I'll read verse 17 just to remind us of what the context is, but Luke, or 2 Samuel chapter seven, last part of this chapter. Let's pray for God's blessing. Oh Lord God, our helper, help us now as we sit under the hearing of your word read and preached. Bless the work of preaching. Help, Lord. Bless the work of hearing. Help us, Lord. We pray that you, by the work of your spirit, would give us ears to hear, eyes to see, even to see him who is invisible. Hearts to believe. and to love, to choose, and to serve you, our God. Father, we pray that through the ministry of your word, you would save people and you would sanctify people, that you would teach us and train us in our faith to make us more useful to the master. We pray, Father, that as we worship you in this service, you'd also be changing us and transforming us and helping us and equipping us to go out into your world again this week for as many days as you will give us, to go out as humble, thankful, faithful servants of the Most High God, as disciples of Jesus Christ. as men and women, boys and girls, sealed and filled with your Holy Spirit. Father, we look to you to do these things for Christ's sake and for the glory of your name. Amen. 2 Samuel 7. I'll begin at verse 17. This is God's holy word. Nathan reported to David, all the words of this entire revelation. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, who am I, oh sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, oh sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant, Is this your usual way of dealing with man, oh sovereign Lord? What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, oh sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and have made it known to your servant. How great you are, oh sovereign Lord. There is no one like you. And there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O Lord, have become their God. And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, the Lord Almighty is God over Israel, and the house of your servant David will be established before you. O Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, I will build a house for you. So your servant has found courage to offer you this prayer. O Sovereign Lord, you are God. Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight. For you, O Sovereign Lord, have spoken. And with your blessing, the house of your servant will be blessed forever. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. There was a Scottish preacher of several centuries ago, Robert Murray McShane, that said this oft-quoted sentiment, what a man is alone on his knees before God, that he is, and nothing more. What a person is on his knees before God alone, that he is, and nothing more. In this last part of 2 Samuel chapter seven, we are privileged through the word of God to sit in on a private prayer meeting. And King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, we are allowed by God to engage in holy eavesdropping. The Holy Spirit has desired that this prayer, this private prayer, be recorded in the Bible for Christians of every generation to benefit from. What a privilege it is. In this prayer, we see the heart of David, a heart after God's own heart. In it, we read about promises made to David personally, but also promises from God to the church corporately. As we saw last time, the word of the Lord through Nathan to David, these promises rise high above and far beyond David. And the temple, and temporal earthly blessing, this prayer finds its fulfillment in Jesus, in the church, and in eternal blessings. You remember David had it in his heart to build a temple for the Lord, good desire. The Lord, however, through Nathan, the prophet, corrected David's desire on the one hand, and at the same time fulfilled David's desire beyond what he could ask or imagine. David hears the word of the Lord, verse 17, Nathan reported to David all the words of this entire revelation, and he immediately responds in prayer. And it's a model prayer in many ways. All of the word of God teaches us to pray. And this is one place that you can go to learn how to pray. If you say with the disciples, Lord, teach me to pray. Well, here's a prayer to go to, to see how did David pray on this occasion. And like the prayer that the Lord Jesus taught his disciples, all of God's word can teach us to pray, but especially that form of prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, called the Lord's Prayer, commonly. Like that prayer that the Lord Jesus taught his disciples, This prayer is marked by that first petition that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, hallowed be thy name, that the name of God would be glorified. This prayer of David is permeated, isn't it, by praise. Verse 22, how great you are, sovereign Lord, there's no one like you. And there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. Verse 26, do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. There's the great concern, the glory of God. Then people will say, the Lord Almighty is God over Israel. Verse 21, it's for the sake of your word and according to your will, it's for the glory of God. Verse 22, again, how great you are, sovereign Lord, there is no one like you. Someone said all our theology should be doxology. It should lead to doxology. All the things we learn from scripture should lead us to praise the God of scripture. All of our praying should be filled with doxology. Before we get to the other things we ask, hallowed be thy name. And you just see how this short prayer, it's really quite short, how often that praise of God, the glory of God, the hallowing of the name of God is present. So that's the first point, this prayer is permeated by praise. But we're going to look more particularly this afternoon at this prayer and three patterns of David's prayer that we can apply, I hope, to our own prayers as well. And the first is humility that the Lord would be good to us. Humility that the Lord would be good to us. Secondly, gratitude that the Lord has been good to us. And lastly, faith that the Lord will be good to us. This is how David's prayer is really organized. First, humility that the Lord would be good to us. I entitled this sermon, A Servant's Prayer. A Servant's Prayer. David was the king. He was a man of great gifts and graces and accomplishments. But before God, he is a humble servant. That characterizes this prayer. Humility of the man who is praying. He knew he was a humble servant of God. Aren't we all? Aren't we all? Isn't every Christian, whatever our place in life may be, we may be a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. We may have a high office in the government, in the military, at work, whatever it is. We may be the heads of our