The God who Builds

The God who Builds
1 Chronicles 7:1-15
“Go and tell David My servant, ‘thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in.”

To David, it seemed to be the right thing to do. In yesterday’s devotional, we discovered David learning an essential truth of God. God is holy, and he is to be regarded by us as holy and just. We are not to make him commonplace. He is worthy of our praise and never to be treated lightly or flippantly. It was a lesson David learned in the tragic death of Uzza, yet a lesson well learned. In chapter 15, David again seeks to move the ark. However, on this occasion, it was not done with an attitude of flippant celebration but obedient worship. This time he followed the precepts of the law and focused on the praise of God.
After bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David placed the ark in a tent. Yet this was troubling to David. He was building a capital and palace for himself while God’s presence was still dwelling in a tent. His proposal to build a temple received the initial praise of the prophet Nathan. It seemed to be the right thing to do at the right time. However, God had another lesson he needed to teach David, and it is this lesson we find in chapter 17.
During this period, the people believed the deity needed to be present in the city to protect it from its enemies. In their thinking, and David’s as well, the relationship between God and the nation was one of mutual benefit: “If I help you, then you will help me.”  God may not help those who help themselves, but he will help those who help him!  
However, God does not tolerate bad theology, so he corrects David’s theological perspective in two ways. First, He reminds David that God’s divine presence is not connected to any building or action of man. Instead, it is based upon his grace. God is among us because of his choice, not their merit. In the future, Solomon will build a temple; however, before God commissions Solomon to build it, God desires to make it clear that the temple is not that important. The temple does not guarantee God’s presence. God is present with his people because of his grace and compassion for them, not because they have done something to earn his blessing.
           Second, and even more importantly, God is teaching David, and us, that God is not dependent upon us for anything; instead, we are dependent upon God for all things. God goes on to remind David that his rise to power was not because of his innate ability but because of God’s sovereign working in his life. In verse 7, God reminds David that he is the one who took David from the shepherd’s fields to the throne room. God does not need David to build him a house; David needs God to build him a house (vs. 10).  
               Often, we fall prey to the same distorted thinking of David. We think we have something to contribute to God. God needs us. Paul reminds us in Acts 17:25 that God is not served by human hands, as though He needs anything. Instead, he is the one who gives life to us. God invites us to join him in his work, not because he needs our efforts but because he desires to bless us through our actions. In our acts of serving him, he is working in us far more than he is working through us. When we fail to serve him, we are not hindering his work in the world; we are hindering his work in us. By serving him, we become the beneficiaries and he establishes his purpose for us. If you are not seeing any activity of God in your life, the first step is to find avenues of serving him. He is the one who builds, we are the tools he uses to do it through.