I really only notice one difference between the two chapters, and it isn’t significant.
In 2 Samuel 19 David says “do you deal with everyone this way, Lord?” and in 1 Chronicles 17:17 he says “you speak as though I was someone very great, O Lord God”. David probably said them both, along with many other things that aren’t recorded. Either way, they both echo the same sentiment.
There are times that we desire to do wonderful things for God that He hasn’t asked us to do. He may not ever prefer that we do them. Where did David ever get the idea that God needed a house anyway? It was never David’s experience that God lived in a house. There was no reference to it anywhere in all of Israel’s history. It seems rather presumptuous, doesn’t it? I would imagine that David is drawing on his observations of all the other deities around him. The people who worship false gods have built homes for them, I should build a home for the true God!
I wonder if there are other things that we strive to do at great cost and sacrifice that God hasn’t requested at all? How interested do you suppose God is in our building projects? Perhaps He is more interested in what we are doing inside our building…
Having said that, I also notice that God is pleased with David’s desire to build a home, but stops him short (we later learn that’s because David is a warrior, and God’s house will be built by a man of peace and extraordinary wisdom. God blesses David for having the desire, even though He doesn’t need a home in which to live, He loves the expression of love by David.
In this I take comfort this morning. We might not always get it right, but whatever we do God will bless as long as we are doing it from a heart filled with love for Him, and working in obedience with the commands already given us. Remember Uzzah, who touched the Ark and died? Even if Uzzah loved the Lord, he still died because he touched the ark inappropriately. We should remember to serve wisely, as well as wholeheartedly.
Last thought: When Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman about where they should worship, Jesus nods toward Jerusalem and Samaria (where the woman worshipped) and said in John 4 “23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Jesus himself looks away from the buildings and into the people. Buildings are not what Jesus is about, He’s about the people who worship in the buildings….or in the fields, or in the caves. Our devotion to God and our expression of love may take the form of a building project, and God may bless it mightily…but that will never be the focus of the Gospel. Davids heart was inflamed with love for God, which is really what this passage is celebrating.
Faithfully,
PR