Tending the Flock

2 Samuel 7:1-17

1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

2 Samuel 5:4 David was thirty years old when he began his reign; he reigned forty years.

2 Samuel 6:17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the Lord’s presence.

2 Samuel 7:1-17

1 When the king had settled into his palace and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 the king said to the prophet Nathan, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”

3 So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your mind, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 “Go to my servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build me a house to dwell in? 6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not dwelt in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as my dwelling. 7 In all my journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever spoken a word to one of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, asking: Why haven’t you built me a house of cedar?’

8 “So now this is what you are to say to my servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Armies says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a great name for you like that of the greatest on the earth. 10 I will designate a place for my people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not continue to oppress them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.

“‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a rod of men and blows from mortals. 15 But my faithful love will never leave him as it did when I removed it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before me forever, and your throne will be established forever.’”

17 Nathan reported all these words and this entire vision to David.

Genesis 2:1-3

1 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.

bet (bayt)- house

Bet-hlehem (lachem)- House of Bread

"I need to remind you of some things..."

1) I took you...

2) I have been with you...

3) I have destroyed all your enemies...

"I've done all this for you, but guess what? I'm not done!"

1) I will make a great name...

2) I will designate a place for my people...

3) I will give you rest...

bet (bayt)- house, temple, dynasty

At the center of our lives should be the questions: 

• What is God doing?

• What is God raising up or building?