2 Samuel 7:18-29 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 2 Samuel 7:18-29. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
2 Samuel 7:18a (NIV)
18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD
On verse 18a: Notice how David responds after hearing the powerful promises God spoke to him through the prophet Nathan. David doesn’t say, “That’s interesting” and walk away. Rather David responds by getting into God’s presence and sitting before the Lord. When God speaks to you, don’t just go, “That’s nice” and walk away. Take time to sit in God’s presence and let your soul digest what you have received. Then you can respond to God in an appropriate way. One of the most powerful things you can do any day is to sit in God’s presence and be still. When I sit down in God’s presence, I experience His peace, receive insight for my situation and direction for what to do next.
2 Samuel 7:18b (NIV)
18 …and he said: “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
On verse 18b: David did not take for granted the ways God had blessed and promoted him. David never forgot that he was a shepherd boy and now he had become the king. No matter how far God takes you, stay humble and never forget where you came from.
2 Samuel 7:19 (NIV)
19 And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD?
On verse 19: David is blown away by God’s goodness – not just the blessings he has already received but the promise of even greater blessings to come in the future. David realizes he doesn’t deserve any of these blessings. So he responds, “Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?” Similarly, may we never get used to God’s grace. May we never be spoiled, entitled children. May we always have a sense of wonder, excitement and awe at all the ways God has been good to us. At the centre of those blessings is Jesus’ death on the cross to pay for our sins and his resurrection from the grave to give us life.
2 Samuel 7:20-21 (NIV)
20 “What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign LORD.
21 For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
On verses 20-21: At least seven times David addresses God as “Sovereign Lord”. What does that mean? “Sovereign” means to be in charge, to be in control, to be able to do whatever you want to do, to be the one whose decisions are final and whom no one can challenge. God is sovereign and we are to worship Him as sovereign. He will do whatever He decides to do because He is our Sovereign Lord.
2 Samuel 7:22 (NIV)
22 “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.
On verse 22: After sitting down in God’s presence, David’s first response to God’s goodness in His life is to worship. May that be your and my first response too. When you get into God’s presence (whether it’s in church or in your personal time with God), take a moment to worship God first before you ask Him for anything or complain to Him about anything. Through worship we are reminded of how big our God is. Also, like David, don’t hold your worship and thankfulness in. Express your worship and thanks to God. Lift your voice, clap and lift your hands, shout to God. When you express your praise to God, your faith grows, your body is strengthened, and the atmosphere around you changes.
2 Samuel 7:23-24 (NIV)
23 And who is like your people Israel–the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?
24 You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God.
On verses 23-24: God’s promises in 2 Samuel 7 were not just for David alone but for all of Israel (v10-11). David saw that these promises were a continuation of the goodness God had shown Israel long before David was born, back to the time of Moses. What can we learn from this? Recognize that we are part of a much bigger story that God is writing.
We can be very focused on ourselves, our generation, our times, what’s happening right now and have no idea what God has been doing in the generations before us. But the fact is: what God is doing now in our time is the next chapter of a story God has been writing for generations.
2 Samuel 7:25-26 (NIV)
25 “And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised,
26 so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, ‘The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you.
On verses 25-26: Notice David’s reason for inviting God to fulfill His promises: it’s “so that Your name will be great forever” and so that “men will say, ‘The Lord Almighty is God over Israel’” (v26). In other words, David desired for God to fulfill His promises not just for his own exaltation, but even more so that the Lord’s name would be lifted up. Similarly, may the desire of your heart not be for your own exaltation, but for God’s name to be exalted. As Isaiah 26:8 says, “your name and renown are the desire of our hearts”.
2 Samuel 7:27-29 (NIV)
27 “O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer.
28 O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant.
29 Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.”
On verses 27-29: I love what David says in verse 29: “with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed”. This is David expressing his faith in the power of God’s promises. David believed that whatever God said He will bless, God will indeed bless. Likewise, respond to God’s promises with faith. When God’s Word says that you are blessed (John 1:16, Ephesians 1:3), believe wholeheartedly that you are! That’s why at THRIVE we like to proclaim, “This is my Bible. It is God’s Word. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do.” What are we doing? We’re responding to God’s promises with faith.
Father, praise You for being the Sovereign Lord, the unstoppable one whose decisions no one can challenge and whose plans no one can thwart. I pray that I would not get used to Your grace in my life, that I would never be spoiled and self-entitled, but that I would always have a sense of wonder, excitement and awe toward Your grace in my life. May I respond to every promise You make to me with faith. Because Your Word says so, I proclaim that am blessed. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
Copyright © 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.
