To God be the Glory
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2 Samuel 7:1-21
The “toys of the super rich,” as CNN/Money calls them, including their travel, cell phones, diamonds, and cars, can be more expensive than a family home.
A night at the new, 2,640 square-foot Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Hotel in Manhattan costs $12,959 per-night, making it the most expensive hotel room in New York City.
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Finally, the new Ferrari Enzo sells for $650,000, doubling or tripling the price of the most expensive Lamborghini, Mercedes Benz, or Bentley, but nothing burns rubber and money like the new Bugatti Veyron, which costs more than a cool $1 million.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/23/pf/q_ultraluxury/index.htm
After the death of Saul, David and his men moved out of foreign Ziklag into Hebron (2 Sam 2:3-4), where all the tribes of Israel came to David and sought him for their king (2 Sam 5:1-2) after Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son who succeeded him, was assassinated (2 Sam 4). David the king enjoyed peace, prosperity, and popularity. Generals, advisers, and servants were in his service. After ruling from Hebron for seven and a half years (2 Sam 5:4-5) David moved the capital to Jerusalem, which he captured from the Jebusites (2 Sam 5:6-8). He fortified, developed, and improved Jerusalem and her surrounding areas (2 Sam 5:9-12). By this time, the Philistines were soundly defeated in two successive battles by David and his army (2 Sam 5:17-25). David purposed to build a temple to honor God, but God preferred David to honor Him in another way. God delayed the construction of the temple until David’s son Solomon assumed the throne.
What does God value in giving? What does it mean to offer our best to God? Why is giving a natural way to express our thanksgiving to God?
GOD VALUES THE SPIRIT OF GIVING MORE THAN THE SIZE OF GIVING
2 Sam 7:1-2
Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”
And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.” But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’
[Illustration] After being away on business, a man thought it would be nice to give his wife a little gift. “How about some perfume?” he asked the cosmetics clerk. She showed him a bottle costing $50.00.
“That’s a bit much,” said the man, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30.00. “That’s still quite a bit,” he complained.
Growing annoyed, the clerk brought out a tiny $15.00 bottle. “What I mean,” said the man, “is I’d like to see something really cheap.”
The clerk held a mirror (to his face, and said, “Here, you might be looking for this”).
The wise saying, “It’s not the gift but the thought that counts,” has a few cousins and relatives. Other sayings of the same family include:
“It’s not the gift that counts, it’s the gift wrapping.”
“It’s not the gift that counts. It’s the lack of thought behind it.”
“It’s not the gift that counts, it is the gesture.”
“It’s not the gift, but the love that comes with it that counts.”
“It’s not the gift but the sentiment that counts.”
The Russians have a saying: “It’s not the gift that counts; it’s attention.”
By 30, David was at the pinnacle of his success. He was no longer in a cave, but in a castle, and he was no longer feeding sheep, but ruling men. The nation was united behind him, supportive of him, and confident in him. At the zenith of his power, David couldn’t bear the thought of building a beautiful, luxurious, and expensive palace for himself but not erecting a grand, magnificent, and foremost temple for God. However, God declined the gift, no matter how imposing its size, how impressive its structure, or how intricate its sketch. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). The tabernacle, and not the temple, was God’s original intent. He moved from place to place in a tent (v 6). He dwells in the body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
So, God likes the spirit of giving more than the size of the gift. He values the giver more than the gift, the donor more than the donation, the spender more than the spending, the proprietor more than his property, and the landlord more than his land. He appreciates not the wages or earnings, but the wage-earner. As the saying goes, “The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart.”
The attitude is more important that the amount. The heart of the owner is superior to the holdings of ownership. God admires the attitude of sharing, not the ability to share, foremost. God wants our giving to be sincere, not spectacular. It is not about how grand your gift is, but how giving the giver is, and not about how generous the gift is, but how generous the giver is. He wants us to give as an exercise of love, and not as an outburst of emotion; according to the riches of our hearts, and not according to the range of our income; and out of the abundance of our hearts, and not because of the surplus in the bank, the improvement in the economy, or the potential of our earnings.
The psalmist says in Psalm 95:4-5 ,
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
The Lord’s version of what is His is even more striking:
“The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to me, whether man or animal.” (Ex 13:2)
“The whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’“ (Exodus 19:5)
“The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.” (Lev 25:23)
“Everything under heaven belongs to me.” (Job 4:11)
“Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine…the world is mine, and all that is in it.” (Ps 50:10-12)
“The silver is mine and the gold is mine.” (Hag 2:8)
The point is: What gift can I give to God that is greater than these? What gift can I give to God that is not already His?
