The text for today lifts before us Yahweh's choice of the family of David as the vehicle for God's divine gift to humankind. Yet the message marked a transition in David's status. According to the passage, David wanted to build Yahweh a "house." He proposed to do what all self-serving rulers in that ancient world would have done. Much of Israel's worship life was well established at that point. The tent which housed the Ark of the Covenant was a recognized institution. A conviction began to emerge that God dwelt within this tent in its Holy of Holies. King David wanted to build a divine residence of cedar which would contain the Holy of Holies. Nathan originally blessed this idea. But God changed God's mind and offered a second opinion. The temple would be built by David's son, Solomon. In…