The Servant's Prayer | 1 Chronicles 17:16-27

Dr. Kenny Jones preaches "The Servant's Prayer" from 1 Chronicles 17:16-27 at The Lord's Day Service at The King's Chapel, Sunday, July 12, 2026.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:03

If you will take your Bible and turn over to First Chronicles. First Chronicles chapter seventeen. And as you're turning there in the scriptures, let's again go to the Lord in prayer. Father, I ask that your Holy Spirit will move in our hearts, Father, lifting up and magnifying Lord your word so that your name will be honored, that we will be convicted of sin, so that we can grow deeper in your grace, to be holy as you are holy. And Father, helping us just to see your majesty and grace. So, Father, teach through me. And it's in Christ we pray. Amen. Well, this morning what I'd like to do is hopefully you got an outline so you can follow along with us, but I thought it would be helpful to provide a roadmap before we begin walking through the text. This morning we are going to be looking at 1 Chronicles chapter 17. And I'd be curious to know how many people have walked through a sermon before in 1 Chronicles. But nonetheless, it is a in the canon of Scripture. And here in the book of Chronicles, we get to an important passage in the Old Testament history where we see the Davidic covenant instituted and initiated by God and given to David. We see the act of the of God establishing, initiating covenants all throughout Scripture. And here in this passage of Scripture, what we're going to look at this morning is we're going to look at first the context of the covenant, but then where we're going to spend a majority of our time this morning is actually beginning in verse 16 with David's prayer or a prayer of response from receiving this word from the Lord. This sermon this morning is titled A Servant's Prayer. And the reason why I'm titling in that way is because I want to make a connection back to Grant's sermon that he preached on June 28th, when we looked at Titus chapter 2, verse 9, where Grant helped us to see the theology of work. Where in Titus chapter 2, when we looked at the role of the bondservant, and one of those points of application that Pastor Grant provided for us was that we as believers, as disciples of Christ, we need to have this mindset that we serve our master, that we are to work hard for the King of Kings. And that worldview should shape our entire life, that we are indebted to our Savior. And what you'll find this morning in 1 Chronicles 17 is I believe you will see a lot of similarities between Titus 2 and here in chapter 17, specifically looking at 16 through the end of the chapter. But my hope and prayer this morning for you, as we look at David's prayer, is that this will be a prayer for you on a daily basis as a follower of Christ. That this prayer would be a call to action for you. To see how, as David receives this Davidic covenant, this promise from God, the response from David, the action from David is that he is to go to work. He is to be found faithful in the sight of God and to live a life that honors the King. And my prayer for you this morning is that you in turn will do the same as we walk through this passage of Scripture. So, like I said, this morning, what we're going to do is first we're going to look at the first 15 verses very briefly, don't worry. I'll walk through it quick. I know some of you are looking at your watch. Don't worry. We're good. We're good. But we're going to look at the first half, then we're going to look at the prayer, and then I'm going to close with a couple of points of application. So that's the roadmap where we're going this morning. So let's begin looking at the context of David's prayer. Let's look at some specifics of the Davidic covenant. Look at the beginning in verse one, looking at verses one through six in chapter 17. It says, Now when David lived in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, Behold, I dwell in the house of Cedar. But the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent. And Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you. But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, Go and tell my servant David, Thus says the Lord, it is not you who would build me a house to dwell in. For I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent, from dwelling to dwelling, and all places where I have moved, with all of Israel, that I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, saying, Why have you not built for me a house of cedar? So let's look at verses one through six for a moment. So David is king. This is the early part of his kingship. And David, if you were to turn back just one or two pages in your Bible, you would see David has now brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel, back home. And David, beginning in verse 16, excuse me, chapter 16, places the Ark in the tent and worships with Israel, leads them in worship as the Ark of the Covenant, the presence of God, has returned. But then if you look in verse 1 and chapter 17, David has a godly desire because he is a recipient of the grace and the mercy of the Lord. And in turn, what he wants to do is now honor Yahweh by building a house for the Lord. But if you look in verse four, look what happens. Nathan is told from Yahweh, David, you're not going to do this. You're not going to build me a house. And then in verses five and six, we see that David's not going to build this house. But what the Lord does is that he