These are the words of David in response to God’s great promise of lovingkindness and an enduring house (2 Samuel 7.15-18).   What precipitated this gracious promise was David’s expressed desire to build God a house (2 Samuel 7.1-2).   In simple terms, David states that he is going to build a house for God, and God responds, “No, I will build a house for you.”  And this house, this Davidic dynasty, will endure forever.   “Death does not annul it; Sin cannot destroy it; time will not exhaust it” (2 Samuel 7.12-16).   And we discover after apostasies, captivities and the passing of time, the advent of the Messiah, the true Son of David, that God’s promise is fulfilled.

I feel like David.  I try to do so much for God, declare my intentions, only to discover that His response is, “OK, but know this:  my grace is so sufficient that I will build you a house.  His grace does it all for me and on my behalf;  He builds my house!  David’s ear “caught the music of those wonderful words which are repeated twice in 2 Samuel 7.16 as the climax of the whole oracle, and which are echoed and re-echoed in David’s prayer.” And David responds,  “Who am I, O Lord God!”

In the midst of our struggle, God surprises us with his gentle reminders of the promise of His sustaining grace.  And it again, like David, causes us to “sit down” and remember God’s great faithfulness.

One of those reminders was the recent birth of my fourth grandchild.  I was told that it was a boy and that his name was Titus Christopher Edmonds.   I was very discouraged that day and I didn’t really listen to the name because I knew that, if it was a boy, they were going to name him Titus.  So when I heard the middle name, I wondered why they would choose such an unusual name as that. Then I realized, they chose to name their son’s middle name after me.   Now this would not seem like something very significant to most people.  And I had never considered a grandchild bearing my name.   But what struck me was this…. Someone out there loves and respects me enough to give my name to their son!   And I started weeping!   It was a gift of God to me.  Just a simple reminder that He loves me even in the midst of my failures and inconsistencies; that God, through His Holy Spirit is directing me right where He wants me to go.

I am so grateful.