Written by Paul J Bucknell on June, 02, 2020

God’s Superb Grace: The Lord’s Expectations for Our Lives (1 Chronicles 17:16)

The Lord’s Expectations for Our Lives

What is the goal of our Christian lives? Not many believers ask this question for our earthly lives. We are satisfied with our secure seat in heaven. But it is inevitable that the Lord also has immediate goals for our lives on earth. Each of us is sanctified to be more like Christ, as His Spirit shapes us into Christ’s image. I have written much more about this process in other places. But David’s subjective viewpoint in 1 Chronicle 17:16 hints at what God is seeking in our lives—no matter our given situation.

“Then David the king 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 this far?”” (1 Chronicle 17:16)

The Lord desires to especially manifest His grace in the lives of all His people.

Viewing Backwards at our Earthly Lives

David just heard from Nathan the Prophet about God’s promise to bless his house. David’s words reveal the extraordinary favor from God that he has experienced during his lifetime.

David’s response is one of the highest expressions of praise to God. God wants us all to reach this discovery of His grace in our lives that we might exalt His Name.

Now, I want to clarify that we are not David nor are our situations the same as his. They are not, nor should they be. But when we take God’s whole unique purposes for our lives into consideration, we find that the discovery of God’s reward for our faithfulness becomes like an icing on top of a cake.

Salvation forms the core grace from which our joy arises. Jesus died for us even while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:1). From the perspective of our salvation, we are unworthy. Our salvation is part of the “you have brought me this far.” David knew of his sins, even as we are aware of our sins and failures. We needed a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. David did too. God’s redemptive work serves as a platform of grace, calling each of us to shout forth God’s grace.

Grace Beyond

There is, however, a second layer of grace which God wants us to experience. The Lord wants to reward and work in our lives in such a way to magnify His special blessing in our lives. I am not speaking about possessing riches but the numerous experiences of His grace in our lives. Like David, we all have our unique backgrounds and persons in which God works.

God chose David as a small shepherd boy. But remember, God partially chose David because of his special love for God. David, in faith, sought out God’s work.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”” (1 Sam 16:7)

David saw how God trained his hands for war (Ps 18:34; 144:1; 2 Sam 22:35). David defeated Goliath the giant in the Name of the Living God. One grace event piled on top of another compelled David to wonder at God’s faithfulness to him.

“So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord.” (2 Sam 6:1)

Our Lives Too

The situation isn’t any different for any of His people. God’s choice of us in Christ sets off in a special way to manifest God’s marvelous grace (Eph 2:10). Each of our lives becomes a platform where God energetically works to pronounce His favor. The expected outcome of this revelation is our astonishment of God’s grace upon our lives—grace upon grace. David said, “What is my house that You have brought me this far?” We might say it differently, but the amazement of God’s abounding grace in our lives remains true.

The Lord seeks this twofold process for all His children: discovery and celebrate. This is for rich and poor, male and female, for every race and caste around the world. God desires to display His marvelous grace in each of our lives. His daily challenges for us become the setups wherein He tests our hearts and rewards us.

What if we fail Him? Does God give up His goal for us? No, the Lord continues to work in our lives. We can pick up right at the place of our relapse. The scriptures highlight God’s mercy, even when David fell. For example, when David stubbornly counted and taxed God’s people against the scriptures (2 Sam 24), God released His wrath upon the Israelites. The place, however, because of God’s mercy and grace became the chosen place to build His temple (Mt. Moriah)—the very place where Jesus died for His people’s sins to make atonement for them.

God’s Grand Purposes

God delights in bringing unexpected rewards into our lives. Even when the blessing comes because of a pure heart or wise choices, it is all undeserved. God chose Israel not because it was great, but because it was small.

“Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day.” (Deut 10:15)

God designed His blessings to delight us so that we, being stirred by His undeserving goodness, end up praising Him. Like David, we should wonder, “Why me? Who am I? Why not him or her?” God wants each of us to be a shiny, beautiful trophy wherein He manifests a special aspect of His goodness.

Believers often miss this purpose in our lives. We insist on comfortable lives, but He maintains a higher purpose of exposing His lovingkindness (Hebrew: chesed) in our lives. The Lord knows how to finesse our situation in such a way to remind us that we don’t deserve that grace. Don’t miss it!

