Today's Scripture Reading (June 2, 2022): 1 Chronicles 17
Confession time: I suffer
from "house guilt." Some years ago, a couple of
friends tried to convince me to move with them into a newer
subdivision, and one of the many reasons I didn't move is that
I really like my house. Don't get me wrong; I like my home. My
house is nice, really more than I deserve. I have other contacts who think they
live in "less nice" homes who believe that I should sell my house and
downsize, giving the money to other ministries. But God hasn't convinced me of that,
at least not yet. Part of my self-justification is that while my home might be
worth more than theirs (I don't know if that is true), I bought it a
long time ago and paid less than half of the current market value. Some of
those who think that I should sell believe that I should live in a rented apartment
or small house, but the rent payments that they pay are significantly higher
than my mortgage payment. If I did sell and move into a rented residence, I
would not be able to do some of the things that I do or
support some charitable causes toward which I give some money. So, at least for
now, I am content to sit back and suffer from house guilt.
Apparently, I am not the
only one. David also suffered from house guilt. He lived in
a house built for a king, while his God lived in a
tent erected by a King. And David wanted to change that. However, he
did not make plans to go out and live in a tent. Instead, he desired to move God
into a house as grand as the house in which David lived. And it is David's
house guilt that planted the first seeds of the Temple in the King's mind.
Of course, David would not
build the Temple; his son Solomon would have that task. But the dream of a
house worthy of God never died inside of David. The discussion of the Temple
likely occupied much of David's time with his sons. In the process, David
instilled the dream of a Temple into the next generation. Every element of the
Temple was likely discussed. Plans were drawn and then redrawn. And in the
process, hope was passed on from David to the one who would ultimately be
responsible for building a house for God, Solomon.
It was in this way that David
dealt with his house guilt. He made sure that a house would be built for God,
whether God wanted one or not. And just as a note, I am pretty sure that God
did not mind living in his Tent, ritually occupying the Holy of Holies inside
the Tabernacle, which was God's designated home. But in this case, what God may
have wanted didn't weigh as heavily on David as the house guilt from which
David suffered. And it was only the dream of the Temple that could take
the guilt away.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
1 Chronicles 18
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