Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
Parallel Translations
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Isn’t my house so with God? Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
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Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
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For is not my house established with God? for an everlasting covenant He hath made with me, ordered in all things, and sure; for all my salvation, and all my desire, will he not make it to grow?
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Cross-references (36)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 23:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 55:3 Turn your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your soul will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
- 2 Samuel 7:14-16 I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my loving kindness will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before you. Your house and your kingdom will be made sure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” ’ ”
- Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
- Jeremiah 32:40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
- Psalms 89:28-29 I will keep my loving kindness for him forever more. My covenant will stand firm with him. I will also make his offspring endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
- Hebrews 6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil;
- 1 Chronicles 17:11-14 It 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. He will build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will not take my loving kindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before you; but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever. His throne will be established forever.” ’ ”
- Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch out of his roots will bear fruit.
- Isaiah 27:6 In days to come, Jacob will take root. Israel will blossom and bud. They will fill the surface of the world with fruit.
- Isaiah 61:8 “For I, Yahweh, love justice. I hate robbery and iniquity. I will give them their reward in truth and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
- Jeremiah 33:25-26 Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them.”
- Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It will be an everlasting covenant with them. I will place them, multiply them, and will set my sanctuary among them forever more.
- Amos 9:11 In that day I will raise up the tent of David who is fallen, and close up its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;
- Acts 13:34 “Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
- Hebrews 13:20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
- 1 Samuel 2:35 I will raise up a faithful priest for myself who will do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house. He will walk before my anointed forever.
- 1 Samuel 25:28 Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights Yahweh’s battles. Evil will not be found in you all your days.
- 2 Samuel 7:18 Then David the king went in, and sat before Yahweh; and he said, “Who am I, Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me this far?
- 2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’
- 2 Samuel 13:14 However he would not listen to her voice; but being stronger than she, he forced her, and lay with her.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Mark now, when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine; and when I tell you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant!”
- 2 Samuel 18:14 Then Joab said, “I’m not going to wait like this with you.” He took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom, while he was yet alive in the middle of the oak.
- 1 Kings 1:5 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
- 1 Kings 2:24-25 Now therefore as Yahweh lives, who has established me, and set me on my father David’s throne, and who has made me a house as he promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death today.” King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell on him, so that he died.
- 1 Kings 11:6-8 Solomon did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and didn’t go fully after Yahweh, as David his father did. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
- 1 Kings 11:38 It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
- 1 Kings 12:14 and spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.”
- Psalms 27:4 One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.
- Psalms 62:2 He alone is my rock, my salvation, and my fortress. I will never be greatly shaken.
- Psalms 63:1-3 God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water. So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory. Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.
- Psalms 73:25-26 Whom do I have in heaven? There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
- Psalms 89:3 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant,
- Psalms 119:81 My soul faints for your salvation. I hope in your word.
- Isaiah 4:2 In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
- Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain But that my kingdom may continue forever according to…
But that my kingdom may continue forever according to his promise.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 23:5 Although my house [be] not so with…
2Sa 23:5 Although my house [be] not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all [things], and sure: for [this is] all my salvation, and all [my] desire, although he make [it] not to grow.
Ver. 5. Although my house be not so with God.] Or, And is not my house so with God? so some render it interrogatively, q.d., Either it is or it ought to be. But in case it be not, as the truth is, "In many things we offend all," and keep not touch with God, - which is a hindrance to our complete happiness, - yet the foundation of God remaineth sure; neither shall our unbelief make the faith of God of none effect. {Rom 3:3} We change often, but he changeth not, {Mal 3:6} and his covenant is firm and immutable, {Jer 31:32-34} "ordered and established in everything," by him who will "not suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth."
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For this is all my salvation and all my desire.] In eo uno acquiesco. In this covenant with me and my house, through Christ, I rest fully satisfied, and have abundant complacency; through good assur ance of safety here, and salvation hereafter.
