The Lord referred to David, King of Israel, as the apple of His eye and loved him greatly because David loved the Lord. Therefore the Lord gave him rest from all of his enemies and blessed him greatly. When David looked upon all the mighty things the Lord had done for him, it came into his heart to do something in return for the Lord.

Seeing that his own dwelling place was a large house made of cedar and that the ark of God resided in a tabernacle made of curtains, David determined that he would build a house for the Lord, and he told Nathan the prophet what he proposed to do.

That same night, the Lord spoke to Nathan and sent him back to David with a message of loving reproof. The Lord reminded David of their respective positions: God as the all-powerful Almighty and David as someone who is nothing without Him, emphasizing that even the heavens cannot contain the Lord, let alone an earthly house.

There was nothing David could do that the Lord could not do for Himself infinitely greater. Nevertheless, the Lord honored David’s desire and said, “Whereas it was in thine heart to build a house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.”

The Lord reciprocated David’s desire to honor Him by promising that He would build David a house, an everlasting one. It was gifted to David that through his seed would come the Messiah, the Son of God, whose kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom and his throne an everlasting throne; He would raise up a house for the Lord.

David was told that he could not build a house for the Lord because he had shed so much blood. So David spent the rest of his life gathering and preparing everything his son would need to build the Lord’s house.

The promise given to David was twofold: David’s son Solomon did indeed build the House of the Lord in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord, but the greater promise was fulfilled in the house that the Messiah, who is both the Son of David and the Son of God, would build. Jesus Christ spoke of the temple he had come to destroy and raise again, saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The temple he was speaking of was his body. (John 2:19)

Jesus declared his body a house where the spirit of God dwells. His words were proven true when his body was raised again by the Spirit three days after he was crucified. All who receive Him live in Him, and He lives in them. This is the true House of the Lord, where the Spirit of God resides.

The first temple built by Solomon and the second built by Herod, both of which were made by hands, are now forever gone, but the final temple made without hands shall never be destroyed.

We are called to be laborers together with Christ in building the temple made without hands. We are to enlarge the House of the Lord through bringing others into His house.

The Apostle Paul stated, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone we are to build His temple on. If we love God, like David, we will also desire to build a house for the Lord. But like David, who are we to think we can build a house for God? In and of ourselves, no one is worthy of building anything for God but Him.

Thank God that through Jesus Christ, one has come who is worthy, and as David prepared all things for the building, so also Christ prepared all the things, giving Himself for the foundation and the chief Corner Stone.

It is enough that we are given the privilege of partaking in the building of his House. Arise and build! This is the vocation given to us in Christ, which calls us to glorify God by working in Him and Him working in us, as we build the House of the Lord and enlarge His palaces for His holy everlasting habitation.