2 Samuel 7:1-11
~16 min read
TRANSCRIPT
Once again, I bring you greetings in the blessed name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from Gethsemane Bible Presbyterian Church here in Cebu City, Philippines. I praise and thank the Lord for this privilege to preach God's Word to you, our beloved brethren at Bethel BP Church this Lord's Day.
For this morning's meditation, let us open our Bibles to the Old Testament, in the book of 2 Samuel chapter 7, and we shall take time to read beginning verse 1 to verse 11. And I'll read:
“And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee. And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house.”
The Lord bless us in the reading of His most holy and sacred Word.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your goodness, Your lovingkindness, and tender mercies in bringing us into yet another week ahead of us—into this brand new week, even on this very first day, the Lord’s Day—whereby Your people can come together to worship You in spirit and in truth, in the beauty of holiness.
And so, Father, coming together in this manner, we ask that Thou, by Your mercies, would wash us and cleanse us from all our sins and from all our unrighteousness, that our coming together before You be found pleasing and glorifying in Your sight.
Praying also, O Lord, as we sit still before You to listen to the meditation of Your Word, sanctify our hearts and our minds. Make us, O Lord, ready to hear Your Word and to receive Thy truth, O Lord, with gladness and in reverence, putting them into rightful practice. O Lord, have mercy to hear our prayers and bless us, O Lord, in our worship.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
I titled today’s meditation: Don’t Follow Your Heart — Seek God’s Will.
One of the most common expressions that we hear, or perhaps we ourselves have spoken or have said, is the phrase ‘Just follow your heart,’ or somewhat similar expressions like ‘Listen to your heart.’ Obviously, it is for the purpose of encouraging or comforting others, and no doubt with all earnestness and sincerity we say such words. However, this morning I want to consider with you this passage from the life of David and realise that it is not always wise to follow your heart.
No doubt it sounds good on the surface—like good and comforting advice. It sounds like: yes, just be true to yourself, follow your heart. But for a moment, consider what it really means. Apart from the sweet nothing and the emotional impact, it actually means: do what you want to do. It means: do what you feel is right and what you think is right. Listen to your intuition. Make emotional decisions. It goes along with other similar slogans like ‘Be true to yourself,’ or ‘Follow your passions,’ or even the very popular ‘Just do it,’ which, by the way, is not great advice when you get down to it.
When you get down to it, to follow your heart means that feelings should take the place of logic. That feelings should take the place of reason. That feelings should take the place of moral standards. That feelings should take over the place of God's truth or of God's will.
Realise that it is not a good plan at all. You see, the problem with all our feelings is that they are just feelings. They are feelings, and they are temporary. They can go up, and they can go down. They can be erratic. They can shift like the sand and like the wind.
What we are basically talking about here is making decisions. How do you make the choices that you make? What is the criteria that we use in making our decisions? Some say: ‘Follow your heart.’ While others say: ‘Use your brain. Be wise.’
Before we go on any further, consider the following verses: Proverbs 28:26 it says, "He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered." It sounds like a restatement of: Proverbs 3:5, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." Also, it reminds us of the prophet Jeremiah’s declaration in Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
Now, let’s look into our text and consider three important points that we can draw out of it.
David’s Good Intention
Looking at verse 1 and 2, I want us to see in here David’s good intention.
Look with me at verse 1 and verse 2:
"And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains."
We see here that David was resting in his home. He is in his own personal palace. It was a time of great relief for him, as we read that they have enjoyed rest round about from all his enemies. He built that house with the help of a friend who was also a king up north, in the place called Tyre, now known as Lebanon. And his friend was named King Hiram, who shipped to him cedar logs and other materials that he needed to build his house. The halls of his palace or his house were lined up with cedar wood.
And somehow indeed, as we read in verse 1, the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies. So David, at this time, was enjoying peace. He was resting. Not only that—he was resting from all their enemies round about—the whole nation of Israel was resting. It was indeed a time of peace, not only for David, but for all the people of Israel. And as a king, David could breathe a sigh of relief as he walks around, enjoying his time in his house. And just as he was enjoying his time walking through his cedar-lined hallways of his palace, he thought about building a house for the Lord.
In the previous chapter, David managed to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem. It was literally placed in a tentlike structure just next door to the house of David. And so, David, in this time of peace, thought about building a house for the Lord. Perhaps in one of those leisure walks of David, he thought to himself: ‘Here I am in this beautiful palatial building lined with cedar, whereas the God of the universe is camping out in a tent.’ He thought to himself: ‘I need to build a house for the Lord. I need to build Him a temple.’
