I. FAMILY FEELING IS DIVINELY ORDAINED. Nations of warriors have sometimes regarded and treated such feeling as weakness. On the contrary, it is implanted by the Creator; and God, the universal Father, cannot but be pleased with fatherly sentiment and fatherly care on the part of the heads of human households.
II. FAMILY FEELING IS HALLOWED BY RELIGION. Always a beautiful thing, a father's love becomes a holy thing when it is sanctified by a spiritual tone of mind and a spiritual habit of life.
III. FAMILY FEELING WILL PROMPT A FATHER'S PRAYERS. If it is natural to wish well to our children, it is religious to express those wishes before him who does so much to fulfil our best and purest desires. As it would be criminal in any parent to be careless as to his children's future, so it would be monstrous in a Christian parent to omit to commend his offspring to the care and guidance, love and sympathy, of our Father in heaven.
IV. FAMILY FEELING WILL LOOK FORWARD TO THE COMMON ENJOYMENT OF BLESSINGS DURING THE ENDLESS FUTURE. It is questionable whether the language of the text has any reference to the future state. In praying that his house might be "before the Lord for ever," and so "blessed for ever," David was probably contemplating the permanence of his throne and that of his descendants. His prayer has been answered in a manner deeper than he could have anticipated. But we are bound to seek for our posterity an immortal happiness, and to anticipate for our families reunion in the presence and in the service of the Eternal.—T.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
1 Chronicles 17:1-6.-Truths under the surface.
A very pleasant picture is here presented to our imagination. We see the King of Israel sitting in his house, "the Lord having given him rest round about from all his enemies" (2 Samuel 7:1), with a happy and grateful sense of prosperity and security, not wrapping himself in the dangerous robe of complacent self-congratulation, but rather clothed with humility and thankfulness. As he surveys the stateliness and elegance of his palace, he thinks of God's goodness to him in placing "his feet in a large room" (Psalms 31:8), and his thought naturally passed to the place where the ark rested—the ark with which the presence of Jehovah was so closely connected (Exodus 25:22). We do not wonder at the thought which then occurred to him. We see in these verses those truths which are not upon the surface, but which we have no difficulty in recognizing beneath it.
I. THE SOUND SENTIMENT AT THE HEART OF DAVID'S DESIRE, David felt that there was an impropriety in himself dwelling "in an house of cedars" while "the ark of the covenant of the Lord remained under curtains" (1 Chronicles 17:1). Was it for him to be in better and more costly surroundings than was the manifested presence of God himself? Should he be more honoured in his dwelling-place than the ark of the covenant of the Lord? There is a sound sentiment here; one that was and is worthy not only of respect but cultivation. We are always to give God the very best we can offer him; the less costly we may expend on ourselves, the best we should reserve for him. We should be ashamed to lay out large sums of money on our own homes while the house of God needs renovation or repair; to expend a large proportion of our income on our own honour or gratification when the cause of Christ is languishing for want of funds, when the treasury of Christian benevolence is empty. Not most for ourselves with a very small fraction for God and his kingdom, but enough (or even more than enough) for ourselves and the most and best we can furnish for him and for his. That is the true thought of the reverent mind, Hebrew and Christian.
II. THE TRUE THOUGHT AT THE HEART OF NATHAN'S COUNSEL. "DO all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee." The prophet's encouragement of the king's desire proved to be mistaken, but the thought at the heart of his words was true and sound. Nathan spoke as one who believed that the man with whom God dwelt was likely to come to right conclusions. So he was; and David was only wrong in wishing that he himself might be the instrument of carrying out a praiseworthy project. If God is with us as he was with David, it is most likely we shall be guided to right decisions. It is not the very learned, nor the very clever, nor the very "practical" man, but the very godly man, who is likely to have the true sentiment in his mind respecting the things of God. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him," etc. (Psalms 25:14; see John 7:17; John 15:15). The man who walks with God and with whom God dwells may fall, now and again, into a mistake, but he is not likely to be "greatly moved" flora the path of wisdom. He is in the way of being led in the paths of wisdom, of being "guided into all truth."
