Following Your Heart

17.11.05

There came a time in King David’s life when the LORD gave him rest from all his enemies. During this time he took notice that God was still “dwelling” in a tent.¹ David’s heart was inclined to “build a house for the name of the LORD”² – an ambitious project to construct a temple for God.

The LORD said “you did well that it was in your heart”³ and the prophet Nathan encouraged David, saying “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you.”⁴ Indeed, the LORD was with David since the day he was first anointed King; and “the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.”⁵ God promises to “give [us] a new heart and put a new spirit within [us]”⁶ – David was such a man, a man after God’s heart.⁷

A good heart, a good dream – yet David would not be the man to fulfill this dream. If David’s heart is set on God’s heart, are not the dreams in his heart also God-given? And why would God give David a dream that he was not to fulfill?

The LORD says “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me?”⁸ God has never been unsatisfied with His living conditions.⁹ God had different priorities, and promises to make David a great name, to appoint a place for Israel, and make a house for him.¹⁰ In effect, God is saying I’m established – I’m going to establish you and bring you rest.

David could certainly have built a temple, but in God’s plan, David wasn’t the right person for the task. God declares “You shall not build a house to My name, because you have shed so much blood… a son will be born to you, who shall be a man of rest… He shall build a house for My name.”¹¹ God was bringing forth a time of rest, and a man of rest to build a His temple.

The dream in David’s heart was ambitious, but not too ambitious. Consider the wealth of Solomon, the splendour of the temple, and the seven years¹² it took Solomon to build it. God had shown David a glimpse of His dream, a dream that was bigger than David. So David thanked the Lord, praying, “You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future.”¹³

David still had a role to play in this dream. David thought “I will make preparation for [the temple],” and so he made ample preparations. Then he shared the dream with his son Solomon, “charging him to build a house for the LORD God.”¹⁴ So David played his part in God’s plan, a dream that spanned lifetimes.

Many times I come up with an ambitious dream of something I could do for God. Such dreams are too small-minded. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts”¹⁵ declares the LORD.

How great God’s thoughts are, He even knows my future. Sometimes it would be nice to have God’s foreknowledge – if only He revealed my future to me as He did for David. But David’s heart wasn’t set on his own future like pagans do, rather his heart was set on God Himself. He was ready to follow the inclination of his God-given heart, but first David sought confirmation. God told David to give this dream to someone else, and instead of throwing a pity- party, he did everything he could to give his dream away.

Like David, I need to give my dreams to God and submit to His plan, a plan far greater than I could ever devise. That’s certainly a challenge, because I like to own my thoughts and dreams, even though I know God’s plans are much more vast than my own, for “The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.”¹⁶

I need to be content to play a part in a bigger and better dream. Being obedient to the nudges of the Spirit and doing what He sets before me with all my might. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”¹⁷