2 Samuel 7:16

Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. -2 Samuel 7:16

Sorry for those of you who have been wanting to follow daily Advent blogs, I have allowed the bah-hum-buggery of this time of year and the unexpected accumulation of snow we've had in Twin Falls to get the better of me. And then I was reminded of this passage of scripture for the fourth Sunday of Advent and I realized how easily we get tripped up by our own failures or sense of importance.

In the above passage God is speaking to the prophet Nathan who is charged with speaking God's Word to King David. What precedes this line of scripture is David's ascendancy to the throne of Israel after war, intrigue and much difficulty. Once David was placed on the throne he realized that the ark of the covenant, the dwelling place of God's Name, still resided in a tent and this cause David much consternation. So Nathan responded, prematurely, that David would be the one to build God's Temple. To which God promptly corrected Nathan and informed him that would not be, but that David's rule and the descendants of David would carry on forevermore.

This whole idea of anything lasting longer than the 24-hour news cycle or one season of time; be it "the holidays" or Advent or the recession or the end of another year-ecclesiastical or secular-speaks to our very human perspective of time. And when we get depressed, because there is too much snow or not enough or because we've done all that we can do or we know that we have let things slip through the cracks, it just might be helpful to ponder what it means for God to be ever before the kingdom of David and David's descendants, through whom we have Jesus who promises to be ever before us no matter what we are going through.

Prayer:
O God of Eternity grant us the wisdom to gain some perspective. Help us own our triumphs and defeats, yes, but bring us up when we fell down and humble us before we congratulate ourselves too much. In this season of high expectations allow us all to gain the perspective of your love for us, love strong enough that it became human and dwelt among us. Amen.