GOD VALUES THE STATE OF THE GIVER MORE THAN THE SURPRISE IN GIVING
Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.
A friend sent an e-mail to a woman that asked this question: What do you call an intelligent, good looking, sensitive man? Answer: A rumor
[Illustration] An English professor wrote several words on the board: “Woman without her man is a savage.” He then divided the class into the men’s and the ladies’, directed the students to punctuate the sentence without moving its word order, and report their finding to the class at a given time.
The men guffawed at the words on the board, howled in laughter when the group met, and arrived at a conclusion without much debate. When they returned to report their sentence, they gleefully presented their sentence: “Woman, without her man, is a savage.”They high-fived one another after the presentation.
The women, without much ado, wrote when their turn came: “Woman! Without her, man is a savage.”
The state your heart, or the shape your heart is in, carries more weight than your support to giving or your expression of support. Micah 6:8 asks and answers his own question, “What does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Your relationship with God, not your response to pledges or deficits, counts. The priority you give to Him is more worthwhile than the payment you give to Him because God accepts a living sacrifice, not a monetary sacrifice. The way you honor Him with your witness, your words, and your work is proof of your sacrifice. One of the reasons God did not permit David to build Him a temple but allowed Solomon to do so was because David was a warrior and blood was on his hands (1 Chron 28:2-3).
God did not differentiate between David the farmhand from David the king. He plucked David from obscurity and propelled him to greatness – from lowly shepherd to strong leader, from caring sheep to commanding men, from running rebel to returning king. For all his merits, David was simply a replacement or a stand-in for Saul, the first king of Israel. The word for “ruler” or “leader” (v 8) was originally used in the Bible for Saul (1 Sam 9:16, 10:1) before David inherited it. Note that David did not lead the sheep, they were leading him; he was following the sheep (v 8), a phrase exclusive to David (1 Chron 17:7) that the king put to use in Psalms (Ps 78:71). Saul, David’s predecessor, spent his life “following” or “pursuing” the Philistines (1 Sam 14:46, 24:1), but David spent his childhood “following the sheep” (or “flock” in NIV). That put David in his place. His previous job was uninteresting, unexciting, and unpleasant.
God cut off all David’s enemies (v 9, 1 Chron 17:8), a favor God did for no king or anyone else. God did what He did for David not because David was good, loving, or great; four times God declared He did it not for David, but for “my people” (vv 7, 8, 10, 11). The Lord had made him king - powerful and successful - for the sake of his people Israel. Why has God made you a leader, powerful, and successful? Why a father, why a mother? For the sake of His people, His purpose, His will, His children. For His glory and His people’s benefit.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
You and I are not our own, we were bought with a price.
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
What is ‘glory’? Glory is ascribing to God, or recognizing His full splendor, magnificence. It is the Greek word δόξα dóxa [1391] meaning recognize, glory. It is the Hebrew word כָּבוֹד kāḇôḏ, כָּבֹד kāḇōḏ[1] [3519] meaning honor, and majesty. God will not give His honor, His recognition, His splendor, His magnificence, His majesty to another. He will not share it with another. But we are to recognize, ascribe to Him His glory in doing His work and will.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
David had to check himself at the door now and then, so do we. To his credit, David realized that, repeating the phrase “your people” three times in his prayer (vv 23, 23, 24). David had a name no one else had, which is “a great name” (v 9) - not “The Great Name,” which belongs to God alone (Josh 7:9, 1 Kings 8:42, Jer 44:26, Ezek 36:23), but, nevertheless, “a great name” no biblical character owned.
Worship is not about what you have done for God, what you can do for Him, or what He can do for you - but what He can do in you, through you, and with you. God wants to do something in you, make something of you, and pour Himself into you. Who you are means much more to Him than what you have, how you repay Him with your conduct is of more value than how much you repay Him with your checkbook; and how you can honor Him seven days a week trumps how you can honor him one day a week. It’s been said, “If you do not live it, you do not believe it.”
GOD VALUES THE SURRENDER OF THE GIVER MORE THAN THE SACRIFICE OF THE GIVER
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
[Illustration] Some young girls were boasting by the brook. One of them dipped her hands in the sparkling water and held up her hands for the others to admire the drops that fell like diamonds from her palms: “See what beautiful hands I have. The water runs from them like precious jewels.” They were very soft and white, for she had never done anything but wash them in clear, cold water.