III. THE VALUABLE TRUTH CONTAINED IN THE DIVINE DECLARATION. (1 Chronicles 17:3-6) God declared that he had never demanded of his people that they should make other provision than that of the simple tabernacle or tent. He had been pleased hitherto to manifest his presence in connection with this humble fabric. He would remind his servant David that as there could be no structure, however grand and stately, which the art of man could raise that would be a worthy home of him whom the heaven of heavens could not contain, so, on the other hand, there was no covering, however humble, within which he was not ready to abide if hearts were true and lives were holy. The precious and vital thought of the passage is that God does not require the elaborations of human art or the expenditure of human wealth to vouchsafe his presence and make known his power. Let there be
Whom the costly cathedral will not hold, the cottage roof may shelter. He may desert the breast which is covered with the priestly garments to dwell in the heart of him who is "clothed in camel's hair."—C.
1 Chronicles 17:7-15.-Three spiritual necessities.
The message which Nathan was charged to deliver to David calls before us three necessities of our spiritual nature, which apply to all men everywhere, in every position, and in all ages. We have need of —
I. AN OPEN MIND TO RECEIVE GOD'S SPECIAL TEACHING. Nathan was familiar with the broad and general principles of religious truth. He was an enlightened servant of Jehovah—a prophet whose inspiration was from on high. But he needed a special vision (1 Chronicles 17:15) to see the truth which was to be declared on this occasion. Until he received that vision he was under the impression that David would do well to carry out his pious purpose (1 Chronicles 17:2), but from that time he discouraged and, indeed, arrested the intention of the king. If such a man as he, with whose spirit God was in close communion, needed to be instructed on particular occasions, how much more do we? Our general knowledge of Divine truth, even taken in connection with an abiding relation to the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 6:19), does not ensure to us an understanding of special questions without special illumination from the Source of all wisdom. Again and again we need to have the quick eye to see the pointing of the Divine finger, the open ear to hear the Divine voice, the sensitive heart to respond to the Divine touch. This in respect to our temporal affairs, to the government of the home, to the ordering of the Church of Christ.
II.. A READY REMEMBRANCE OF GOD'S PAST MERCIES. (1 Chronicles 17:7, 1 Chronicles 17:8) David was to Be disappointed in being denied the gratification of this strong wish of his heart; but he was to remember what great things God had done for him, taking him from the sheepcote and placing him on the throne, attending his steps as Guardian and Guide, giving him the victory over his enemies, raising him to a position of eminence even among kings. It was a small thing to be denied this one desire. We should carry about us at all times such a sense of the great blessings God has given us—the endowments, the deliverances, the recoveries, the bestowments of our whole past course—that at any time this may weigh down and bury out of our sight any small disappointment which the Ruler of our lives may permit us to suffer. A strong and full sense of mercies in the past will silence the first sigh of discontentment, will turn it into a song of holy gratitude.
III. AN AN INTELLIGENT GRASP OF DIVINE PROMISES. It may be that we may need more than a view of past mercies: we may require a prospect of good things to come. God graciously provided David with beth. He intimated to him through Nathan that he was intending to do great things for him. He would
These were very great promises, amply sufficient to compensate for one disappointment. What large promises does God make to us! "Exceeding great and precious" they are (2 Peter 1:4). They begin with his guidance and presence through life, and they culminate in everlasting joy and glory at his right hand. We often need to have recourse to the promises of our Divine Saviour. When we do resort to them, and do draw upon them, we find a bountiful sufficiency for all our need.—C.
