We just sang these words, Beyond
My Highest Joy. Our sweet communion, solemn vow,
these hymns of love and prayer. Do you feel that way? This message
is for those who can say with David, I was glad when they sent
him to me. Let's go to the house of the
Lord. This is for those who say with David, one thing have I
desired of the Lord, and that's what I'm going after, that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Behold the beauty of the Lord in inquiring in his temple. This
message is for those who love his kingdom. who say with David,
your loving kindness, your truth, your gospel, your worship is
better than life, who say with David, I'd rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of God than to dwell in the finest palaces in all
the world. This message is for those who
say with David, who am I and what is my house that you've
brought me here? I stand the fact that I'm here. That's who this message is for.
Every Lord's Day, we wake up and we come to the church house,
and so do most of you. We pass by house after house
after house. I don't see any movement. I don't
see people getting up in their cars. Our neighbors all around
us, several of them, have come Invited by us, they've come here
and didn't stay, didn't like what they were hearing. Too serious. The cost was too great. And yet,
they just don't need to worship God. I do. Don't you? This is for those who love his
kingdom. We just sang that. Do you mean
that? I love thy kingdom, Lord. The
house of thine abode, the church, our blessed redeemer, saved with
his own precious blood. Did you say that from your heart? God's house, God's people, God's
kingdom come here to hear his blessed word. You enjoy hearing
the word of the living God. David heard it from Nathan, and
it just thrilled him. He just thrilled his soul. He
blessed his soul and prayed and called on God. Went in and sat
in the house of God. I did that this very morning. I came over here very early and
I sat right there on that pew and I quoted all this. Who am I that you brought me
here? Can you say that? A part of His kingdom. I love
to sing His praises. Do you? Do you love to sing?
There was a time I didn't. At the time, I loved other music
better, and I feel like some other music, but I really, I
never tired of singing these hymns. We sing these same old,
same old, old hymns over and over and over. Come thou fount
of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy praise. Strings of
mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Redeemed
how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite mercies. His child and forever.
There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's
vein, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty
stains. What does that mean to you? Have
you seen that from the Holy Spirit? David, verse 1 in our text, he
went in and he was sitting in his house. The Lord gave him
rest round about from his enemy, and he said to Nathan, I believe
he had Nathan over for supper or something. Breakfast? I don't
know. That's what God's people do. Remember David said, I'm
a companion of them that fear thee. Nathan especially. Nathan
was his preacher. Nathan was his pastor. Nathan
was... David had a pastor. You better
believe that. And by God, every sheep died.
And he heard Nathan, and the Lord sent Nathan to him, and
he was with Nathan in his house. And he said, I dwell in a house
of cedar, the ark of God, the ark of the covenant, the mercy
seat. He said, it's in a tent. And
Nathan said, do. He knew what he was thinking,
build a house. He said, do, the Lord's with
you. Do whatever the Lord lays on your heart. And David said,
I'm in my house. We don't hear much about David's
house. Back in chapter 2 or 4, a man
named Hiram sent the finest cedar, cedars of Lebanon and all that,
over for David to build a house. But David doesn't mention his
house. David doesn't talk about his house. Doesn't. He doesn't
talk about his family. He doesn't talk about his wives. You know who he talks about?
You know who thrills him? You know who takes up his, you
know where his conversation is? In all the songs? In heaven.
He doesn't describe his house. He describes the Lord's house.
That's the house he said, that's where I want to live. He said,
I've lived in this house of cedar. And everyone in here has a house,
a home, an apartment or something. None of us own our own. You know
that, don't you? Our house is faithful. We're
a big deal. I still borrow this. I'm still
borrowing it from the Lord. It's all loaned. Why? Because
we can't keep it. The Lord takes back everything
He gave. It's just ours for a little while.
The fact is, we all live in tents. Temporary shelter. But if you have a home of any
sort, Do you thank the Lord for that? No matter how meager, no
matter how small, the Lord himself didn't have a place to lay his
head. Why? Because he really believes,
psalm 90, Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place through all
generations. In him we live and move and have our being. He's
our dwelling place. But David said, I live in this
house. And he was thankful for his house. As he sat in this
house, looking around, food in his cupboard. I don't know if
they had refrigerators. David, I don't know. They had
some kind of, what do you call those houses under the ground? The old country people know.
