Our journey through 2020 has certainly brought many personal challenges for all of us on a number of different levels. For some, life is slowly returning to some sort of normality but for others, the loss and disruption of day to day life continues!
In this season of change, it is good to be able to sit with the Lord as David did and reflect on how far God has brought us. Spending time with God is something that cannot be taken away from us, even though we may not be able to worship in churches for some time!
King David had just moved into his new palace, when he received a word from the Lord through the prophet Nathan:
"When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."
2 Samuel 7:12-13 NIV
What an amazing promise this was! David responded to the Lord in prayer:
"Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: "Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant—and this decree, Sovereign Lord, is for a mere human!"
2 Samuel 7:18-19 NIV
Notice the humility as David sits before the Lord. Becoming king of Israel had not gone to his head! As just an ordinary man, he finds it hard to comprehend how far God has brought him. When we take time to sit and reflect on our lives, we too could say, 'You have brought me this far!' Look at how connected David felt as he acknowledged it was all the Lord's doing. He is very aware of how intimately God knows Him:
""What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant."
2 Samuel 7:20-21 NIV
Notice the place of God's will here and how all of these things causes an outpouring of praise:
""How great you are, Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, Lord, have become their God."
2 Samuel 7:22-24 NIV
Do you take time to praise God each day for who He is? It's easy to get caught up in the difficulties we are facing and forget to stop and be thankful before we start making our requests!
""And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, 'The Lord Almighty is God over Israel!' And the house of your servant David will be established in your sight."
2 Samuel 7:25-26 NIV
God has made many promises to us too and we can be sure He will keep His Word!
In fact the promise made to David that God would establish the throne of His Kingdom forever, is one that directly impacts us all today!
"" Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.""
2 Samuel 7:27-29 NIV
What a wonderful prayer! David was able to put his trust in God's promises and so can you and I! How amazing it is that we should be able to see the whole picture as God's promise to David was fulfilled in the birth of His Son Jesus.
""The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land."
Jeremiah 23:5 NIV
"You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.""
Luke 1:31-33 NIV
Let's pray:
Heavenly Father,
I give You praise and honour for all that You have done in establishing Your Kingdom through Your Son. Thank You so much for sending Jesus to take my sin upon Himself and to die and be raised to life again. Thank You for forgiving all my sins and for loving me so much and wanting me to be part of Your forever family. I praise You for the peace I have as I look forward to being with You throughout eternity!
I am so blessed to be able to look back and see how far I have come throughout my life and particularly in these past months. You know me so well and You have supplied all my needs. Everything I have is from You! I particularly thank You for ...............
Thank You so much that I can trust You to always be true to Your Word. I am holding onto all Your promises today.
May Your will be done in my life,
In Jesus' Name,
Amen.
YOU ARE READING
Love That Never Fails
SpiritualWe are all searching for love -not just any kind of love but perfect love that doesn't let us down or fluctuate from moment to moment. We look for it in all kinds of places and when we find it, we hold onto it, desperately hoping that ours will be...