1 Chronicles 17:10 (latter part).-The Divine response: its righteousness and riches.
I. THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE DIVINE RESPONSE. David had it in his heart to build God a house, but he did not actually do so. Yet God honoured his intention, and met it by the response intimated in the text: "The Lord will build thee an house." In this we can recognize the act of a righteous God—righteous because
We are not responsible for the event. With David, in this instance, the direct Divine prohibition was interposed. With us, insuperable obstacles often intervene, and the result is not ascribable to anything but the limitation of our faculties. Our righteous God accepts, approves, honours, not indeed barren and Worthless sentiment, but an earnest desire and honest intention to please and serve him. This may be in our personal, family, or Church relations.
II. THE AMPLITUDE (OR RICHES) OF THE DIVINE RESPONSE. David desired to build for God a house. God replied to his servant, "I will build thee an house." The house which David wished to build was one of stone and wood, of silver and gold; but that which the Divine Giver purposed to build was far more precious. It was a human house; it was the elevation of the king's children and of their children to honour and power and influence; it was a bestowment of a kind and character which in its nature far outweighed the gift which the servant of Jehovah proposed to present. God's response had a Divine largeness, amplitude, wealth, answering to his beneficent and bountiful nature. Thus does he meet his children now. He makes us to know the length, and breadth, and depth, and height of his responsiveness in the gospel of Christ. He acts toward us in the spirit of the promise in Mark 10:28-30. He responds
1 Chronicles 17:16-18.-Our relation to God.
The attitude which David assumed and the words of devotion he uttered on this occasion are suggestive of the relation in which we stand to our Creator and Redeemer. We gather —
I. THAT WE CANNOT BE LED TO A BETTER STATE THAN A DEEP SENSE OF OUR NOTHINGNESS AND THE DIVINE GREATNESS. When Nathan had delivered his message David placed himself in the posture of deliberate reflection (1 Chronicles 17:16), and, thus seated, he became possessed of a profound sense of his own unworthiness. "Who am I, O Lord, and what is my house?" etc. (1 Chronicles 17:16). He soon passed on to cherish a deep feeling of God's supremacy. "O Lord, there is none like thee," etc. (1 Chronicles 17:20). This is a most suitable end to any transaction between our God and ourselves. We are then arriving at the truth, reaching a place of spiritual safety, in an attitude that is most becoming, when we are impressed with our own nothingness and with the absolute greatness of our God and Saviour.
II. THAT GOD NOT ONLY CALLS US TO SONSHIP, BUT TREATS US AS HIS CHILDREN. "Thou hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree" (1 Chronicles 17:17). This probably means that, in David's thought, God had treated him as one who was most exalted, and who might on that ground look for the largest things. At any rate it was true—if this be not the exact thought of the obscure passage—that God was treating David in a way which corresponded with the exalted position to which he had called him. And this truth has its illustration in the Divine dealing with all his sons. In the gospel we are all called to be the sons of God (John 1:12; 1 John 3:2). And having reinstated us in this filial position, our heavenly Father treats us as the reconciled sons and daughters we have become.
1. He confides in us; not laying down a multitude of precepts in detail, but giving us a few living principles to apply for ourselves.
2. He gives us constant access to his person; whensoever we will we may approach and address him.
3. He chastens rather than punishes us (Hebrews 12:5-11).
III. THAT GOD HAS CONFERRED ABOUNDING HONOUR ON US IN JESUS CHRIST. David felt that God had put so much honour on him that he did not know how he could ask for more (1 Chronicles 17:18). The utmost desires of his heart were fulfilled. And what more of honour and position could we have asked of God that he has not given us in the gospel of his grace? We are even said to be "kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6).
1. We are children of the heavenly Father: "now are we the sons of God."
2. We are heirs of God (Romans 8:17).
3. We are the friends of Christ (John 15:14,John 15:15).
4. We are fellow-labourers with the living God, "workers together with him" (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 6:1; Acts 15:4). What could we speak more for the honour of his servants?—C.
1 Chronicles 17:19-24.-Pleas in prayer.
David was pleading with God, and, in asking him to confirm and establish his word of promise, he made reference to four grounds of appeal. These we may substantially adopt, adding another "all-prevailing plea" which David could not introduce.
