Established forever...

There I was, sitting in my comfy chair in the early morning hours, feeling sorry for myself. There's no real reason for this. I had weird dreams, woke under a cloud, and had to battle my way to the day. And in my bible reading, I was in 2nd Samuel. As I picked up my bible, I honestly thought, "Yeah, right. I'm sure there will be lots of encouragement here..." And then I found David's prayer. David has finally come to the throne (some 15 years after being told it was his), ignores God's commands and collects several wives, and refuses to let the Arc of the Covenant come to Jerusalem because he is frightened by the death of Uriah. Well Nathan the prophet points out that blessing follows the arc, so David brings it in, with much dancing and praise, embarrassing his first wife, Michal, who despises him for it. He stands with God anyway. And God promises to establish his house forever, and gives one of the great Messianic promises of the Old Testament. Then David prays this prayers:

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord GOD! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O LORD, became their God. And now, O LORD God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. And your name will be magnified forever, saying, 'The LORD of hosts is God over Israel,' and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' Therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever."
~2 Samuel 7: 18-29

So that is how a man after God's own heart prays. He knows that he is undeserving of such great and precious promises, but he grabs hold of them. And the promises God makes to me are the same as the ones He makes to David because of Christ. I find that humbling and amazing, and it makes me slightly less inclined to whine about little annoyances. After all, I am established by God forever in His Son.

And may this be the last time I pick up God's word with so little reverence and such lack of expectation.