2 Samuel 7, excuse me, in verse
18. Then went King David in and sat
before the Lord. Sat before the Lord. Every time I read it, every time
I think of it, it astounds me. King David, the king. went in and sat before the Lord. But David hadn't always been
a king. He was a shepherd when the Lord sought him. He was just
a shepherd boy when he slew Goliath and his brothers mocked him.
So what happened was David had it in his heart to build a house
for God, a place for God to dwell in. God told him, no, no, you're
not going to do that. Don't want you to do that. You've
got too much blood on your hands. You've been a warrior, you've
been a fighter, you've fought your enemies, and you've won,
and you've got rest. He says, your son, he'll build
me a house. But he says, instead of you building
me a house, I'm going to build you a house. I'm going to establish
your house. When he talks of the house, he's
talking about his household, his name, forever. As Christ
has a son over his house, we're his house, we're his servants,
we're his people. And so David, that's what he
did. When the Lord told him, he says,
now David, I'm not going to do that. But I'm going to establish
your name in your throne forever and ever through your son. And
so David then, it says here, Then went King David and sat
before the Lord. Oh my. I said this morning we
were before the Lord. Here we are. We're sat before
the Lord right now. When you're sitting in your chair
at home and you pick up your Bible to read a little bit, you're
sat before the Lord. Sat before the Lord. Sat before
the Lord. And look what he said. And he
said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that that brought
me here to do?" You see, it was before the Lord that he sat.
He wasn't concerned about anyone or anything else. He was sat
before the Lord. He sat before the Lord in adoration,
sat before the Lord in worship, sat before the Lord in reverence,
sat before Him in love, sat before Him in praise, sat before Him
in thankfulness. sitting before the Lord. He sat
before the Lord because he loved the Lord Jesus. He revealed himself
to him. And he sat before him because
Christ loved him and God loved him. And he revered him. And he feared him. And David,
not only as he sat before him, he gloried in him, and he rejoiced
in him, and he worshiped him. He sat before the Lord and he
worshiped him. And I tell you, this is an astounding
thing. The Lord lets sinners like us
set before Him. He lets sinners like us set before
Him. Look, you keep saying, look with
me over in Luke chapter 10, just a moment, let me show you what
I'm talking about. You remember when that woman
went in to Simon's house and our Lord was in there eating
supper one evening, eating a meal there one evening, and a woman
came in and got down at His feet, and began to wash his feet with
her tears, sat before him. And oh, what a place to sit.
And look what is said here in Luke 10, in verse 30, 34, excuse
me, 38. I'll get it right in a minute.
Can't read my own writing here. Now it came to pass, Luke 10,
38, now it came to pass as they went that he entered into a certain
village. And a certain woman named Martha
received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary,
now listen to it, which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard
his word. You know, and just to sit and
hear Christ talk. You know, people, I've heard
people say, you know, that folks used to sit around and like to
hear the old timers talk after they'd eaten dinner on Sunday
dinner. All the kids like to sit around and hear the old timers
talk, tell about things. Well, here I am, Mark Mary, sitting
at our Lord Jesus Christ's feet to hear Him talk. And oh, look
what else happens now. But Martha was much comfort,
much comfort about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord,
don't you care not that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Bid her there that she help me. And our Lord said unto her, Martha,
Martha, Martha, Martha, you are so full of care, and you are
troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, and Mary
hath chosen that good part, and it shall not be taken away from
her. Where was that good part? Sent
at the Master's feet. Oh, I wouldn't want Him to take
that part away from me. Would you? Sent here this evening,
sent before Him at home, sent before Him in the car, sent before
Him wherever you're at, sent before Him. You wouldn't want
Him to take that good part away from you, would you? Oh, no, no, no. Don't take it away from us. And
the Lord lets sinners like us sent before Him. So let us draw
near, draw near, oh, with true hearts and full hearts, the hearts
full of assurance. And I do know this, if we ever
see something of the holiness and glory and beauty of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we'll come and sit before Him and say, just
like David did. And what did David do when he
sat down before Him? First thing, he said, Who am
I? Who am I? And what is my house that You've
brought me hither to? Because what you're talking about,
how could He love me? How could He do that? Who am
I, Lord, that You would set me apart. Who am I, Lord, that You
would let me set before You? Who am I in my family, my house,
my name, my posterity? Who am I that You have brought
me to this place? Brought me to set before You.