I. GOD'S LOVE TO US AS INDIVIDUAL SOULS. "Thy servant's sake" (1 Chronicles 17:19). At other times we read, "For thy servant David's sake;" i.e. for the love which God bore to this servant and son of his. We may ask God to help us because we know he loves us; because he pities us who fear him (Psalms 103:13); because he remembers us in our low estate, and counts our tears, and desires our happiness and well-being.
II. HIS OWN DIVINE BENIGNITY AND HONOUR. (1 Chronicles 17:19, 1 Chronicles 17:20, 1 Chronicles 17:24.) "According to thine own heart;" that he may act like himself, with the boundless grace and goodness which belong to his Divine nature. "That thy Name may be magnified for ever," etc. (1 Chronicles 17:24); that all nations may know that thou art a faithful God, continuing thy loving-kindnesses, and redeeming thy word to the land that is so peculiarly thine own. We may well plead the nature of God as a very strong reason why he should bless us. If he grant our request "according to his own heart," if he fill our treasury and satisfy our want in accordance with the tenderness of his heart, the strength and bounty of his hand, and to the glory of his Name, we shall be enriched indeed.
III. HIS CARE FOR HIS CHURCH. (1 Chronicles 17:21, 1 Chronicles 17:22.) As David prayed God to fulfil all the good pleasure of his will on account of Israel, whom he had redeemed and attached to himself by his special mercies, so may we ask for all great things to be done for us on account of that Church for which the Son of God suffered and died, which he "redeemed with his precious blood."
IV. THE DIVINE PROMISE. "The thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant," etc. We have great promises to plead with God, based on his own inviolable word; and there can be no more solid ground on which to build our hope in prayer to God. There is one additional plea with which we are familiar, but which the King of Israel lived far too soon to urge (see Luke 10:24). We plead with God —
V. THE NAME AND WORK OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. For the sake of him who loved us and gave himself for us, who lived and died on our behalf, we ask for all those blessings we need; for mercy, for acceptance and sonship, for Divine guidance and protection along the path of life, for the indwelling Spirit, for help and blessing in Christian work, for an abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven.—C.
1 Chronicles 17:25-27.-Our relation to the Divine promise.
I. THAT GOD'S PROMISE DOES NOT EXCLUDE THE PROPRIETY OF OUR PETITION. "Thou hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee" (1 Chronicles 17:25). The fact that God has promised to do anything for us is a reason why we should—not why we should mot—ask him to give it to us. He has promised to supply all who love him with all needful things (Matthew 6:32, Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19). But this does not countermand the injunction to pray for our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). There are many promises of the gift of the Holy Spirit; we are therefore to ask for his outpouring (Luke 11:13). We are assured that the kingdom of God shall be established in the earth; none the less, but all the more, are we to pray, "Thy kingdom come." God's promise is not to be the excuse for our silence, but the ground of our supplication.
II. THAT GOD'S PROMISE DOES NOT EXCLUDE THE NECESSITY FOR OUR HOLY OBEDIENCE. David affirms in 1 Chronicles 17:26 that God has "promised this goodness unto thy servant;" but in 1 Chronicles 17:27 his petition shows that he was conscious that something more was needed beyond the bare and simple promise, in order that it might be ultimately and fully realized. And he was right. Obedience was an essential and vital condition. If not expressed, it was always understood. The rending of the kingdom in twain under David's grandson proved only too surely and sadly that this was the case. All God's premises to us are conditional on our loyalty to him. If we are faithful unto death, we shall have his abiding love, his constant care, his gracious blessing, and finally his blissful presence. But we must not be so confident because of the promise that we are negligent of the understood conditions.
