This morning, before sitting down to study God’s word and write today’s devotional, I inquired of God what he wanted of me specifically. Here’s what he told me:
“Be unrushed. I have words for you to receive and then teach. Stay attuned to my Spirit as I guide. I have a very special message for all my girls today. I’ll need you to go slow so nothing is missed and my words are heard clearly.”
I do everything (but run) fast. I talk fast. I think fast. I sleep fast. I walk fast. I write fast. Slowing down is a unique challenge for me. I want to cram absolutely everything I can into this 15 minutes with you, but today will be unrushed. Per God’s clear instructions, we’re slowing down to hear him clearly.
The scripture God has asked me to share is 1 Chronicles 17 … yes, the entire chapter.
We’re reading about David. Remember, David was the little shepherd boy, the son of a shepherd who courageously defeated the giant Goliath, and was then chosen by God as the next King. David became a mighty warrior guided by God, successful in everything he did. Now, after all of his success, David humbly wants to do something for God. But check out what God does instead!
When David was settled in his palace, he summoned Nathan the prophet. “Look,” David said, “I am living in a beautiful cedar palace, but the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant is out there under a tent!”
Nathan replied to David, “Do whatever you have in mind, for God is with you.”
But that same night God said to Nathan, “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in. I have never lived in a house, from the day I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until this very day. My home has always been a tent, moving from one place to another in a Tabernacle. Yet no matter where I have gone with the Israelites, I have never once complained to Israel’s leaders, the shepherds of my people. I have never asked them, “Why haven’t you built me a beautiful cedar house?”
“Now go and say to my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I took you from tending sheep in the pasture and selected you to be the leader of my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before your eyes. Now I will make your name as famous as anyone who has ever lived on the earth! And I will provide a homeland for my people Israel, planting them in a secure place where they will never be disturbed. Evil nations won’t oppress them as they’ve done in the past, starting from the time I appointed judges to rule my people Israel. And I will defeat all your enemies.
“Furthermore, I declare that the Lord will build a house for you – a dynasty of kings! For when you die and join your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, one of your sons, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house – a temple – for me. And I will secure his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my favor from him as I took it from the one who ruled before you. I will confirm him as king over my house and my kingdom for all time, and his throne will be secure forever.
So Nathan went back to David and told him everything the Lord had said in this vision.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, O God, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!
“What more can I say to you about the way you have honored me? You know what your servant is really like. For the sake of your servant, O Lord, and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known.
“O Lord, there is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you! What other nation on earth is like your people Israel? What other nation, O God, have you redeemed from slavery to be your own people? You made a great name for yourself when you redeemed your people from Egypt. You performed awesome miracles and drove out the nations that stood in their way. You chose Israel to be your very own people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God.
“And now, O Lord, I am your servant, do as you have promised concerning me and my family. May it be a promise that will last forever. And may your name be established and honored forever so that everyone will say, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God!’ And may the house of your servant David continue before you forever.
“O my God, I have been bold enough to pray to you because you have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him – a dynasty of kings! For you are God, O Lord. And you have promised these good things to your servant. And now, it has pleased you to bless the house of your servant, so that it will continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing, O Lord, it is an eternal blessing!”
Okay, girls, it’s time to slowly unpack this!
This was about 1,000 years before Christ. God’s presence was in the Ark of the Covenant. Because of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, we no longer have or need this today, but in David’s time it was a sacred chest that carried the Ten Commandments and was the divine dwelling place of God’s presence on Earth. It was carried with the Israelites on their journey, and when they stopped, the ark was placed in a tent called the Tabernacle.
One day David realizes his home is far nicer than the tent where God’s presence was kept, and from a genuine place in his heart, he wanted to build a beautiful and elaborate permanent dwelling place for God’s presence.
God hadn’t asked David to do this. It wasn’t a command. It was a genuine desire of David’s heart to do more for God than had ever been asked.
And that sums up David. He wanted to serve God more. He wanted to honor God more. He wanted it to be less about him and more and more about God.