Brought me to be a king. Brought me to be somebody to
love You. Brought me to be somebody that knows You. Why then, who
am I to bring me to such a place as this? And I tell you, beloved,
if anyone's ever brought right here, brought to sit before the
Lord, brought to sit before Him as David was, and he says, Who
am I? And what is my house that you've
brought me here? And look about some of you, some
of your house, your whole house is saved. Your sons and your
daughters, your children trying to sit around you when you hear
the gospel. That's your house. Oh, bless His name. And I tell
you what, if anyone's brought to this place, there'll be no
more arguing and debating with God over whether salvation's
of the will of God or the free will of man. There'll be no more
discussion about whether there's a cooperative effort, whether
you have to cooperate with God or not. There'll be no more arguing
over if it's fair for God to have an elect people, if it's
fair to God to choose some and pass by another. When you're
brought to this place, do you say, Who am I? David knew something about this
because Mephibosheth, when he came before him, said, Who am
I but a dead dog that the king would receive once as me? If
a man says that to a king, how much more would a man be like
that before the Lord? And I tell you, beloved, in seeing
God, we're overwhelmed. Overwhelmed sometimes that He
would look in our direction. And that not only would He look
in our direction, but look to us in grace and show His grace
and manifest His grace. What is my house? I tell you
what my house is. I'm from the house of Adam. I'm from the house full of rebels.
You know what my coat of arms is?
People have coat of arms, you know, and they put them up on
their walls. You know what my coat of arms is? Rebel! double-knife sinner. But oh, he says, this is worthy
of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. And on his child, because of
the seed promise, that's why David said, who am I? Who am
I? Oh, who am I? Oh, were the whole realm of nature
mine, that were present far too small? Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all. Oh, and then look what he says,
goes down in grown bound in verse 19. You brought me to this place
where I'm sitting before you, resting before you. make these
promises to me. And yet, listen to this, and
yet this was a small thing in thy sight, O Lord, that I have
but spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come. And
is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And when David said this
was a small thing, he don't mean that God does things as small
things, he says, but as far as what the ability for God to do
And the magnitude, and the magnitude of His grace, and the magnitude
of His mercy, and the magnitude of His sovereignty, and the magnitude
of His love and mercy for what You've done for me, that's just
such a small thing compared to what all the other people in
this world are. It's a small thing. Your mercy,
Your goodness and grace, they're so infinitely vast. And what you've done for me compared
to what you could do? It's just a small thing. It's small. It seems like a small
rush, but oh my. Oh, you see, God gave us that
small thing, but to us it's a great thing. And oh, it's a small thing. You know how much grace it takes? You know how much grace God's
got? Do you have any idea how much, just take this congregation
here, just this congregation, not all the rest of God's people,
not all the rest of God's people. Do you know how vast His grace
is? That He gives grace to every single one of us, every single
day, and keeps us sustained, saves us by His grace, sustains
us by His grace, blesses us with His grace, manifests His grace,
teaches us of His grace, preserves us by His grace, gives us grace
sufficient for everything, and causes grace to abound towards
us. And where sin abounded, what does happen? Grace! Much more
abounds. And He does that for just under
one of us here, and we're just a small little thing compared
to the vastness of everything that goes on. Huh? And sometimes
that's all we can say, Lord, oh God have, oh God be gracious. And that's why we sing that song,
if we would eat, could we would think the ocean feel that we're
And the skies of Parchment's maid, wherever stalk on earth
a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God upon would drain the ocean dry, though the scroll be stretched
from sky to sky." Oh, how can we describe it, huh? And oh,
beloved, he says, what have you done? He says, what you have
done for me in our doing, but it's a small thing compared to
what you could possibly do as to what you promised me. And
I know, beloved, to know the Lord Jesus Christ is such a joy,
oh, so full of experiences. And you know what? And we have
so much more to come. We've just got a small portion
of it now. Imagine what it will be when we get to hold much of
it in eternity. Compared to eternity, Gary, this
is a small thing. Compared to what we've got promised
for eternity in Christ, this is a small thing. That's why
it says, though your lot of afflictions be but for a while, a moment,
what does it do? It works for you, exceeding far
and more eternal reign of glory. Oh, my. John couldn't describe
it when he saw the promises that he'd entered into and all that.