wants David to look beyond a physical dwelling. He wants to look beyond where this Ark of the Covenant will be built one day, because what the Lord is doing for David is that he's pointing to something far greater than a physical constructed place. He's building for him in his heart this idea of an eternal house, an eternal kingdom of God. Look with me in verses 7 through 10 now. It says in God's word, and within the Davidic covenant, it says, Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from father and the sheep to be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all of your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones of the earth, and I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be disturbed no more, and violent men shall waste them no more as formerly. From the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel, and I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up for your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. Let me stop there. So the Lord tells David now in verses seven through ten in verse eleven that God is going to keep all of his promises. He even does a brief history lesson over the nation of Israel. The book of Chronicles is written post-exile. So people reading this would realize what they have returned home to. And so David here is helping them to see God's hand of salvation, not only in David's life, but also in the life of Israel. And if you notice, within verses 7 through 10 alone, seven times do we see the words I or I will. And so God is reminding him, I'm the one who's brought you out of victory from victory, I am the one who's brought you to this place. It is all of God's hand of deliverance. Over and over and over again. But what we see as David is reminding him as they're being reminded of this from the Lord, he is seeing also that God's word has been fulfilled every step of the way. So then look with me in verses eleven through fifteen. Now, David, excuse me, the Lord says to David, When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up for your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. Verse twelve. I will be to him a father, and he shall to be me a son. I will not take my steadfast love for him as I took from him who was before you. He's talking about Saul. But I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever. In accordance with all these words, and accordance with all of this vision, Nathan spoke to David. So here's what God's doing now in verses eleven through fifteen. He's now telling the plan. Here's the promise being fulfilled. This is what's going to happen after you. The first thing he does is that he tells David that Solomon, your son, your own offspring, is going to, he is tasked to build the house for the Lord. Not David, but Solomon. And if you read further into the book of Chronicles, you will find this takes place under Solomon's reign as king. But here's the second thing you need to see. And this is where it gets good. Solomon's going to do this, but there's someone who's coming after Solomon. And I'll be willing to give you a dollar if you can guess who it is. Jesus. God is telling David to look beyond the physical construction, to look beyond even Solomon. He's looking to the eternal King Jesus. This is a messianic prophecy that God is telling through the prophet Nathan to David, there's going to be someone coming greater than you. Just like he did with Moses, there's going to be a prophet greater than I. There's going to be a king greater than David, greater than Psalm, greater than Hezekiah, greater than Asa, all of the kings. He's going to live and reign forever. And it is King Jesus. And upon this blessing of the kingship, yes, God is going to be with David. God is going to be with Solomon. But there's going to be a special blessing that God is going to have with his own son. We see the center of adoption here, there, and God's faithfulness is going to be extended to this eternal King Jesus. And this Christ, this Messiah, the Son of David, who's truly God and truly man, the one who's going to live and to reign forever, he is the one I want you to look towards. And so what God is also doing for David, it's helping him to see that after this covenant, after this promise, there's going to be another covenant. Each covenant building upon another. And this is ultimately pointing to the new covenant, the gospel. What we did here today at the Lord's table, remembering the grace of God by sending forth Christ. And here it is. The unity of the fellowship that God is going to give. Solomon is going to be there with Jesus. He would never leave us or forsake us. And here we see that the kingdom of God is at hand. God's rule and reign are present here in active with David, with Solomon, it's present then, it's present now. And so God is helping David to understand. Look beyond the walls. Look for eternity. And this is the Davidic promise that God gives to King David. So even though David's not going to witness any of this take place in his own life, he trusts. He trusts the promises of God. And he knows this is going to be, this is going to happen all because God initiated and is going to stain this covenant and as well as the new covenant. And so now I know that was a very brief overview of the Davidic Covenant. And I know that we could spend weeks and if not months on this promise that is fulfilled by God. But now we're going to move into the servant's prayer, David's prayer of response. And now you understand from this Davidic