Ice house, down under the ground, where he kept his watermelons. But he was thankful for the home
he lived in. He said that the ark of God dwells
in a tent. And the Lord had given him rest
round about from all his enemies, as he has his people. You know
that? We have rest in Christ our Lord,
don't we? He said, and listen to Isaiah
40. He tells me to comfort you, comfort you my people. I'm going
to comfort you. Okay? Say unto her, speak ye
comfort to Jerusalem. Cry unto her, her warfare is
accomplished. The battle wasn't yours. You
didn't fight this battle. Jesus Christ did. And He won. He obtained rest for you. Oh no, you're not going to battle
a war for your soul. Jesus Christ did that on the
cross. And He won. He defeated your enemies. He
crushed Satan's head. And everything is under His feet.
You do have rest. So rest. Rest round about from all our
enemies. And I was going to read Psalm 91, which I tell you to
read all the time. You don't need to fear. 1,000
will fall at your right hand, 10,000 at your left hand, 10,000
at your right hand. A lot coming out of you. No evil
health on you. Do you believe that? In Christ? He's giving you rest
around the back of all your enemies. You're hedged about just like
Job, if you're a believer. You are absolutely surrounded
by more than those that are against you. If you would open your eyes,
you'd see chariots of fire around this church, around this church
right here. Around your house, around your dwelling place. That's
absolutely grand. That's not a fable, that's God's
Word. And he has said all his life,
all your life, he has said to your enemies, here are the two
shall you shun. I'll let you do this, let you
do that, that's it. Like Job, he can't take his life. Do you believe that? It's so
of all God's people, not just David. We're going to find out
in a minute, you know, who is David? That's what David said. Who am I and what is my habit?
I was nothing from nowhere. It really appears that David
didn't have much education about it. You know that? You read his
life, don't you? What was he doing as a young
man? He was a shepherd. He wasn't attending the university.
Was he? Well, Not many wise men, not
many mighty, not many noble. Nathan said, go, do what you
will, and verse, verse, his, David's desire was to honor his
Lord and have a place for the ark of God to dwell in. A nice
place for the Lord, for the ark of God to dwell. That was his
desire. It's a good desire. And the Lord
is going to tell him that Solomon, his son, is going to do that. But David's desire was to honor
the Lord with his substance. He said this in Psalm 116, What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I want to do something for my
Lord because of all that he's done for me. That's the desire of all of God's
people. Those who love His kingdom and
are grateful for His mercy and His grace to them through Christ
our Lord, they want to support His church, His gospel. They
want this place to stand. And they honor Him by taking
care of it. When we do these improvements
and all that, one time we were redoing the bathroom downstairs.
One of the men said, us men, we don't need a fancy bathroom
like that. I said, I didn't do it for you.
I didn't do it for you. I did it as under the law. Did Solomon do a halfway job
on that temple? No, sir. He did it as unto the
Lord. Honor the Lord. Let the people
round about say, we honor our Lord. Whatever our hand finds
to do, we do it with all our might, to the best of our ability.
Oh, not ostentation, not elaborate, not, you know, but do it well
and make it nice. We do that with our own home.
Well, David desired, he desired to build a house for the Lord.
Okay? And Nathan said, Go, build him
a house. In verse 5, or verse 4, the Lord
spoke to Nathan that night. And God in sundry times and diverse
manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets. He did, he spoke
to man, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he spoke to man who
in turn spoke to God's people. God didn't speak to everybody.
Okay? He spoke to his prophets, right? Not to the scriptures. Men chosen
by him. And he spoke to his people through
his prophets. Well, it's the same today. He speaks to his
people through pastors and teachers. Through his word, though. It's
his word. These men, no scriptures or any private interpretation.
But they speak as they are moved by the Spirit of God. Now, the
Spirit of God told Nathan, tell Ask David, shall you build me
a house? Verse 11, you tell David, I'm
going to build him a house. You know, religion likes to build
things. Gymnasiums and stuff. The house of the Lord is to worship
our Lord and for God's people to fellowship together, to meet
together. All right? That's what it's for.
