This Far

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

THIS  FAR

2 Sam 7:17-29

17 Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation. 18 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. 23 And who is like your people Israel — the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?   24 You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God. 25 "And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, 26 so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, 'The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!' And the house of your servant David will be established before you. 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 in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever."

NIV

We should stay on this response of David for days, if not weeks. To begin, we surely should be able to identify with those words of David, “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family that you have brought me this far?” We are not a king over all Israel, but we are a child of the Sovereign Lord God Almighty, the creator of all of heaven and all the earth. We have been brought from the poorest of circumstances, doomed to death, to be given life and life abundantly, eternal life, through the gracious act of you, O Sovereign Lord. But who am I, but from the poorest of families, the least of people, living in the darkness that you brought us into your wonderful light, and lifted us up so that we might serve you and your people. And then, if that is not enough, you have spoken about the future of our house, your dwelling place. By your will, you have done this great thing and have made it known to your servants. We can be assured that our future rests in your divine presence because of your Son, Jesus, who paid that price for our sins. Although David wanted to build a house, a temple for the LORD, we cannot build this temple for the LORD; however, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you, O Sovereign Lord, are building your own temple within us. How far have you taken us, O Sovereign Lord? How awesome is your power that you have done this for your servants, yet it is for the sake of your own name, and we will praise you as long as we have breath. Thank you, Lord, for taking this far, for your Name’s sake. Thank you, Lord, for saving our souls and making us whole. Thank you for taking us this far.