1 Chronicles 28:2 English Standard Version (ESV) Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building.”

We so like to tell God what we want to do for Him to honor Him. So often it is what we are willing to do or what we think would please God based our own desires. Do we ask God what He wants?

There are different ways of arguing David’s desire and some of them are more obvious than others. Before we explore any of those “human thoughts” let us see what God had to say on the subject.

1 Chronicles 28:3 English Standard Version (ESV) But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’

God neither denied nor confirmed that He wanted a house but rather spoke to the quality of the type of man who should build that house. So will God allow that house to be built?

1 Chronicles 28:6-7 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁶ He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. ⁷ I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’

In the middle of this pronouncement is that every present conditional promise. “If he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules.” We can read for ourselves how that turned out.

Consider all that the Ark of the Covenant had performed for Israel in their wilderness journey. Was building a “resting place” an indication that David believed God was done with Israel? While David sought to honor God, perhaps God did not feel honored. Perhaps.

Exodus 6:2-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. ³ I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.

What is the distinction here? God does everything with purpose and the message of how God made Himself known to these individuals differently is significant. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the lineage of Israel. Moses was the foreshadowing of Christ, what we call a tupos, a type.

Exodus 33:11a English Standard Version (ESV) Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

The relationship changed from being a national identity to a personal relationship.

Why is this significant to us? We can worship God Almighty and perform all the rites and ceremony but if you want to have a relationship with the One True God, you must make Him the Lord of your life.

Jesus is the Savior of the world and He is the Lord. Many just want a savior but would rather forgo having a Lord. That attitude keeps those “believers” from having a relationship with our Lord.

Think of it like this. Jesus is perfect in performance and never sinned. Would He take up residence in a temple that did not belong to Him? No, that would be a trespass. The issue of our indwelling Christ and all that He is centers around ownership.

1 Peter 1:18-19 English Standard Version (ESV)

¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

The offer of His blood sacrifice has only one condition. He can only set free that which belongs to Him therefor He must become our Lord.