Sermon Tone Analysis

Running Ahead of God

Running Ahead of God

This morning I want to speak about something that I have never spoken on before.

I never even thought about it until reading .

This morning I want to speak about something that I have never spoken on before.

I never even thought about it until reading .

takes place in a time of peace.

David has defeated the surrounding enemies.

He is established in Jerusalem.

His house is there and he is settled in.

He has time on his hands to do things he has always wanted to do.

As he sits in his house, he realizes that he is in a house while the ark of God, the visible dwelling place of God, is housed in a tent.

He brings this up to Nathan, his friend, a prophet and the one through whom God speaks to David.

(ESV) —1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, 2 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.” 3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

David had a sincere desire to help God.

He wanted to honor Him and felt that God should not be out in a tent while he lived in a good home.

He wanted to build God a house.

He wanted to build a temple, a more permanent dwelling place for God.

This sounds like a great idea!

At a much later time, God speaks to Israel through Haggai after they had returned from captivity in Babylon and criticizes them for not thinking like David was thinking.

(ESV) —2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.”

3 Then the word of the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

5 Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

6 You have sown much, and harvested little.

You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill.

You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm.

And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the Lord.

9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little.

And when you brought it home, I blew it away.

Why? declares the Lord of hosts.

Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.

10 Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce.

11 And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”

If David lived during the time of Zerubbabel and Haggai, he would have been one of the first to rebuild the temple of God.

David had a great idea.

Many sincere, God-loving, Jesus-honoring Christians have great ideas.

“We need to do this for God!” “This would be a great thing for the church!”

If I had lived in the time of David, I would have been on board for his plan.

David was not seeking honor for himself.

He wanted to honor God.

He had a great idea.

Let’s go for it!

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,

David was a doer.

If he thought something should be done, he didn’t waste time.

I don’t know what time of day David told Nathan his idea nor what time Nathan said to him that the idea was a good one, but that same night, before twenty four hours had passed, God spoke to Nathan.

He came to him before David had time to act.

Why?

Because David was running ahead of God.

Assumptions

David had a great idea.

Because he had a great idea, he thought God would also think it was a great idea.

This is an assumption.

David was wrong.

This explains why God spoke to Nathan tht evening.

He needed to let David know that his good idea was not God’s idea.

He needed to act quickly because David was a doer.

Sometimes we need someone to speak up right away.

People make assumptions, and plan to move ahead.

If we have godly insight, sharing it sooner is better than sharing it later.

“Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

6 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.

7 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?” ’

-7

God says to David, “Have I ever asked you or anyone else to build a house for me?”

David is forced to say, “No, this is my idea.”

Here is the danger of making assumptions about what God or other people may want or need.

We don’t know unless we ask.

David never asked.

He assumed that God would be pleased with what he was going to do.

God had another plan for the building of his house and it didn’t include David.

This is how David thought.

First, he saw two facts before him.

He owned a house.

God owned a tent.

This is pure fact.

He then made an assumption.

His assumption was God deserved to have at least equal or better than he did.

He then made an inference from that.

He inferred that God would want him to build a temple.

He saw the need.

He would step up and meet it.

meant that he should build a temple.

This sounded so good and logical that Nathan agreed.

I would have agreed and many of you would have been on board with David’s plan.

What did God say to David?

2 Samuel 7:4-

God says, “David, I have never asked for a temple.

This is your idea, but I have a different one.”

I don’t know how many times I have heard someone say to a spouse, relative or friend, “I thought you wanted this…” only to find out that what they thought was not what the other person wanted.

This can happen when we hear God’s calling for another person.

We can be so excited about what they are doing that we think that is what God wants us to do.

But we are wrong.

God wants us to be excited about what He is doing and then go and do what he wants us to do.

We had Richard Berry come and share an exciting ministry in Skowhegan among the homeless.

God is blessing his work.

We can learn from him the power of faith, the blessing of stepping out in obedience, the need to follow God rather than Christians.