Ligon Duncan

When we think of the attributes of God, we generally think of things like omniscience and omnipotence, justice and mercy, or holiness and sovereignty, attributes that speak of power, authority, and glory. But God also has an attribute that seems quite incongruous with his more spectacular attributes. It is also one that completes his character beautifully. Ligon Duncan said:

Consider what we learn about God from 2 Samuel 7. It is right in the context of that Davidic covenant. But look at how it starts: David wants to build a temple for the Lord. He is dwelling in a cedar-lined palace, and he looks over at the ark of the covenant of God—the visible symbol of manifestation of the presence of God with his people in the old covenant—and it is in a tent. It is a glorious tent. It is a relatively big tent for a nomad. And David says, “It’s not right for me to live in a palace while the ark of God is in a tent.” And his humility leads him to say, “Lord God, I want to build a temple for you that is greater than the palace that I live in. It’s not right that I live in something more glorious than what the ark of God is housed in.”
   God sends Nathan to say, “Are you going to be the one who will build me a house to dwell in?” and notice what God says: “For I have not dwelt in a house since the day I brought up the sons of Israel from Egypt, even to this day; but I have been moving about in a tent, even in a tabernacle. Wherever I have gone with all the sons of Israel, did I speak a word with one of the tribes of Israel, which I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’” (2 Sam. 7:6-7).
   That’s a glorious passage about the character of God. Do you know what it tells us? It tells us that this majestic, awesome, transcendent, creating, redeeming God is humble. In effect he says, “David, I want to tell you something. When my people were going through the wilderness, living in tents, I lived in a tent with them—right in the middle of it—and I never asked them to do anything for me, other than to let me live with them right where they were.”
   What does this tell you about the character of God? It is the same thing that tells us: “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory” (John 1:14). But it was the Father who had revealed that part of himself in the old covenant.

—Ligon Duncan, Preaching the Cross (Crossway, 2007), 61–62.

Preaching the Cross is a collection of messages from the 2006 Together for the Gospel Conference. You can download the entire message from which today’s quote was taken here.