covenant, now you know the why. If you know the why, you're able to charge ahead, right? And now you know the why. Now you know why David is praying. And again, like I said in the very beginning, my hope and prayer in this section of Scripture will be a call to action for you. So for you to be a faithful follower of Christ. So let's begin. If you have your outline with us, you can begin looking with me in verses 16 through 20 by looking at our first point in this prayer. And David starts where all prayer needs to start, and that is by praising the greatness of God. By praising the greatness of God. Look with me in verses 16 through 20. Then 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 this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O Lord God. Let me stop there. So I want to pull out for you in this first section of David's prayer two things that he pulls out for you to see God's holiness on display, his character, his greatness on full display. And then out of those two characteristics of God that we see, there's two responses that David has. The first thing that we see is David praises God's grace, his unmerited favor. If you look with me in the text, here is how we see this. If you notice, beginning in verse 16, and as well as in verse 21, there are three rhetorical questions that David asks. He first says, Who am I? looking at his own life there in verse 16. In the latter half of verse 16 says, Who is my house? i.e., he's talking about his own offspring, Solomon. And then if you look in verse 21, he goes to the nation of Israel, the people of Israel. This rhetorical question, like all rhetorical questions, is a figure of speech that David is praying, stating back to God, and recognizing that he didn't deserve any of this. He realizes, as well as in his own life and in Israel, they didn't deserve any of this. This all comes from God's loving kindness, extended to David, extended to Israel, and extended to you to see God's grace at work in their life. He provides for David, he provides for Solomon, he provides for Israel. And the questions here are just a pure act of humility and reverence for the Lord to do this in David's life and as well as in the nation of Israel. And so he praises God for his grace. The second thing he does here in this first section of prayer, he praises God for his providence, his providence. God has provided the way for David to be king, and for this house to be built, and for this future eternal kingdom to be established and set up all by the hand of God. And it all comes by his gracious hand. It's an act of providence. David realizes, as we see in the text, and as God tells him there, if you look back in verses 6, 7, and 8, God reminds him of this. He reminds him of how God has provided for him, that he was of the lowest of the low, a shepherd of the sheep, and now he is king over Israel. How does it happen? God provided the way. God provided the way. And this doesn't leave David's life. If you were to leave, read further into the life of David, you would see that he keeps this heartfelt desire, this knowledge of who God is, of God providing for him all throughout his life. I would encourage you to write this down or turn over with me just very briefly to Psalm 139 for just a moment. And in Psalm 139, David begins in verses 1 through 4 by saying, O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit down, you know when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from afar, you search at my path from lying down, even before a word is on my tongue. Behold, O Lord, you know it all together. David prays in verses 13 through 15. He says, For you formed my inward parts, you knitted to me together. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. God is all knowing, God is all powerful, God is everywhere, He's all present. And David here in Psalm 139, as well as here in his prayer, is seeing the providence of God at work in his own life. I would encourage you even to write down if you'd like to, 1 Chronicles chapter 29, verse 14, as David's life is ending. And he's praying this blessing over Israel, and as well as with for Solomon. David prays in chapter 29, he says, But who am I? Again, asking that rhetorical question, who am I, O Lord? And who is my people that we should be able to offer us to thus willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own we have given you. It's a very humbling, isn't it? To realize, as Jesus prayed in John 15 or told his disciples, Apart from you I can do what? Nothing. Nothing. And David realizes everything that he has all comes from the providence of God. But now we see out of this, there's two responses. There's two responses out of this prayer. One, the first is, is how David longs to be with God. If you look with me in verse 16, out of seeing God's grace, out of seeing God's providence at work, what does he do in verse 16? He wants to be in the presence of God. Look with me in verse 16. Then David went in and sat before the Lord. He sat before the Lord. David's actions there, after hearing this promise that's going to be fulfilled, immediately runs and wants to commune with Yahweh. When I was studying this text, I thought about the phrase that I know you've heard before that actions speak louder than words. Well, David's actions obviously show a heart that has been changed by the living God, and his first response is, I want to be with you. I want to be as close as I can with you, and he does by sitting in the Ark of the Covenant. That word, even in