2A Although God did not want David to build the temple, he prepared the builder, the site, and the materials for the building of the temple; God also revealed to David by His Spirit the pattern of the temple, and before David died, he gave this pattern to Solomon his son; thus, David fulfilled his ministry and co-worked with God for the completion of the building of the temple—2 Sam. 8:11; 1 Kings 7:51; 1 Chron. 22:14-16; 29:1-5; 28:11-19; Acts 13:22, 36.
3B David was zealous to build a temple for God (2 Sam. 7:1-3), but God rejected David's good intention; God sent Nathan the prophet to David to ask, "Is it you who will build Me a house for Me to dwell in?"—v. 5:
41 This shows that all our work and service in the church must be initiated by God and must be according to His desire; anything that is initiated or started by man, regardless of how much it is for God, is a religious activity devoid of the presence of Christ.
52 Our heart to serve God is acceptable, but our decision to do something for Him is not acceptable; God said to David, "Is it you…?"; God does not want us to decide anything on His behalf.
6三 因着大卫是敬畏神并与神合作的人,神借着拿单告诉他要停下建造殿的定意时,他没有反抗;大卫把他要完成建造殿的愿望停了下来,这行动乃是大事;和受恩(M. E. Barber)教士说过一句话:“凡不能为神的缘故不作工的,都不能为神的缘故作工”(认识生命与召会,二四三页)—路十38~42。
6C Because David was one who feared God and cooperated with God, he did not react when God told him through Nathan to stop in his determination to be the one who would build the temple; the act of David's stopping to carry out his desire to build the temple is a great matter; Sister M. E. Barber said, "Whoever cannot stop working for the sake of God cannot work for the sake of God" (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1953, vol. 1, "Knowing Life and the Church," p. 283)—Luke 10:38-42.
7D David's stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe: first, all the work in the universe should come from God, not from man; second, all that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God—2 Sam. 7:11-14a, 18, 25.
8E We must learn deep within that God wants only our cooperation; He does not need us to do anything for Him; we must stop all our opinions, decisions, and ideas; we need to let Him speak, let Him come in, and let Him command—Matt. 17:5.