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NOTE: Description & subheadings are not required for this sermon!
Introduction
David's Good Intention
Nathan's Not So Good Advice
God's Will Upon David
Closing Prayer
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.
Closing Prayer
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.
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
once again I bring you greetings in the blessed name of our Lord and Savior 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 Bethl 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 a 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 saeth 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 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 and house of Cedar
now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David thus saeth the Lord of
Hosts I took thee from the ship coat from following the sheep to be ruler
over my people over Israel and I was with thee whethersoever 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 anymore as before time 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 tellth thee that he will make thee an
house the Lord blesses 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 loving kindness 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 holy ess 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 oh Lord have mercy to hear our prayers and bless us oh 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
realize 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 a great
advice 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
realize 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 and verse 26 it says
"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool but who 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 looking at verse one and two I want
us to see in here David's good
David's Good Intention
intention david's good intention look with me at verse one and verse two 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 roundabout 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 Ty now known as Lebanon and his friend
was named King Heram who shipped to him
cedar lugs and other materials that he needed to
build his house the holes of his palace or his house were lined up with cedar
wood and somehow indeed as we read in verse one that 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 sitter 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 two 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 Bath
Sheba nathan right there and then affirm
what David thought about doing
perhaps he may have been moved by David's good intention that he straight away affirmed
in verse three and as we read 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 honor 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."
Add correct line breaks, correct capitalisation, correct punctuation, correct Australian English spelling, and correct KJV Bible verse quotations and references to my paragraphs where applicable. But do NOT — I repeat — do NOT alter or change ANY words from my paragraphs under ALL circumstances.
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 counselor to the king
or just as a friend he wanted to encourage David
you know we often times hear or we ourselves find our 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 go on to tell
David go do all that is in thine heart for the Lord is with thee
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 counselor 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 recognized 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 often times based upon
emotions and please realize 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 and verse one 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
councils 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 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
God's Will Upon David
David and so from here I want us to consider from 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 four and it came to pass that night that the word of
the Lord came unto Nathan saying "Go and tell my servant David thus saeth the
Lord shalt thou build me an house to dwell in?" 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 saeth the
Lord thou shalt not build me an house to dwell dwell
in look again go and tell David my
servant thus saeth 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 five
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 sayeth 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 I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word
with any of tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people Israel
saying Why build ye not me an house of sedar now therefore so shalt thou say
unto my servant David thus said the Lord of hosts I took thee from the shipgoat
from following the ship to be ruler over my people over Israel and I was with
thee whethersoever 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 anymore as before time and verse 11 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 tellth thee that he will make thee an house
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 Steven in the New
Testament said the most high God does not dwell in temples made with
hands 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 a
temple he just say 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 thy God but
the word of the Lord came to me saying Thou has shed blood abundantly and has
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 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 will encounter too much
struggles too much frustration too much disappointments 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
godhonoring 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-honoring 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 sayeth the Lord thou shalt not build me an house to dwell
in 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 a 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 assertain 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 four and five
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
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 Godhonoring intention and desire
david may have been so overwhelmed with such a Godhonoring
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
Closing Prayer
will let us pray lord thank you for the counsel thank you for the
comfort thank you Lord for your word that continue 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 seem best for us to
pursue when after a close examination and
reflection it is best oh 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 oh
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 oh Father have mercy hear our prayers and bless your people in Jesus
name we pray amen
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