THE ONLY PLAN THAT MATTERS

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

Nathan replied to David, “Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you.”

But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders^[a] whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.”

“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

1 Chronicles 17:1-15

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Are you a person who likes to plan things? Do you like to take a concept or a vision and then do what it takes to make it a reality?

I think in a way we all find ourselves in this place from time to time. We are often future-pointing people who want to map out our lives, setting achievement waypoints along the way toward our ultimate goal. And typically our plans are focused on making something better, most of the time that something being our lives or the lives of someone else.

We see this in action as we look at the opening verses of the 17th Chapter of 1 Chronicles. There we find King David struggling with a situation in Jerusalem, one that definitely had him troubled. Look at his words:

After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.”

You’ll remember that everything in Jerusalem was being rebuilt once David established his rule there. Part of that rebuilding project was a palace for the king and from the scripture we know it was built of cedar. The king of Israel had a fine place to reside but what bothered David was that while he was living in luxury, the holy ark of the covenant of the Lord was under a tent. For David, a man after God’s own heart, this wasn’t an acceptable place of honor for something of God and he shared his feelings with his prophet Nathan.

Note here that, although not openly stated, we get the idea that David is considering having a proper temple constructed to place the ark of the covenant in and as he shares his feelings with Nathan, the prophet doesn’t say anything that would deter him from that thought. He simply tells David to do whatever was on his mind because God was with him.

Now, on the surface here, nothing appears wrong. Both men seem to be thinking in the right direction.

David has absolutely wonderful intentions and is not centered on himself but rather on God. His guilty mindset shows a sense of great humility for someone who was sitting on the king’s throne.

Nathan was well aware that God was with David and had helped him win many victories over the enemies of Israel. His counsel to David was centered on David simply carrying out what he was thinking of doing and that was building a temple for the ark of God.

But as we consider what is going on here, we should notice one very glaring omission. There is no mention of asking God about what He wants done, about what His will was in the situation at hand.

You see, we’re like that too aren’t we? We’re great about wanting to plan and go after goals to find success but we’re not so great in asking God to help us as we develop those plans. Our excitement in chasing our own desires trumps our desire to live our lives in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord and the only way we can live in that way is by consistently and persistently calling on Him to lead us in our plans. After all, didn’t the Lord say these words in the Bible:

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan already set for all of us, plans that will give us hope and a future. In fact, His plan is the only plan that matters. We need to only seek His plans for us and then do what He bids us to do to reach His goals for our lives. This means we need to surrender the desires of our hearts for the desires of His.

Back to our passage today as we find God intervening in David’s planning before it got too far down the road. God knew what David was considering and as we’ll see, His plan was quite different from David’s. Look at the remainder of the passage for today:

But that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:

“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.”

“‘I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.

The scriptures tells us that God sent a word to Nathan the night after his conversation with David and that word contained the plans that God had for his appointed king, the man that was after His own heart. As we look at this, we should note one very important takeaway. For while David’s plan was only in the very near future (i.e. build a temple for the ark), God’s revealed plan was far more reaching even out to what would happen after David passed away. God indeed knew His plans for David, the plans that would bring him hope and a future. All David needed to know was that this plan was in place. God revealed it to him in the words spoken by Nathan which included the following key points:

1. David would not be building the temple.

This is what the Lord says: “You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

“When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me.”

It was in God’s plan for a temple to be built but it would be David’s son who would build it. And God in a way reminds David that when He wants something done, He will order it. God had never ordered a house of cedar to be built before the ark came to Jerusalem and He hadn’t ordered it there either. Had David inquired of this, God would have told him personally but since David was considering his own plan, God had to set him straight as to what He wanted done.

2. Although David would not build the temple, it wasn’t because he had fallen from God’s favor.

“Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men on earth.”

David wasn’t a perfect man. He was flawed just like we are. But through most of his life, he did  conscientiously try and live in a way that was pleasing to God who had chosen David when he was a young shepherd boy and brought him through many trials and perils to become king of Israel. What had to comfort David was that God’s plan contained a promise to remain with him and make his name great on earth.

3. God would also watch over, protect, and provide for the Israelites.

“I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies.”

David wasn’t the only one who would be cared for. His people would be taken care of as well, at least for the time being. We know through the word of God that they will not honor God with the way they live and thus bring judgment upon themselves, judgment that will include oppression and exile at the hands of their enemies. But for the time being, life would be good because God would be with them and promised He would take care of them.

4. After David’s reign ends, his son would succeed him.

“I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.”

God would bless David with many children but only one would have the right to assume the throne upon David’s death. We know this will be Solomon, the son that God promises to establish the kingdom under and allow to build the temple, the son who will find his throne established forever and never find himself void of God’s love.

As we see, God’s plan extended well beyond David’s and it would be this plan that would be done because it was the only one that mattered. After all, it was the very will of the Lord God Almighty.

Friends, we all tend to make life too hard because we want to try and figure everything out and come up with plans regarding what we should do. Can’t we see from this scripture today that we need to simply inquire of God as to what He wants us to do in every situation of life. He knows the plans He has for us and will reveal them if we only seek His will and way, not just when it’s convenient but always.

For as it has been since the very dawn of creation, God has a plan and His plan is the only one that matters.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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