homes. But we're servants. And we should always pray as servants. We should pray the sentiments of Psalm 123. I lift up my eyes. There's another lifting up my eyes. I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master. As the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God till he shows us his mercy. We've been shown mercy even to become servants of God. Once we were slaves to sin, servants of sin, but we've been set free in Christ to be servants of God. That's who we are at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day. We're servants. How could we be anything other than servants when we live and move and have our being in Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate who said, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life a ransom for many. Our King Jesus was the suffering servant of Isaiah, Isaiah 53. And so the one who is our Lord was a servant. How can his people not be servants? We're servants of God. This prayer is a humble response to God's providence. David, you won't be the one to build the temple. That privilege will go to your son Solomon. Don't pass that over too quickly. How do you respond when God doesn't answer your prayers? Or when your desires and expectations are not what God ordains? Did David have, as one writer said, an initial pang of disappointment when he heard God's word through Nathan? A pang of disappointment at the disarrangement of earthly plans? Well, we don't read that he did. So we shouldn't assume that he did. Instead, David responds in prayer with humility. It shows us, I think, that it was God's glory and not his own glory that motivated David. I want to build a house for you. Why? If David's own glory was in view and that's taken away, he would have had a different reaction. But it was never his own glory. It was the glory of God. As long as God was glorified, David was pleased. So if God says, not you, David, your son, so be it, Lord. So be it. Our dreams may not be God's desires. How do we respond? God's plan we trust by faith is always the best for us. Ken Smith, who passed away several months ago, taught us many lessons, but I remember very strikingly one day what he said about prayer, and he said, God always gives me what I ask. And I think he stopped there with a pregnant pause for the shock to set in for ordinary Christians like the rest of us. What? God always gives you everything you ask? He said, yes, or He gives me something better, or he does something better. What a trust in the sovereign wisdom and providence of God, who promised to work out all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? David prayed, but he submitted his will to the wisdom and providence of God. David's prayer shows humility. It shows humility that the Lord would be good to him at all. Humble in his response to God's providence. but then humble in the questions he asks. Look at verse 18. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, who am I, sovereign Lord, and what is my family that you have brought me thus far? No hint of disappointment or entitlement or pride, only humility before the Lord. This is, again, so obviously a servant's Prayer. 10 times David calls himself in this prayer servant. Did you hear that? How often? It was servant. It was 10 times in this prayer. Your servant, your servant, your servant, your servant. And how does he address God? Seven times. Sovereign Lord. Sovereign Lord. We have the privilege of calling God Father, but he's the sovereign Lord God. The NIV translates that sovereign Lord in the Hebrew, it's Adonai Yahweh, Lord God. David bows as a servant before God's sovereign wisdom and acknowledges the Lord's undeserved covenant grace, that covenant name of God, Yahweh. Who am I? Sovereign Lord. What is my family that you brought me thus far? Humility that the Lord would be good to him at all. I was interested for several reasons to listen to President Trump's inauguration address. I think I've read it four or five times through. So many things have been said, not the purpose to go into that this afternoon. lots of things that people praised, lots of things that were utterly and thoroughly condemned by people. Sometimes it says more about the person, what they say, than about President Trump. But as I first heard it, and as I read it over and over and over and over and over again, my initial thought was my ongoing thought, where's the humility? Where's the humility? He says at one point that God saved him and the bullet went through his ear so that he could make America great again. Where is the humility? I actually trembled as I heard that speech. Again, there were things I thought were good. But I trembled because the Bible says God opposes the proud. but gives grace to the humble. You need to remember Nebuchadnezzar. Look at great Babylon that I have built. And you'll be a beast, like a beast in the field, until you recognize who you really are. Paul says in Romans 12, three, for the grace given me, I say to every one of you, do not think of yourself more highly than you ought. We shouldn't think of ourselves more lowly than we ought. We are image of God, men and women, boys and girls. If we're Christians, we're princesses and princes in the kingdom of God. But never think of yourself more highly than you ought. David said, you know your servant, oh sovereign Lord. I don't know exactly what he meant when he asked that question or made that statement, you know your servant, oh sovereign Lord, but made me think, do I know myself? God knows us. Do we know ourselves? Do we know who we really are? Winston Churchill is famous for saying of Clement Attlee, the Prime Minister in Britain, he's a modest man who has a lot to be modest about. I've got a lot to be modest about. And so do you. Augustine was asked once, what are the three most important virtues in the Christian life? And he said, these three, humility, humility, and humility. That's why the Bible constantly calls the people of God to be humble. Seek humility, Zephaniah 2.3. Put on humility, Colossians 3.12. Have a humble mind, 1 Peter 3.8. Clothe yourself, all of you, with humility toward one another, 1 Peter 5.5. And if toward one another, how much more before the sovereign Lord God? Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, this is what the Lord, the God of Hebrews, the Hebrews says, how long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? And that's a question that God asks people who haven't yet really trusted in Christ. How long will you refuse to humble yourself before God to acknowledge who you are and your sin and your rebellion, your need for a savior? And even as we come to Christ, we continue to wrestle with pride, the devil's sin, Adam's sin. C.S. Lewis said, if anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell them the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And it's a biggish step. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed. Jesus says in Luke 17.10, so likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants. We have only done what was our duty to do. Even if we did all of our duty, that's what we could say. We've just done our duty. But we haven't even done that. We haven't even done that. And so our hope, David's hope, was not in his own humility. He's not puffing himself up here with his humility. He's really honestly saying before, who am I? Who is my family? I have no claim at all before you, God. It's a wonder to me that you would have been good to me at all. His hope was not in his own humility, but in the sovereign grace of God, the grace that sent the Lord Jesus, David's descendant. the humility that was perfectly lived by the Lord Jesus Christ, and that compelled him to the cross. Going a little further, he fell, Jesus, with his face to the ground, and prayed, my father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will, but as you will. Remember, David had to submit to God's will, not you, David, to build the temple, Solomon, and God incarnate in Jesus Christ at the cross, yet not as I will, but as you will, the perfect suffering servant of the Lord. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. The humble person and humiliating work of Jesus should humble us, as it did David, who am I, sovereign Lord, and what is my family? that you have brought me this far. Humility that the Lord would be good to us at all. And then secondly, gratitude that the Lord has been good to us. How did David recognize God's goodness? Well, something that stands out in this prayer is that God had spoken to him. God had spoken. And as if this were not enough in your sight, sovereign Lord, you have also spoken. about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, oh sovereign Lord? Various translations of that last part of verse 19. The Hebrew says, this is your Torah for Adam. This is your Torah, again, law, direction, for Adam. And of course, that can be interpreted in different ways. One version translates it, and this decree, sovereign Lord, is for a mere human. It's the wonder that God would speak. Second, or First Chronicles 7.17, we get the idea. Thou hast regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree, O Lord. This is just an amazing privilege. You've been so good to me, to speak. Joel Beakey has an interesting interpretation of these words when he translates it as, this is the revelation for humanity, saying that these promises actually are for people in Christ. It's much bigger. But whatever the case it is, several times, David is thankful that God has spoken. Gratitude that God has spoken, God who at various times and various ways spoke in the past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken to us by his son. Be thankful, David's thankful for God's revelation and his salvation. Who is like your people Israel? The one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself. Speaking of the salvation of the children of Israel from Egypt, But that was then and now a pointer to ultimate salvation from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ to be safe under the Lamb of God, the blood of the Lamb. David is thankful for God's revelation, God's salvation. And he says, what more can I say? What more can I say? Verse 20, what more can David say to you? It's amazing how good God had been to Israel and to David. And we say that too, what more can we say? What then shall we say, Paul says in Romans 8, in response to these things, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how we not also along with him graciously give us all things. Gratitude that God has been good to us. So rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. And thirdly, we see a pattern in this prayer, faith that the Lord will be good to us. David had heard the word of the Lord, the promise that the Lord would build David a house and that it would be blessed forever. It was the promise again, not just of Solomon and an earthly temple, in an earthly house, but of Christ and the church and an eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is what God had spoken. This is the promise that he had made to David. And what does David do then? Does he simply believe the promise by faith and leave it at that? He does believe the promise in faith, but he doesn't just leave it at that. Verse 27 is very helpful to our prayer life as well. Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, I will build a house for you. So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. You see how David's prayer comes in response to the promise of God. He has faith that the Lord will be good to him and to his people, and that promise of God doesn't discourage him to pray, it encourages him to pray all the more. Based on God's faithfulness, David turns promises into prayers. Sovereign Lord, you are God, your words are trustworthy. As you have promised these good things to your servant, now be pleased to bless the house of your servant that it may continue forever in your sight. For you, sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing, the house of your servant will be blessed forever. Do we show a lack of faith by praying that way? God has said something, but we say, but Lord, do it, do it. Is that a lack of faith, thinking that he won't? No, David prays in response to the promises of God. One writer said so helpfully, your child, does not refrain from asking you because you have made a promise. Rather, just because of your promise, he asks all the more. God kept the promise to David. Christ came. Christ is building his church. He's blessing his house, his temple, the church made of living stones. So keep praying the promises. Like David said, that he had courage then to offer this prayer because God had spoken and his words are trustworthy. Keep praying the promises of God that God would bless the church, that God would bless his people, that God would build the church. Jesus promised, I will build my church. So what do we pray? Oh Lord, build your church. here, in this place, among us. Jesus promised that he would be with us to the end of the age. So we pray. Oh, Lord, go with us. Go with me into this night. Go with me into whatever tomorrow holds. Because you promised, I'm praying it. Do not forsake us. Comfort us, strengthen us, make us bold. Why? Because you promised to do those things. Jesus promised he would come again. He who testifies to these things says, yes, I'm coming soon. And so we pray, amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Let's pray.