III. THAT GOD'S PROMISES ARE OFTEN FULFILLED IN OTHER AND BETTER WAYS THAN WE LOOK FOR. (1 Chronicles 17:27.) David was assured that, if God blessed, there would be blessedness for ever. He was right; but the good thing in store for him was far different from that which he was presenting to his own mind at the time. Could he have foreseen the speedy rupture of the kingdom, and the captivity after a few generations had come and gone, he might have been sadly disappointed, and his faith might have received a serious shock. But could he have foreseen the way in which the Divine promise was fulfilled at length, could he have realized that One who was "the Son of David" would reign as Prince of peace and Lord of righteousness over all the human world, he would have rejoiced indeed. God's purpose was larger than his servant's thought. So with us. The hope of one period is ever found to be realized further on in another way, at first disappointing but afterwards most satisfying, from that which we expected. Youth is other, and really better, than childhood pictures it; and manhood than youth imagines; and the rest of declining days than laborious prime expects to find it. The promises of life are fulfilled, but in ways which God knows to be far better for us than those which our imagination fancies and our heart desires. And it may be that the heavenly world will prove to be something very different from that which piety has predicted or poetry has sung—different but better; something which will be more fitted for our faculties as they are at first unclothed and clothed upon, as death is first swallowed up of life.—C.
HOMILIES BY F. WHITFIELD
1 Chronicles 17:1, 1 Chronicles 17:2.-The house of the Lord: David and Nathan.
The event recorded in this chapter must have been separated from the events of the previous chapter by a period of several years. It is in all essential points identical with the parallel account in 2 Samuel 7:1-29; the differences being of a purely formal kind. The contrast which David felt between his own dwelling and that of the ark of the covenant awakened within him a feeling of sorrow, and led him to resolve to put an end to it by building for the latter a house worthy of it. This was a right feeling, and was commended by the Lord (see 1 Kings 8:18). But though right in itself, and indicating a true state of heart towards God, it was for other reasons not in accordance with the Divine will. David had been a man of war, and had shed much blood, and on this ground God would not allow him to carry out the desire of his heart. David communicated his desire to Nathan the prophet. The prophet, knowing well the character of David and his devotion of heart to the Lord, and that the Lord was with him in all that he did, said, out of the impulse of his heart, "Do all that is thine heart; for God is with thee." From this we learn how a man's heart may be right with God, how all that he purposes to do may be highly commendable, but for other reasons it may not be for God's glory that the Lord may use him. It may be more for that glory that he may be passed over and another be preferred. Man proposes but God disposes. Not even a prophet can step in between. Observe another truth here, How graciously David allows himself to be passed over and that another should have the honour! This is often hard to bear. Nothing but the grace of God ruling in a man's heart can enable him to do this. Moses endured forty years' trial and hardship in leading God's people out of Egypt, and yet just as he gets in sight of the promised land all his brightest anticipations are to be unrealized, and another steps in to reap the reward. David had formed the kingdom, fought the battles of the Lord, and brought up the ark to its resting-place; but just as he is about to reap a full reward in seeing the temple built for the Lord, his son is to step in and enjoy it, while David, like Moses, is to lie down and die. Life is full of unrealized anticipations; but in the case of God's people all to be realized in a brighter and better world, to a degree that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive." Oh for grace to be passed over, nay, even to rejoice in being passed over, and that others should receive the honours for which we have toiled, provided only that it is God's will and for his glory! Oh to be nothing, nothing; only a "vessel fit for the Master's use," to be used by him when he will, how he will, and where he will! This should ever be the Christian's desire and prayer.—W.
1 Chronicles 17:3-15.-God's message to David.
Though David was not to build the house of the Lord, God gives him "great and precious promises" with respect to his posterity and to the future glory of his people Israel. We see here that there is one thing nearer to the heart of our God than an outward building, however grand it may be. "I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another." The Lord loves to be identified with his children in all their circumstances, however lowly those circumstances may be. "I dwell with the humble and contrite heart." This is the joy of the Lord's heart, and it comes infinitely before a grand house or a magnificent palace. Mark further the prophetical character of God's message (see verse 9). I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning." Israel has been "moved" and "wasted" since this promise was made, and is being "moved" and "wasted" at the present moment. It is clear, therefore, that this is an unfulfilled prophecy of blessing yet in store for wasted and scattered Israel. That time is at hand. When "the Lord shall set his hand the second time [it was done the first time by Cyrus the Persian] to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiah 11:11, Isaiah 11:12). Mark another truth: "And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers." Three thoughts are suggested by this passage.
