The Joy of Glory

2 Samuel 7:18–29 (click here)
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?

Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 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.

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…

And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever…

And your name will be magnified forever…

Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant…
(2 Samuel 7, selected verses, emphasis added)

Reflection
God made amazing promises to David!… Why?

David’s life was far from perfect. He did not deserve promises, blessings, or really anything from God. David himself recognized this fact when he said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”

So why did God make and keep such amazing promises to David… to his people… to any of us?

For his own glory.

God does all that he does to hold high the glory of his own great name… and this is great news for David, for you, and for me. It is great news for at least two reasons.

First, God’s promise-keeping-faithfulness is not dependent upon whether or not I am deserving. If he keeps his promises for the sake of his name, then nothing I do will thwart the faithfulness of God! This is good news!

Second, there is nothing greater that the Lord can give to David, to you, or to me than himself in all of his glory! Think about it… is there anything greater than God? No! So if God is going to give us the best, then he must give us himself! It is good news that God promotes his own glory, because that means he is promoting what will bring you and I the greatest joy!

David saw this truth too! Because God was establishing David’s house for the glory of his own name… because God was making it so that his own name would be magnified forever… because of all of that, David considered himself blessed by God!

Truly, Saint Augustine said it best, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you!”

Our greatest joy is the glory of God! So we pray that his name might be hallowed that we might have full joy in him forever!

*All previous devotionals may be found at www.thejoyofglory.com
*The complete SVCC Lenten reading guide is available here.