Although he make it not to grow,] i.e., Though the glory of my temporal kingdom grow not; but there fall out sometimes wants of issue, and ruin of state. Some make this to be the sense, Although I see not that blessed Branch, the Messiah yet to grow forth, who is all my salvation, and my desire, will, or longing. Compare Isa 4:2.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Although my house be not so with God; although…
Although my house be not so with God; although God knows that neither I nor my children have lived and ruled as we should have done, so justly, and in the fear of the Lord; and therefore have not enjoyed that uninterrupted prosperity which we might have enjoyed; but our morning light, or the beginning of that kingdom promised to me and mine for ever, hath been overcast with many black and dismal clouds, and my children have not hitherto been like the tender grass springing out of the earth, and thriving by the influences of the sun and rain; but rather like the grass that withereth away, or is cut off before its due time.
Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant: not-withstanding all our transgressions whereby we have broken covenant with God, and the confusions and civil wars. which have threatened our dissipation and utter destruction; yet I comfort myself with this, that God, to whom all my sins were foreknown before I committed them, was graciously pleased to make a sure covenant, to give and continue the kingdom to me and to my seed for ever, 2Sa 7:16, until the coming of the Messias, who is to be my Son and successor, and whose kingdom shall have no end.
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Ordered in all things; ordained in all points by God’s eternal and unchangeable counsel; and disposed by his wise and powerful providence, which doth and will overrule all things, even the sins and sufferings of my house, so far, that although he would punish them for their sins, yet he will not utterly root them out, nor break his covenant made with me and mine; as is said, Psa 89:31-34. Sure, or preserved or observed, or kept, to wit, on God’s part, or by God’s power and faithfulness, in the midst of all the oppositions and uncertainties to which it seems to be exposed on our part. Compare Rom 3:3; 2Ti 2:13. For, or therefore, as the Hebrew particle chi oft signifies; therefore, i.e. because God hath made such a covenant. This is, or, he is, he who hath made this covenant; or, in this is, i.e. it consists in and depends upon this covenant.
All my salvation; both my own eternal salvation, and the temporal salvation, or the preservation of the kingdom to me and mine.
All my desire, or, every desirable thing; the word desire being oft put for desired, or a desirable thing; as Psa 21:2; 78:29,30; Eze 24:16. David being deeply sensible, and having had large experience, of the vanity and uncertainty of all earthly things, here declares that the covenant made by God with him and his in the Messias, is the only happiness which he prizeth and desireth, in which he doth fully acquiesce.
Although he make it not to grow, i.e. my house, mentioned before. So the sense is, Although God as yet hath not made my house or family to grow, i.e. to increase, or to flourish with worldly glory and prosperity, as I expected; but hath for my sins cut off divers of my most eminent branches, and sorely afflicted my person and family; and although he may for the future deal in like manner with my sons and successors for the like miscarriages, which it is probable they may commit: yet this is my great support and comfort, that God will constantly and inviolably keep this covenant; and therefore, in the midst of all the shakings, and confusions, and interruptions which may happen in my house and kingdom, will preserve my line and family until the coming of the Messiah out of my loins, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; who, as he is the desire of all nations, Hag 2:7, so in a special manner is my desire, and the author of all my salvation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Although my house be not so with God,.... So…
