“Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for My name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart: notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house”— {vi 11291-11292}2 Chronicles 6:8, 9.
DAVID’S desire to build a house for the Lord was recognized by God as good, and Nathan the prophet agreed at once that it would be an excellent thing to do. But both he and David had to learn that God’s thoughts are ofttimes different from those of the best and most well-intentioned men. David was not to build the house. That was to be the work of his son Solomon. This, however, did not cool his zeal or cause him to be less interested in the project. He manifested a truly subject spirit, and in his prayer, as he sat before the Lord ({vi 8199-8210}2 Sam. 7:18-29), he gave vent to his deep appreciation of the grace God had shown toward him,
“When the Master of all the workmen
sent me into the field.
I went forth elate and happy, the tools of
His service to wield,
Expectant of high position, as suited my
lofty taste,
When lo! He set me to weeding and
watering down in the waste.
Such pottering down in the hedges! A
task so thankless and small!
Yet I stilled my vain ambition, and worked
for the Lord of all.
Till, meeker grown, as nightly I sank to
my hard-won rest,
I cared but to hear in my dreaming, ‘This
one has done his best.’
The years have leveled distinctions. There
is no more great or small;
It is only faithful service that counts with
the Lord of all.
And I know that tilled with patience, the
veriest waste of clod
Shall bring forth the perfect harvest,
planned in the heart of God.”