2 SAMUEL 7:18-29 – Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God! 20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God! 21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 27 For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

THEME OF THE DAY. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. Most of the space in today’s nugget is God’s Words, not mine. That is the proper priority for sure. And the reason is to allow David to drive home to us the proper understanding of the relationship we have with the Lord; He is our Master and we, His servants. Go back and read this beautiful prayerful dialogue between David and God. From the heart of David, we observe two important qualities which are to shape and direct the life of all God’s children while defining our relationship with Him.

First, David is a humble child of God. Just read through this prayer slowly and see his humility before the Lord. He is overwhelmed, and thus humbled, over God’s grace and goodness to him. And what about us? Have we recently been alone with the Lord, pondered all His marvelous works of providence in our lives as well as His overflowing goodness to us? Don’t let prayer be just about asking God for things. Let it be a dialogue of humble praise for who He is, what He has already done in our lives, and what He promises yet to do. If we follow David’s model, we will be assured the Fruit of the Spirit will blossom in our lives and particularly, humility.

Next, David knew his role in his relationship with God. In today’s scripture, the words “your servant” appear ten times in just twelve verses. And this wasn’t David reminding God of who he was before Him. This was “self-talk” reminding David of his role before God. This is a good type of repetition we need to practice. It is easy to become selfish in life, even in our relationship with God. Unless we constantly remind ourselves of who God is (our Master) and who we are (His servants), we may dangerously create a God who serves us instead of the true relationship – us serving Him. And if we constantly remind ourselves of this glorious truth, we will know more joy and delight as we live under His always sufficient care. Remember; the Master commits Himself and His resources to the welfare of His servant. What a safe and joyful place for us to abide!

PRAYER: “Lord, I praise You for allowing me to be Your servant under the loving care of You, my Master.”

QUOTE: “The safest and most joyful place to be is under the Mastery of the Lord Jesus Christ”