the Hebrew, sat, means to dwell, to remain there. David was there for a long time, but he longed to be with God. The other response that we see, and I believe it's pretty apparent from the text, is how humble he is before the Lord. Could you imagine receiving this from the Lord? All of this. And David has the right heartfelt response, and he humbles himself before the Lord. He shows humility. And even I think by the rhetorical questions, extolling the character of God, he exemplifies humility before the Lord. One who realizes this all comes from him. We even see this same mindset that we're supposed to have out of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 of hallowed be your name, reverence before the Lord. And that is the right response all of us should have as we worship before our triune God. But with all of this, God's full greatness is on display. And this is the starting point. This sets the tone for the rest of the prayer. To give God praise for his majesty and his grace, for his holiness being poured out in David's life, and as well as you can even see it today, and even in your own life, can't you? To see God's hand of providence even now in this act of worship on this Lord's Day. It all comes from Him. And we see this again and again, like I said, as I referenced in Psalm 139, David praises in Psalm 86, verse 8 There is no one like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are any of their works like yours. You can look at all the religions in the world. Nothing will even come close to what we see God doing here in David's life, but even in your life, can you? Any other religion, it's some man-made idea that tries to get you to be a better person or try to get you into some man-made version of heaven. But know what we see from this response by David extolling the greatness of God, his holiness, helping us to see his character and wanting the glory of God to shine. What David shows us truly is that apart from the Lord, we are a total helpless people, aren't we? That everything comes from him. And so David, here in this first point, this is where it all starts. And that's why David in this opening prayer he says, making known all of these great things. And this is the starting point. This is where the first part of this recipe of this prayer, the servant's prayer, starts. By seeing his character. But then, as we move into our second point, we see another characteristic of God. I've already mentioned this before. We see his grace, we see his unmerited favor, but now we see it in the form of salvation. That God's salvation is on full display in David's life for Israel and for you, Christian. Look with me in verses 21 and 22 in the text. David says and praise the Lord. Making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, and driving out nations from your people before your people, and whom you redeemed from Egypt. And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God. So one of these, this this humble state that David is praying, that is in, excuse me, and as well as we see in this prayer, but also in a continuation of praising the greatness of God as he realizes God's hand of salvation. Redemption is right before his eyes. And you see it right here in verses 21 and 22. And David right here is showing us, right here, God's sovereign hand to save and to redeem his people right here in 21 and 22 is election. God's sovereign hand of election right here in the text. It's an amazing act. When you look at the people of Israel, they weren't special because they were many. They weren't special because they had a grand, a great landmass. No, the reason why they were even called special is because God called them special. So God is the one who saved them. Even with David, as we've seen previously, David realizes that he didn't do anything. He's not special because he's won battles for the Lord. No, it's all because of God's saving grace, unmerited favor in his own life. But we see here salvation right here in the text. God's loving kindness poured out. But in verses 21 and 22, here's what we also see. And this is important for us to understand this promise that David is receiving from the Lord, and for you to see how majestic God's hand of redemption is in your life. Because one, what he states here in verses 21 and 22 is that this is a continuation of God's saving grace. Redemption continues. This isn't plan B here that God is telling David. No, this is a continuation of plan A. For when you see it even in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, when the fall of man happened and you see the first proclamation of the gospel there, that there's going to be one who's going to crush the seed of the serpent. When you see even with the Noahic covenant, you see it with Abraham, you see with Moses, it is a continuation of God's redeeming hand, all the way pointing to Christ. We're reminded of this, how the redemption continues as God told Moses in Exodus chapter 6, verse 7. God says, Therefore tell the Israelites, I am the Lord, I will bring you out under the yoke of the Egyptians, and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and the mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people. I will be your God, and then they will know that I am the Lord your God who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. That sounds familiar. But also remember, like I said just a few moments ago, we're in the book of the Chronicles. This is post-exile. So the Israelites reading this would be reminded