David’s
desire to build a permanent place to house the Ark of God was an honorable
aspiration. So he consulted Nathan who agreed with him at first. Why shouldn’t
the prophet agree? For it was certainly a great ambition to desire to build God
a permanent place. But what David wanted to do was not what God needed. At
least not at that moment. We all need to know that in serving God what we want
to do for Him may not necessarily be what He wants us to do, at that moment.
Hence, it is critical for us to seek God in prayer to ascertain the direction
we should take. So here in these four verses, we see God acting swiftly. Verse
4 reveals that on the very same night God gave Nathan a message for David.
The prophet was told to tell David three things. Firstly, there was no pressing
need to build God a permanent place. For since His instruction to Moses to
build the Tabernacle, God had been dwelling in a tent throughout their
sojourning. And the tent David had pitched for Him was sufficient for the
moment. Secondly, the rhetorical question that God asked in verse 5 suggests
that David was not the right man to build God the permanent place. God knew how
he was wired. David was a man of war and had far too much blood on his hand to
be fit for the job of building God a house. Thirdly in verse 7, God’s desire,
for now, was not for a permanent house. So at no time did he require anyone to
build Him such a place. David’s role, like what God expects of all of His
appointed leaders, was to shepherd His people rightly. We won’t be too far off
to say God’s desire for leaders He had raised was to cultivate the hearts of
the people so that they will love and obey Him.
Lessons
to pick up from these verses. Firstly, a well-aligned heart matters to God more
than the service we render. While a beautiful well-structured physical building
may seem like a great honor to God, it is our aligned hearts that He desires.
It is said that the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. When our
hearts are in the right place, our service to God will be well rendered no
matter where we serve Him. If our hearts are not rightly ordered, even a
well-structured life would mean nothing to God. Outward structures at best is a
neutral thing. It can both inspire or discourage worship. It’s the heart
of the worshipper that matters. True worship begins with the human
heart. Therefore, all leaders’ primary role is to build people with an
aligned heart for a life of obedience to God. Secondly, we learn that in
serving God, be sure to identify our gifting and what we are wired to do. We
must not try to do what we are not made for. A peg that is square can never fit
into a hole that is round. We cannot be effective where we are not gifted. Our
primary calling is always where we are gifted. We may function for a while in
where we are needed but our effectiveness in ministry is to function in where
we are gifted. Therefore, we must know our priority in life and service. Seek
to know what’s important to God, and begin where we ought to begin.
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