Now, as we reflect upon the words of David, no doubt David has had good intention. He was so greatly burdened in his heart that he was moved that he must build a temple or a house for the Lord. And with such a good intention, we notice that he went on to tell Nathan about it. We read of it in verse 2: "That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." Or in today’s language, ‘dwelleth within tents.’
While David was sharing his desire to Nathan—obviously this was before David sinned with Bathsheba—Nathan, right there and then, affirmed what David thought about doing. Perhaps he may have been moved by David’s good intention, that he straightaway affirmed in verse 3: "And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee."
No doubt David’s intention was good. Even his motive was pure. David wanted to honour the Lord. David wanted to glorify the Lord. However, good intentions do not always produce good results. In fact, good intentions are not always God’s intentions. Just because you have an idea that is a good idea, or a good intention, does not necessitate that it is God’s will. Likewise, if we happen to be in a position like that of Nathan, let us also be careful in affirming straightforwardly, saying: ‘Go, follow your heart, for the Lord is with you.’
Nathan's Not So Good Advice
David had a great idea, something he longed for a long time. The good intention is followed by a not so good advice of Nathan. But as you can see, just as David had good intentions, no doubt Nathan also had good intentions. Be it as an advisor or a counsellor to the king, or just as a friend, he wanted to encourage David.
You know, we oftentimes hear, or we ourselves find ourselves in such a situation. Just for the sake of encouraging, just for that intention of boosting the morale of our friends, or simply affirming what he wanted to do, we would straight away confirm by saying, ‘Go ahead, just do it.’ And in the case of Nathan being the prophet, he even goes on to tell David: “Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.” (2 Samuel 7:3)
But if we are to carefully examine the words of Nathan here, no doubt Nathan was speaking to David as a friend. It was not much of being a counsellor or an advisor to the king. Nathan was speaking as a friend. He was not speaking as a God's prophet, for the words that Nathan speaks are his own — they are not the Lord's words. The advice that Nathan gave David is based on emotion, based on a very limited understanding — not an instruction that comes from the Lord. Look again at what he said: “Go, do all that is in thine heart.” In today's language, it was just like Nathan telling David, ‘Go follow your heart. Go follow your heart David’ — and then goes on to add at the end: “For the Lord is with thee.”
Perhaps Nathan wanted to affirm or to boost David's morale, that he would indeed commit himself to doing what he has been burdened in his heart to do. And as I have said, David surely had good intention. Surely he has pure motives. But then again, we need to consider, perhaps the very reason that David wanted Nathan's advice is because David was aware and David recognised that Nathan was a prophet of the Lord. And David must have had thought that Nathan would give him a solid biblical, godly advice — giving him words of wisdom, godly wisdom — giving him perhaps some word from the Lord Himself on this, rather than reflecting or affirming, confirming all that David had taught in his heart. But as you can see, that is what Nathan did: “Go, do all that is in your heart.”
Dear brethren, please understand that good people can sometimes give bad advice. Moreover, God's people — even God's servants — can sometimes give a not-so-good advice. Yes, advice that is not rooted in biblical truth or bathed in prayer, but simply superficial and shallow advice, oftentimes based upon emotions. And please realise that advice not rooted in the Bible, or bathed in prayer, or founded in God's word, is going to be a bad advice.
In Psalm 1:1 we read: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.” That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Though there are times that we get to hear ungodly counsels from godly people. So just because they are God's people, just because they are God's servant, doesn't mean everything they say is like, ‘Do it. Follow it.’ It can be a not-so-good advice, as in the case of the prophet Nathan.
God's Will Upon David
Now you may be wondering, why would I say that Nathan's advice was a not-so-good advice? If you come down to verse 4, there you will find the word of the Lord spoken unto Nathan — a kind of a reversal of what Nathan had said earlier unto David.
And so, from here I want us to consider — from the good intentions of David to the not-so-good advice of Nathan — I want us to see in here the will of God. Look with me at verse 4: “And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?” (2 Samuel 7:4–5) Notice that it comes in a question form: “Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?”
In a parallel passage in 1 Chronicles chapter 17 and verse 4, it is more plain and straightforward. As in there, we read: “Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in.” (1 Chronicles 17:4) Look again: “Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in.”
