A Promise to David, that only Jesus could Fulfill

Is God more interested in what we do for Him or in what He does for us? A world of religions basically teaches that we have to do our best and then hope that God will do the rest. The drive to do great things for God and the impulse to impress Him are deep within the human heart. But the story of Scripture confronts us again and again with pieces that don’t fit the puzzle of doing great things to earn God’s favor. This housing conversation between David and the Lord and in 2 Samuel 7 is one beautiful example.

Who could fault David for wanting to do something great for the Lord? Why shouldn’t he build a house for the Lord? In our accounting models, it makes sense. Imagine David sitting down to reflect on his situation:

The Lord’s greatness is unsearchable; I am just a man.The Lord has delivered me again and again; now I am King of Israel.I’m living in a palace, a house of cedar; the Lord lives in a tent.I know what I’ll do…I’ll build the Lord a house!

The logic is watertight, right? “God has done all this; I should at least do this.” Even Nathan the prophet agrees with David’s building campaign. But then the word of the Lord comes, and David’s building project gets kicked down the road. As the Lord brings what He plans to do into the foreground, David’s grand design moves to the background. David wants to do something great for the Lord, but the Lord intends to do something for David and His people that could never be contained within four walls. The Lord’s promises to David are so great that only the Lord Himself could fulfill them. Jesus Christ, great David’s greater Son, came to fulfill God’s promises to David. Having conquered all of His people’s enemies, the Son of David will reign on His throne forever. Jesus brings the joy of His salvation to all who trust in what He has done, and He continues His great building project through His church, where every member is a living stone.

The next time we think the priority is doing something great for God, let’s remember the Lord’s promise to build David a house. The next time we look at Jesus and say, “You shall never wash my feet” (John 13:8), let’s remember the Lord’s plan to go to the cross. We worship a God who would rather dwell in tents with His people than live in a palace (2 Samuel 7:6-7). We worship a God who put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood (John 1:14). We worship a God who is building us up into a house in which He Himself dwells (Ephesians 2:22). We worship a God who has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. We will never outdo or out-build the Lord. But what might we do if we truly believed and received all that the Lord has done for us?