Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Why Does God Bless Us? | Historical Books | 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Does God treat us with normal relational economics? What's the motive for obedience in the Christian life? Have you accepted God's unconditioned love? In today's episode, Patrick shares how 2 Samuel 7:1-17 reminds us of God's amazing grace for us. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Samuel 7:1-17

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. There's an economy to relationships. We all hate to admit it, but it's kind of true. We give more to those who give to us and less to those who give us less. Now, of course, sometimes we're generous and we give of ourselves to those who give us nothing. Everybody does that at some points. But when you have a friend who only takes, you know, they only take time, they only take service, they just take, take, take. you eventually feel burned and you say, you know, she's so selfish, I just can't take it anymore.

Of course, the inverse is also true. When someone is extraordinarily generous with you, when they're generous with their time, their hospitality, their resources, their connections, well, you often find yourself wanting to give that person more as well. Think of a mentor who gave of himself or herself to give you the chance to learn, to start a new job, to meet someone new, to grow in your faith, to grow in wisdom, if that person called you tomorrow and asked you for a favor, you'd think, well, of course I'll help you. You've done so much for me. How could I tell you no? But Jesus seemed to

do things somewhat differently than how we do things. He told us to love our enemies, bless those who persecute us. He told us to show hospitality to those who cannot show us hospitality in return. It seems like the relational economics of his kingdom operate differently. than the way the relational economics of the world operate. And it's obvious that they operate differently, not just because he says so, like he's the king and so you do what he says. No, relational economics operate differently in his kingdom because Jesus operates differently than most people do.

So how does Jesus operate? Well, to answer that question, I want to go back to the Old Testament and look at a story from the life of David. And it's helpful to remember David's story. I mean, he's a former shepherd. whom God calls from the flocks to anoint him as king over Israel. Even as David spends years on the run from Saul, God never abandons him. He protects David, he sustains David, he protects him from harm.

And eventually Saul dies and David has made king over the entire nation, so that now the anointing he received as a teenager when he was anointed as king will now it's become a reality. And yet it's clear that David is still, to one degree or another, operating under normal relational economics. because once his kingdom is established, once his palace and his throne are built, he doesn't abandon God. He follows the normal rules of relational economics.

And that's a good thing, right? You don't want to abandon God. Instead he says, no, I want to give something back to God because God's given so much to me. That's how normal relational economics work. David, in effect, wants to say to God, look how much you've done for me. Now, I need to do something to thank you, to pay you back. In 2 Samuel 7, we read this in verse 1. After the king was settled in his palace, and the Lord had given him rest from all of his enemies

around him. He said to Nathan, just a reminder, Nathan is a prophet. He was a prophet in David's court, someone who could speak on behalf of God to the king. He said to Nathan, the prophet, here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent. Nathan replied to the king, whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord with you. But that night, the word of the Lord came to Nathan. Okay, let's pause here for a moment. What do you think happens? Does God tell Nathan to go to David and say, this is a great idea,

David, you're right, I dwell on a tent and you dwell on a house. Please do build a house for me. I mean, think about how much I've done for you, David. This is the least you could do. No, that's not what God does. God does the opposite. You see, God works with a different form of relational economics. Here's what God says. Verse 5. Go and tell my servant David, this is what the Lord says. Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of the rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, why have you not built me a house of cedar?

Now then, tell my servant David, this is what the Lord Almighty says. I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth, and I will provide a place from my people, Israel, and I will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and will no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning, and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all of your enemies. The Lord declares to you that the Lord himself will

establish a house for you. When your days are over, and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise you up offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me. Your throne will be established forever.

David tells God, I want to build a house for you as a thanks. And God says, no thank you. Instead, I'm going to build a house for you. He explains that David's son Solomon will indeed build the temple that David himself wanted to build, but God makes it clear that it won't be because Solomon, is righteous or moral or worthy of building God's house, but simply because God is gracious and kind to

both Solomon and his father, David. Then God goes one step further and promises some sort of eternal throne and eternal kingdom, which will be ruled over by one of David's descendants. It's a promise that was so extravagant, it had to be hard for David to even understand. I mean, David has just been told that his children and grandchildren will be secure. that's hardly something that any king in the ancient world could expect. He's been told that his kingdom will somehow last forever. He's been told that God will dwell in a temple that's built by the hands of his son and that God will bless his people for generations to come.

And why is God doing all of this? Is it because David is such a stand-up guy? Is it because David is going to build a house for him? Is it because David deserves it? No. Let me say that again. No, David does not deserve any of this. He simply receives it because God is so good, because God is so gracious, because God is so kind to the undeserving, because God is so abundant and gratuitous in his blessings, because he is so cavalier and prodigal and his kindness. You see, that's the economy of relationships in God's kingdom. The all-deserving one, gives everything to the undeserving one as an act of totally unnecessary, totally over the top, totally wonderful love. He's showing David that the motive for obedience in the Christian life

and the motive for holiness in any life should never be a sense of indebtedness or even guilt before God. No, the best motivation for holiness in your life, for obedience in your life, is a sincere and pure joy in God's It's the knowledge that God has already given you so much and you're not trying to pay him back. You just want to enjoy him more. The best motivation for our faith is that God only ever promises us more of himself and more of his joy as we walk alongside him, not as a reward for obedience, but simply out of the kindness of his heart. We obey God not merely to tell him thank you. As important as that is, we obey God out of delight.

Because we know that there is nothing more delightful than to a good. enjoy him and to enjoy the good things at his right hand. This passage points us forward to Jesus, of course, long after David's descendants lost their throne and the nation of Israel ceased to exist. I mean, it gets to the point where it seems like God's promise to David about an eternal kingdom, an eternal throne, a son, a child, a descendant who would sit on that throne. It seems like it would be impossible given the political and social circumstances of Israel. And yet, David's bloodline, nonetheless endures. Jesus was a descendant of David, born through Mary and the Holy Spirit,

and his throne is indeed an eternal throne. His kingdom is indeed a eternal kingdom. God was faithful to his promises. God kept his ridiculously abundant promises to David, and he wants to do the same for you. God doesn't bless us to manipulate a obedience out of us, to create some sort of relational economy where we're living out of a debtor's ethic, always trying to pay God back for what he's done. No, God simply gives of himself to you because he loves to give, because he loves you. And then he invites you to join in on the fun. The reason we've been called to bless and to love the undeserving is because he blessed and loved us when we were undeserving. The reason we do it is because we love the beast. We're

of such radical generosity and we want to be more like him and we want to enjoy him more.