Although my house be not so with God,.... So bright, and flourishing, and prosperous as the government of the just ruler before described; or is not "right" (m) with God, meaning his family, in which great sins were committed, and great disorders and confusions brought into it, as the cases of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah showed; or "not firm" or "stable" (n), through the rebellion of one, the insurrection of another, and the usurpation of a third; yet he believed it would be firm and stable in the Messiah that should spring from him, promised in the everlasting covenant; though the Jewish writers understand this of the firmness and stability of his kingdom and government: "but my house is not so", &c. like the morning light, which increases by little and little, and like the morning, which sometimes is not cloudy, and sometimes is; sometimes the sun shines clearly, and sometimes not; or like the tender grass, which is sometimes flourishing, and after withers; but so is not my kingdom, it is a perpetual one, given and secured by an everlasting covenant; and such certainly is or will be the kingdom of the Messiah:
yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; or, "for (o) he hath made", &c. the covenant by which the kingdom was settled on David and his seed was a covenant that would continue for ever, and would be kept, "observed", and "preserved" (p) in all the articles of it, and so be sure to his seed, particularly to the Messiah that should spring from him, in whom it was fulfilled, Luk 1:32; and the covenant of grace made with David's antitype, with Christ the head of the church, and the representative of it, and so with all his people in him, is an everlasting one: it was made with Christ from everlasting, as appears from the everlasting love of God, the source and spring of it; the earliness of the divine counsels on which it is formed, and blessings and promises of it, with which it is filled, which were before the world was; and from Christ being set up as the Mediator of it from everlasting: and it will continue to everlasting; it is a covenant that cannot be broken, will never be removed, nor give way to or be succeeded by another: it is "ordered in all things": to promote and advance the glory of all the three Persons in the Godhead, Father, Son, and Spirit; to secure the persons of the saints, and to provide everything needful for them for time and eternity: and it is "sure"; it stands upon a sure basis, the unchangeable will and favour of God, and is in the hands of Christ, the same today, yesterday, and for ever; its mercies are the sure mercies of David, and its promises are yea and amen in Christ, and are sure to all the seed. Though things may not be with them God-ward, as they desire, and could be wished for; though they may be attended with many sins and infirmities, the temptations of Satan, divine desertions, and various afflictions, and be guilty of many backslidings, yet covenant interest always continues; and so, though in the kingdom and interest of Christ in the world, there are, and may be, many things disagreeable; it may be attended with persecutions, heresies, scandals, &c. yet it shall continue and increase, and spread, and be an everlasting kingdom:
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for this is all my salvation: all depends upon this covenant; the safety of David's family, and the security of the kingdom in it, and to his seed, till the Messiah came, depended on the covenant made with him respecting that; and the spiritual and eternal salvation of the Lord's people depends upon the covenant of grace; which was contrived, formed, and settled in it, in which the Saviour is provided, and the persons to share in his salvation are taken into it and secured, with all blessings both of grace and glory:
and all my desire; to see it fulfilled; as it is the desire of good men to be led more and more into it, to see their interest in it, to have the blessings and promises of it applied unto them, and to be saved by it, and not by the covenant of works; and there is all that in it that a believer can desire to make him comfortable here, or happy hereafter; and it is what gives him delight and pleasure in all his troubles: it may be supplied he is, as well as "this is", and be applied to Christ, the ruler over men, described, Sa2 23:3; with whom the covenant of grace is made, in whom is the salvation of men; he is the author and the only author of it; in whom it is complete and perfect; "all" salvation is in him, and which they can claim as theirs; to whom is "all their desire"; and in whom is "all their delight", as it may be rendered; on account of the glory of his person, the fulness of his grace, and his suitableness as a Saviour; whom they desire to know more of, and have more communion with:
although he made it not to grow; though there may not be at present any growth of outward prosperity, or of inward grace, or even of the produce of the earth, Hab 3:17; though the horn of David is not yet made to bud, or his family in growing and flourishing circumstances, or the Messiah, the man, the branch, does not yet shoot forth, though he certainly would; or, "for shall he not bud forth" he shall, Jer 23:5.