It's not for the work. We don't do these things to attract
people in. We don't have get-togethers to
attract people in. We have get-togethers for God's
people. It's God's house. It's His people. That's where
they've been. But religion likes to build things. One time my
dad was in the bank, and there was a man there, very religious,
and everybody knew him. And he said, Pastor Henry, what
are you doing today? And they talked, and the man,
the bank officer said, well, I've been busy doing the Lord's
work, and we've got a basketball team going now, all grades up. My dad said, the Lord's work
is not a basketball team. The Lord's house is a place of
worship. That's what the Lord said. My house should be called
a house of prayer. He was selling things. That's religion. Let's build
these big houses. What for? Not for fun and games,
not for recreation. You've got a YMCA today, right? Not for entertainment. Worship. Worship. They hear the Word of
the Lord. That's what the house of God
was for, for a place for the ark of God, the worship of God
to be, and a sacrifice of the burnt offering which represents
Jesus Christ. That's what it was for. All right,
so the Lord said through Nathan, shall you build me a house? Shall
you build me a house? He said, I'm going to build you
a house, not of cedar, but of gold and silver and precious
stones with streaks of gold. Not a temporary dwelling, but
eternal. Not in Jerusalem, in the heavens. That's the house that God has
for His people. Eternal in the dwelling. Now, our Lord spoke to David,
though David's a king. He spoke to David through a man,
didn't He? Didn't He? And that's how He
still speaks. You see, and we look at a whole
message on it, why doesn't God speak out loud? Why does God
use preaching? Why, why, why, why? Well, to humble the pride of
man. Humble the pride of man. The
pride of man is so great. So great. Man is so proud of
everything he is and does. There's never been a prouder
generation than this one now. Heady, high-minded, boasters.
Never been a generation that boasts of more and does less.
Most people, all they know how to do is put keys on it. But the talkers, big talkers.
The Word of God humbles the pride of man, no matter who it is,
from the king down to the servant. It's going to humble the pride
of man. It's going to show you who God is, and who you are,
and where He found you. That's what the Word of God's
going to do. A true preacher of God, the true
Word of God, through a true preacher of God, is going to bring you
down before it lifts you up. He's going to show you who you
are and where He found you, and what He's done for you, what
He has done for you. Period. Exclamation point. And it's going to humble you. That's why people don't like
to come here to this gospel. It humbles the pride of man.
And David, who was the most powerful man on earth. David was the most
powerful man on earth at this time. He said, I am poor and
needy. And here he comes in and says,
Who am I? What am I doing here? I didn't have anything to do
with this. Look at verse 6 and 7. God said,
Now I have not dwelt in any house since the time I brought up the
children of Israel out of Egypt. Who did what? Who brought the
children out? He did. To this day. But I have walked in a tent and
in a tabernacle, in all the places wherein I have walked with all
the children of Israel. Did I tell anyone? Did I command
anyone? Did I tell them? Ask them, Why
haven't you built me a house? Are you reading this? He said,
if I were hungry, I wouldn't ask you. Isn't it? And this is what the world religion
says, that God needs this, God needs that. Their God does, but our God doesn't.
He said, I own the cattle on a thousand hills. That's not
a thousand cattle on a hill. That's the cattle on a thousand
hills. That means every cattle. He said, all the gold and the
silver and all the mines is mine. The Lord make it rich, the Lord
make it poor. That's Hannah's prayer, the first
thing. The Lord raises up, the Lord casts down. The Lord gives
life, the Lord kills. But the Lord does all these.
He's Lord. King of kings. The king's heart
is in his hands. We're going to see throughout
this message of Nathan what God said. God says, I will. I will. I will. I will. He shall, shall,
shall. I will. God doesn't ask David
or ask anyone for anything. God's telling them what He will
do it, has done, is doing, and will do and shall do it, and
it's going to happen. This is the God of the Bible. God alone
has free will. Listen to me. Anyone that believes in the free
will of man doesn't know God, doesn't know man, doesn't know
the Bible. They don't know it. They're ignorant.
Every preacher on the top side of God's earth, their will is
bound to their nature. Their will is bound to their
nature. Can the eat open change his skin? Can the leper change
his spots? God said, no. Neither can you
do good that are destined to do evil. Man's will is bound by his evil
nature. Christ said, you will not come
unto me. He said, no man can come unto
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw thee. Except the
Father according to his will said, come. And if he says that,
you will come. Whatever he said, I've spoken
it, I will bring it to pass. Can you say that? Can any human
being say that? I will do what I want to do. No, you can't. No, you can't. Only God can say that. Whoever
says, I will, and it comes to pass, is God. This is the God
of the Bible. He keeps saying it down here.
Did you notice this? He said, I'm their God. This
was God. This is verse 26. The Lord of
hosts is the God. You see that? Verse 28. O Lord
of God, thou art that God. Be God, their God, that God. Don't holler, preacher. I'll
holler it louder. David's wife, Michael, mocked
him. And he said, I'll be more violent. This is the God of the Bible.
The one men are talking about and say, you need you and can't
do anything. that people are worshiping an
idol. This is the guy who's not worshiping. He says, I will! And whatever he says, I will.
Shack! Come to pass. Aren't you glad? You better be glad. If there's anybody or anything,
including Satan, that has control over anything, you better run
to the hills and get your guns and pack a ton of food. God doesn't
want things to happen, they happen anyway. Who needs Him? Why are we doing Him? Why are
we worshipping Him? Don't get excited, preacher.
