Samuel 7:18-29 - Who am I, O Lord?

2 Samuel 7:18-29

David’s Thanksgiving to God (1 Chronicles 17:16–27)

18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? 20 Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant. 21 For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. 22 Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? 24 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God.

25 “Now, O LORD God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. 26 So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.

28 “And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. 29 Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord GOD, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.”

Who am I, O Lord GOD?  This cry of David was sincere, deep, and an echo of his soul in response to the grace and goodness of God’s underserved calling and using him as king over his people to serve the LORD God (Adonai YHWH) in such ways over His enemies and for the good of the Kingdom of God.  He asked in awe of how He had brought him so far from a humble shepherd to ruler over all Israel, a small thing for the Lord to do but a grand one in the king’s eyes.  This is our example of a humble servant’s heart for us to emulate and imitate as Paul later (1 Corinthians 11:1) echoed in response to his own calling to serve in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We see the same tug on our hearts and minds in David’s cry to God for wisdom guiding humility that we may serve as called and gifted for service to Him and the body.  David realized all these things were not given because he earned them as a man after God’s own heart, but that all was of grace “according to Your own heart” as he expressed to God so eloquently for us to read now.  Because of grace, David lifted up the name of the LORD in praise as the one and only who is who He is.  He also lifted up His name in praise for redeeming His people from the bondage of Egypt and the oppression of the godless nations.  He named the great miraculous works of God that testified of Himself and His character to those nations as He showered grace on His chosen ones, a foretaste of our own eternal choosing before the world began (Ephesians 1:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2) that we might also magnify His name in the Son of God through the redemption of the cross, baptism into Christ as our own deliverance from sin’s bondage (1 Corinthians 10:2) as our own Red Sea escape, and life of the resurrection in our daily walk of sanctifying grace we have received in Him.  He has become our God!  What more reason to praise Him and recount His wonderful work of salvation in becoming a man like us (John 1:1, 14) and suffering to the point of death to sacrifice Himself as a perfect offering to cover our sins forever and redeem is to Himself as His own special people (2 Samuel 7:23, Titus 2:13-14) out of the world around us (Galatians 1:4) set against Him and us?  God Himself has built the house for us to worship in, the body of Christ whose living building blocks we are (1 Peter 2:4-5, Ephesians 2:21-22, Hebrews 3:6) and as the house of the Seed is Christ Himself and not a building made by man’s hands.  Because His words are true and trustworthy, we also pray for continued blessings on this house of God for one another who are living building blocks of it, and praise Him for this grace (Romans 5:2, 17, 1 Peter 5:12) in which we stand, safe and secure for all time just as we have been called in grace before time to inhabit Him in our praises to be blessed forever.  Who am I, Lord, to be in your grace?  That question is answered in his love demonstrated in the Son for us.