Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Words of Encouragement

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? 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 ? – 2 Samuel 17:17-19

God’s Sovereignty. The promises of God are true. David is settled in his palace and seeks the prophet Nathan about building a house unto the Lord. Nathan tells David to go ahead and do as he thinks. Yet, that night the Lord speaks to Nathan and tells him words to give to David. The words David is given are the promises of what God will do for him and for the people. He promises to establish his kingdom forever. He promises that his son will reign on the thrown.

After hearing this revelation from the prophet Nathan, David rejoices and begins this pray to the Sovereign God. David is amazed at the wonderful promises of the supreme God of the earth. He is so overwhelmed at the wonder of God he calls him Sovereign at least seven times in this chapter. As I thought about this, I thought about seven being the number of completion. David gave God complete praise. He did not stop short of honoring God completely with his mouth.

In the entirety of this prayer/praise of David’s he list some of the attributes of God and then he also ask for God’s help to fulfill what God has spoken. This is a guide for us today to understand that we do not want to stop short of giving God complete praise for what he reveals to us in our lives. God’s Spirit continually speaks to our hearts to let us know what the direction of the Lord is. As he does, he will help us to know the promises of God.

We can then be like David and marvel at the fact that God is mindful of us. The God of the universe is concerned about me. This is an awesome experience to understand God is concerned about your future, your walk, and your life. So today I pray for us that we rejoice in complete praise as we grasp hold to the promises of God. We can trust them because he is Truth. We can depend on them because he is dependable. We do not have to doubt his ways because his ways are sure. Like David we can list the attributes of God and rejoice in knowing God is sovereign.