1. Man lives by days, not by years. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be;" "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the days." We speak of years and look forward to them. God would teach us that we have only days to count on, and should therefore use each one for him.
2. "Thou must go." David was wanted in another world. There are places to fill there. Just as the stones that were to form the temple on Mount Zion were hewn, shaped, and polished in Lebanon, and were sent for just as they were wanted, so is it with the departure of every true child of God. What may be the nature of the employments we cannot tell; but of each one who is taken we may hear the Lord's voice saying of him to the weeping ones left behind, "He must go" for he is wanted there."
3. "Thou must go to be with thy fathers." It is a family gathering. In the Old Testament how frequently is this word used l It is not death. It is—"gone to join the family gathering." "Dead" is the Bible word for those out of Christ. "Asleep" is the word for God's children. What a precious word! It is a striking contrast to our word "dead" which is always on the lips. It is like another word we use. A manufacturer looks upon his men and women in his employ and regards them as goods, and calls them "hands"—"so many hands." The Bible word is "souls"—"the souls he had gotten in Haran." How sadly men have departed from the spirit of patriarchal days! Verses 12-14 are manifestly a reference to the Messiah, of whom Solomon was a type, and to the Messianic times of rest yet to come, of which his reign was a shadow. It is clear from David's prayer (verse 17) that he so understood them, especially when he speaks of God having regarded him "according to the estate of a man of high degree."—W.
1 Chronicles 17:16-27.-David's prayer.
God's great and precious promises to David drew forth from his heart this prayer. It is so at all times. The constraining motive of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving is God's great mercy and wondrous love contained in the "exceeding great and precious promises" to the soul. We see also David's great humility: "Who am I, and what is mine house?" God's grace always humbles. We see also how David exalts God—another effect of God's great and precious promises: "O Lord, there is none like thee, neither is there any God to be compared with thee." And all this grace in God is "according to all that we have heard." Every experience of the believer at all times confirms the Divine testimony of God in his Word. He is ready to exclaim as he reads, "It is all true, all of it, and I have found it so." And this God is moreover "the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel and a God to Israel." He is not only the God of his people, but a God to them, to each one. He is all that his name means to each one of his family. And mark David's closing words. "Let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever." This is the end for which we should ask any blessing—that we ourselves may be before him, walk before him and live before him. "Walk before me and be thou perfect," was his word to Abraham of old, and still is to each one of his people; and it is only as God's promises and God's blessings lead to this that they can be real blessings.—W.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
1 Chronicles 17:1.-God's dwelling-place and man's.
This verse shows us the good man's proper anxiety to have his God better housed than himself. We may properly assume that David thought about this matter immediately after his success in bringing the ark of God to Mount Zion, and restoring the ancient service. When David had taken the city of Jerusalem, and proposed to make it the capital of his kingdom, he found a royal palace was as important as safe fortifications. The erection of this palace indicates the new era which dawned in David. The previous king, Saul, did but make a beginning of a kingdom, and was little more than the previous judges had been. David is the proper founder of the Jewish kingdom. It appears, from 2 Samuel 5:11, that David's alliance with Hiram of Tyre enabled him to secure Phoenician artists, workmen, and materials for his palace; and this may have been necessary because the Israelite workpeople had no training for such work, and no experience of such buildings as David required. The one point on which David's thought more especially rests is, that a character of permanency and abiding rest attached to his own house, while God's earthly dwelling-place was still a movable and perishable tent. He very properly felt that there should be a closer harmony between the two, and God's house suggestive of associations suitable to a settled and permanent kingdom. We may never be indifferent to the "sense of fitness" in Divine things.
