"I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom." (1 Chron. 17:10­11)
After bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem, David began to dream of building a splendid home for it, a temple devoted to the God of the Israelites. In a day when pagan temples ranked among the wonders of the world, he thought it only fitting to lavish the wealth of his kingdom on a "house" for the true God. But God made it clear that David was not the one to build such a temple. Elsewhere (1 Chronicles 22:8), the Bible states the reason: As a warrior, David had shed much blood, and God wanted his house built by a man of peace. That task should be left for David's son.
Although God vetoed the plan to build a temple, he granted David far more. Harking back to his covenant with the Israelites, he promised—in a tender play on words—to build a "house" out of David's descendants that would last forever. Whatever his reservations about the Israelites' demand for a king, God had fully "adopted" the king as his representative within the nation. In a typically humble response, David erupted in a prayer of astonished thanksgiving.
This promise, given in an intimate exchange between God and David, sowed the seed for what would become a long-time hope of the Jews: a royal "Messiah," or Anointed One. Saul's dynasty ended just as it had begun; David's would continue through a long line of kings and culminate in God's own Son, to be born into David's lineage in Bethlehem, the City of David. Has God's promise been fulfilled? The fact that even in modern times people still pore over the lives of David and other kings of tiny Israel—though far grander, more impressive kings have faded from history—and recognize one descendant as the true Messiah should give a hint.
(Note: The books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles often overlap, telling the same history from different perspectives. This chapter from 1 Chronicles repeats almost word for word the seventh chapter of 2 Samuel.)
Life Question: When have you felt like giving God a large gift?
