Now it came about when the king [David] lived in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 that the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains.” 3 Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But in the same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, go and say to my servant, David, “Thus says the LORD:
“I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. 9 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 great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. 10 I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, 11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. 12 When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. 2 Sam 7:1-16
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David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have [d]waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood on the earth before Me. 9 Behold, a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and (K)I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for My name, and he shall be My son and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ …” 1 Chronicles 22:7-10; see also 1 Kings 28:2-7
David tells Solomon and all Israel that the reason he was not permitted to build the temple was because of the wars he had waged and the blood he had shed. But there is no reference to anything like that in Nathan’s prophetic redirecting of David’s decision.
God’s word to David given via Nathan is a word of blessing and encouragement. There is not a direct prohibition on building the temple; that is only implied. And there is no reference to wars or bloodshed, or David being disqualified.
The blessing, as God gives it, is that David’s legacy will be long-lasting, multigenerational, and will pour over to the entire nation of Israel.
It is in the context of that extended blessing that God includes in the promise that the construction of a permanent temple will be by David’s son. Thus, God promises a vision that not only will David’s heirs be on the throne, but that David’s heart for the LORD will extend to David’s heirs.
This is the greatest part of the promise of all. It is one thing to know that one will have a legacy, and that one’s heirs will prosper. But the greatest legacy of all is for one’s heirs to know God and walk in His ways. 3 John 4.
Far better that David’s son build the temple than David. Had David built the temple, it might have been too closely identified with David personally. God’s extension of the promise to the next generation is a promise that God’s covenant relationship with His people will extend beyond any one individual or generation, but span generations.
“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9.
How long is a thousand generations? Have we even yet had a thousand generations of human history?
Unless God spoke something additional to David that is not recorded in Scripture, then it appears that David has inferred something God did not say about David being disqualified, warfare, and bloodshed. It appears David may have looked at the glass half empty, and not seen the much more expansive promise that God was speaking to David. God was not speaking a judgment, but a promise.
David ended up taking God’s promise and blessing, sized to outlive David, as a constraint on his own mortality, and a judgment on what David perceived to be his failures.
As high as the heavens are above the earth, so much higher is God’s ways than ours. God’s ways are beyond finding out.
And as much as God loves us and wants to bless us, God’s blessings are so manifold that one life cannot contain them. In other words, even the blessings, promises and callings that God gives us are not about us. At least they are not limited to us. Thank God.
What in our lives feels limited, that we cannot finish or accomplish? What feels beyond us, bigger than us? The temptation is to be discouraged at our finite and mortal limitations, and to tend to redefine what we know about God and His purposes by our meager human measure. Since God’s promises are bigger than us, we are inclined to shrink them down to fit us. But God, His blessings, and His purposes, are not so limited.
How can we rethink our humanity and mortality not as a limit, but more as a partial demonstration of how outsized God is? To see our human limitations not as a source of discouragement, but encouragement, faith, joy and hope for what God will do that will outlive us?