Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies… 2 Samuel 7:1
As David looked at what the Lord had done for him, God’s grace overwhelmed him. This man, who began life as a shepherd, was now the king. David was enjoying a time of rest from his enemies. There were more battles that David would yet have to fight, but at this point in the story, there was some respite.
David had it in his heart to build a temple for God. But God said ‘no’ and gave that privilege to David’s son Solomon instead.
Why did God say ‘no’? We don’t find it easy to live with the mystery of God’s providence. So we go looking for a reason. Perhaps David did something wrong. Was pride the problem? Was David presumptuous? But nothing of that sort is stated in the Bible. This is important, because when God closes the door on something good that you wanted to do for him, your first instinct may also be to say, “I must have done something wrong.”
What do you do when God closes the door on something good that you wanted to do for him? You had a great idea. Good people encouraged you to pursue it. You felt sure that this would be for the glory of God. But it didn’t work out. And you wonder, “Why did God close the door on good things that were in my heart?”
Is there something good you wanted to do for God, but God closed the door?