David said, it's a small thing. But compared to what we got to
look forward to, it's small. John says, oh, I saw it. Describe
it to me, John. I can't. I can't tell you. I know our seniors were throwing
a rainbow over it. And I saw a man. He had white
hair. glistening white hair and had
on a golden girdle. And he told me he was that which
was, which is, his wish to become the Almighty. And then I saw
him there in his glory, and his feet like burnished brass, and
he had that rod in his hand. I fell before him as a dead man. I can't tell you what he's like,
but I do know this, that I fell down before him. What are you doing to have a
small compared to what we're going to get? Oh, my. And you know, I tell you, that's
the foundation that God's promised us. That's the foundation of
our faith. And oh, beloved, look what else
he says here. Oh, you've spoken a long while
of a service house for a great while to come. He's spoken to
us of a great while to come. You know, His promise, isn't
this what's wonderful about it? You know, we can fulfill a promise
and be over and done with. But when God makes a promise,
He makes a promise for eternity. And that promise will always
be fulfilled on and on and on and on and on and on and on.
Huh? Oh, for a great while to come.
And then David asked this question there in verse 19. And is this
the manner of man, O Lord God? Is this the way men do? Men? No, men don't make promises like
this. Men don't speak of our houses
for great while to come. Is this to take beggars off of
a dunghill and to make them princes? To make promises to men for ages
to come? To save sinners freely? To bless
so abundantly? To make promises so gloriously?
Is this the way men do? And David got speechless, and
look what he said, And what can David say more unto thee? What else can I say? What more can I say? Huh? What more can I say? And oh,
beloved, we become speechless when we see the Lord. Oh, Lord,
I put my hand on my mouth. I spoke about you. Oh, I put my hand over my mouth.
When overwhelmed with His grace and His goodness, whom having
not seen, we love and we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of our salvation, our faith, even
the salvation of our souls. What more can we say? look what
he said. This is what I know. This is
what I know. Verse 19, For thou, Lord God,
knowest thy servant. I could stop right there. Thou,
Lord God, knowest, knowest thy servant. There's not a soul in this building
that God don't know. Don't know who they are. Don't
know where they are. Don't know what they're thinking.
Don't know what they're feeling. Don't know what they're saying.
Don't know ever groan, ever sigh, ever tear, ever murmur, ever
complain. He knows. Oh, Lord, You know. You know me. Oh, look what He said over here
in verse 8 of chapter 7. Therefore, thou shalt say unto
my servant David, Lord, you know your servant. Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheep's coat, from following
my sheep, to be ruler over my people." It's from, took you
from the sheep's coat. And oh, beloved Lord, oh Lord,
you know your servant. And I tell you, this is one of
the most, and I've told you this, I preached the message years
and years and years and years ago. How can I know I'm one of
God's sheep? How can I know I'm one of His
sheep? How can I know that Christ died for me? How can I know that
I'm one of God's sheep? How can I know that I've been
justified? And one of my points was this,
that I find great comfort and assurance in knowing that the
Lord knows me as I am. I find that's one of the things
Simon Peter says, Lord, you know, you know, and all beloved Lord,
you know me. And how, when did he know us?
He said, whom he foreknew before the foundation of the world. Him he also called. He called
them, hey, Lazarus, Zacchaeus, Mary, John, It's me. Come here. Did I hear
somebody calling my name? Come here. Come down out of that
tree. I'm coming. Come out of that
tomb. I'm coming. Get out of that ship. I'm coming. Oh, Mary just fell
down on His feet. Lord, You know me. Lord, You're
according to us for the foundation of the world. Our hope of glory
is founded upon His knowledge of us. It's not how much we know
about Him. It's what He knows about us. Oh, listen, I'll show you what
I'm talking about, about that. Look at 1 Corinthians 13. I'll show you what I mean. It's not what we know about Him.
