2 SAMUEL 7 – WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART?
I originally wrote my May29 post in 2015. Now a decade further on, this week-end marks the 40th Anniversary since leaving Australia on what has turned out to be 
a life-quest through 88 countries. I have seen many storms in my life (I wrote about some in my second book, Mysterious? Expect the Unexpected), and this along with a catalogue of heart-felt disappointments. However in 2008, I came across the book Strengths Finder 2.0 and through the Clifton Strengths Finder online test, I finally discovered the strengths that my Maker had built into my blueprint design. My strengths: significance, command, achiever, focus and belief, would have been better suited to a man than for a woman married to an equally powerful man!
Perhaps like King David in today’s chapter, I’m a dreamer at heart. Over the past 40 years, Mark and I have had many a “prophecy” from well-intentioned friends (like Nathan’s encouragements in v3) that were later found to be wrongly delivered and in need of correction. [v4-8a] Unlike a king however, I never made it to a place where both my means and my motives were such that I was in a position for realizing my dreamed-up outcomes. My lifetime struggle with finding release for those high expectations that were rarely attained, had pockmarked my journey with bruise-inflicting potholes.
Still, it was during that year before our son’s death where my Father God did most of his transformational work as I came to terms with who He made me to be, where He had taken me from, and what dream He had in His heart for my life. [v8] So then, I notice three things about today’s chapter….
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No scene on this Stage of Life is in isolation. If you think that the grass is greener for everyone else but yourself, don’t look at the Facebook Snapshot. It’s never the whole picture. If you focus on one puzzle piece (whether good or bad) you must take into consideration every other puzzle piece around it. For example, we find King David of Israel sitting in a palace of cedar in today’s chapter. But he had already been king ten years (seven in the city of Hebron and three in Jerusalem),
yet he had only attained peace in his cedar house enough to breathe and think in this chapter. [v1-2] In addition, he had previously spent 14 years (between the ages of 16-30) running around the countryside hiding for his life from the last king. So, if you’re currently focused on something not pleasing to you, look at another scene from your life. It won’t take long before you’ll find a scene that brings you comfort, peace, and lasting joy. -
Even the best advisors get it wrong. [v3] Nathan in today’s chapter was a known prophet and special advisor to the
King of Israel, but even he had to be corrected! My word of advice for those giving advice, is never give it on the spur-of-the-moment. The events in today’s chapter, that took place 3000 years ago, have already proven how even the best of the best get it wrong due to “good intentions”. It’s way better to say, “That sounds like a good idea, and I currently can’t think of what’s wrong with it, but let’s sit on it for a week and pray about it.” Some people even fast and pray over important projects, like what King David’s heart is desiring to achieve in today’s chapter. -
Even though our Maker created us in His own image to operate in His likeness[a], few of us truly understand Him.[b] This is why we need to familiarize ourselves with the whole of these Hebrew scriptures from start to finish, to get some level of understanding of what Father God is likely to want from us.[c] In today’s chapter, a king and a prophet wanted to build the Creator God a house (a temple) like all the other gods; but this is not what He asked for… ever! Today’s chapter comes into this epic storyline about 500 years after the nation of Israel left Egypt and became a nation. Yet in all those years, the Creator God never once asked for a house. [v7] This is because of two things: (i) Our Maker transcends time and space. Heaven is His throne and Earth is His footstool.[d]