(m) "non recta", Cocceius. (n) "Non est re firma", Vitringa in Jesaiam, c. xi. 1. (o) "quia", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator. (p) "scrvatum", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "conservatum", Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Altho' - Although God knows, that neither I, nor…
Altho' - Although God knows, that neither I, nor my children have lived and ruled as we should have done, so justly, and in the fear of the Lord; and therefore have not enjoyed that uninterrupted prosperity which we might have enjoyed. Covenant - Notwithstanding all our transgressions whereby we have broken covenant with God, yet God, to whom all my sins were known, was graciously pleased to make a sure covenant, to continue the kingdom to me, and to my seed forever, chap. vii, 16, until the coming of the Messiah who is to be my son and successor, and whose kingdom shall have no end. Ordered - Ordained in all points by God's eternal counsel; and disposed by his wise and powerful providence which will over-rule all things, even the sins of my house so far, that although he punished them for their sins, yet he will not utterly root them out, nor break his covenant made with me and mine. Sure - Or, preserved, by God's power and faithfulness in the midst of all oppositions. For this - Or, in this is, that is, it consists in, and depends upon this covenant. Salvation - Both mine own eternal salvation, and the preservation of the kingdom to me and mine. Tho' - Although God as yet hath not made my house or family to grow; that is, to increase, or to flourish with worldly glory as I expected; yet this is my comfort, that God will inviolably keep this covenant. But this refers also to the covenant of grace made with all believers. This is indeed an everlasting covenant, from everlasting, in the contrivance of it, and to everlasting, in the continuance and the consequence of it. It is ordered, well ordered in all things; admirably well, to advance the glory of God and the honour of the mediator, together with the holiness and happiness of believers. It is sure, and therefore sure, because well-ordered: the promised mercies are sure, on the performance of the conditions. It is all our salvation: nothing but this will save us, and this is sufficient. Therefore it should be all our desire. Let me have an interest in this covenant, and I have enough, I desire no more.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. Although my house be not so with…
Verse 5. Although my house be not so with God] Instead of כן ken, so, read כן kun, established; and let the whole verse be considered as an interrogation, including a positive assertion; and the sense will be at once clear and consistent: "for is not my house (family) established with God; because he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all, and preserved? For this (He) is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it (or him) not to spring up." All is sure relative to my spiritual successor, though he do not as yet appear; the covenant is firm, and it will spring forth in due time. See the observations at the end of the chapter. 2Sa 23:39.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Sa 23:5. Although my house be not so with…
2Sa 23:5. Although my house be not so with God — Although God knows that neither I nor my children have lived and ruled as we should have done, so justly, and in the fear of the Lord; and therefore have not enjoyed that uninterrupted prosperity which we might have enjoyed. Covenant — Notwithstanding all our transgressions whereby we have broken covenant with God, yet God, to whom all my sins were known, was graciously pleased to make a sure covenant, to continue the kingdom to me, and to my seed for ever, 2Sa 7:16, until the coming of the Messiah, who is to be my son and successor, and whose kingdom shall have no end. Ordered in all things — Ordained in all points by God’s eternal counsel, and disposed by his wise and powerful providence, which will overrule all things, even the sins of my house so far, that although he punish them for their sins, yet he will not utterly root them out, nor break his covenant made with me and mine. Sure — Or, preserved, by God’s power and faithfulness in the midst of all oppositions. For this is all my salvation — That is, my salvation consists in, and depends on, this covenant; even both my own eternal salvation, and the preservation of the kingdom to me and mine. Although he make it not, &c. — Although God, as yet, hath not made my house or family to grow; that is, to increase, or to flourish with worldly glory as I expected; yet this is my comfort, that God will inviolably keep this covenant. But this refers also to the covenant of grace made with all believers. This is indeed an everlasting covenant, from everlasting, in the contrivance of it, and to everlasting, in the continuance and consequence of it. It is ordered, well ordered in all things; admirably well, to advance the glory of God, and the honour of the Mediator, together with the holiness and happiness of believers. It is sure, and therefore sure, because well ordered: the promised mercies are sure, on the performance of the conditions. It is all our salvation: nothing but this will save us, and this is sufficient. Therefore it should be all our desire. Let me have an interest in this covenant, and I have enough, I desire no more.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Although my house ... - The sense of this…
