2 Samuel 7:18
Verse 18 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: “Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
God’s response regarding David’s desire to build Him a dwelling place seems to have brought the king to a very reflective frame of mind. David goes in and sits down. For a man who seems in control – not just of the nation but also himself and the emotions that come with the life he had lived and was living – he heads in and sits down to get control of his thinking.
The king didn’t just go sit in a corner to think things over. He went in to be before the Lord. When it says “he went in” it isn’t saying David went into his throne room and sat down, no, David went into the tent the Ark had been placed in and he met with the Lord.
David had started this chapter sitting in his new palace enjoying the lifestyle he now had. The thoughts of the tent of the Lord caused the king to question his place. His surroundings were so much more than the Ark of the Lord. God’s words through the prophet Nathan stirred the heart of David and he heads down to the tent. The tent would serve to remind David of exactly where God had brought him from. The king was back feeling ground beneath his feet and it was humbling.
David remembered his days of having the ground under his feet. The last decade or so had changed his life in major ways but God was bringing him back to the man that He had called to be king. David sat down in the Lord’s presence and we can see from the words he said to the Father, he is seeing himself in a clearer view than he had in a while. It had been so easy to fit into the role of leader, someone to be looked up to.
It wasn’t that David had walked away from God, he was still the man after God’s own heart but this moment of humility was needed to show David the potential of his heart being caught up in the things of this world. David coming in to sit before the Lord was his acknowledging his need of God and his awe of the God of heaven. The king was coming to understand the truth of what it meant to be a man after God’s own heart, it was allowing God to rule his heart and life.
Making It Personal
When was the last time you humbled yourself before God? Have you ever gotten alone with God and saw yourself in comparison to the Almighty? How did that encounter change you?
Making It Personal Kids
What do you thinks it means to go before God? Do you ever talk to Jesus by yourself? How do you feel after talking to Him?
Closing Prayer
Father, we confess we all have times we forget that You are God and we are not. Help us remember our need to be humble in Your presence so we can serve You faithfully and not spend our lives serving ourselves. In Jesus’ name, amen.