The zeal of God's house eats me up. The glory of God. That's what God's church is all
about. That's what God's people are about. To declare unto us,
our Lord says, this wicked and adulterous generation. That's
what He called them. This present evil world, who
pretends to love God and worship God, but they don't even know
Him. And they're blaspheming His name. Preachers everywhere,
preaching in God's name, don't even know Him. That was my preacher. That was my pastor. That was
my father for years. Pastor of the largest church
in southeastern Kentucky. 1,000 members, a basketball team
and all that. He didn't even know God. But God. rich in mercy for his
great love, sent a preacher like Nathan, and killed his former
doctor, killed his idol, killed his little Jesus standing outside
his heart's door, and told him of the Lord of glory who will
do what he will, with whom he will, because he will, to the
praise and the glory of his marvelous sovereign grace in Christ. This
is the God of the Bible. This is the gospel. This is what
this book says. This is what God's people believe.
Nothing more and nothing less. This is the God of the Bible.
This is salvation. Any other. I don't care who it
is. I don't care how big their building is. If they don't preach
this, they're not preaching the truth. Open the windows. Open the door. Let this community
hear this. They have heard it for 36 years. Why are you here? Why am I here? Shouldn't we be
saying, who am I and what am I that you brought me here to? Brought me out of Egypt, out
of my false god, out of religion, to hear the truth. What is it?
It's election is what it is. It is sovereign election. It
is God chose you before the foundation of the world. Not because of
anything He saw in you, but because He did. To the praise of the
glory of His grace. That's what's on our side, and
that's what's in this book from cover to cover. God is not asking David anything. He's not pleading with David.
Won't you build me a house? He's telling him. Buddy, if you ever hear the gospel,
you know what God will do? He'll tell you. Tell you who
He is. Tell you what you are. Tell you
where He found you. Tell you what He did for you
and for us. He'll tell you, and you'll just sit back and say,
I can't keep this from happening. Look at verse 8. Thus saith the Lord, here is
what I did for you. Here is where I found you, verse
8. I took you from the sheep-goat, from following sheep. Who were
you following? Where did the Lord find you?
Who were you following? Not sheep. You were following
goats, weren't you? You were following the world.
You were following your own lusts. You were walking according to
the course of this world. According to the Prince of the
Pioneer, like the children of disobedience, children of wrath,
even as others. Somebody say it loud. But God. Foundations of the Lord. Isn't
it? How much of it? One hundred percent.
God says, I found you. You didn't find me. Have you
found Jesus? I didn't know he was lost. You're
the one that's lost. And all those who he chose before
the foundation of the world and gave to Christ in the covenant
of grace. He said, I have come to seek and to save that which
was lost. And he told the story of the
great shepherd leaving the ninety and nine in the wilderness, going
after the one. And it says, it doesn't say he hope he finds
it. If he finds it, it says, and
when he finds it. Because he did. Well, he sets
him on his feet and said, now I've done all I can do. Hope
you make it. No, he puts him on his shoulder and takes him all the way home.
Isn't that what Isaiah 4-6 says, Sister Nancy? I've carried you
from the cradle to your hoary head all these years, Sister.
He's carried you. You're shepherds. Why are you staying on it? Because
that's what this book says. Because it's His glory and His
honor. My salvation. Where did He find
you? What were you? Who were you?
Who are you now? What do you have that you have
not received? What do you know that He didn't reveal to you? Why are you here? Not your will,
His will. Not your choice, His choice.
And it's not for your honor, it's for His honor. Verse 9, he says, I was with
you whithersoever thou wentest. I've cut off all your ends. Look
back on your life and see where the Lord spared you every moment
of your life. Can you see that, sister? Can
you see how the Lord spared you from destroying Himself? Can you? And religion is just as bad as
being in the gutter. You can be lost in a pew, same
as a gutter. If God leaves you in that pew
in false religion, you're going to spit hell out of it, just
like a heart in a street. In all your life, oh, I can tell
you countless instances, countless instances, where the Lord spared
my life. Why? To bring me here. To here. the gospel and save my soul. This is why David went in and
sat before the Lord. You're sitting here this morning
and you say from your heart, who am I? Why am I here? I don't deserve it. Why? It's for His great namesake.
He said over and over again, I'm not doing this for your sake.
In Ezekiel 36, He said, I didn't do this for your sake. I did
it for my holy name's sake. Look at verse 10. He said, I'll
appoint a place for my people. I'll plant them. I will. I've
got a place for my people. The place that God has chosen
for his nation. Hear the touche, you come, you're
going to bring your children, you're going to worship God like
he ought to worship you. You're going to hear the truth.
