1 Chron. 17 Spiritual Hyperopia

What we have before us is found in 2 Samuel 7; yet there are still insights to gain from this review as we permit the Holy Spirit to reveal them to us.

David had a heart after the Lord and as a result, he desired to build the Lord a house that excelled any structure he had constructed for himself. He shared what was on his heart with Nathan who agreed by the statement “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.” That night God spoke to Nathan that David wasn’t the one to build Him a house; rather it would be one of “your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.”

Because David carried “the Seed of Abraham”, he discerned and had a desire to build “a house” for the Lord; yet the “house” wasn’t to be built and even though many feel that it was Solomon to whom this prophecy was directed, it really was speaking of Jesus, the Messiah, who would come and build an eternal house. David had a clear case of hyperopia or farsightedness (being able to see more clearly at a distance) and wasn’t seeing what was up close, myopia (being able to see more clearly what is up close).

We see the value of having those in our lives that understand the difference and are able to communicate it to us in loving correction. Such a man was Nathan. However, even he erred in telling David to do “all that was in his heart”. The desire David had was noble and honorable; yet the Lord hadn’t asked him to do that.
I wonder if there are things we do that are as David, noble and honorable; yet the Lord didn’t ask us to do any of it?

It is my suspicion that there has been much energy expended on things that God hasn’t asked nor does He require us to do them; however because there is no one in our life to speak from the Lord to us, we forge ahead and deplete ourselves of energy that could be better directed. Like most ministers I know, we don’t mind working hard – ministry requires that; but we do need to work smarter.

Much of the balance in this chapter we read of David’s humility and desire to enable Solomon to construct a house for the Lord. He provided many of the materials required to build such a house that would be a blessing to the Lord and for the Lord.