Another one got some strawberries and crushed them in her palms. The juice ran through her fingers like wine from a winepress until her fingers were as pink as the sunrise in the early morning. She said, “See what beautiful hands I have! The strawberry juice runs over them like wine.” They were very pink and soft for she had never done anything but wash them in strawberry juice every morning.
Another one gathered some violets and crushed the flowers in her hands until they smelled like perfume. “See what beautiful hands I have! They smell like violets in the deep woods in the springtime,” she said. They were very soft and white, for she had never done anything but wash them in violets every morning.
The fourth girl did not show her hands but held them in her lap. An old woman came down and the girls showed her their hands and asked her which were the most beautiful hands. She shook her head at each one but asked to see the hands of the last girl, who raised her hands meekly for the old woman to see. “Oh, these hands are hard from toil,” said the old woman, “but they have been helping Mother and Father dry the dishes, and sweep the floor and wash the windows and weed the garden. These hands have been taking care of the baby, and carrying hot tea to Grandma, and showing little brother how to build his blocks and fly his kite. These hands have been busy making the house a happy home, full of love and care. These are the most beautiful hands for they have been most helpful.” (Adapted from William J. Bennett, The Moral Compass (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995) 29-30)
Nothing is as precious as sacrificing your heart to Him, surrendering your life to God, and submitting to His lordship.
People call David “The King,” “My lord,” and “Your Excellency,” but the fondest name David had for himself was the title “your servant.” Nine times David called himself that in the chapter (vv 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 27, 28, 29, 29). Including 2 Sam 7 but excluding Psalms, David had addressed himself before God as “your servant,” an astonishing thirteen times throughout his life (1 Sam 3:10-11, 2 Sam 24:10), more than any individual in the Bible.
God proudly called David “my servant” (v 5), putting him in the famous company of Abraham (Gen 26:24), Moses, Job, Caleb (Num 14:24), Isaiah (Isa 20:3), Jacob (Isa 41:8), and Zerubbabel (Hag 2:23) receiving this highest honor. He called David affectionately “my servant” an astonishing 19 times (2 Sam 3:18, 7:5, 7:8, 1 Kings 11:32, 36, 11:38, 14:8, 2 Kings 19:34, 20:6, 1 Chron 17:7, Isa 37:35, Jer 33:21, 33:22, 33:26, Ezek 34:23, 34:24, 37:24, 37:25) in the Bible, more than triple the next two highest recipients of the title, Moses (Num 12:7, 8, Josh 1:2, 7, 2 Kings 21:8, Mal 4:4) and Job (Job 1:8, 2:3, 42:7-8), who were called that six times.
David’s strength was that he could humble himself before God, friends, and enemies. He called himself Saul’s servant five times (1 Sam 17:32, 34, 36, 19:4, 26:19, 29:8), Jonathan’s servant (1 Sam 20:6-8), Achish’s servant three times (1 Sam 27:5, 28:2, 29:8), and Nabal’s servant once (1 Sam 25:8). He knew that he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him (2 Sam 5:10).
When we humble ourselves, God elevates us in the presence of our enemies. One by one, in the next chapter, the Moabites (2 Sam 8:2), the Arameans or Syrians (2 Sam 8:6), and the Edomites (2 Sam 8:14) became David’s “servants” and brought tribute to him. Job was the greatest of all the people of the East (Job 1:3), but David became one of the “great men in the earth” (v 9). Even then David recognized that his greatness was overstated (v 21). David’s greatness, like all other great people, was limited to the earth, but only God is unqualified in greatness. He is the Great God (Ezra 5:8, Neh 8:6, Dan 2:45, Titus 2:13), the great and awesome God (Neh 1:5), Great King (Ps 48:2, Matt 5:35), and the Great “I Am” (Jn 8:58).
[Conclusion] Jesus Christ is our great God and Savior (Titus 2:13). Giving is an obligation, and not an option, but giving is to express gratitude for God’s grace and goodness to you. Ray Stedman said, “Giving is not something you do for others so much as it is something you do for yourself, because it has a tremendous effect upon your own life.” The greatest gift God has given to us is Himself. Consequently, the best gift you can give to God is yourself. It’s been said, “Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.” True worship is not about offering your talents or treasures to the Lord, but providing your time and testimony. God requires your love more than your labor, the heart of worship more than the lips of praise or service, and your humility, honor, and heart. It is not about the music, instrument, or voice, but the heart. It is not about feelings, but about faith. It is about His glory, not ours.
Contributor Victor Yap – Adapted Shannon Whitehouse
[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 493.