1 Chronicles 17:4
"Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
Sermons
Unfitness for Some Parts of God's WorkR. Tuck 1 Chronicles 17:4
Truths Under the SurfaceW. Clarkson 1 Chronicles 17:1-6
David Forbidden to Build the TempleG. T. Coster.1 Chronicles 17:1-10
Our Inspirations Require to be RevisedJ. Parker, D. D.1 Chronicles 17:1-10
The King's ProposalJ. Wolfendale.1 Chronicles 17:1-10
God's Message to DavidF. Whitfield 1 Chronicles 17:3-15














God sent a distinct refusal of David's request by the Prophet Nathan. "Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in" But this refusal may not be regarded as an act of mere sovereignty; it was based upon the Divine recognition of the unfitness of David as the instrument for this particular work. Much he might do for God, but this he may not do; and the disability even followed upon his very fitness for the other work which God had called him to do. He was a man of war. His work had been the extending and settling of the new kingdom. But the "man of blood" must give place to the "man of rest," to whom could be more wisely committed the work of building a temple for God. We are here taught that God's work, which he would have done on earth, is divided into pieces; that one piece only is usually committed to the trust of each man; that every man finds he has one such trust, and that all the pieces and parts fit together, and make up one great whole of Divine purpose. There is a Divine arrangement of the pieces. There is a Divine allotment of the pieces to individuals. And this involves the selection of individuals upon a Divine recognition of particular gifts and endowments. Then a man may be either fitted or unfitted for some positions and for some work; and God will, by his providence, guide each man to the work that he may hopefully do; and no man has occasion to envy the place or work of another man.

I. MAN MAY WISH FOR SPHERES or SERVICE. God does not reproach David for wishing to build the temple. He now says, "Thou didst well that it was in thine heart." It is a good sign that we want to serve; though so often it is only a sign of our restlessness in the work we have, and our foolish fancying that some one else's work is better, or easier, or nobler than our own. Faithful doing of present duty may be quite consistent with earnest desire to do something else and better, provided it finds expression, as David's did, in patient waiting on God, and earnest prayer for Divine direction.

II. MAN MAY BE UNDER DISABILITIES WHICH HINDER HIM FROM THE SPHERES HE SEEKS. Such disabilities may arise out of natural disposition and character; educational conditions; local circumstances; or, as in David's case, out of the very life-work which may be entrusted to us. When we remember how actions bear the stamp of the character of those who perform them, and men receive their impressions of the thing itself from the person who does it, we realize how God may properly refuse to permit us to do just the work we may wish to do. We need to satisfy ourselves that God knows both us and our work, and so can fitly match the two together, and keep us from unfitting spheres.

III. THE GREAT SECRET OF OUR DUTY IS THE DOING WELL WHAT WE PLAINLY HAVE TO DO. Forming a very high value of our present trust. Quite sure that it is the very thing for us; and cherishing the assurance that God makes our work fit into the work that others do, and that the very thing which we would like to have done ourselves, God gets done in his own time and way, and by the agents he pleases. "One planteth, another watereth," and God gives the increase that crowns the union of various labourers and labours. We may learn:

1. The lesson of submissive obedience to the Divine appointments.

2. The importance of keeping our minds free from all envy of other workers, even of those who seem to he doing the very work which we would like to have done.

3. And to be thankful for the work that is entrusted to us; quick to discern the dignity and importance of it; and supremely anxious that we should be found of God faithful in the doing of it. - R.T.

Therefore now, Lord, let the thing that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant.
It is —

I. GROUNDED ON GOD'S PROMISE.

II. IT REGARDS GOD'S HONOUR SOLELY (ver. 24).

III. IT ASCRIBES ALL TO GOD'S FREE GRACE.

IV. IT APPEALS TO GOD'S FAITHFULNESS.

V. IT RECEIVES THE FULNESS OF GOD'S BLESSING.

(J. Wolfendale.)

That Thou wilt build him an house
I. THEY WHO HAVE CHARGE OF FAMILIES SHOULD CHERISH AN EARNEST REGARD FOR THEIR WELFARE.

II. Those who have the care of families should make it their chief anxiety TO IMPART TO THEM RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. Seeking their spiritual welfare we shall —

1. Strive to be the means of their conversion to God.

2. This we should do because converted families are scenes of harmony and love.

3. This only can impart abiding consolation under bereaving providences.

4. It will be thus we shall provide the means in our religious households of future usefulness to the Church and the world.

(W. G. Barrett.)

People
David, Israelites, Nathan
Places
Egypt, Jerusalem
Topics
Build, David, Dwell, Hast, Living-place, Says, Servant, Thus
Outline
1. Nathan first approving the purpose of David, to build God a house
3. after by the word of God forbids him
11. He promises him blessings and benefits in his seed
16. David's prayer and thanksgiving

Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Chronicles 17:4

     1690   word of God
     7160   servants of the Lord
     8344   servanthood, in believers

1 Chronicles 17:1-6

     5089   David, significance
     7306   ark of the covenant

1 Chronicles 17:4-14

     5467   promises, divine

Library
Amasiah
'Amasiah, the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself unto the Lord.'--1 CHRON. xvii, 16. This is a scrap from the catalogue of Jehoshaphat's 'mighty men of valour'; and is Amasiah's sole record. We see him for a moment and hear his eulogium and then oblivion swallows him up. We do not know what it was that he did to earn it. But what a fate, to live to all generations by that one sentence! I. Cheerful self-surrender the secret of all religion. The words of our text contain a metaphor naturally
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Promise in 2 Samuel, Chap. vii.
The Messianic prophecy, as we have seen, began at a time long anterior to that of David. Even in Genesis, we perceived [Pg 131] it, increasing more and more in distinctness. There is at first only the general promise that the seed of the woman should obtain the victory over the kingdom of the evil one;--then, that the salvation should come through the descendants of Shem;--then, from among them Abraham is marked out,--of his sons, Isaac,--from among his sons, Jacob,--and from among the twelve sons
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Cavils of the Pharisees Concerning Purification, and the Teaching of the Lord Concerning Purity - the Traditions Concerning Hand-Washing' and Vows. '
As we follow the narrative, confirmatory evidence of what had preceded springs up at almost every step. It is quite in accordance with the abrupt departure of Jesus from Capernaum, and its motives, that when, so far from finding rest and privacy at Bethsaida (east of the Jordan), a greater multitude than ever had there gathered around Him, which would fain have proclaimed Him King, He resolved on immediate return to the western shore, with the view of seeking a quieter retreat, even though it were
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Divine Jesus.
Jehovah-Jesus: John 1:1-18. the intimacy of John, John 13:23. 19:26. 20:2. 21:7, 20. "with Jesus," John 18:15.--John writes of Jesus--- when he wrote--getting the range--his literary style--the beginning--the Word--this was Jesus--the tragic tone. God's Spokesman: the Creator was Jehovah--- Jehovah is Jesus--the Spokesman--Old Testament revelations, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the elders of Israel, Isaiah, Ezekiel,--Whom these saw--various ways of speaking--John's Gospel
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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