of how they have returned back to the land. So they're realizing everything from the X when they were exiled those days and now returning back, that God's hand of forgiveness and mercy has been extended to them. And so they in their lifetime are recipients of salvation. But then we were be re I would be remiss not to be reminded here in verse 21 and 22 that the future is found in Christ, in Jesus, pointing to the Messiah. And here I put some cross-references there in that first section of your outline for you to be able to see this idea of the promise of Christ. But you can look up those, but we're also reminded in Romans 9 26, as Paul is quoting the prophet Hosea. Those who were not my people, I will call my people. Jew and Gentile. Right here in the text. So it's like David takes a step back for a moment and he realizes what he's been saved from. He realized as he as God reminded him, remember what I took you from and now who you are. So David is in the even as we've seen these rhetorical questions, takes a moment and realized everything in his life is an act of grace. Salvation is an act of grace. You ever been in that position before? When you take a step back and realize what you have been saved from. Maybe someone has helped you out in a dark time. I remember one time when I was little, we were visiting my aunt and uncle, and I had fallen down as a little kid down this hill, a huge hill. And I was by myself, and I remember I told this to the students during BBS. I cried out for help, no one was coming, and then at the top of the hill of all people to see the last person I wanted to see was my own sister. Because I knew she was going to lead me there. But to her credit, she helped me, and out of that I had to create a financial payment plan for the rest of my life. But nonetheless, I can remember that day, even as a little boy, realizing, listen, I was stuck. But God's, but she saved me. And the same thing when you realize your own salvation. When I was studying this text, I immediately went to my bookshelf and went to R. C. Sprohl's book, Saved from What? Anyone read that book? If you haven't, write it down and buy it. Saved from what? And it is a book on my shelf that almost the pages are falling out, but what he's reminding the believer he's saved from is the wrath of God for sin. And one of the quotes in that book, R. C. says, A substitute has appeared in space and time, appointed by God Himself to bear the weight and the burden of our transgressions, and to make expiation for our guilt, and to propitiate the wrath of God on our behalf. R. C. Spore writes, This is the gospel. This is it. Never forget what you've been saved from. Never forget that. And if you notice, it gets even better. There's more cherries on top of this Sunday. Because notice that word in verse 22, forever. Number one, what David's pulling out. Again, he's pointing to the eternal reality of the kingdom of God. Even looking to this future King of kings, looking at how Jesus is going to live and reign forever as he is now. And he always has been. And this is the hope for David, hope for Israel, hope for you, so you can know that eternity, eternity is what you have to look forward to. Just like Phil said just a moment ago. To be with Christ forever. But then again, he puts one more cherry on this thing by helping you to see this eternal reality that you're going to be with God forever. As we see the end of the ball game there in Revelation chapter 21, and I heard aloud from the voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be to them as their God. Ladies and gentlemen, one day we will be with him forever. Isn't that good? Listen, I'll never forget the church I used to attend in college. And I remember one time the pastor who was preaching told the story, the sad story, of the pastor's own mother never wanting to get saved. And even on her deathbed, wanted nothing to do with Christ. And I'll never forget the and he even gives it shivers in my bones now, how his mom on her own deathbed said, I'm scared to die. Never accepted Christ. But I've also been on the other side of the token where I've been on someone's deathbed before, where there's hope, there's confidence, there's a day that they will know they will be with, in just a few moments, they'll be with Christ forever. But ladies and gentlemen, never forget the gospel. Never forget what God has saved you from. Never forget, as David is praying back to God, what you have been saved from. What a glorious God that we have. And I'd be remiss not to say to you to this day that if you don't know Jesus, call on him today. Call on him today so that you can be saved and have this confidence that David has, that I have, and that you can have, that is found in Christ alone. So now we get to our third point. Get to our third point. So we've been reminded of the greatness of God. We've been reminded of his saving act of grace. And now David is able to eat this ice cream Sunday, so to speak. And now he's sitting back with confidence, knowing that all the promises of God are fulfilled. So if you look in this third point here, beginning in verses 23 through 27, David says, beginning in verse 23, and now, O Lord, and now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever. And do as you have spoken. And your name will be established and magnified fore, saying, The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God, and the house of your servant David will be established from before you. For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore, your