I. THE SENSE IN WHICH GOD MAY HAVE AS EARTHLY DWELLING-PLACE. See the teaching of Isaiah 66:1, Isaiah 66:2 There is a proper sense in which the created world may be called "God's dwelling-place." There is a much higher sense in which the heart of man may be so called. But, seeing that an external and ceremonial worship is found to be necessary for man, and earthly things may wisely be made the symbols of Divine truths and relations, place is made for the work of the architect and the builder in expressing religious truth by sacred edifices, churches, or temples. We, however, need to watch lest any building should limit our thought of God, as though he could be wholly contained within it; or as though we could put human limitations to his revelations, or to himself. God permits us to raise temples for him mainly that we may have, carried home to our hearts, the conviction of his permanently dwelling with us. His house is with us; his home is here; he does not come and go; he is with us always.
II. THE DUTY DEVOLVING ON MAN TO FIND FOR GOD AN EARTHLY DWELLING-PLACE. This is not a duty directly enjoined, but one recognized and felt by the sincere and pious soul. It is like the duty of worship, and follows of necessity upon it. Explain that man cannot satisfy himself with the conception of God as spiritual, and that he wants material help even to realize this. Also the very sense of appropriating God leads to desire to fix him to a house. Illustrate by Genesis 10:17 Show that in all ages this sense of the duty of "localizing" God has influenced men to plant sacred groves, consecrate hill-tops, raise tabernacles or temples, and build—at cost of amazing labour and sacrifice—magnificent churches and cathedrals. Impress the duty of aiding in the erection and maintenance of Divine sanctuaries.
III. THE RELATION BETWEEN SUCH DIVINE EARTHLY DWELLING-PLACES AND THE DWELLINGS OF THE MEN WHO MAKE THEM. This is David's point. He felt that one ought to match the other; and if there was any "best," that should be for God. Tent was fitting enough while the people were tent-dwellers. But a house was needed now the people dwelt in houses; and a palace, a magnificent house, now the king dwelt in a palace. Illustrate the relations which should now be maintained between the architecture and decorations of our houses and of God's house. Show what a help to the conception of our kinship with God, and to what we may call the humanity in God, is found in the erection of a house for him. Lead on to show by Paul's teaching that man may be himself the temple of the Holy Ghost.—R.T.
1 Chronicles 17:4.-Unfitness for some parts of God's work.
God sent a distinct refusal of David's request by the Prophet Nathan. "Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in" But this refusal may not be regarded as an act of mere sovereignty; it was based upon the Divine recognition of the unfitness of David as the instrument for this particular work. Much he might do for God, but this he may not do; and the disability even followed upon his very fitness for the other work which God had called him to do. He was a man of war. His work had been the extending and settling of the new kingdom. But the "man of blood" must give place to the "man of rest," to whom could be more wisely committed the work of building a temple for God. We are here taught that God's work, which he would have done on earth, is divided into pieces; that one piece only is usually committed to the trust of each man; that every man finds he has one such trust, and that all the pieces and parts fit together, and make up one great whole of Divine purpose. There is a Divine arrangement of the pieces. There is a Divine allotment of the pieces to individuals. And this involves the selection of individuals upon a Divine recognition of particular gifts and endowments. Then a man may be either fitted or unfitted for some positions and for some work; and God will, by his providence, guide each man to the work that he may hopefully do; and no man has occasion to envy the place or work of another man.
I. MAN MAY WISH FOR SPHERES or SERVICE. God does not reproach David for wishing to build the temple. He now says, "Thou didst well that it was in thine heart." It is a good sign that we want to serve; though so often it is only a sign of our restlessness in the work we have, and our foolish fancying that some one else's work is better, or easier, or nobler than our own. Faithful doing of present duty may be quite consistent with earnest desire to do something else and better, provided it finds expression, as David's did, in patient waiting on God, and earnest prayer for Divine direction.