There are 2 things that I love about this passage. The first is that while King David was living in an expensive house made out of the finest cedar in what would have been a state of the art palace it really bothered him that God was still ‘living’ in a tent. It’s not so much that God really was living in a tent more that the Arc of the Covenant was kept there. That was the thing that represented God’s presence with the nation and it represented something moveable and temporary. It bothered David that a tent wasn’t good enough more permanent enough. It clearly didn’t bother God but David wanted to do better.

The second thing I love about this passage is that in verse 16 we read that “David went in and sat before the Lord.” It’s a wonderful reminder that David was committed to the relationship he had with God. He took time to go and sit with God. He wasn’t always consumed by the matters of state he had to deal with or the armies that were constantly troubling his borders or even the dysfunctional nature of his extensive family. He made time for God and that’s a precious example for all of us.

The passage asks us to examine ourselves in order to discover what our relationship with God looks like. Are we bothered if God is kept in a second rate part of our lives that is at least partly temporary or do we genuinely want Him to inhabit our space in a manner that might be more costly? Do we put our own comfort before our relationship with Him investing more in the things we want than the God we need? And, do we go and sit before Him to talk or pray as David did?

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Question:

How is your relationship with God? Do you make space for Him? Do you hold Him in a place of high regard?

Prayer:

Lord God, forgive us for making You a second class God and holding You in a second class place. Show us how to maintain and grow our relationship with You as David di so that we might be able to come and sit before You often in prayer. Amen.