Are We Empty?

 

In the text below King David has been established king over all Israel.  He had been given rest from all his enemies (2 Samuel 7:1).  This meant David, who had fought enormously in times past, actually had time to sit down and ponder all the work God had done in his life.  It was during this time that David realized how indebted he was to God for establishing him.  In the text below we will see David’s appreciation toward God, as well as how God reacts toward that appreciation.

 

2 Samuel 7:1-16

 

And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies; that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of ceder, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.  And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is with thee.  And it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.  In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me a house of ceder?  Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from a sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel:  And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth.  Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies.  Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.  And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thine fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.  He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.  I will be his father and he shall be my son.  If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the strips of the children of men:  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.  And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. 

 

This is God’s covenant with David.  In this covenant, God promises to bless David’s seed after him and also promises to rise up a son from David’s bloodline that would indeed build God a house.  This is a very personal covenant.  God basically shows up and promises not only to bless David, but his kingdom would be established forever. 

 

In the below text you will read David’s prayer of thanksgiving for what God has just promised to do.  This prayer is special, not only because it is a heartfelt prayer, but because of what David specifically says in the prayer.     

 

2 Samuel 7:18-29

 

Then went King David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God; but thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come.  And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?  And what can David say more unto thee? For thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.  For thy words sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.  Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.  And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?  For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, Lord, art become their God.  And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and confirming his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.  And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.  For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.  And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and they words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:  Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

 

Do you immediately notice what David is saying in this prayer?  Do you notice David’s attitude, and how he is responding to God?  He is thanking Him, but he is also doing something else.  He is being transparent before God.

 

Notice what David says… 

 

…For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.

 

David is basically admitting to God that the reason he is praying this prayer to God is because God has made a promise to bless him.  Most people would think that this was a selfish attitude.  Most people would say it would be evil for a man to thank God simply because God was giving him something.  But God knew what David’s response would be and blessed him anyway.  Why?  Why would God do this?  Let’s notice two things about David’s response to God.  First, he is humble and is not hiding behind pride, second, David is not afraid to admit that he wants to be blessed of God.

 

The key here is that David is not ashamed to admit to God that he is praying this special prayer specifically because God has promised to bless him.  If David had said, “You know what God, I am thankful that you are going to establish me, but that is not why I am praying this prayer to you, I happen to be doing it just because…”  Yeah, right!!!!  God has just made a sure covenant with David in which He promises to establish his throne for ever.  This was huge.  David and God have had a good relationship based on honesty and respect.  David knows that if he comes to God pretending or with a false agenda that God will have none of it.  David is smart and humble so within his prayer he states exactly why he is praying to God.  He is praying to God because God has promised to bless him and because David indeed wants to be blessed. 

 

You might say “I can’t really see how David wants to be blessed?”  Three times David repeats the fact that God will bless him and three times he agrees with God and says “Do it!!!”         

 

…And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and confirming his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said.

 

…and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.

 

…Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

 

This is a very humble way of saying “God, you have said you will take care of me and bless me, OK, that is cool, real cool, OK, do it, please do it God, and do it the way you said you would.”  Is it any wonder why David became so blessed of God?  He is honest and transparent, he is broken and harbors no pride in regarding his attitude to receive, and most importantly, he wants to be blessed of God and he’s not afraid to admit it.

 

God has open hands and He wants to give unto us but we must have open hands to receive it.  God is a cheerful giver but He needs a cheerful recipient.  He needs someone to look up with open awe and just be waiting to receive from him.  He needs you to admit that you need his blessing and that you are relying upon him.  Do not make the mistake of having pride and feeling as though you should not come before God wanting.  You had better be wanting because if you are not God will not touch you.  God will not bless anyone who does not want to be blessed.  If God were to do this then He would have children of pride on his hands.  Someone who doesn’t feel like they need anything, if they were to get something from God, would not be grateful and would actually have the attitude like they were doing God a favor just by receiving.  This would make someone spoiled and prideful, and God will have no part of that.  If you are empty (humble), then God has a place to pour his blessings into you; but if you are already full (prideful) then you have no room for God, and God has no place to pour his blessings.  You need to come to God empty and then He will have a place to fill you.  David was empty.  He was blessed and was the King of Israel but he was also empty because he still knew he needed God.  For this reason God honored him.  When someone is in an incredible position of power and they humble themselves, as David did, then God will not hold back his blessing but will continue to bless the person until there is no room left to bless (2 Samuel 12:8).  God is faithful but the question is, are we empty?  I want to quickly insert scriptures below that demonstrate other people who thanked God in the same spirit David did.  All of these people thanked and praised God as a direct result of God blessing them.    

 

Hannah’s Thanksgiving - 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hezekiah’s Thanksgiving – Isaiah 38:10-20

The children of Israel’s Thanksgiving – Exodus 4:31

Moses, Israel, Miriam’s Thanksgiving – Exodus 15:1-21

Mary’s Thanksgiving – Luke 1:46-55

Solomon’s Thanksgiving – 1 Kings 8:22-53

Deborah, Barak’s Thanksgiving – Judges 5:1-31

Women who Thanked God as a result of Naomi’s blessing – Ruth 4:14,15