Although my house ... - The sense of this clause (according to the the King James Version) will be that David comparing the actual state of his family and kingdom during the later years of trouble and disaster with the prophetic description of the prosperity of the righteous king, and seeing how far it falls short, comforts himself by the terms of God’s covenant 2Sa 7:12-16 and looks forward to Messiah’s kingdom. The latter clause, “although he make it not to grow,” must then mean that, although at the present time the glory of his house was not made to grow, yet all his salvation and all his desire was made sure in the covenant which would be fulfilled in due time. But most modern commentators understand both clauses as follows: “Is not my house so with God that He has made with me an everlasting covenant,” etc.? “For all my salvation and all my desire, will He not cause it to spring up?” namely, in the kingdom of Solomon, and still more fully in the kingdom of Christ.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Neither is my house, &c. As if he should…
Neither is my house, &c. As if he should say: This everlasting covenant was not due to my house: but purely owing to his bounty, who is all my salvation, and my will; that is, who hath always saved me, and granted me what I desired of him; so that I and my house, through his blessing, have sprung up, and succeeded in all things. (Challoner) --- He clearly distinguishes between the covenant made with him as to his earthy kingdom, and that which regards Christ. (Worthington) --- Even the former should be of long duration, Psalm cxxxi. 11. (Haydock) --- Up. Hebrew seems to contradict all that had gone before; "for it shall not flourish." (Calmet) --- Protestants, "although he make it not to grow;" (Haydock) unless we read with an interrogation, "And shall not my family flourish?" which was a natural reverence to ver. 4. (Calmet) --- God had blessed David with the dew of heaven, and with the fatness of the earth. (Menochius) --- His glory and happiness should not be of short duration, like the brightest summer-day, or a transient flower. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. For is not my house so with God…
5. For is not my house so with God — By taking this sentence, and also the one with which the verse concludes, interrogatively, we are relieved of the difficulties which have here puzzled interpreters. The meaning then becomes plain. David’s inspired vision of the righteous ruler is based upon the everlasting covenant which God had made with his house. To that covenant he here appeals as the ground of his hopes and oracles.
Arranged in all things — Provided with every thing that will augment its glory, or help to establish it.
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Guarded — Secured against dangers and failure. Even though David’s sons commit iniquity, yet will not Jehovah’s covenant be unfulfilled. See 2Sa_7:15.
Will it not become mighty — Will not this covenant grow stronger with the passing years, develope, and in the grace and providence of God at last be verified amidst incalculable power and glory? Such was David’s most ardent hope and trust, and well might he call it all his salvation and delight.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. For is not my house thus with God?
5. For is not my house thus with God?
for an eternal covenant hath he made for me,
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ordered in all and secured:
for all my salvation and all good pleasure
shall he not cause it to spring forth?
This seems to be the most probable rendering of an obscure passage. The meaning then will be: Is not my house in such a relation to God, because He has made an eternal covenant with me, that I may look for the righteous ruler to arise out of it, bringing with him all these attendant blessings?
“The eternal covenant” is the promise in ch. 2Sa_7:12 ff., to which David refers as the ground of his confidence in the fulfilment of this prophecy in and through his house. The epithets “ordered in all and secured” compare the covenant to a carefully drawn and properly attested legal document.
Finally he expresses his confidence that God will in due time cause the salvation promised to him and his house, and all His own good pleasure, to grow and prosper, using a metaphor suggested by that in 2Sa_23:4. Cp. Psa_132:17; Jer_33:15; and for God’s “good pleasure,” cp. Isa_53:10.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Although my house.—This verse is extremely difficult, and…
(5) Although my house.—This verse is extremely difficult, and admits of two interpretations. That given in the English is found in the LXX., the Vulg., and the Syriac, and if adopted will mean that David recognises how far he and his house have failed to realise the ideal description set forth; yet since God’s promise is sure, this must be realised in his posterity. Most modern commentators, however, prefer to take the clauses interrogatively: “Is not my house thus with God? for He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all, and sure. For all my salvation and all my desire, shall He not cause it to spring forth?” The Hebrew admits either rendering, but that of the ancient versions gives a higher idea of David’s spiritual discernment.
