When God Says No

Then King David rose to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had planned to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God; and I made preparations for building. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for my name, for you are a warrior and have shed blood.’ – 1 Chronicles 28:2-3 
 
In today’s key passage, David has reached old age now, and is approaching the zenith of life. He is a wiser, more reflective and introspective David. It’s this David who says, “I've been young and I am now old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed go begging for bread.” And so now he gathers the leaders of Israel to a summit to give them then, and us now, some insights on his journey with the Lord.  
 
With everyone listening intently, David rises to his feet to announce the following. He says, “Hear me, my brethren 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 had made preparations to build it. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’” In some sense, David is reflecting upon his tenure as a leader, and he says to those assembled that his life-long dream is to build a “…house of rest…” for God, a permanent temple dedicated to God for Israelites to gather and worship God.  
 
This had to be a touching moment as the leaders sat and listened to their leader pour out his heart. But then David shocks his audience and tells them that after making plans to build the temple, God spoke to him in prayer and told him that he would not be the one who would build the Lord’s house. What a devastating thing to hear… that the thing that you’ve always wanted to do is rejected by God.  
 
However, David does not seem embarrassed about it. It is not something that he quietly whispers to one confidant. He expresses it out loud, in public, in the company of a host of Israel’s leaders, and he tells them unashamedly and apologetically that God told him “No!”  
 
God didn’t cosign on David’s wishes. In fact, God vetoed it, which suggests that when it comes to discovering the will of God, God is not on the hook to give us everything we want. Just because you pray five times a day, tithe, and worship every Sunday, God is not obligated to give you what you want. And so, if you want to be in the will of God, you have to be ready sometimes for God to say, “No.”