“THE PROPHET WHO WAS WRONG”

II SAMUEL 7:1-14a

7:1 Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,

2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”

3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”

4 But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan,

5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord: Would you build me a house to dwell in?

6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.

7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

8 Now, therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel.

9 And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.

10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly,

11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.

12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.

It’s a question that gets asked sometimes when you close your eyes for a moment of prayer. The question is this: What do you want me to do God?

That’s a question that a pastor wished his wife had asked before she bought a $400 dress. When he saw the bill he got angry.  “How could you spend all that money on something so frivolous?” he asked.  The wife apologized.  “I’m sorry,” she said.  “When I tried the dress on temptation got the best of me.  It was like Satan was standing right there and telling me, ‘You look great in that dress.  You should buy it.’”  The pastor wasn’t satisfied.  “Look,” he said.  “You know how to deal with temptation.  You should have just said, ‘Get behind me Satan.’”  “I did,” the wife sobbed.  “but then he said, ‘It looks great from back here too.’”

What do you want me to do God?

Should I go to college and become a doctor or should I pursue my dream of becoming an artist?

Should I try to save that friendship or has the time come for us to go our separate ways?

Should I have that surgery or should I wait and see if the medicine solves the problem?

What do you want me to do God?

That’s a question that a woman over in England should be asking right now. Jenny Brown’s story was in the news this past week.  Did you read about it? If you did you know that she’s doing everything she can to have a baby.   So far she’s spent nearly $50,000 for fertility treatments in the United States and Italy.  There’s a problem though. Jenny Brown is 72 years old! When she was interviewed last week she said that she decided not to have a baby when she was younger.  That’s because she was too busy going to school and pursuing a career.

I wonder what God would say to Jenny Brown and her desire to have a baby now that she’s 72 years old.  God might just say to her, “Don’t be so selfish! Do you really think you’re going to have the energy to take care of that child?  Do you really want that child to live with the embarrassment of having a mother who is old enough to be her great grandmother? If you’re still alive you’ll be 90 when she graduates from high school and what are you going to do when she gets married?  Walk her down the aisle with your walker?”

What do you want me to do God?

If you really want to know what God wants you to do then I have a word of advice for you.  Don’t make the mistake that David and Nathan made.  David, of course, was the greatest king ever in the history of Israel.  Nathan was a prophet and it was his job to let the king and the people know what God wanted them to do.

When David told Nathan his plan to build God a Temple Nathan gave the news two thumbs up.  Nathan said to David, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the Lord is with you.”  There was only one problem though.  God didn’t want David to build that Temple.  God made that clear to Nathan later that night.  So, the next day Nathan had to go back to David and  tell him that he’d made a mistake.  Nathan had to tell David that God didn’t want him to build that Temple.

Imagine how embarrassing that must have been for Nathan.

Now there’s a very good reason why God didn’t want David to build that Temple.  God knew that David had ulterior motives when it came to that Temple.  David didn’t want to build the Temple simply to praise God.  David wanted to build the Temple to solidify his power and make a name for himself. It was all about his legitimacy and legacy. David knew that if he built that Temple it was going to put God’s steal of approval on his kingly power.  David also knew that if he built that Temple people were going to remember him long after he was gone.  That Temple was as much for David as it was for God.

So, that’s why God made Nathan go back to David the next day and basically say, “Thanks David, but no thanks!”

David and Nathan ended up looking a little foolish because they made a big mistake.  They should have gone to God first.  Before they did or said anything they should have bowed their heads and asked, “What do you want me to do God?” Instead they decided what they were going to do and then they brought their idea to God. In doing that they made God into a meaningless rubber stamp!

 “Hey God, we’ve got this great idea.  Glad you agree.”

When you have a decision that needs to be made don’t think about it and then go to God a couple of weeks later.  Don’t think about it and then go to God a couple of days later.  The best thing you can do is start by asking God what you should do.  The best thing you can do is start by bowing your head and asking, “What do you want me to do God?”   The best thing you can do is put it in God’s hands and tell yourself that God really does know what’s best.

God does know what’s best because even though God has given us minds that can do amazing things, our minds do have their limitations.  Sometimes our minds can get caught up in a quagmire of emotions and assumptions that can make a situation worse.  Just look at the attitude that a lot of people have toward Vinko Bogataj.  You may not recognize his name but if you grew up with the television show “Wide World of Sports” you will remember what Vinko Bogataj did. Is it coming back to you now?  The thrill of victory…and the agony of defeat?  Vinko Bogataj was the ski jumper you saw in that spectacular crash at the beginning of the show every week. Most people assume that he must have been a lousy ski jumper.  Just the opposite was true though.  You see Vinko Bogataj didn’t fall because he lost control.  He did it on purpose.  When a reporter asked him later what happened he said that when he came down the ramp he knew that he was going too fast.  He knew that he was going so fast that he was going to soar past the foot of the hill and land  on the ground that was flat.  If that had happened he would have broken his legs and suffered serious internal injuries.  He might have even died. So, he did the only thing he could do.  He allowed himself to fall.

Isn’t it amazing how our wonderful minds can look at something and get it all wrong?  God knows what’s best.  So, when you have a decision that needs to be made the best thing you can do is start by bringing that decision to God.  The best thing you can do is start by bowing your head and asking, “God, what do you want me to do?”  The more you do that the stronger your relationship with God will become and the more you’ll know what God wants you to do.

You might even end up with the same faith that led a man to make a pilgrimage many years ago to a shrine in the Pyrenees mountains.  Because the man lost a leg during World War II he had to use a pair of crutches to walk.  When one of the villagers saw the man hobbling down the street with his crutches he turned to a friend and pointed at the man.  “Look at that silly man!” he said.  “Does he think that God is going to give him back his leg?”  As soon as he heard the comment the man turned around and replied, “Of course I don’t think God is going to give me back my leg. I’m going to the shrine so I can pray and ask God to help me live without it!”

God knows what’s best.  You’ll know what’s best too if you start by bowing your head and asking that simple question. What do you want me to do God? Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes                                                                              

July 19, 2009