“Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant. For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, Lord, have become their God.”—2 Samuel 7:20–24 (NKJV)

Sometimes the answer is no. Not because God is unkind, but because His plans are bigger, deeper, and more beautiful than we can imagine. What do we do in those moments when our desires are holy, our motives are pure, and yet the door we long to walk through stays closed? David’s story in 2 Samuel 7 gives us a glimpse of what it looks like to worship even when the answer isn’t what we hoped for. Here, David leaves us with a great example. In spite of receiving a “no” from God, he moves toward the Holy One of Israel with worshipful prayer—he’s indeed a man after God’s own heart. 

We come to today’s Scripture on the heels of David offering to build God a holy temple. In a conversation with the prophet Nathan, David expresses, ”Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent” (2 Samuel 7:2 NIV). His desire is to bless the Lord and give honor to His name. Although God will give the temple building privilege to David’s son Solomon, He sees David’s pure heart. We can rest assured that pureness of heart always pleases the Father. “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8 NIV)—the pure heart is one marked by an unyielding desire to bring delight to God in all things. 

God provides David with a gracious “no,” but promises to establish the House of David forever. Please allow me to respectfully paraphrase: God tells David, “You want to bless Me, but I’m going to bless you and my people.” God bestows upon David a dynasty, lineage, and legacy that would give birth to the Messiah, where all of humanity will be blessed. When David says, “For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them,” he’s trying to wrap his mind around the immense promise that the Messiah will come from his lineage. 

Just before this, we read, “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: ‘Who am I, Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?’” 2 Samuel 7:18 (NIV). Take note: The very first thing David does when he gets a “no” is to sit before the Lord. His posture is one of complete humility. I’m sure in David’s mind there could be no greater honor. You can tell by his prayer he’s overwhelmed by God’s goodness. David is simply awestruck! The prayer we have before us is an overflow of his tremendous gratitude and love for God. His prayer is an act of worship. 

True worship is God-centered—it’s declaring the truth about God’s character and His deliverance. Worship is given to the only One worthy of it. It washes us in His love, mercy, and grace as we trust God’s both willing and able to take action on our behalf. 

When we don’t get what we hoped for—even when our motives are good—it doesn’t mean God’s withholding from us. Sometimes, He’s making space to bless us in a way that reshapes legacy and rewrites history. Like David, we can sit before the Lord in awe, not because we received what we asked for, but because we’ve been seen, known, and loved by a faithful God. May our response to disappointment be worship. May our “no” become an altar of gratitude.

Pause: When we get a “no” to our dreams, do we sit before the Lord humbly?

Practice: Sit down before the Lord today and write your own prayer of worship and thanksgiving.

Pray: Holy, holy, holy are You God, maker of heaven and earth. You love us with an everlasting love. You love to bestow amazing and unimaginable good gifts on Your children. Help us to be true worshippers, worshiping in Spirit and in Truth. Give us the heart of David, one that desires more than anything to please You and bring You great joy. We love You, need You, and want more of You. Amen.