DAVID’S TABERNACL E – WHAT IS THE WILL OF GOD
FOR YOU?
David’s pursuit of God’s heart profoundly shaped him. His love for God was revealed in his desire to build God’s House—the one thing on earth to which he could give his whole self, and in doing so, give himself fully to God, thereby demonstrating his
complete devotion to God.
And it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel … Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God … and the house … must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So, David prepared abundantly before his death (1 Kings 8:17; 1 Chronicles 29:2; 1 Chronicles 22:5).
The people of Israel, who claimed to have a heart for God, did not have God’s heart; therefore, they allowed the tabernacle of David to fall into ruin. It was overrun with tradition and hollow praise from the religious who had no heart for God. They praised a God they did not appreciate. They prayed to a God they did
not know. People were going through the motions; their mouths were there, but their hearts were gone.
In the New Covenant, James declares the restoration of David’s Tabernacle. This is evidence that David’s Tabernacle is extraordinary, not a relic of ancient Israelite worship: “I … will build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up. That the
residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15).
God’s anticipation of the restoration of David’s tabernacle concerns its impact on the Gentile nations: it will bring in a harvest so rapidly that the Sowers and the Reapers will overtake each other; the fame of Jesus will reach the Gentile nations.
This was David’s desire, as he declared that the House of the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent. This is the Church he refers to. Do you believe that? Your answer to this question will reveal whether you have a heart for God or if you are one after God’s heart. If you are one after God’s heart, your life will be affected as David’s was:
1. You will prepare for the House with all your might.
2. You will protect the glory of the House. The glory of the House was not the priest’s talent; it was the presence of God. And through this tabernacle, the fame and glory of God would go to the nations (Ephesians 3).
3. You will preserve the purpose of the House: to be a House of prayer for all nations.
THE TABERNACLE IS GOD’S IDEA
Everything about David’s Tabernacle came from the Holy Spirit: David claims he received a letter from the Holy Spirit, or that, by writing, the Spirit gave him understanding and instructed him on how to build God’s house. God would compel the nations to come to Him through this House.
David was wrecked by the heart of God. David’s love for God would lead him to live in accordance with God’s desires. Because David understood what was in the heart of God, he was consumed with holy devotion to give the Lord what He longed for – that Tabernacle.
David prepared with all his might for the house of God. Could you say that about yourself? Have you prepared, with all your might, for the house of God? David claims he did. He claims he sacrificed his gold, his silver, and his wealth; he sacrificed everything needed to build the house.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CATCH GOD’S HEART
David demonstrated what happens when you catch the heart of God. Your life changes! Your religion changes! This caused David to set his affection on the house of God. David claimed to have given his own gold and silver to build the house of God. He even claimed he gave beyond all he had so God’s house would be
magnificent. He did it not for his own glory or fame. This is the house of the Lord. This is the house of my God. It is for his glory.
Can you say that about yourself? Can you say that in boring moments of your life? Can you say that when it seems God is distant and you don’t know what God is doing in your life? Can you say your affection is for God’s House when it costs you something to give to the things of God?
Remember, you can say you love God, but the Bible says that if you love God, you will love the brothers you see. God’s heart has ravished you, and like David, you want to do this. You want to give to God. You want to bless the house of the Lord. How you treat, serve, and attend the Church is the evidence of your true claim to loving God (1 John 4:20).
Paul also had the revelation of the Church in God heart. By revelation, Paul understood that this house would be a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. This is the purpose of the Body of Christ—the Church, that we are the habitation of God, that is the only thing that makes the house of God exceedingly glorious in the earth.
It is not our talents, it’s not our preachers, it’s not our professors, it’s not our skills. It’s not all the things we have. Rather, it is the glory of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit, who comes with one desire: to magnify Jesus one earth, to save in his name, to baptize in his name, to heal in his name, and to convince the world that Jesus of Nazareth is risen from the dead.
The Holy Spirit has come to the earth to testify of Jesus, and the Church is the body He has been given to operate in. He has united Himself to the Church for the full expression of God’s power and glory. If the fame of Jesus is to be expressed among the nations, it will happen through the unity of the Holy Spirit and the Church.
Paul wanted all men to see this because if believers could see it, they would be dedicated to God’s heart’s desire. Sadly, many do not see. Many hear preaching, and many preachers preach without even understanding the Body. Many agree with sermons preached from the Bible, but do not have ears to hear; they are not dedicated because they are not touched by God’s heart. The affection of many is not for the House of the Lord. They do not give their all. Thus, the reason our nation is overrun with violence, anger, death, and destruction is that the Holy Spirit is hindered by His Body.
Unlike David, they cannot say “I have prepared for the House of God with all of my might.” They do not care to build the House of God. Their affections are not set on God’s House because they do not have true affections for God’s heart.
You are not consumed because you don’t know; you don’t see it; you just don’t understand! You go to church and even advocate for the Church; you think the Church is important and give your money there.
Do you understand that from the beginning of the world, God had something in his heart? It was hidden there. In Ephesians 3, Paul reveals the mystery hidden in God’s heart. Yes, Paul also caught God’s heart, and it shaped him just as it shaped David. Paul claimed that his life was devoted to and sacrificed for the glory of the Church.
Here is his revelation of God’s heart: “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11).
The AMPC version explains verse 10 as follows: “[The purpose is] that through the church the complicated, many-sided wisdom of God, in all its infinite variety and innumerable aspects, might now be made known to the angelic rulers and authorities
(principalities and powers) in the heavenly sphere.”
THE HOPE OF A WORLD IN BONDAGE
Our world needs to know God’s wisdom. Our world is crazy. People are insane. People have lost their minds. We need the wisdom of God in our world, and that wisdom confronts the principalities and powers that abuse mankind.
If these principalities and powers are to be confronted with the wisdom of God, how does that happen? According to Ephesians 3, they can be confronted only by the church. If God is going to do something, it will be through the church, through the
body of Christ, which is the house of the Holy Spirit.
The church has been hidden in God’s heart since eternity past. David and Paul discovered it. If you were to go back into eternity and ask God, “What is your desire?” He would say without hesitation, “The Church!” If you were to ask God, “What do you want?” He would say, “The Church!”
So, if you are praying, “God, what is your will for my life?” God’s answer is, “The Church.” If you ask, “God, what do you want to do with my life?” His answer is “The Church!” If you ask God, “How can I serve you?” His answer will be “The Church.” The reason you struggle with this answer, or think it is too simple, is that you do not have God’s heart. I am not saying you do not love God. I am not saying you do not have a heart for God. I am not saying you are lost.I am simply saying that you have not been wrecked by the heart of God.
Your heavenly Father is telling you that the eternal desire in His heart is the Church. He is telling you that this is what I’ve always wanted: this body, this bride, that comes out of Jesus. This Church, which will be the habitation of the Holy Spirit, is what I’ve always wanted. Yet so many who belong to the Church do not
understand this amazing spiritual mystery of God. They are not committed to the Church. They do not live to make the Church magnificent. They attend. They give money (sometimes). They have friends there. They are grateful for it. But they will not give their lives to it. They will not sacrifice themselves for the Church. They will live and die seeking God’s will for their lives, seeking joy, seeking purpose, when all the while the answer was the very thing, they sat in every week.