It's what He knows about us. Now, I want to know about Him.
More about Jesus would I know. More of His grace does it show.
More of His saving fullness see. more of his love who died for
me? But, O beloved, our hope of glory is found upon his knowledge
of us. The foundation of God standeth
sure, the Lord knows them better his. After you have known God,
or rather are known of God, you turn from them weak and beggarly
elements." Look what he said here in 1 Corinthians 13, 12.
For now we see through a glass, I mean, everything's got a little
darkness to it. Everything's got... Life seems like a riddle at times,
but we see through a glass darkly. But then you know what'll happen?
We'll see face to face. We'll see Christ face to face.
Right now, I only know in part. I only know in part. I told Bruce
Crabtree the other day, I said, I think I just feel like I'm
just scratching the surface on the Scriptures. Just scratching
the surface. Always just scratching around on the surface. And look
what he says, he said, Now I know in part. Oh, I only know in part. But then shall I know. I won't
know in part anymore. Then shall I know. I'll know
Christ. I'll know these mysteries. I'll
know the truth. I'll know the great and wondrous
gracious. I'll know then, just like I'm
known right now by Him. I'll know him like he knows me. Oh, how dark is this thing. Oh, my. And that's why, you know,
the four words, it's just absolutely, you'd hate to hear five words.
Depart from me. I never knew you. Oh, I wouldn't
want to hear them words. But oh, my. And back over in
our text, the second segment. Lord, you know your servant.
Look what he goes on to say. I'll tell you one thing, beloved,
what we say means nothing. It's what God says and what God
looks right into our hearts. Let's never promise more than
we can perform. He said in verse 21, Oh, Lord,
he says, so you know your servant, and for your word's sake, why
do you treat me this way? Why do you give me? Why do you
love me so and make such promises for me? For your word's sake,
for your word's sake. You made these promises, and
according to your own heart, according to your own heart,
for your word's sake, our Lord Jesus Christ, He lifted up His
eyes to heaven. He said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from
the rising proof, has revealed them unto me. Why? Because it
seemed good in your sight. It said, according to your word.
And then look what He said, according to your heart. According to your
heart, does God have a heart? Right here it says He has one. God's heart. What's in God's
heart? What's in God's heart? A little old rye in the night,
you know, on the way to church. I love you. Oh, I love you. I
love you. I love you. Oh, I love you with
all my heart. But according to your heart,
God, according to your heart, What's in God's heart? You mean
God's got a heart? Says He does. What's in God's
heart? Well, He had a heart toward David,
to love him, make promises to him, to save him, to make him
a king. What's in God's heart? What is
it that He loves? What is it that He cherishes?
What is it that He holds up? What's important to Him? What
does He have His heart in? Well, first of all, His Word.
He loves His Word. His heart's in His Word. Grace
is important to Him. His heart's in His grace. Sovereignty. He's almighty, omnipotent. His
glory is to Him. It's in His heart to give sovereignty
and manifest His sovereignty. And His glory. His glory. He's jealous of His glory. He
won't share it with anybody else. And I'll tell you what, beloved,
his heart's in his people, his heart's for his people. He said,
you that touches you, he said, he touches the apple of my eye.
That's why he said it'd be better for a man to have a millstone
hanging around his head and throw it in the ocean than he offend
one of these little ones, just little ones. And I'll tell you
something else that's in his heart. His son, his blessed,
beloved son, Oh, how His heart's in His side. And oh, listen,
when David goes on to say, how did you do? Why do you do this?
Why do you do this? And you know your servant, what
more can I say? You did this for your word's sake according
to your own heart that has done these great things. That has done all these great
things for one reason. Watch this. Look what he says,
to make your servant to know. I said, I wanted you to know
Me. I wanted you to know My Word.
I wanted you to know My heart. I wanted you to know My grace.
