In verse 18 of 2nd Samuel chapter 7, David poses
the question of “who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is
my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?”
You see, the Lord had just finished lavishing David
and his household with manifold blessings, (what we now call the ‘Davidic
Covenant’) in 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 5 though 16. At the end of this huge
speech from the LORD, relayed to him through Nathan the prophet, David was absolutely
DUMBFOUNDED. The Bible tells us that he (David) “…went…in, and sat before
the LORD, and he said, Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that thou
hast brought me hitherto?” He continues in verse 19: “And this was yet a small
thing in thy sight, O Lord GOD; but thou hast spoken also of
thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of
man, O Lord GOD? And what can David say more unto thee? For thou, Lord
GOD, knowest thy servant.” {Emphasis mine}
As you can tell, David was absolutely blown away and
excruciatingly humbled at the promise the Lord had just made to him—and rightly
so!
As I read this passage during my devotions last week, this
really ‘hit home’ with me. you see, I may not know everything about/ have all
the answers for either one of the questions David poses to the Lord in verse
18. But! I do know enough to know that neither David, nor the
people of his household and family, were “perfect, little Godly,
never-do-anything-wrong people!!!!!
Seriously! I mean, David himself committed adultery
with Bathsheba and then ordered the death of her husband; David’s son Absalom
committed incest in the sight of all Jerusalem!!!!—With his father’s
concubines; David’s son Amnon committed heinous adultery with his own sister;
and Michal, David’s (first!) wife (did you catch that? That means David
had several wives, which isn’t right either!!!) was super disrespectful to and
haughty towards her husband; and I’m sure I could come up with more instances
if I put my mind to it. But, for one thing, these examples (surely!)
give you the general idea; and for another thing, this are intensely wicked
actions!
At this point in David’s story, only one of these things
(okay, two, if you count the multiplicity of wives David already had going) has
taken place, so David wasn’t aware of them when the Lord made him this
incredible promise. Yet! David was still aware of his sinful
state before a Holy God and extremely humbled at God’s special blessing upon
‘him and his’.
Funny thing, though, is what David brings to our attention in
verse 20—“…for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant.”
David wasn’t omniscient. He didn’t even know the horrendous
sins he and his family would commit against God in the future that would
warrant such feelings of unworthiness.
But God is omniscient. And God did know all
this already.
He knew David inside and out, backwards and forwards! He
knew all the sins of David’s past, and all the sins of his future! (Including
the incident with Bathsheba!) And yet He loved David and held him special to
His heart! Even with His infinite knowledge of David’s sin, He made
David this promise! And David’s family (who was very much included in the
blessing) sinned as well! (Michal, Amnon, Absalom…even Solomon, later in his
life!!!) His family more closely resembled Jacob’s soap opera –like family than
many may care to admit!!!!! YET!!! God proactively chose
to bless David and his family!!!!!
Why?
Because He knew one more thing… that David was a man after
His own heart. He knew David wasn’t perfect. But He knew that David
strove to please Him in everything. And when David messed up (and he certainly
did!!!) he picked himself up, brushed himself off, and by the grace of God,
kept pressing on! (Proverbs 24:16) (Philippians 3:14) God was also gracious, and remembered that David was merely a
man—made of flesh and blood. (Psalms 103:14)
This was a great
source of encouragement to me. I tend to think of God in a very negative way.
As my Pastor put it from the pulpit Sunday night, {I} “wait for his wrath”
rather than “living in His goodness”. Yes, God is a God of judgment and justice
(as Hayley DiMarco puts in it her book A God Girl, God “…isn’t a
big teddy bear just waiting passively around for your next hug; {H}e is a
powerful and perfect God who won’t tolerate sin in your life. And that knowledge a lot of the time becomes
our sole focus. That’s why BALANCE is so important… You have to be willing to agree with God
that sin isn’t good for you… and then you have to accept the love that {H}e
freely gives when you turn to {H}im.”
Our God is also a God of LOVE! (1 John 4:8) So often we (I!)
as young ladies miss this, and don’t dwell in the grace and goodness and love
of our precious Savior, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians
2:20).
Is this the way you
see Him dear sister? Do you dwell in what you just know is His impending
or present punishment for some wrong you’ve done? Do you find that you are
actually afraid of God, more than you are in love with Him?
O sister! I’ve been
there! (Pft! I am there!) And that’s why David’s story
was such an encouragement to me!
If God could know
the end of David’s life from the beginning (which He did), know all the sinful
things that David and his family would ever do (which He did) and yet still promise to secure David’s line as the
ruling Jewish line, and promise him also, that His (wonderful, amazing!) mercy
should NOT depart away from David’s descendants, even
though it had departed from Saul—don’t you think that the Lord loves you
deeply, and will “preserve you whithersoever you go” (2 Samuel 8:6&14),
even though you sin against Him? Even though you don’t deserve it?
He remembers your
frame! He knows that you are frail and fleshly! And for some crazy-wonderful
reason,
HE LOVES YOU ANYWAY!!!!!
If you take
anything from this post, please, dear sister! Know that Jesus loves you! Think
of how he blessed a sinful man like David, when you feel discouraged later on!
Remember it, perhaps read it, then press on for Jesus, aiming, like David did,
to be a young woman after God’s own heart!!!!!
