So right now, I'm reading through first and second chronicles as part of my "read through the bible in a year" daily reading. I don't know about you, but sometimes when I get to portions in the old testament like this, I can be a little less than thrilled starting out. I don't know all of the history so it's confusing, and let's face it, war history is definitely not my fav. The Lord has been so amazing in showing me lots of interesting little tidbits as I've been reading through however, and I wanted to share one of them with you!
Right after the Lord makes an awesome promise to David about all of the things He will do for him, David responds in prayer by saying:
Who am I, LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, my God, you have spoken about the future of the house of your servant. You, LORD God, have looked on me as though I were the most exalted of men.
What more can David say to you for honoring your servant? For you know your servant, LORD. For the sake of your servant and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made known all these great promises.
“There is no one like you, LORD, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth whose God went out to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for yourself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You made your people Israel your very own forever, and you, LORD, have become their God.
And now, LORD, let the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house be established forever. Do as you promised, so that it will be established and that your name will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The LORD Almighty, the God over Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.
You, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. So your servant has found courage to pray to you. You, LORD, are God! You have promised these good things to your servant. Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, LORD, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever.
1 Chronicles 17:16-27
I can't get over how many good things are in this prayer. It's just awesome! First of all, David's humility before the Lord is astounding. He understands that everything the Lord has given him is purely out of grace and completely undeserved. In my bible study the other day, we were talking about how the more we know the Lord, the more humble we become because we are more aware of the ways in which we fall short of His commands. I think this is certainly true here! I love also that David takes comfort in how much the Lord knows him and how far the Lord has brought the Israelites. I don't know about you, but sometimes it's easy for me to forget all of the things the Lord has brought me through! Finally, I love that David's ultimate goal is to glorify the Lord - he asks that God's promises be fulfilled so that God's name would be honored. It's so easy when we ask for things from God to have them be for our own glory instead of for the glory of the Lord; however, a view like David's is what we should strive for! Today, I pray that we will grow in humility like David as we seek the Lord!
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