Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”
But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’ Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
“‘And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’”
2 Samuel 7:1–11, 16
In this Old Testament passage, we read one of God’s promises that will ultimately be fulfilled in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ. God promises David that his throne will be established forever. We know Jesus fulfills this promise because that’s one of the things the angel Gabriel tells Mary during the Annunciation: “the Lord God will give to him [Jesus] the throne of his father David” (Luke 1:32).
What I find curious about this promise is the exchange in which it happens. In a dialogue with God that takes place through the prophet Nathan, King David says that he is going to build God a house. What is God’s reply? He says, “No, I’m going to build you a house.” Not just any house, either, but a house that will last forever.
How often do we do the same thing? We promise God that we’ll do something for him, only to find that God says, “No, I’m going to do that for you.” And he will do it (he has already done it) in the same way he did it for David: through Jesus Christ.
We tell God that we will obey him, and we find that Jesus was already “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). We intend to please God, and we find that Jesus “always [did] the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29). On our best and most ambitious days, we may even find ourselves promising to give our whole lives for God — and we find instead that God has given his life for us (1 John 3:16).
In short, we tell God we will do something for him, and he replies, “It’s already been done.” It is finished (John 19:30). And all of this on our behalf, yours and mine.
This Advent season, may you rest — truly rest — in the work that Jesus has already done for you.
Josh Bishop is the web content manager for Hope College.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.