I want you to know. So this is what I've done. And
then look what He says in verse 22. Verse 4, Thou art great,
O Lord God. For Thou art none like Him, neither
is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we've heard
with our ears. Oh my, who's like the Lord? We hear lots of gods. Oh my,
we hear different gods every day, see different gods every
day. Here, oh my, you can't turn on the, if you listen to any
preacher, they're preaching another god. We hear lots about lots
of gods. But David said, who is as great?
Who is as great as you? who is just, who is absolutely
sovereign, who's omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, who
loves as you do, who gives so freely as you do. O Lord, thou
art great. And we sing that song, how great
thou art. When I consider the heavens,
how great thou art, how great thou art. And look what he said
in verse 23, And what one nation is in the earth is like thy people,
even like Israel, whom God went to redeem, to make himself a
name, to do for him great and terrible things? For thy land
before thy people, which thou redeemest to thee from Egypt,
are from the nations their gods. And what nation in the earth
is like thy people, whom God went to redeem? Let me tell you
something. When you view God right, when
you view God right, and have a high view of God, view Him
right, you'll have a high view of those whom He redeems. You'll have a high view of His
people. And that's what David said. What nation on the earth
is like your people? If you have the right view of
God, you'll have the right view of His people. And there's nobody like the Lord's
people on the face of the earth. He said there's a lot of the
world that's all over the earth. And then look what he says, oh
there's people. Who is like thy people? Who in the earth is like
your people? I get astonished at how good
and kind and generous and considerate the Lord's people are. How very
rarely does a day go by that Mary don't get a card or we get
a card from somebody with a wonderful verse and some encouraging words calls from people, and oh my
God's people, who is like the Lord's people today in the milieu,
but who in the world is like the Lord's people? Think about,
we sit back there tonight and start talking about preachers,
and who's going to ask for our conference? I'll start naming
them off, and I'll say, well, it's a shame we couldn't have
here at least once every month that we all preach, because there's
nobody like them. Oh my, this is what he went on
to say. Oh my, these are the people that you went to redeem
from people for yourself. You went to redeem them for yourself.
And why did you do that? To make yourself a name. He said,
you don't have to make yourself a name. Oh my, we've been redeemed,
gloriously, affectionately redeemed. The lamb's been slain, the blood's
been shed. And God makes His name. He saved
these people, redeemed them to make a name for Himself. And
He's made a name for Himself, ain't He? And He made a name
for Himself? He's got a name that's above
every name as far as we're concerned. He's really made a name for Himself.
He made a name for Himself when He saved you, James. I know that
only He can do that. He made a name for Himself when
He saved you. And I tell you what, you give
Him a name, you magnify that name, you bless that name, you
praise that name. Oh, my. And then look what He
did. He says, and you saved us down
there in the last part of the verse, which thou redeemest to
thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods. He saved us from
all the gods that's out here in Egypt. Saved us from all these
different gods. And we have them! But he saved
them from us. And then look what he says down
here in verse 24. And then he goes on to say, David
here before the Lord, sitting before the Lord, talking with
the Lord. He said, Brother, I has confirmed to thyself thy people
Israel, to thee, to be a people forever. And not only did He
redeem them, give a name to Himself, save them from these other gods
and their gods in Egypt, that You confirmed them. And that
word confirmed means You confirmed them to Yourself. You caused
them to stand to Yourself. You set them up and appointed
them for Yourself. And that word confirmed means
that He has established you, caused you to stand and set you
up and appointed you to be His people. How long? He says, forever. Forever. And oh, he said, and listen here,
not only has he done that, but thou, Lord God, you've become
our God. Not only did you make us your
people, but you made yourself our God. And oh, look what a
place of faith here right now in verse 25. And now, oh Lord
God, The word that you have spoken concerning thy servant and concerning
his house, establish it forever, and do just what you said. Just
do what you said. You said some words concerning
your servant. You spoke concerning me. You
spoke concerning his house. Well, just go ahead and establish
forever. You said that's what you're going to do, and I believe
you'll do it. He promised. Shall he fail? And our faith, I'm telling you
something, beloved, faith is based on what God said. On what
God said. On what He promised. And in praying,
how often all we do is just tell God what we already said. When
we pray, Lord, You said. Lord, You promised. And look down at verse 26. And David said, do just what
you said. Oh, what a place for faith. Just do what you said,
Lord. Just, you made the words, you
know, you made the promise. And oh, that's where my faith
is going to rest, right here, what you said. And then look
what he says. And let thy name be magnified
forever. Let thy name be magnified. Do you all ever have to read
through a magnifying glass? You know, magnifying takes things
and makes them bigger. God says, David says to God,
let Your name be made bigger. Let Your name be made bigger
than any other name. Not my name, Your name. Not anything else but You, Lord.