Consider our spiritual gifts as an illustration. We don’t deserve these gifts; they become God’s grace magnified in yet another way. The Greek word for gifts ‘charisma’ means grace. We do not gain gifts because of our natural prowess but due to God’s glorious purposes. God empowers us through His Spirit, and so the very outworking of these gifts remain rooted in God’s grace.

As my wife and I watch our children leave our home, we are going through old things. Some little trinkets or notes remind us of big things God has done in our lives at one point or another. While busily raising our eight children, we had little time to reflect. But like David, there are special times when God reminds us of all the many ways He has been faithful to us over the years. And we are grateful—very grateful to His kindness. Who are we that God would choose to do so many‚ some big, some small, special things in and through our lives. None are too small to be noticed by God. They all pile up into one magnificent, “Thank you, God, for choosing and using even me!”

God sees all our decisions and the motivation of our hearts even when we make sacrifices. We might forget some of the things God has worked in our lives, but at other times, they come to the forefront of our minds like David. “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far?”

Viewing Ahead to our Heavenly Lives

This does not mean that we forget the eternal perspective! No, any gain that we receive on earth becomes of exquisite value in eternity. This thought sent another wave of delight, stirring David.

“And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (1 Chronicle 17:27)

Again, I do not forget this special context where God promised to bless David’s house. God did fulfill this through Christ. In a real sense, this promise to David includes us for as we believe in Christ, we find a great blessing that lasts forever. “And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of David His servant” (Luke 1:69).

If we have any question about this, we merely need to turn to Rom 4 and 9. Paul in Romans 4:5-8 says,

“But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”

David, and we who share a common faith in Christ, experience the joy of salvation by grace—not by works (I deserve it).

Paul tackles this differently in Romans 9. While Romans 4 spoke about the common means of grace by which all people become saved through faith in Christ, Romans 9 emphasizes the undeserved inclusion of both Jew and Gentiles. No one deserved salvation.

“And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. ²⁵ As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”” (Rom 9:23-25)

It is essential to affirm that the Gentiles, like the believing Jews and David, receive the same salvation through God’s choice. God called. God chose. God saved. Though unlovely, God loved us. This salvation, as most would agree, is forever. And so let me return to what David says, having proved our part in joining David in the enormity of God’s grace because it lasts forever.

David’s Words

“And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, O LORD, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.” (1 Chronicle 17:27)
These verses might seem mysterious, but it is because God has David deliberating how he and his house (we believers) are enriched by God’s gracious treatment right into eternity. The fellowship and blessing continue onwards, and so the blessing becomes untainted with the stains and fears on earth, nicely pictured in the Book of Revelation, as it continues on forever in the New Jerusalem.

• God’s pleasure—“it has pleased You.” All of this grace that David and we experience is due to God’s eternal pleasure. Because it is eternal, we need not fear of it ceasing.
• God’s blessing—“pleased you to bless.” The word ‘bless’ describes well our wonderful state of viewing God’s grace, again and again, crop up in our lives. Yes, it begins as a foundation in our faith in Christ, as Paul and David clearly stated, but His grace is everywhere sprinkled over our lives.
• God’s eternal blessing—“that it may continue forever before You.” The blessing continues because God has designated the Messiah, David’s descendant, to be blessed forever. As His bride, God’s people are wonderfully bound to the Savior.
• God’s blessing—“for You, O LORD, have blessed.” It is good like David has repeatedly stated, to often bring praise to God for His blessings. God shares these blessings with us not only to gain these resources but to pass them. The very way God orchestrates all these things becomes our blessings.
• God’s blessedness—“it is blessed forever.” This blessing lasts forever as it is sourced in Lord Yahweh’s pleasure. His blessing enters our lives forever.

Conclusion

God has wonderfully and purposely blessed us on earth to make an eternal narrative, Each believer ought to pay close attention to how God will work in and through our lives to display His abounding grace, not just in salvation but also in specific incidents through our earthly walk. We want to convincingly retell God’s story of abounding grace in our lives, even as David fittingly did.

Study Questions on God’s Superb Grace

1. Define grace.
2. What are the two layers of grace?
3. Which is the foundational layer of grace? Why?
4. Were you saved by your works or by grace through faith in Christ, David’s descendant?
5. Is this salvation only for a time on earth or forever? How do you know?
6. What is the point of the verses quoted from Romans 4?
7. How are the Gentiles part of the promise made to God (Romans 9)?
8. How has God specially outfitted you with opportunities to discover and carry out His grace?