Our prayer is limited by our mortality. We see in part only (1 Cor. 12:9—10), whilst God is the beginning and end of all (Rev. 22:13). So our prayer is constrained by the limitations of our earthbound vision and understanding. Here King David is restrained in his ambition to build God’s house. Whilst the ambition is indeed godly, the timing for its execution lies in the future. This is not something for David, but for his successor. Our instincts can be right, yet without the seasoning of God’s Spirit we may act outside of God’s eternal purpose.