Ordered in all.—As a carefully drawn legal document, providing for all contingencies and leaving no room for misconstruction.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Although my house, etc. The rendering of the Authorized…
Although my house, etc. The rendering of the Authorized Version is that of the ancient versions, and is to be retained. David could not but feel that his house was too stained with sin upon sin for him to be able to lay claim to have been in fact that which the theocratic king was in theory, and which David ought to have been as the representative of Christ, and himself the christ, or anointed of Israel"s God. But most modern commentators take the negatives as interrogative, and, therefore, as strong assertions.
For is not my house so with God? For he had made with me an eternal covenant, Ordered in all things, and secure: For all my salvation and all my desire, Shall he not make it to grow?
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But surely David had failed in realizing the better purposes of his heart, and it was of God"s good pleasure that the covenant, in spite of personal failure, remained firm and secure.
Comfort from the everlasting covenant.
David, as he approached the close of life, had this vision (vers. 2-7) of the just king, and the happiness which would attend his reign. It reminded him of what ought to have been the character of his own rule, and what might have been its blessedness. The perfect realization of the picture by himself and his subjects was not, indeed, possible; but the actual condition of things was not inevitable. He knew that he himself had largely contributed to the sins and troubles of his "house" and of the nation. And now life was nearly over; and as the past could not be undone, neither could he hope to repair the mischief it had produced. Under the sadness of his reflections, he finds relief and consolation in the memory of the "everlasting covenant" which God had "made with" him, which ensured that from his house should arise One in and by whom would be realized the perfect ideal of a Divine King and kingdom. His utmost "desire" would then be fulfilled, and his "salvation" effected. For it seems that as David, in the hundred and tenth psalm, calls his great Son his "Lord," so here he recognizes him as his Saviour. These words of David have often been used by godly people for their own comfort; and the hymn of Dr. Doddridge, founded upon them, commencing, "My God, the covenant of thy love," has ministered consolation to thousands. We shall see that there is good reason for such an application of them.
I THE COVENANT. The word properly signifies a mutual agreement between two or more persons. When used, however, of a transaction or arrangement between God and men, the idea of agreement as between two contracting parties retires into the background, or vanishes altogether; and the word designates, on the one hand, the promises of God, and, on the other, his requirements. In this passage it refers to the Divine promise to David and his house of an everlasting kingdom, (2Sa_7:12-16) which was in fact the promise of the Christ, and of all the blessings (poetically set forth in ver. 4) which his coming and reign involved. In the time of Isaiah it was seen that this covenant was in effect made with all repentant and believing souls, and that the "sure mercies of David" (the blessings promised to him) included the spiritual mercies for which they hunger and thirst. (see Isa_55:1-3) Indeed, in the fourth verse of that chapter, David and his illustrious Descendant are identified, as in other Scriptures the latter is called "David" (Jer_30:9; Eze_34:23, 24 37:24, 25; Hos_3:5) It will thus be seen that our text may be used by Christians in its original purport. But if there were any doubt of this, the direct application of the term "everlasting covenant" to the promises of God in and through the "Lord Jesus," and sealed with his "blood" (Heb_13:20) promises made to all who have faith in Christ establishes the propriety of the use of the words by Christians, though it were in a sense only analogous to that which they originally bore. Notice:
1. The contents of the covenant.
(1) The promises of "all spiritual blessings," yea, of all needful temporal blessings pardon, renewal, adoption, sanctification, guidance, support, comfort, preservation, etc., terminating in eternal life; in a word, salvation.
(2) The requirements of faith in Christ and obedience to his laws.
2. Its qualities.
(1) "Ordered in all things." Well arranged; the product of perfect wisdom, and worthy of it; so constituted as to be adapted to its purpose, fitted for the wants of men, suited to reveal and glorify God.
(2) "Sure." More literally, "guarded," "preserved," and therefore secure and sure. God takes care of his own Word. Enemies may assail it, but he watches over and preserves it. Foolish friends or professed friends may misinterpret it, may narrow it so as to make it speak the language of their own particular sect, and promise good only to its members, may overlay it by traditional interpretations, or otherwise veil it from the sight of men as if it were too sacred for common eyes, or substitute for it "another gospel, which is not another", (Gal_1:6, Gal_1:7) which they regard as more in harmony with the advanced intelligence of the times; but, amid and through all, God"s covenant abides sure, the only basis of his gracious dealings with men, the secure basis of men"s hopes and life.
