Are you the one?

Many years ago I made a vow to the Lord to see His work advanced. Since then, it has been my singular and all-consuming motivation. It is why I go to bed at night and why I get up in the morning; it is why I pray and how I pray. Over the years I have been greatly encouraged by the example of King David who made a commitment to build the Lord a house.

When King David decided that he would like to build a permanent structure for the Lord to replace the tabernacle that Moses built, he confided in his dear friend Nathan, the prophet. 2 Sam 7:2. After their discussion, Nathan heard from the Lord during the night and returned to the King the next day asking, ‘Are you the one to build Him a house?’ We could easily assume that David would have been confused by this question because, after all, hadn’t he just told Nathan that this was what he wanted to do? But clearly, it was not enough for the King to want to do something. The Lord desired to bind David to a vow which was an irrefutable and irrevocable intention to step forward in identity and predestination to ‘build His house’ and put Him first in everything. But of course, David had been trained since birth to fulfil the vow that the Lord was now requiring Him to make. He had been taken from the sheepfold to become ruler over God’s people, Israel. 2 Sam 7:8. From his youth, he had been trained on those lonely hillsides where he had fought lions and bears, which later enabled him to defeat the mighty Goliath. We read about David’s commitment in the psalms, where we are told that ‘he swore to the Lord and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob’. Psa 132:2-5. When you and I are processing the kinds of commitments that the Lord wants us to make, we do it by faith in accordance with our identity and predestination and in keeping with the training that we have received from His hand.

Nathan had been a very good friend to David through all the highs and lows of his adult life. He had been the one who had confronted David after he had committed grievous sin but was now able to say to the King, ‘Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you’. 1 Chron 17:2. Clearly, David had tested the matter in his heart and was now ready to make a vow. We must also go through this process before we can commit toward building the Lord’s ‘house’, which in our context is the church, His many-membered body. Because he made a vow, the Lord swore an oath to David and promised to build him a house; an everlasting kingdom which would be ruled forever by one of his descendants. 2 Chron 17:10-14. In the psalms we read, ‘The Lord has sworn to David, a truth from which He will not turn back. From the fruit of your body, I will set upon your throne .’ Psa 132:11. Of course, we know that this promise pertains to the Lord Jesus Christ who is a direct descendant of David. When we make a vow to build the Lord’s ‘house’, we can be sure that He will swear an oath which will enable us to keep it.

David Falk

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Feature Articles
March 2010

First Place

In and out

Facing our fears

First love

Fronting up!

Are you the one?

Seek Him first

The first and the best

When the axe is blunt

Come home

Familiarity breeds contempt