2 SAMUEL 7 - A HOUSE JUST FOR YOU
2 Samuel 7
As this Chapter begins, David has finally been able to take the throne as King of Israel after years of patiently waiting and trusting in God to make it a reality. In Vs. 1, we see that David was in his house as King, and that the Lord had given him rest from all of his surrounding enemies. He had encountered many enemies during his years of waiting to take the throne, and his life had been a real struggle up until this point. So, it must have been a great relief to him for God to finally give him some rest. However, we know from the history of the rest of David’s life that this rest was not going to be a full or final rest, because more enemies were going to arise and challenge David. So, this rest that he was now experiencing was only partial and temporary. Yet, it was a foreshadow of the complete and eternal rest that we have in Christ from our greatest enemy, sin. Sin is our greatest enemy because God is life, and sin is the only thing that can separate us from Him. Since sin is our greatest enemy, then forgiveness is our greatest need. And, in Christ we have complete forgiveness from all of our sin, past, present, and future.
We see in Vs. 2 that David’s heart in response to this rest is to do something for God. At one level, this is a good thing, and the prophet Nathan endorses David’s heart in this regard in Vs. 3. Yet, we need to be careful, because this can also picture the default religious heart of man that always wants to try to somehow compensate God for what God blesses us with. This often stems from a transactional or quid pro quo type of relationship with God, which does not lead to true or meaningful rest. We can never earn anything from God. We can only receive blessings from Him, and the greatest blessing He gives us is salvation and forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ.
The way that David thinks that he is going to bless God is by building a house (or in other words a temple) for God. Later, Solomon was going to do this, but this was not the time for it. This was just a time for David to receive blessings from God and rest. So, in Verses 4-17, God explains why He does not want a house at this time, and says that He is further going to bless David by making him a house. But, David already has a house, and in fact, Vs. 2 tells us that it is a very nice one, made out of cedar. So, what is this house that God is going to make for David? Well, it is first actually a throne that will last forever, because the ultimate occupant of that throne is Jesus, who was in the line of David. Yet, there is something else that God promises to not only David, but to all believers, and it is not a physical house here on earth. Rather, it is a heavenly home that Hebrews 11 says that people of faith in God have been seeking for thousands of years.
Just as God personalizes the gift of the home that He is going to build for David here in this Chapter, Jesus promises each one of us in John 14:2 that His Father’s house has many rooms, and that He will specially prepare a room in His Father’s house for us. In Hebrew culture, when a husband would marry his bride, they would return to his father’s house and the husband would build a room onto the father’s house for he and his bride to live in. This is what Jesus does for us, as His bride, so that we can dwell with Him and the Father forever.
When I was a young child, my mom had a way of specially decorating my room every Christmas with certain specific decorations that I really loved. Then, when I was off at college, and would return home at Christmas and would walk into my room, there it was, all decorated just the way my mom knew that I liked. It made me think of how much she must have been looking forward to my coming home. In like manner, Jesus has prepared a place for us in His Father’s house, just to our liking, and He is looking forward to us coming home, not just for Christmas, but for all of eternity.
The Chapter continues in Vs. 18-29 with a beautiful prayer of thanksgiving by David. Gratitude should always inform our prayers, and be a key ingredient, if not the starting point, of them. For, no matter what the circumstances of this life may bring us, all those who have had their sins forgiven by Jesus will always have an eternal home that, as 1 Pet. 1:4 says, is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, and kept in Heaven for us. In that place, we will be home forever with Jesus and the Father forever. And, in this, we can always rejoice.