Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of our Sunday School preview. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Building God’s House” and is found in 1 Chronicles 17 and 21. Today’ lesson is a continuation of the previous two Sunday’s lessons describing David’s placement of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem.
David wasn’t satisfied with the Ark being housed in a tent and wanted to place it in a structure or house that was worthy of God. Therefore, he inquired through the prophet Nathan what was God’s feeling toward building a house for the Ark.
God informed David that he would not build Him a house, but that God would build him a house from which an everlasting kingdom would be established. Jesus Christ is called the Son of David because He is a descendant of this house God promised to build for David. Additionally, God told David that his son would build the house he wanted to build.
The second part of this lesson concerns how the site for the house was decided. David foolishly commanded that a census be taken of Israel which was against the will of God. As a result of this sin, God brought a plague against Israel killing 70 thousand men and was poised to destroy more before He told His angel to pause.
David saw the angel who instructed him to place an altar where he was standing. The place belonged to another person who David paid for the site and there he presented a sacrifice unto God who accepted the offering and the plague was lifted.
David’s carelessness with his relationship with God costed him the lives of many people who had nothing to do with his sin. David was even warned against doing such a thing and that it would hurt not just him but the nation, but his heart was determined to count the people anyway.
This should be a warning to us today. No matter how good God has been to us or how faithful we have been in our service to and worship of Him, just one moment of careless or reckless behavior can have devastating consequences for ourselves and those we care about.
For a moment, David didn’t think about how his actions might affect those he loved or maybe he thought God loved him so much and since he was the king, he didn’t need God’s approval to do what he had in mind. Or maybe he thought he had earned the privilege to do something he wanted to do even if God didn’t approve of it.
No matter what our station in life becomes, we must never think or believe we don’t need God’s approval before taking a specific action or act impulsively before securing His approval. Rarely are we not warned in some matter that the action we are about to take is crossing God’s line.
Sin is hardly ever confined to the person initiating the sin. It almost always involves and affects others. If we ignore the warnings and place our desires before the welfare of others, our actions could lead to unintended and unwanted consequences that could involve both ourselves and many others just as it did with David, a man after God’s own heart.
Well, I hope you will attend SS this coming Sunday and share your thoughts with your class. If you have any comments or questions, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview. So, until next time remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