servant has found courage to pray before you. And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good things to be to your servant. So all the promises are fulfilled. David is confident, not in his own effort, but he realizes in this promise that he has received from Yahweh, that God who has initiated this covenant with him will also sustain it. Will sustain this covenant. Because the chronicler, as he's writing this, and you can see this actually in the sister passage in 2 Samuel chapter 7. Because the chronicler knows that David is not going to live, and as we know from scripture, he's not going to live a perfect life. He sins, he falls into sin. We see even with Solomon, he does the same, and all the other kings after David are going to mess up, sin before the Lord. They're not going to be a perfect king. But David knows in this closing prayer that this also is a call for him to be faithful and to trust. And to know that even though the road isn't going to be easy, he has nothing to fear. Because the Lord's promises are going to be fulfilled, and this covenant will happen. But if you notice in verse 23, I want to point out two things for you in this last section of the prayer. In verse 23, we see God's omnipotence on full display. The reason why I'm talking about the greatness of God again here is because what he's showing you here is that through the character of God, he's showing you that his word will be fulfilled because it's based upon the character of God. He's stating here in this last section of the prayer that the Lord's word will not fail. It can't fail. Why? Because God can never fail. So it's like a full circle. Like the ring on your hand if you're married. Can't break. It's just an unending circle. And here that's what David is helping you to see with this the omnipotence of God, the character of God on full display. He can't go against himself. So David knows in his heart this is going to happen. A house is going to be built. There's going to be a true king who will reign forever and years to come. David knows this is going to take place. He realizes that even though he's going to fail, leaders are going to fail, God never fails, and he is sovereign overall, and his sovereign will be, will happen. We see this in Psalm 89, verses 35 through 37. As his once for all I have spoken of my holiness, I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne before me like the sun, like the moon established forever, a faithful witness to the sky. We see that with Israel, and we see that with you here today as a born-again believer. Isn't that good? Isn't that good? We see that his word has never failed. But then if you look in verses 24 through 27 specifically, he says in verse 24, and your name be established, and here it is, magnified forever. David's chief concern now is not for his own offspring to be famous or to get the glory. He's wanting God to receive all the glory. That's what he wants. That's his desire now. And we see this in this last section of the prayer. He's wanting the name of the Lord to be magnified, as we say there in verse 24. So that your name will live forever. And in this section of the prayer, when the Lord's name is magnified, when you see his the glory of God to shine like the sun, you're able to see his of who God is, his holiness on full display. And in turn, what that does for the nation of Israel, for you, it's like a magnet. It draws you in, like a fly to a fly trap. It's drawing you in faster than you realize when you see the glory of God on display. And David realizes that even as Solomon builds his house, this physical structure that will be displayed, he realizes that even the structure itself will be a picture for the kingdom of God. He realizes at the end of the day, that's all that matters. And that's why he prays only for himself, but for his offspring. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but your name be glory forever. And ladies and gentlemen, that really is the prayer for all of us in this place. And if we're really honest with ourselves, we are reminded the reason why that you exist and I exist is for the glory of God. Never forget in John 1.14, the word who became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only one Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And so this is David's prayer. This is David's prayer. And so now I'm going to move in to our last section of this sermon and to move into the application. So what do you do with all this? So what do you do with all this? So remember, I wanted to make that connection back to Grant's sermon back on June 28th, when he was in Titus chapter 2, verse 9, where he reminded us in the scriptures that bondservants would be dismissive to their own masters and everything there to be well-pleasing and not argumentative. And if you remember, Grant, he would be so impressed with me. I mean, I'm just quoting his stuff off like here. And I'm pretty good. I remind myself that daily. But if you remember, he also read to us in Colossians 3.23 that whatever you do work heartedly as for the Lord and not for men. So if you look at David's prayer, which again I titled the servant's prayer, how do you connect all this together? Well, first, it's not in your notes, but you can put this never forget you are a servant of the King. Never forget the gospel. Never forget what you have been saved from. The fact that you are able to sing songs of praise, the fact that you are even breathing now is all an act