Have you ever had a dream to serve God , having high hopes or expectations for your servitude?Have you thought about the wondrous differences you can make in God's ministry? Have you ever experienced rejection or slight bitterness when it seemed like God didn't want your service despite your apparently good intentions?
DAVID'S DREAM
Just like any of us might have, David had an admirable vision for God, a glorious ambition- he wanted to build a temple for God.
Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house , and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet , '' See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.''( 2 Sam 7: 1,2)
God gave David prosperity and rest from his enemies. He had the resources, the manpower , and the authority to do what he wanted for God. In his eagerness and excitement he went and told prophet Nathan his plan. Nathan gave an encouraging answer , an almost definite affirmation of David's aspiration: ''Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you''(2 Sam 7:3)
David probably spent the rest of the day drawing up designs, making rough measurements , and gathering an inventory of materials. We can only imagine how he might have felt --possibly a combination of glad , noble, and honored to build the house of God.
Later , however , God told David,' ''You shall not build a house for my Name' ''(1 Chr 28:3). David made an apparently gracious offer of noble servitude , but God said , ''No.''
If we were David , we may have simply given up our plans right then and there, but is that what David did? Unfazed, David continued to toil with all his might in making preparations for the temple to pass onto his son Solomon. He offered his own gold, silver , bronze, and precious stones in front of the assembly of Israel:
''Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold , silver for things of silver, bronze for things of bronze , iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood, onyx stones, stones to be set , glistening stones of various colors , all kinds of precious stones , and marble slabs in abundance .Moreover, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God , over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir , and seven thousand talents of refined silver , to overlay the walls of the houses ; the gold for things of gold and the silver for things of silver , and for all kinds of work to be done by the hands of craftsmen.''(1 Chr 29: 2-5)
Wait a minute. How did David do that? God rejected his offer to construct the temple , effectively shattering his personal ambition, and gave the noble undertaking to someone else with practically no experience. Why wasn't David disappointed ? What compelled him to generously offer all his resources ?
What was David really offering to God?
to be continue
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