Here’s where I must pause and check my own heart and intentions. Do I want to serve God, but only enough to check the box of requirements? Have I really ever wanted to do more for God than he asks, or have I been doing the minimum to qualify as his girl?
Yip. That has been me. I’ll give you what you ask God, but that’s my max. I’ll do what I’m supposed to do, but that’s the limit.
Have my limits limited God? Has God always had so much more to give, but he can only give according to my own heart to give?
Jesus said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full – pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.” And guess, what this isn’t just about money. This is about serving. This is about showing up. This is about doing more for God. Not because he needs to you to, but because you WANT to.
And we see this is absolutely undeniably the way God works. David wanted to do MORE for God than God ever asked of him – and in return, God did more for David than he could have ever asked of God.
David – son of a poor shepherd, David – just a nobody with nothing, – to David, now promised to have a dynasty of kings appointed and anointed by God himself. Why? Because David wanted to do more for God than he was ever asked to do. And you simply can’t outgive God. The amount David was willing to give determined the amount he got back.
So, my sister, God asks us each to check our hearts and what we are willing to do for him. Are we really willing to serve? Are we really willing to give? Are we really willing to surrender? Are we really willing to trust? Or are we just doing enough to get by, check the box, and skid our way through the pearly gates of heaven to receive salvation … but barely. Whew, we are barely saved, because we’re barely believing, barely surrendering, barely trusting, and barely following.
God is gracious to save us, even when we’re barely showing up for him, but God is showing us here he has SO MUCH MORE FOR US! There’s more than you could ever imagine for you when you’re willing to offer God more than just the requirements.
Lord, go to work on our hearts! Realign our priorities. We want to do more than the minimum for you. You have given us your best, your all, your son Jesus. He literally died to pay for our sins and save our souls. You deserve our everything!
Now, notice this, when David receives this message of promised blessings from God, his response is, “Who am I, O Lord God, that you have brought me this far? You speak as though I were someone very great, O Lord God!” David didn’t think this gift made him greater, he felt this gift made God even greater!
Sometimes when we receive a blessing from God, within we think it’s because we are someone special doing really good things to deserve it. WRONG! The gift does not reflect the greatness of the recipient, the gift reflects the greatness of the giver. GOD IS THE GIVER OF THIS GIFT. His goodness is reflected, not yours.
David didn’t say, “I am so great that even God gives me gifts.” No, instead he says, “God is so great that he gives EVEN me gifts. Me, the son of a poor shepherd. Me, the one left behind in the fields to care for the sheep. Me, the one never chosen before, but chosen by God. Not because of who I am, but because of WHO HE IS!”
When we can receive and make it all about God, then we can receive more. When the gift becomes about us, then we limit the generosity of our unlimited God.
Even with all of David’s success and his crown as King, 8 times in his prayerful response to God’s promised blessings, he refers to himself as God’s SERVANT. Even with power and a palace, with a crown and a crowd of followers, his heart remained grounded in knowing he was first and foremost a servant of God. And all he wanted was to do more for God.
God’s response was exactly as Jesus promised. David’s gift of willingness to serve was pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured out into his lap. He was given a dynasty of Kings. The ultimate King being King Jesus, himself.
Did you know that the New Testament identifies Jesus with David more than any other human ancestor?!!!! In Luke 1:30-33, when the angel comes to Mary, he says, “Don’t be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor DAVID. And he will reign over Israel forever, his Kingdom will never end.” In Matthew 21:9, as Jesus was riding in on a donkey, the people shouted, “Praise God for the Son of David!” Jesus said in Revelations 22:16, “I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.”
Jesus is continually identified as a descendant of David. All of this from the humble son of a shepherd who had nothing more than a fully surrendered heart that wanted to just give God more than he asked.
What could God do with your life when your heart truly wants to do more than just check the box and meet the minimum requirements? Pray about it and surrender your heart and will to God and you will find yourself wanting to do MORE FOR HIM. What will God do in response? He will do the overflowing!
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