Let Your name be magnified. Let it be Make souls great and
glorious, and let it be that way forever. And all, can you find happiness
and find peace and rest in God being glorified, His name being
magnified? Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name be glory forever and ever. And then David
goes on to say, The Lord of hosts is over the God of Israel. And
listen to this. Let the house of thy servant
be established before you. Let us be established by you. Let us be your people. Let us
be your God, and you be our God. Let us be established before
you. Lord, establish us before you. David said he was the one
that wrote the 127th Psalm, and he said, Except the Lord build
a house, the laborers build in vain. Except the Lord wash the
house, the washman waketh but in vain. Lord, let our house
be established. Let us be established before
you. Let us be your people. Look what he said in verse 27.
For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy
servant, opened the ears, what it says in the margin, hast revealed
to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house. Therefore
hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto
thee. He said, Lord, I know your word.
I know you. I know your promises because
you revealed them to me. He revealed them to me. You know
why we know anything? He revealed them to us. You just
revealed it to me, Lord. You gave me this desire. And
you said this, you said, Therefore hath thy servant said, You reveal
this to me, made me see these things, and bless you for these
things, and establish me, and make these promises to me. And
I know your promises, and that you gave me this desire to sit
before you, you put it in my heart to pray to you, because
you revealed it to me. You revealed this. That's why
I found it in my heart to pray this prayer, because of what
you revealed to me, because of what you made me know. And then
verse 28, And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words
be true. God, thy words be true. Let God
be true in every man of iron. And now, O Lord God, thou art
God, and thy words be true. And thou hast promised this goodness. unto thy servant, promised it,
promised it, promised it. And now look what he ends up
saying now. Oh, your promise is good to your servant. Your
word is true and your promise is good. And let's listen to
this now. Therefore now, now, I'm coming
to the end of my prayer. I've been sitting here before
you, pouring out my heart to you, talking to you. Now, in
verse twenty-nine, he says, Therefore now let it please Thee, let it
please Thee, let it please Thee to bless the
house of Thy servant. Oh, my, what rest of heart! What pleases You, O God? You
say, what pleases You? If it pleases You, What rest? It pleases you to bless the house
of your servant. If it pleases you to bless the
house of your servant, if God be for you, who can be against
you? If it pleases you, O God, to bless me and establish my
house forever. And listen to what he says, O God, thou hast spoken with
thy blessing, let the house of thy servant be blessed forever
and ever and ever. Oh, my. We're a bunch of Davids sitting
before the Lord. Lord, let it please Thee. Let
it please Thee. Oh, come. Oh, come, let us sit
before the Lord. Rest before the Lord. Sit down
before the Lord. Find rest in sitting before the
Lord. And you can always say, Lord, You promised. You give
us goodness. You give us grace. And compared
to what we've got, it's just a small thing. Compared to what
we're going to get, it's a small thing. And we started out, you
know, our beginnings were so small. And look how they've grown
and grown and grown and grown and grown and grown. Oh, bless His name. Bless His
holy name. Oh, Lord Jesus, our Master, our
Savior, our Redeemer. No matter how warm our hearts
get, no matter how free our minds become, we can never ever bring
you the glory and the honor and the majesty and describe you
and express the way you are. Lord, we just know in part. We
just know in part. But Lord, the part we know, we
find great comfort and assurance in. The part we know, we're thankful
for. That you've come and revealed
it to us. Made us these promises to establish forever. Redeemed
us and saved us from these gods. Made us your people. Oh, Lord,
who is like unto you? Great in glory. Your word is
true. Your promises are sure. And you
cannot fail. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.