Think Outside the Box
June 13, 2018·Kristin Gentry
2 Samuel 7:22-24:
“How great You are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like You. We have never even heard of another God like you! What other nation on earth is like Your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have You redeemed from slavery to be Your own people? You made a great name for Yourself when You redeemed Your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations and gods that stood in their way. You made Israel Your very own people forever, and You, O Lord, became their God.”
In this chapter, King David is finally settling into his palace, after many years of wars. He looks out from his palace and sees the Tent that contained the Ark of the Covenant, and you can imagine how he felt living in a palace, while the presence of God dwelled in the tent outside. His intentions were to build God a grand temple, but the Lord, through the prophet Nathan, asks, “Are you the one to build a house for Me to live in? I have never lived in a house…I have never once complained to Israel’s tribal leaders, the shepherds of My people Israel. I have never asked them, ‘Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?’” (2 Samuel 7:5-7). See, God is totally unlike the false gods the pagans worshiped. Pagans lived their lives building and maintaining the temples of their false gods, and the Lord reminded David both who He was and who David was, and also what His intentions for His people were. In no way is Yahweh like the gods of the pagans, and in no way should God’s people be like any other nation. Instead, He wanted to build up a Kingdom for David and His people. Not a kingdom that would be destroyed by oppressors, but a Kingdom that would last forever. And although David’s son, Solomon, would be the one assigned to build the temple for the Lord, we can clearly read in this chapter, and the parallel account of this chapter in 1 Chronicles 17, and know that God is also referring to Jesus Christ and the establishment of God’s Kingdom forever.
So, as you go on with your day, and you see all that God has done for you, remember that God isn’t asking you to build Him a box to live in. In fact, He wants to break those walls down and do things we have never seen before and our minds can’t even comprehend! Also remember, God called a shepherd boy to be a great king to a mighty nation that He redeemed out of slavery! If God can do that, there isn’t anything He can’t do for you.
Father, You are a great and wonderful God! There truly is no one like You! Lord, we surrender to You our thoughts and ideas about how things should be and what they should look like. We surrender our will for Yours. There isn’t anything You can’t do. We want to see You break through walls we’ve built. We want to see You move in ways we’ve never seen before, and we wait eagerly to see what You will do next.
Pastor Kristin Gentry
