Who Am I?

“Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?””

(2Samuel 7:18 ESV)

            As I was having my devotions this morning, something struck me.  I was reading about King David.  God had established him as king over all Israel and given him victory over his enemies.  He’d built for himself a palace in Jerusalem.  But it struck him that the ark of the Lord was still dwelling in a tent.  And, for this reason, he desired to build a temple for the Lord.

            God, however, sent word to David through Nathan the prophet. He told David that he would not be the one to build for him a house.  But God also made to David a great promise.  God told David that he would build for him a house.  In verses 12-13, God said to him: “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”

            What a great promise this is that God gave him.  What struck me, however, was not God’s promise. It was David’s response to God’s promise.

            As we see in the above verse, he didn’t feel worthy of this great blessing God was giving him.  He didn’t feel that his family was worthy of this blessing. He was amazed that God desired to give this blessing to him.

            We see the same attitude expressed by other men of faith as well. We see it expressed by Moses, in Exodus 3, when God called him to bring Israel out of Egypt.  We see it expressed by Gideon, in Judges 6, when God called him to save the people from their enemies.  We see it expressed by Mary, in Luke 1:48 after the angel told her that she was to bear the Son of God.

            This is in great contrast to our attitude, today.  Instead of being humbled that God would give to us such a great promise, we feel that we’re deserving of his blessings.  We feel that we’re good people who are entitled to every good thing God is able to provide.

            In fact, if he doesn’t give them to us, we feel that God is unfair. We feel that we deserve more than we currently possess.  If something bad happens to us, we think that we deserve better.  In contrast to David’s attitude, we stand in judgment of God, condemning him as unloving and unjust.

            We fail to bear in mind that we are not good people (Romans 3:10-12).  We fail to bear in mind that all we deserve is God’s judgment (Romans 3:23, 6:23).  We fail to recognize that any gift God gives to us is only due to his grace.

            What would happen if we shared the heart of David, expressed in this verse?  We would be much more grateful for the gifts God has given to us.  We would be much more content in life, even when we don’t receive everything we desire.  We would fully understand the gospel message, spoken to us in God’s Word.

            Let’s then ask God to give us the heart of David.  Let’s ask him to create in us a heart that understands how undeserving we truly are.  And let’s ask God to create within us a heart that’s receptive to the good news.