I'm not leaving you, God says, in religion and thought. I'm
taking you out of that, those false governments, out of Egypt
for religion. I'm going to bring you to the place that I've chosen,
where my son is proclaimed, where Christ has submitted to the highest. And plant you. Plant you. And you'll move. Look at verse
10. Move no more. That's what Peter said. He said,
after you've suffered a while, I'm going to establish you, strengthen
you, and strengthen you. Where? On Christ the Son of God.
I don't need to go anyplace else. I don't need to hear anything
else. Like Friedman said, I've heard him. What have I to do
anymore without him? I'm not moving. If you ever really hear Christ
praise, you won't want to hear anything else. You don't need
to hear anything else. You don't need entertainment.
You need the gospel. That's it. That's it. And our Lord said to David and
all his people, verse 10, neither shall the children of wickedness
afflict you any more. Not nobody. You've got no evil
shall befall you. Why? Well, look at verses 12
and 17. I've got to hurry. The Lord said, When you sleep
with your fathers, I'll set up thy seed after thee, which shall
proceed out of thy mouth. I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne
of his kingdom forever. I will be his father. He shall
be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod
of men, with the stripes of the children of men. But my mercy
shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom
I put away before thee. Thine house, thy kingdom shall
be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
forever. According to all these words,
according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.
Is Nathan speaking of Solomon? Yes, but he's speaking primarily
of a greater than Solomon. Now you notice, he's speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was made of the seed of David. of His kingdom, of His kingdom,
His reign, His rule shall be forever. Not Solomon. Solomon's
dead. You go over there, you'll find
some bones. Mate, the bones of Solomon. You go into the tomb
of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are no bones. He's risen. And He sat at the right hand
of the majesty on high, reigning and ruling. Now everything, He's
King of kings and Lord of lords. And of His reign and His rule
and His government, no end. Right now, He reigns and rules
over planet Earth, over all the universe, over everything. And
He has a kingdom which no man can see except His people. And
they're members of it. He built the church. Except the
Lord built the house they labor in vain that built it. The Lord
builds His church. And it's not a building, it's
people. What are they built on? One foundation. Who laid it?
The Lord God. Other foundations can no man
lay than that which is laid. Jesus Christ. A solid rock. His church is built on Christ's
solid rock. Why won't, why can't they move? Why won't they move? Because
He can't move. He's eternal in the heaven. You'd
have to get to Him to get to them. To make them move. And
it says in verse 14, If He committed iniquity, I'll chasten Him with
the rod of men, with the stripes of the children of men. Our Lord
committed no sin. In Him is no sin. But listen
to Isaiah 53. He became the surety. He became
the covenant head. Our Lord became the substitute
for His people. It says in Isaiah 53, He hath
borne our grief and carried our sorrow. We did esteem Him stricken
and smitten of God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. With His stripes we are healed. Men, beat our Lord with a whip,
but they did what God determined for them to do. Why? Because
He was taking our life. He was taking our chastisement. All we like sheep have gone astray,
speaking to His people, for the transgression of my people. Not
everybody, but His people. All we like sheep have gone astray.
Sheep, mind you, not goats. We've turned everyone to our
own way. And the Lord God, oh, but God,
hath laid on him the iniquity of himself, all of his people. I'm going to chastise him, not
because he committed iniquity, but give him that. And that's
all. Men are going to despise and
reject Him. So I won't despise and reject
you. Isn't that something? But my mercy, He said, shall
not depart from me. The mercy of the Lord endureth
forever. Why? Why does the mercy of the Lord
endure forever? Psalm 136, right there, 26 times. Why does it
endure forever? Because He does. And according to all these words,
the gospel, according to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Nathan spoke. And so did I. And that's when
David went in and sat down. How can it be that I'm here? He said, this
is not the manner of man. This is the way of God. The manner
of God. And he went on to pray that prayer. We read it before. I'm out of
time. And he just... Just honor the Lord and all that
he said he would do for his people and ask him again. That's what,
oh Lord, please do it as you've spoken. Oh, let that be your
blessing upon the house of thy servant forever. David didn't
ask the Lord for any temporal blessing. David didn't pray for
any temporal blessing. Things, material things, not
one, not one. All they did pray for was that
the Lord would do what he said he would do for them. Eternal salvation. He set your
hearts aside. Are you glad you heard this?
Were you glad to be here? You know, not many people are
here now. It is not. There's a few here
and there. God's chosen place here and there.
But His name there is glory to Him. For Christ is high and lifted
up, always, every time. We're so blessed. All right. John, if you'd come, please.