Opening the Gates of Heaven Perry Stone

A “N O” I S J UST FOR “N OW” There are also times when God’s no may not be a permanent no but means, “No, just for now.” King David desired to build a house of God (temple) and amassed the spoils of war (gold and silver), actually preparing plans to construct a massive temple. Nathan the prophet came to David and told him to do all that was in his heart, for the Lord was with him—a word indicating to move forward with the building project (2 Sam. 7:3). Later that same night the Lord informed Nathan that David would not be the man to build God’s house, but God would permit a son after David to fulfill the plan (vv. 4–29). This prediction came to pass with Solomon (2 Chron. 3). David had previously pitched a tent on Mount Zion and hosted nonstop worship, even moving the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:12). This tent was called by scholars the tabernacle of David and was a continual place of singing and worship. The Book of Psalms is a songbook of words that were originally sung and not just read from a scroll. They were written under divine inspiration while priests and singers ministered at David’s tabernacle in Jerusalem. (See 1 Chronicles 15 and 16.) With a place like that and with such a desire to please and worship God, why would the Lord not permit David to build a permanent temple on the Temple Mount? In reality, David was already worshiping God in a tent on or near the holy mountain, so why the restriction from the temple? The answer was that David was a man of war and a man