of mercy in your life. And you, as you remember the gospel and as you remember what King Jesus has done in your life, you too are to have this mindset that you too are a slave for Christ, a bond servant for the King. And that's your worldview. That's the lens that you see everything through it. And so, because of this mindset and this life, this prayer, it's also a call to action. And the first point that you are to call this call to action is that you were commanded to pray. You were commanded to pray. We see in verse 17 as well as all throughout scripture that God commands his people to pray, to be a praying people. You see from Adam walking with God, you see with Noah, you see with Abraham, you see with Joshua beseeching the Lord of how to go and find the promised land. You see with the prophets seeking after the Lord, you see Jesus going into the desolate place to pray. You see in the early days of the Christian church that the apostles dedicated themselves to the teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of the bread, and what? The prayer. The prayers. We see in Matthew chapter 6 when Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray. Ladies and gentlemen, you're commanded to pray. And this is something that you may step back and go, well, Kenny, we know this. The question I'd like to ask you in this point of application is: are you praying? Are you praying without ceasing? Do you set time every day to go before the Lord in prayer? Do you see from this account, and as well as in 2 Samuel chapter 7, the importance of communing with the Lord? And how, when you pray, it is an expression of faith and trust and Dependence upon God. And out of this, our second point of application that we see from the text is do you long to be with God? Do you long to be with God? Remember in verse 16, what does David do? He immediately goes to be with the Lord. He longs to be with him. Think about, for example, people that you love to be with. Your spouse, a good friend, me. Anybody with me? Okay. My wife didn't even raise her hand. But think about do you long to be with God? You long to be with God. It's very been humbling for me this week, and as I'm preparing this text, I keep going back to verse 16. That David's immediate response is to go to the Ark of the Covenant. David tells Solomon in chapter 28, serve Yahweh with your whole heart. The prophets constantly told Israel, seek the Lord. King Asa, seek the Lord while he may be found. James chapter 4, verse 8, draw near to the Lord and he will draw near to you. Mary and Martha and Luke chapter 10, where was Mary? Sitting at the feet of Jesus. Do you long to be with him? Do you wake up daily longing to get into the Word and be a man or a woman of prayer? I don't know about you. When I don't do my quiet time, it's like a loss and appendage. It's like I'm lost for the day. It's like I can't get air in my lungs. I need it. And so do you long to be with the Lord? Do you set time daily to be with him? Do you long to be here at the King's Chapel? To serve the Lord and to partner together as we advance the kingdom of God. Do you long to be with him? Where do your affections and your desires are? What are they on right now? And the third thing, most importantly, as David echoes here, is don't forget to live according to God's will. That's what matters at the end of the day. Is to live according to the will of God. That's why Jesus in Matthew chapter 6, after he tells the disciples not to worry, one of the ways you're not able to worry, is that if you seek first the what? The kingdom of God and his righteousness. But don't you forget, in the text, remember, in the first half of the chapter, David wants to build this house for the Lord. But notice, David doesn't pray about it. Neither does Nathan. But what you find is that even though God says, no, you're not going to build it. What we see, and this is what happens through prayer, is even though sometimes circumstances don't change, your heart changes. And it's being transformed by the Holy Spirit so that you can be walking in righteousness and walking according to his word. And so even though God's will will always reign supreme, and even though sometimes when you're praying your heart out and it's not coming to the outcome you want, the Lord is making you holy. And praying, and so that your life can be according to his will. So as we close and as we end our time this morning, like I said at the very beginning, this is the prayer of every disciple of Christ. Every disciple of Christ. And as well as a call to action for you. So that you can be found faithful in the sight of God. And so my prayer is that you will see the greatness of God in your own life on full display. You will be reminded of what you have been saved from, be reminded of the gospel. And you will also live for his glory and to live according to his will. And that's the charge for you. And now it's time to act. Let's pray. Father, apart from you, we can do nothing. And so, Lord, as your people, as your servants, help us, Lord, to be faithful in your sight. Help us, O Lord, to be men and women that live a life for your honor and for your glory. For Lord, that is why we exist. So, Father, thank you for the promise of the Messiah. Thank you for our salvation. Thank you for your mercy you've given to us. Thank you for your grace you've given to us. And so, Lord, help us now to act faithfully according to your word. Father, we love you. And we pray these things in the good name of Christ. Amen.