1When David was living in his house, David said to Nathan the prophet, “Behold, I live in a cedar house, but the ark of Yahweh’s covenant is in a tent.”
2Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.”
3That same night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4“Go and tell David my servant, ‘Yahweh says, “You shall not build me a house to dwell in; 5for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to another. 6In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’”’
7“Now therefore, you shall tell my servant David, ‘Yahweh of Armies says, “I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people Israel. 8I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. 9I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not waste them any more, as at the first, 10and from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will subdue all your enemies. Moreover I tell you that Yahweh will build you a house. 11It will happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your offspring after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
Chronicles is not just a repetition of the books of Samuel and Kings, it has deliberate differences. God knows these people are already broken, they don’t need every mistake recalled and documented again, and so it is written from a positive view point. Samuel and Kings are books that carefully detail the decline of the Children of Israel, while the book of Chronicles focuses mostly on the high points. It highlights the kings who were faithful to God, recalls battles won and victories gained. It details the hand of God in the deliverance of his people.
Chronicles shows David as a hero, in fact it leaves out key points like his affair with Bathsheba. This was David’s most famous fall, it is paraded for all to see in Samuel and alluded to in the Psalms. Why then is it not mentioned Chronicles? There are several reasons but perhaps the simplest is this, David had fully repented and sought God’s forgiveness. When God forgives he forgives fully, wiping the slate clean. No more is that sin flaunted in our faces, no longer does it keep us prisoner or cast us down with shame. David was forgiven and God does not cast up forgiven sin, he forgets it.
God’s ability to forgive far outweighs our ability to do wrong. That doesn’t mean we should just do what we like, but rather take the fresh start offered and live fully for him.