“Dreaming of Ancient Israel” by Eva Deutsch Costabel, 2007.
1 Chronicles 17 (New Living Translation)
The Lord’s Covenant Promise to David
OR: Who will build God’s house?
1When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”
an example of the cedars of Lebanon
Remember — David’s neighbor, King Hiram of Tyre, had sent him cedar, a highly valued wood. Evidently that had been used to build a palace for David and his many wives and children. But it is weighing now on David, and he is distressed with the gap between his lovely home and the simple tent in which God’s Name dwells. David wants to build a temple for the Lord.
Learn about a discovery believed (by some, not by others) to be the ancient palace of King David! Very interesting! Click HERE.
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2 Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”
3 But that same night God said to Nathan,
4 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in. 5 I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle. 6 Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”’
7 “Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! 9 And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, 10 starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies.
“‘Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you—a dynasty of kings! 11 For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. 12 He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me.
But God has a different idea. David will not build a house for God. Instead, God will build a house, a dynasty, for David! God is the architect of David’s legacy and his kingdom. And a son (Solomon) will build the actual temple.
And I will secure his throne forever. 13 I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. 14 I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.’”
“Root of Jesse” by German artist Walter Habdank.
The family of David did rule over Israel for more than four centuries, but was eventually removed because of evil added upon evil. Yet out of the “stump” of Jesse, God raised up a new branch that would reign for ever and ever (Isaiah 11:1-2).
–David Guzik
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Music:
“All Hail, King Jesus!” by Dave Moody. I like the five titles that are listed for the One whose name is high and lifted up!
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15 So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.
David’s Prayer of Thanks
16Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 17 And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!
18 “What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. 19 For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.
David is in awe of the greatness of God and amazed that God would so elevate him. He has come to appreciate that to ask God to do according to his word is better than to act precipitately according to his own perceptions, even if highly intentioned. Of course, we must always ultimately act on the basis of our perceptions. But they must be informed, and transformed, by unremitting exposure to the word of God.
–J. G. McConville
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20 “O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! 21 What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. 22 You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.
David has also come to see that God is not only his God, but the God of all Israel — and not just for now, but forever. Of course, “forever” presupposes obedience! God made that clear in 1 Samuel 2:30 — “Those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me will be lightly esteemed.” For the Israelites and for us, choices have consequences!
23 “And now, O Lord, I am your servant; do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever. 24 And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.
25 “O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him—a dynasty of kings! 26 For you are God, O Lord. And you have promised these good things to your servant. 27 And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
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New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
DWELLING in the Word 
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Mathew 11:28-30