That the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.” 2 Samuel 7:2
For most of his life, David had been a warrior fighting battle after battle. Eventually, he came into a season during which God gave him “rest from all his enemies all around” (7:1). One day, David stood at the balcony of his palace admiring its splendor when it suddenly dawned upon him the shabbiness of God’s tabernacle. Immediately, he was grieved in his heart because a makeshift tent was not an appropriate place for the King of kings. David complained to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains” (7:2).
That night, the Lord responded by saying, “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?” God does not need to stay in a house made by human hands. He is too big for that! The best supercomputers in the world estimate that there are 40 sextillion stars in the universe. That is 4 followed by 23 zeroes! Even if you travel at the speed of light, it would still take 50 quintillion years to reach the edge of the universe. That is 5 followed by 19 zeroes! Yet, even the heaven of heavens can’t hold our God. He is infinitely bigger than the universe He has created. How then could God be contained in a house of cedar? Nonetheless, God was very moved by the love David had for him. He was touched by the fact that when David had become famous, wealthy and powerful, he had not forgotten the Source of his success (7:6-9). The temple David planned to build was temporal at best. But turning His face to David, God now offered to build David a royal house that would last for all eternity. He promises, “Your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.
Your throne shall be established forever” (7:16). And 28 generations later, out of that royal house came forth Jesus Christ, the heir to David’s throne, whose kingdom will have no end. God has one building program on the earth today-His Church (Matt. 16:18). Have you come on board with that building program? When God gives you the power to get wealth, when He blesses your business, career and family, do you ever think of building Him a great house on the earth, like David did? The “church house” we can build for the Lord may last 30 years, 50 years, or at best several hundreds of years. But in exchange, God will build for you and your family a “royal house” that will be established forever. Isn’t that a wonderful exchange?
