2 Samuel 7:18 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?
The summer has gone, and autumn is in full swing here in the midwestern United States. The transitional state of the fields getting ready to harvest and then lie dormant for the winter echoes the state of our household, too.
This autumn is bringing about so much change for us. I went back to full-time teaching. My oldest started high school, my youngest started kindergarten, and even my husband is preparing for a ministry change.
Through the swirling of schedules and new routines and overall change, I’ve cried out to the Lord, and I see no end in sight of needing His care and loving kindness (never)! But what I’ve not had a lot of time for, what my heart yearns for, is here in 2 Samuel.
King David went in and sat before the Lord. I take it that he made himself cozy and decided to “sit a spell,” as my grandmother used to say. He made a conscious decision to carve out some time and not hurry away to something else.
We also see King David’s heart here in the second part of the verse. The king of Israel, the one after God’s own heart, knows his limits. “Who am I?” he asks, knowing that God does not need to feed, clothe, and care for us, but instead He chooses to. If anyone deserved some swagger, it was King David. He had conquered so many, and he had done it with flair. But how wise of David to know that no matter how powerful he was on earth, he was nothing before the Almighty Lord.
To fully understand this though, we need to look at the context. Before this time of prayer, the Lord had spoken to Nathan, and Nathan shared with David God’s plans. David had a plan to rebuild the temple, but then God had said that David’s offspring would build the temple instead.
I don’t know about you, but once I have my plan in place and it’s been approved by those around me, I’m ready to go full steam ahead, and I don’t take any redirection lightly. But David gives us a great example of being led by the Lord with grace and humility.
In the middle of our family’s transition, the Lord has put some twists in our plan. The timing of things has taken on a life of its own; decisions that we thought we would make, have been made for us. We have learned to trust and be gracious and led by the Lord and by others while we wait for direction, pray for guidance, and take a step forward in faith. Then we begin the cycle again for the next step.
We have learned true humility in asking the Lord, “Who are we, Lord, that You have brought us this far?” He has answered time and again that we are His beloved, He wants good for us, He wants fruitful ministry for us, and He will never leave us.