So how on earth can human images of the Lord God Almighty contain Him is a box – even if it is overlayed in gold! It would be like trying to contain a genie in a bottle; and (ii) He knew from the beginning that an elaborate temple couldn’t work, because He knew from the beginning where this story was going to end.[e] So then, buildings today are fine for giving us space from the madness to sit in peace and pray – especially in big cities. That said, most of these are shut due to vandalism during the day and night when we need them most! Overall though, connecting elaborate buildings with our Creator God (who is nothing at all like any of the gods in any temple in any country) has brought more issues and wrong thinking than it has benefits and solutions. Today’s chapter is etched now in Eternity[f] and He clearly doesn’t want a house! If He did, it would not have taken 2000 years (since it was finally destroyed by the Romans in AD70) to rebuild/replace it. If anyone seeks to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem today, remember the Creator God’s own words in today’s chapter! [v5-7]
Instead, like any good father, our Father and Maker has plans for us – not plans for Himself. [v8-11] His plans that have unfolded in the world’s longest running drama, include short-term fulfillment as well as mid-term and long range qualities to His promises. A son was raised up in the short-term: Solomon built Father God a house – a temple. Father God was indeed father to Solomon, and He disciplined Solomon and established his rule just as promised. [v12-15] 
However, v13 proves that there’s something more in the promise. The Creator God has not established King Solomon’s throne “forever”. [v13] It barely lasted through his reign, and the kingdom fell apart in his son’s reign. This promise to King David has a long-range quality, and it relates to what the Jews call, The Messiah. A Son of David [v12] will be the Saviour, Deliverer, Redeemer King, who will finally right all wrongs such that the dream/plan and this “King-dominion” will endure forever before God. [v16]
“Once have I sworn by My Kodesh (Sacred Holiness); I will not lie unto Dovid. His zera (seed/offspring/descendants) shall endure l’olam (forever/eternity), and his kisse (throne) as the shemesh (sun) before Me. It shall be established olam (eternally) as the yarei’ach (moon), and as an ed ne’eman (a faithful witness) in the heavens.” [Psalm 89:35-37]
However it is very clear from the beginning of this promise, that this long-range Son of David with His eternal kingdom, would be rejected.[g] Therefore, it was always meant to be a house for Father God’s Name [v13], and not for Him to personally reside within; and, the eternal quality made it a kingdom that is not of this earth.[h] And why? It’s for the sake of His own Word, and according to His own heart, that He has done all this greatness, before disclosing it to us! [v21] History is HIStory and its about our Maker first and foremost. He ensured what was documented in the Maker’s Handbook for Life, what was preserved, and what ended up in our hands today.
David’s Prayer [v18-29] shows that when we come to our Creator with a grateful and humble heart, He is right there for us every step of the way mapping out His heart-felt plan and purpose for us. [v18-19] It took my Maker nine months, for example, to painstakingly knit me together in my mother’s womb.[i] He spent two decades developing me for my adult life, then brought me this far by His Grace [v18] by fashioning me and disciplining me for a further four decades. That so, then of course He is intimately aware of who I am and why I’m here. [v20] I have travelled to 88 countries and have found first-hand that He is indeed great among every other god on earth, and there is none like Him. [v22-24]
Today’s chapter is an example of how a human image of God can have in their heart a desire for expressing their honour of their Creator God. But today’s chapter is also a clear example of how the Creator turns on its head, overturns, upside-down, what is in our heart to achieve for Him and to accomplish with our life for Him. So, what’s in your heart? Our Maker is in the business of knowing what’s in our heart (both good and bad) then steering our good intentions into a much bigger story in HIStory. His words are truth, and He has promised us good things. [v28]
The fact that prophecy (a divine message direct from the Creator God) has simultaneously all three: short-term, mid-term, and long range qualities; along with the fact that His Guidebook for Life has ended up in our hands today (3000 years after the private conversations took place in the insignificant palace of a minor kingdom), proves that our Maker will establish our own heart’s desire, even when we didn’t know what each heart-felt desire truly means in the long run.
CLICK to return to today’s “Daily Breadcrumbs”
[a] Genesis 1:26-28
[b] Isaiah 55:9
[c] 2 Timothy 3:16-17
[d] Matthew 5:34-35
[e] Deuteronomy 31:15-22
[f] Matthew 24:35
[g] Psalm 89:38-45
[h] John 18:36
[i] Job 10:11 and Psalm 139:13