1 Chronicles 28:2 English Standard Version (ESV) Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.”
We so like to tell God what we want to do for Him to honor Him. So often it is what we are willing to do or what we think would please God based our own desires. Do we ask God what He wants?
There are different ways of arguing David’s desire and some of them are more obvious than others. Before we explore any of those “human thoughts” let us see what God had to say on the subject.
1 Chronicles 28:3 English Standard Version (ESV) But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
God neither denied nor confirmed that He wanted a house but rather spoke to the quality of the type of man who should build that house. So will God allow that house to be built?
1 Chronicles 28:6-7 English Standard Version (ESV)
6 He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’
In the middle of this pronouncement is that every present conditional promise. “If he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules.” We can read for ourselves how that turned out.
Consider all that the Ark of the Covenant had performed for Israel in their wilderness journey. Was building a “resting place” an indication that David believed God was done with Israel? While David sought to honor God, perhaps God did not feel honored. Perhaps.