2Sam 7:18 “Then David the king went in and sat before YHWH, and he said, ‘Who am I, O Lord YHWH, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me this far?’”

This is the question David asked of God when He promised to bless David’s house and establish his kingdom, promising that his sons would sit on the throne of the house of Israel forever (a wonderful promise worth studying). This promise was in response to a desire David had expressed, to build a house (temple) for YHWH. I find this to be so special. No sooner had David expressed His desire – he hadn’t even started preparations for building yet – than God was there blessing him with such an amazing blessing that David was “blessed right out of his socks”, as the saying goes. That’s our God, and that is how I have experienced Him. David’s question to God is one I have often asked myself. Who am I, Lord, that You should bless me so much? You have lifted me from nothing to what I am today.

I have nothing to boast of – it is all His grace! ome have asked me to talk a bit about myself – who I am, where I have come from. I don’t have much to tell really – I came from very little, just a very ordinary me. No airs and graces, no great qualifications – just very ordinary. But if I had to tell of what Jesus has done for me, and in me, then I could just write and write and write! I love Him so very much. I was born on the 7th of March 1955 in an insignificant town, Fort Victoria, in an insignificant Third World country, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the youngest son of a poor farmer and his teacher wife. My three brothers and two sisters were all much older than me, and consequently I grew up somewhat of a loner and extremely shy. Not the best kind of background for a preacher, is it?

I’m so glad that God does not consider man’s qualifications when He calls. There David was, keeping his father’s sheep in the desert. He was the last choice his own father would have made, and as for the great prophet, Samuel, he needed a special word from God before he chose David. Yet David grew to be one of the greatest kings that ever lived!