God’s Covenant with David
17 And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains.” 2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have [a]gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6 In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar?’”’ 7 Now, therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. 9 I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again; and the [b]wicked will not waste them anymore as formerly, 10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.
Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your [c]descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.”’” 15 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
There’s something right at the beginning that I think is important to note. When David first told Nathan he wanted to build a more permanent structure for the ark of God, Nathan was all for it. He also assumed God would be all for it too, as it certainly seemed like a good idea.
But Nathan was wrong, and that night God gave him a vision to set things straight. What do we learn from this? First, even those that we would think are right in tune with God might miss the mark, and we would do well seek God’s wisdom for ourselves.
Second, no matter who we are, we should not be so hasty about big decisions. Ask God for His wisdom, and wait for it. Sleep on it, maybe once, maybe for a couple months, but don’t rush into something if you’re not confident that God is in it. You’ll do far better to wait for God’s direction and wait on His timing than to try and plow ahead in your own strength and knowledge.