"...a House for My Name..."

“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-16

Reflecting on the passage above, I have been appreciating the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of David. David had purposed in his heart to build a house for the name of the LORD. But the LORD spoke words to David that reached beyond his life time. His son Solomon did build the temple that the glory of the LORD dwelt in, but this was only a foreshadowing of what was to come. Now the seed of David, who is Jesus Christ, has appeared as the LORD God foretold in time past, and He is now building a house for the name of the LORD. This house is made not of brick and mortar, but of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and filled with the Holy Spirit. As the scripture says,

"...having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." Ephesians 2:20-22.

The hymn writer, Samuel Medley (1738-1799), wrote many years ago,

In Him it is ordained to raise
A temple to the Father's praise,
Composed of all the saints who own
No Saviour but the "Living Stone".

View the vast building, see it rise;
The work how great, the plan how wise!
Oh, wondrous fabric, power unknown
That rears it on the "Living Stone"!