2 Samuel 7: Do As You Promised

Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign LORD, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign LORD?
"What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign LORD. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant.
“How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears. And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt? You have established your people Israel as your very own forever, and you, O LORD, have become their God.
"And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, ‘The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you. - 2 Sam. 7:18-26 NIV

"Who am I?" David asks, and those few words show the relationship between David and the Lord God.  "There is none like you", he cries.  'Everything is done through your power, not our own.  Every great and awesome wonder comes from your hand and yours alone.'

Is it any wonder that God chose the line of David for the ancestry of the Messiah, that God's own son's earthly lineage would come from David.  "Do as you promised", David says, "So that your name will be great forever."   David didn't say, "So that my name will be great forever," but, so that God's name would be great forever.  I think that sometimes all of our prayers, that God will use us, are to no avail simply because, if we're really truthful, we're seeking the glory for ourselves rather than for God.  God's promises are always fulfilled, but they're for his glory and his glory alone.