Word of Encouragement (10/31/2023)
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 of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house." (2 Sam. 7:27-29).
David prefaces his petition with these words: “Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you” (v. 27b). Why did he need courage to bring this petition to God? Because God’s promise to him seemed too good to be true. His words show that he could never have come up with this petition on his own; never in a thousand years could he have dared to utter these words of petition. Notice: when he said that he needed courage to pray this petition, he began with “Therefore.” That means that his courage came from what he mentioned in the preceding verse, not from his ambition or imagination: “For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’” (v. 27a). His petition was based on God’s promise. Even so, he needed courage to ask the LORD to fulfill His promise to him! That’s how wonderful it seemed to him.
As if that were not enough, David reminds God of His promise one more time after the petition as he ends his prayer: “For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house” (v. 29b). Structurally, this petition (vv. 28-29a) is enveloped by David’s dual rehearsal of God’s promise: before the petition (v. 27) and after it (v. 29b). We can see how much he valued God’s promise and clung to it with all his might. He was humble enough to recognize how undeserving he was of the promise.
Let us also notice that he was humble enough to embrace it fully and cling to it wholly. False humility says, “No, that can’t be. That’s too good to be true. I don’t deserve it.” Behind those words lurks pride, not humility. When we receive a gift with this kind of thinking, does it not show that we deserve it? Instead, true humility focuses on the generosity of the giver and accepts it with genuine gratitude.
Behind these words also lies cynical skepticism, wondering “Why would anyone, even God, be so generous to us? There must be a sinister, ulterior motive.” Such skepticism may be justified in our dealings with people but certainly not with God! What can God possibly want from us? All that we are and have are all from God. If God wants our love and loyalty, it is because He is the Fountain of life and every blessing.
What was David’s petition? He simply asked the LORD to fulfill His promise to establish his house and bless it forever as the royal household of Israel. God answered his prayer by granting Jesus, the Seed of David, who established the throne of His kingdom forever! And we have been given the privilege to take part in this fulfillment as God’s beloved children and as His royal priesthood through our faith in Jesus Christ. Let us embrace this truth wholeheartedly and pray with humble trust in God’s promise to answer our prayers as we pray in Jesus’ name!