Thoughts on 1 Chronicles 17

Today’s reading: 1 Chronicles 17; Hebrews 12

The life of David presents a few reminders of the importance of prayer, even in our areas of competence and pursuit of the Lord.

It is easy to fall into the habit of turning to the Lord in prayer only for those things which seem beyond our reach or out of our control, and to rely on personal strength/ability for the rest. A couple days ago I intended to write about this when David was going to battle and decided to pray beforehand, and God told him, when he prayed, to go around behind the army and to let the Lord’s army fight for him. If David, in his competence as a military general, had just gone in as he normally would, he very well may have won the battle, but he would have missed the chance to see and experience the Lord’s deliverance.

Then here too, in our reading this morning, what David wants to do for the Lord just seems like a straightforward good thing to do. In fact, it seems so much the obvious choice that when David asks Nathan the prophet about it, Nathan doesn't even hesitate to give the project the thumbs up and walk away. What could possibly be wrong with David wanting to build a temple to honor and glorify God? And yet, this was not what God wanted from David.

To me, this is an important reminder of the importance of stopping to take the time to involve the Lord in even the things which seem straightforward and obvious. God did not intervene to stop David from running after a sinful, selfish, godless pursuit, but rather a good and godly one. The problem was not that what David wanted to do was bad, but that David was not the man who was to accomplish the work.

I so easily fall into a rut of just pushing forward with whatever is in front of me and not actually stopping along the way to seek the Lord. Whether out of personal competence, or whether it's because it just looks/feels like a good or godly things to do, I just assume I see things rightly and press on. But no amount of competence or "obviousness" truly makes a situation worth not involving the Lord in it. 

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