2 Samuel 7:21

A FRIEND observed to me, just before the service, that after the earnest endeavor this morning to magnify the Grace of God, he did not want to hear any more for a week. He was perfectly satisfied with what he had heard and was only afraid lest the sermon of the evening should drive that of the morning out of his head. Well, dear Friends, that is my own fear, too! I never like driving one nail out by hammering another in and, really, what more can I say than I said this morning?

DAVID was overwhelmed with the mercy of God! Nathan's message was too much for him. He felt emotions in his bosom which he could not express. Like a wise man, he went at once, while under the impulse of gratitude, into the place of nearness to God. It was not everyone who might go in and sit before the Lord as he did, but he felt he had a special call to draw near unto the Most High—and there he sat down in the posture of waiting to receive the fulfillment of what was promised, in the posture of rest—as one who had, now, all that he could desire and was pressed down under the weight of blessing. Yet the Psalmist's sitting was also a posture of worship and surely of all passages of Scripture none can be said to contain more true adoration than that which is now before us. The king sat, however, before the Lord. The mercy had all come from God and therefore to God all his praise was offered. His soul waited only upon the Lord, because his expectation was alone from Him. He was conscious of being in the sacred Presence and he sat there, feeling that by the Covenant Blessing he had been brought very near, and his spirit exulted in that nearness! Brothers and Sisters in Christ, the mercies which God has shown to us are as great as those which He manifested to His servant David! And if the Spirit of God has opened our eyes to see and understand them, we may, this morning, ardently wish to do precisely what David did.

A FRIEND observed to me, just before the service, that after the earnest endeavor this morning to magnify the Grace of God, he did not want to hear any more for a week. He was perfectly satisfied with what he had heard and was only afraid lest the sermon of the evening should drive that of the morning out of his head. Well, dear Friends, that is my own fear, too! I never like driving one nail out by hammering another in and, really, what more can I say than I said this morning? I then poured out my inmost heart in endeavoring to extol the exceeding riches of God's Grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. [See Sermon #1665, Volume 28— The Exceeding Riches of Grace.] This evening's discourse, therefore, is intended to be like a little supplement to the big book of the morning sermon—just a few additional words upon the theme that we considered then. As we read the chapter from which my text is taken, we noticed that David had a holy purpose in his grateful heart. He said to Nathan the Prophet, "I dwell in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwells within curtains." And he seemed to think that it was neglectful on his part to have suffered the Ark to remain so long unhoused, so he resolved to build for it, and for the worship associated with it, a Temple that would be "exceedingly magnificent." He had for years gathered together gold and silver and he meant to continue to do so, that he might erect a shrine for the Lord, his God, more glorious than any that had ever been built by the greatest heathen prince for his false deity! This was the thought which was in David's mind and he mused upon it, for it was very sweet to him. It was, in fact, the great ambition of his life that he might be permitted to build this house for the worship of Jehovah.