Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what’s my home, that you’ve introduced me so far? And but, this was a small factor in your eyes, O Lord GOD; you’ve got spoken additionally of your servant’s home for a terrific whereas to come back. Could this be instruction for the folks, O Lord GOD! And what extra can David say to you? For you understand your servant, O Lord GOD! Due to your promise, and in line with your personal coronary heart, you’ve got wrought all this greatness in order that your servant might realize it. Due to this fact you’re nice, O LORD God; for there isn’t a one such as you, and there’s no God apart from you, in line with all that we now have heard with our ears. Who’s like your folks, like Israel? Is there one other nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a folks, and to make a reputation for himself, doing nice and superior issues for them, by driving out earlier than his folks nations and their gods? And also you established your folks Israel for your self to be your folks ceaselessly; and also you, O LORD, grew to become their God.
And now, O LORD God, as for the phrase that you’ve spoken regarding your servant and regarding his home, affirm it ceaselessly; do as you’ve got promised. Thus your identify might be magnified ceaselessly within the saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel;’ and the home of your servant David might be established earlier than you. For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I’ll construct you a home’; subsequently your servant has discovered braveness to wish this prayer to you.
And now, O Lord GOD, you’re God, and your phrases are true, and you’ve got promised this good factor to your servant; now subsequently might it please you to bless the home of your servant, in order that it could proceed ceaselessly earlier than you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and along with your blessing shall the home of your servant be blessed ceaselessly.
This prayer is likely one of the higher examples of the aim of this research. It is a superb mannequin for enriching our prayers as a result of it demonstrates the interconnectedness of prayer sorts. That may lead us to show a prayer of thanksgiving right into a prayer of reward, turning the blessings round to shine in each instructions. Our prayers grow to be extra natural, interconnected, and wealthy. This prayer is value an in depth examination.
Background
After the defeat of the Philistines and the seize of Jerusalem, David has the ark of the covenant dropped at the brand new capital metropolis. It’s a time of nice rejoicing for Israel. (David’s spouse even criticizes him for being a bit too celebratory in public.)
Chapter 7 begins with David telling the prophet Nathan that he desires to construct a temple for the Ark of the Covenant. He notes that he, the king, lives in a ravishing home product of cedar, however God’s Ark is housed in a tent. Nathan tells the king he ought to do as he wished.
However that night time, God sends a message to Nathan in a dream. He instructs him to inform David that he’s to not construct Him a home—as a substitute, God will make a terrific home of David.
When Nathan tells David, David is overcome. He goes to the tent of the covenant, and sits earlier than the altar and presents this prayer. It is likely one of the longer prayers we now have studied to date. It accommodates reward, thanksgiving, and petition, which stream and overlap in an illuminating manner.
We’ve mentioned the shut connection between prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of reward. On the whole, prayers of thanksgiving provide due to God for one thing particular he has accomplished for somebody or some group. A reward prayer is normally a tribute to the character of God or some facet of his basic nature. It’d reward Him for who He’s as sovereign or creator of the universe, or for his acts of affection and beauty, or, typically, for some nice issues he has accomplished prior to now. On this prayer, the connection and overlap between the 2 is kind of shut. Your complete prayer reads very similar to a reward prayer, but the context is David’s response to God’s particular guarantees to David and his descendants. David needed to honor God by constructing him a home that He deserved. As a substitute, God mentioned, “No, I’m going to honor you by constructing your ‘home.’” David was overwhelmed. Think about for those who had been homeless and with out many prospects. Somebody comes alongside and provides you a spot to remain and a job. You avoid wasting cash, lease an condo, get again in your toes, and need to repay them for the cash they spent on you. They inform you, “no, you’ll not. As a substitute, I’m going to purchase you a home and pay to your schooling.” A mere “thanks!” appears terribly insufficient. This why the prayer sounds extra like a reward prayer than a mere thanksgiving.
When God blesses us in some shocking manner, this prayer is a superb mannequin. It’s also a very good mannequin for a prayer of reward which seems to be again on the issues God has accomplished for us. Usually, we don’t see the steering and course God is giving us till a lot later. Then we glance again and understand that we arrived at this place due to lots of the issues God did for us.
Observe the primary phrases of the prayer. David is so overcome that the opening phrases are questions on why God would bless him with such abundance. “Who am I” that you’d do that for me? God is the king of the universe, but he bends down to assist us and nurture us. It’s a prayer we are able to all utter.
David doesn’t suppose solely of himself: he realizes that the blessing of his family may even affect all Israel. What are some ways in which God’s blessings to you’ve got benefited others? Asking ourselves this query might help us keep away from the novel individualism of the fashionable world, and lead us to consider how God would possibly use us inside our group.
David then launches right into a extra typical reward of God. He touches on His greatness, the issues He has accomplished, and with specificity, the issues He has accomplished for Israel which made them into a terrific nation. Observe once more that David doesn’t simply give attention to himself and his blessings—he sees what God has accomplished for Israel by utilizing David. Moreover, he sees that the outcomes of the blessing flip again to God himself. When God blesses us, it exhibits different folks the form of God he’s, and it additional praises God.
Subsequent, David returns to the problem of a “home” for God. He accepts God’s phrases however asks that the home of David (which God will construct) might be a home that glorifies God. This emphasizes how we are able to take what is likely to be a thanksgiving prayer and switch it right into a reward prayer. When God blesses us in an amazing manner, we are able to give attention to how that blessing not solely impacts us, however can bless different folks and reward God! Much more of a give attention to God is discovered within the closing phrases of this part, the place David attributes his capability to prayer this prayer to God.
The prayer closes with a repeat of the reward of God for his reality and his guarantees. That is adopted by a petition which asks nothing new however restates what God has already mentioned he’ll do. Even the petition features as a thanksgiving and reward! The final line of the prayer summarizes your complete prayer: God speaks, God blesses, and will probably be so as a result of He’s God.
Which means
This prayer demonstrates how prayers can transfer past petition, thanksgiving, intercession, and so forth. They’ll transcend a prayer earlier than meals, a night prayer, or a prayer for a buddy in want. We see that the classes of prayer are usually not simply particular person components that we combine and match and insert into our prayer life. There’s a complexity right here that mirrors the interconnectedness of our non secular and bodily lives. As we develop in prayer, the categories, functions, and contents of our prayers start to weave and stream one into one other. We might even begin to surprise if the true goal of prayer, the tip to which all prayers stream, is the reward of God.
Software
Whereas we now have usually prayed just one prayer sort, it is a good alternative to observe mixing the categories. This doesn’t imply simply picked a kind, one after the opposite, and piling them on one another. Fairly, search some order and which means to all of them. When you can join them with an concept or a theme, all the higher. Write down transient solutions to every of the next questions.
- What do you admire most about God’s character immediately?
- What are you most grateful for?
- What are you most fearful about?
- Who’re you most involved about immediately?
- What act or phrases are you most ashamed of immediately?
- What would you want to vary about your self (maybe associated to the earlier query)?
Utilizing the solutions to these questions, assemble a prayer that begins with reward, then continues by thanksgiving, petition, intercession, confession, and vow. Supply the prayer to God with David’s prayer in thoughts.
- Evaluate Jacob’s comparable phrases and reactions in his prayer in Gen 32.10 (see “Jacob’s Petition for Security (Gen 32.9–12)” in Praying By way of the Bible, Quantity 1 (Genesis–Joshua) (2015); see additionally Psalm 8.4 for the same thought of people on the whole. ↩
