Don’t Waste Your Life
THE BEST NEWS YOU’VE HEARD ALL WEEK – P6
May 17, 2009
2 Samuel 7:1-3 (NLT), When the LORD had brought peace to the land and King David was settled in his palace, 2 David summoned Nathan the prophet. "Look!" David said. "Here I am living in this beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of God is out in a tent!" 3 Nathan replied, "Go ahead and do what you have in mind, for the LORD is with you."
After God had established David as king over Israel, David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and God had given him victory over his enemies; one of the things David wanted to do was to PAY GOD BACK.
While this is a normal response, it’s not necessarily the response God is looking for. God essentially rejects David’s offer.
2 Samuel 7:4-17 (NIV), That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying:
5 "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?"
'8 "Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies."
'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men. 15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'"
17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation.
God basically looks at all the BIG PLANS David had to PAY HIM BACK and God says, “David, your CURRENCY isn’t it good with me… You don’t get to pay me back… I didn’t ask for a house. I don’t want a house… And get this, everything I’ve done in your life up until this point, is really, really SMALL in comparison to what I’m going to do. You’re not going to BUILD ME A HOUSE, I’m going to BUILD YOU A HOUSE… I’m going to UNCONDITIONALLY ESTABLISH YOUR KINGDOM… You’re going to have an HEIR who will rule forever…”
God promised David His UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, His EXTRAVAGANT GRACE and His SOVEREIGN PROMISE… And it doesn’t require David to do anything!
One of the most important statements concerning how David responded is recorded in 2 Samuel 7:18.
2 Samuel 7:18 (NIV), Then King David went in and sat before the Lord…
This is crucial. David PUT DOWN HIS TOOLS, LAID DOWN HIS TROWEL, took off his coveralls and placed himself IN THE MIDDLE of God’s amazing LOVE, extravagant GRACE and sovereign PROMISE.
2 Samuel 7:18-22 (NIV), Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord? 20 "What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord. 21 For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. 22 "How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears."
THREE THOUGHTS TO “SIT” WITH:
• Who am I? (v. 18)
• God knows me… (v. 20)
2 Samuel 7:20 (NIV), "What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord.”
• God loves me and has chosen me… (v. 18-22)
God answers the "why" question in Verse 21.
2 Samuel 7:21 (NIV), For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
David's response to God's grace is humble WORSHIP and total DEPENDENCE on the promise and faithfulness of God.
2 Samuel 7:25, 27-29 (NIV), "And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made… Do as you promised… 27 "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, 'I will build a house for you.' So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. 28 O Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. 29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever…"
Several years pass between 2 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 23, but at the age of 70, David is still banking on the promise of God.
2 Samuel 23:1-5 (NIV), These are the last words of David: "The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel's singer of songs: 2 "The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; his word was on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: 'When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.' 5 "Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?
Connecting the dots:
* God sees me.
* God knows me.
* For reasons only known to Himself, God LOVES me and has CHOSEN me.
Ephesians 1:3-7 (NIV), Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace…
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE:
1. Bet the whole farm on the amazing love, extravagant grace and sovereign promise of your great God.
2. Have the courage to make mid course corrections when necessary.
3. Make the goal of your life the pursuit of ONE GREAT THING.
One of my favorites movie scenes occurs in City Slickers. Jack Palance and Billy Crystal are riding across a range on horseback. They’re discussing life and love. Palance is a genuine cowboy. Crystal plays a white-collar yuppie from Los Angeles who has paid for a two-week dude ranch vacation. Here's the conversation.
Palance: Cowboy leads a different kind of life. When there were cowboys. They’re a dying breed. Still means something to me, though. In a couple of days, we’ll move this herd across the river, drive them through the valley. Ahh, there’s nothing like bringing in the herd.
Crystal: You see, that’s great. Your life makes sense to you.
Palance: (Laughs)
Crystal: What? What’s so funny?
Palance: You city folk. You worry a lot, don’t you? How old are you? Thirty-eight?
Crystal: Thirty-nine.
Palance: Yeah. You all come out here about the same age. Same problems. Spend fifty weeks a year getting knots in your rope then – then you think two weeks up here will untie them for you. None of you get it. (Long pause) Do you know what the secret of life is?
Crystal: No, what?
Palance: This. (Holds up his index finger.)
Crystal: Your finger?
Palance: ONE THING. Just one thing. You stick to that and nothing else matters.
Crystal: That’s great, but what’s the one thing?
Palance: That’s what you’ve got to figure out.
David figured out his ONE THING.
Psalm 27:4 (MSG), I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with Him in His house my whole life long.
I love the way Eugene Peterson describes David in his commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel. Peterson writes:
“The single most characteristic thing about David is his relationship with God. David believers in God, thinks about God, imagines God, addresses God, and prays to God. He also forgets God, disobeys God, sins against God, and ignores God. But God is the reality that accounts for and defines all that David does and says. The largest part of David’s existence is not David, it is God.” ~ Eugene Peterson, Commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel
4. Trust completely in the sovereignty of your GREAT GOD.
Acts 13:36 (NIV), …when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep…
DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE:
1. Bet the whole farm on the amazing love, extravagant grace and sovereign promise of your great God.
2. Have the courage to make mid course corrections when necessary.
3. Make the goal of your life the pursuit of ONE GREAT THING.
One of my favorites movie scenes occurs in City Slickers. Jack Palance and Billy Crystal are riding across a range on horseback. They’re discussing life and love. Palance is a genuine cowboy. Crystal plays a white-collar yuppie from Los Angeles who has paid for a two-week dude ranch vacation. Here's the conversation.
Palance: Cowboy leads a different kind of life. When there were cowboys. They’re a dying breed. Still means something to me, though. In a couple of days, we’ll move this herd across the river, drive them through the valley. Ahh, there’s nothing like bringing in the herd.
Crystal: You see, that’s great. Your life makes sense to you.
Palance: (Laughs)
Crystal: What? What’s so funny?
Palance: You city folk. You worry a lot, don’t you? How old are you? Thirty-eight?
Crystal: Thirty-nine.
Palance: Yeah. You all come out here about the same age. Same problems. Spend fifty weeks a year getting knots in your rope then – then you think two weeks up here will untie them for you. None of you get it. (Long pause) Do you know what the secret of life is?
Crystal: No, what?
Palance: This. (Holds up his index finger.)
Crystal: Your finger?
Palance: ONE THING. Just one thing. You stick to that and nothing else matters.
Crystal: That’s great, but what’s the one thing?
Palance: That’s what you’ve got to figure out.
David figured out his ONE THING.
Psalm 27:4 (MSG), I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with Him in His house my whole life long.
I love the way Eugene Peterson describes David in his commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel. Peterson writes:
“The single most characteristic thing about David is his relationship with God. David believers in God, thinks about God, imagines God, addresses God, and prays to God. He also forgets God, disobeys God, sins against God, and ignores God. But God is the reality that accounts for and defines all that David does and says. The largest part of David’s existence is not David, it is God.” ~ Eugene Peterson, Commentary on 1 and 2 Samuel
4. Trust completely in the sovereignty of your GREAT GOD.
Acts 13:36 (NIV), …when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep…
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