israel, not that they had done anything themselves to make them distinguished but only because God had favored them, driving out nations and their gods while redeeming them from their enemies.
And He favors us as well today if we turn to Him, praise Him, and acknowledge that He and He alone is God…great with no equal…able to do all things…in, around and through us.
With that understanding, we can find ourselves confident as we come before God with any request…or petition…the fifth key element of prayer.
For when we see God for who He is…Sovereign…Almighty…Great…and because of this, able to do all things in accordance with His will, way and word for us, then we can approach Him with confidence as we lift up our requests in petition to Him.
Back to David’s prayer:
“And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise You have made concerning Your servant and his house. Do as You promised, so that Your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.”
Now that David has recognized and praised God’s blessing on him, his family and his people, he now asks the Lord to forever keep the promise He made. For David knew that when God’s people knew and relied on His promises, that they would ever lift up God as their Lord Almighty…the One through which all things are possible. And we will ever be brought to the same place as we recognize God’s acts in our lives as blessings and petition His promises to be fulfilled in our own lives in accordance with His will.
When we do this, we will be find ourselves in a spirit of thanksgiving, the final key element that we see in David’s prayer…and a key element that we should always include in our prayers as well.
For David finished his prayer by saying:
“O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, You have revealed this to Your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So Your servant has found courage to offer You this prayer. O Sovereign Lord, You are God! Your words are trustworthy, and You have promised these good things to Your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever in Your sight; for You, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with Your blessing the house of Your servant will be blessed forever.”
When someone helps us in some way, we typically take the time to thank them for what they have done. In fact, it’s been said that the second most powerful set of words after “I love you” are “Thank you”. We simply can’t say these words enough…to one another…and certainly to our God.
And so David finishes his prayer by thanking the Lord for what He has done for him…for revealing His will and way for David, his family and Israel…and for providing the blessings that David and his house had experienced.
Question: Do we truly sit down and count all the many blessings the Lord has bestowed on us?
If we did, then we would ALWAYS find ourselves in a spirit of gratitude…for God has given us so very much…much more than we deserve…and for that we should give thanks.
And the good news is that He has so much more in store. For we know that through His promises to us…promises that we, like David, know are trustworthy…there is an abundance of blessings that are yet to come both in life and death through His Son Jesus Christ. And that is truly reason to give thanks.
Would you finish this devotional by praying this prayer with me?
Almighty, Omnipotent, Everlasting God,
I draw before You now in humbleness, not worthy to be in Your presence for I am a sinner. Forgive me, O Lord, for the times I have failed and fallen and show me the way You want me to go in life. Illuminate me with Your Spirit and Your Word…lighting the path that You want me to walk while revealing to me the things You want me to do. Right here and now, I surrender myself to Your leadership and guidance.
And I praise You, O God, for You and You alone have brought me to this place and time after blessing me so richly with every day that has led up to now. My Father, how thankful I am to know how much You love me for I am Your child…and I know that You only want the best for me. So I give myself to You right now and ask that You mold and shape me to be the person You want me to be. Clothe me in Your righteousness so that other might see a glimpse of You through the way I live.
Lord, I just love You so much and want to love like You love…unconditionally and eternally. To that end, send Your Holy Spirit into my heart, I pray, and help me become more like Your Son Jesus…who You sent to die on the cross for my sins and offer me the promise of eternal life.
Thank you Lord for all this and more. For Your blessings have flowed and continue to flow abundantly to me…and I can always trust that You are near me…just as You are this very moment as I pray to You in Your most holy and wonderful Name. Amen.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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