And as you look at the words of the Lord in our text from verse 5 onwards, there we read of how the Lord explained and how the Lord elaborated to Nathan why David should not be building the house for Him.
Look with me again in verse 5: “Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime. And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.” (2 Samuel 7:5-11)
As far as the Lord is concerned, He made it clear unto David through the prophet Nathan that he is not to build God a house — but that rather, it is God that will make him a house. What this tells us is that God never asked nor requested for a house. God did not feel the need to have a permanent structure. It tells us that God was okay with camping out in a tent. In fact, do you remember what Stephen in the New Testament said? ‘The most high God does not dwell in temples made with hands.’ (Acts 7:48)
So here is David. He had this brilliant idea — good intentions, pure motives — ‘I'm going to build God a house.’ Then you got a prophet saying, ‘Okay David, follow your heart. Just do it.’ But the word of the Lord says: ‘No David, you are not going to build a house for me.’ Please understand that good intention does not automatically mean God's will. And thus we must commit our good intentions to the Lord and seek His will instead on that matter.
Now we are not told here in our text why God tells David not to build the temple. He just says, ‘No, you're not going to build me a temple.’ We know it later in 1 Chronicles chapter 22. In there we read of David telling Solomon the reason behind why it was not him that was appointed by the Lord to build the house. David would tell Solomon why he was disqualified from building the house.
If you can, turn your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 22. Look with me, beginning verse 7 to verse 9: “And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God: But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.” (1 Chronicles 22:7–9)
Notice here how David's good intention turned into a reality when he yielded himself to God's will. Looking back, you can only imagine if David insisted to build the house of the Lord. Surely he would encounter too much struggles, too much frustration, too much disappointment — because after all, it is never God's plan for him to build the house of the Lord.
That we can only praise and thank the Lord for His working in the heart of David — that as a king at that time, he may have been given to his passion, he may have been yielded to his determination. After all, humanly speaking, we can think of his desire as a God-honouring desire. Can there be any greater and a godly desire than to build a house for the Lord?
Yet, despite such good intention and pure motives, and a God-honouring and God-glorifying burden in the heart of David, somehow God made it very clear to him, as we have read a while ago: “Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in.” (1 Chronicles 17:4)
And the Lord has His good reasons behind it. And He went on to tell David, ‘No, it will not be you that will build the house for me, but your son.’ And we know very well that David has had a number of sons. But the Lord made it very clear and be very specific: “for his name shall be Solomon.” And thanks be unto God — for David's good intention turned into a reality when he yielded himself to the will of God.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, please understand that good intentions, pure motives, is not enough. It has to be ascertained as to whether it is the will of God for you — whether it is the will of God for us. And it is wise, and it is best for us, that we seek God's will rather than yielding ourself to follow our hearts.
And as we reflect upon all these things, it reminds me of what David wrote in Psalm 37. Turn with me to Psalm 37 and look at verse 4 and 5: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” (Psalm 37:4–5)
And lo and behold, it was Solomon who built the house of the Lord — in such a way that David may have had that burden, David may have had that God-honouring intention and desire, David may have been so overwhelmed with such a God-honouring passion — yet it is just wonderful, even comforting, as we all know, that David was a man after God's own heart. He yielded to God's will, rather than insisting and pursuing to follow his heart. He learned to yield himself to the will of God. And so, reflecting upon this experience of David, may we also learn and follow his example. Don’t just anyhow follow your heart — seek God's will.
Let us pray.
Lord, thank You for the counsel. Thank You for the comfort. Thank You, Lord, for Your word that continues to speak to us in a very personal and in a very intimate manner. For we all do have such tendencies — an inclination towards pursuing what we feel, and what seems best for us to pursue — when after a close examination and reflection, it is best, O Lord, to commit our ways unto Thee, and to commit our desires unto Thee, and to yield our all to follow Your will in our lives.
O Father, have mercy. Help us that we will continue to grow, that we will continue to act with wisdom and discernment in all the choices that we make — especially the more grievous and serious ones — that we may not find ourselves going astray and falling by the wayside. O Father, have mercy. Hear our prayers, and bless Your people.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
THE BOOK OF 2 SAMUELDon't Follow Your Heart, Seek God's WillDon't Follow Your Heart, Seek God's Will2 Samuel 7:1-11
The Joy of Receiving ForgivenessThe Joy of Receiving Forgiveness2 Samuel 11:1-27
Thank God for AbishaiThank God for Abishai2 Samuel 21:15-22