(3) Everlasting. An assertion that might be made in respect to its origin in the eternal thought and purpose of God, but which is made of its enduring character. It is a covenant which abides the same evermore, which God will never alter, and will be eternally fulfilling in the experience of his children. "The Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you". (1Pe_1:25)
3. With whom it is made. "With me." The covenant was made to David directly and personally, through Nathan. The covenant of God in the gospel is with all those who conform to its requirements all who repent, believe, and obey. Whoever sincerely accepts Christ as Saviour and Lord, is warranted to regard the promises of God as made to himself, and will be able to do so with increasing confidence as his faith, love, and holiness increase. These are at once the work of the Holy Spirit, and his witness to each Christian that he is a Christian indeed, one of "the children of God," who are "heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ". (Rom_8:16, Rom_8:17)
II THE ESTIMATION IN WHICH IT IS HELD. The believer values it as beyond all price, because:
1. It assures him of salvation. "This is all my salvation salvation in the fullest sense, salvation from all evil to the enjoyment of all blessing, a salvation everlasting as the covenant.
2. It meets and satisfies his best, his utmost longings. "All my desire delight, pleasure. The aspirations after perfect communion with God, and likeness to him and eternal happiness in him, all are met and satisfied by the promises of God.
III THE COMFORT IT AFFORDS. "Although my house, yet," etc. Similarly, the Christian may realize unfailing support and consolation from the consciousness of being interested in the everlasting covenant.
1. In view of his past and present life. Its unfulfilled ideals, disappointed hopes, broken vows, wasted energies, poor results (material or spiritual); in view of sins committed, work undone or ill done; after sad experience of the unreliableness of the promises of men (whether through changed mind, or changed circumstances, or death); or again, when he thinks with sad heart of the moral condition of his "house" (often a distressing sight to godly parents), or the painful circumstances in which it may be placed through bereavements or worldly misfortunes; or finally, when he looks upon himself, contrasting what he might have become with what he is it is a thought to bring rest and hope that God has made with him an everlasting covenant, which remains secure and unchanged amid all changes, and assures of forgiveness of all that has been wrong and defective, and eternal profit from all that has been painful, and final and complete deliverance from all sin and sorrow.
2. In anticipation of the future.
(1) The future of this life. Its uncertainties, its possible or probable troubles, personal, domestic, national, etc. "I know not what is before me, but this I know, that God has made with me a covenant which cannot fail.
(2) Its approaching end and the eternal future. The possible suddenness or painfulness of the end; its possible loneliness, through the deaths or removals of those who it had been hoped would be near to impart consolation; in the case of the aged, the certainty that departure from this world cannot be long delayed; the dimness and strangeness of the invisible world, and the awfulness of eternity; the constitutional dread of death which haunts some; the dread, at least the awe, which sometimes visits all as they think of the account to be given of life to the holy Judge. How blessed under all anxieties and forebodings to say, "I know whom I have believed"; (2Ti_1:12) I am sure he will not forsake me, but will "deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom"; (2Ti_4:18) for "he hath made with me an everlasting covenant," etc."!
Let Christians aim so to live that they may ever enjoy such consolation. Let all seek to make it their own; for it is available for all. Hear the Word of the Lord before referred to: "Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David". G.W. (Isa_55:3)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Although my house be not so with God.
2Sa_23:5
Although my house be not so with God.
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Davids sorrow and resource
The great and elevated among mankind have sorrows proportioned to their greatness, as the highest points of earth are most exposed to the fury of the fiercest storms. Kings have their griefs as kings.
I. Davids domestic sorrow: My house is not so with God. Many were the occasions when this distinguished man had to say: The sorrows of my heart are enlarged: bring thou me out of my distresses. All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me. I sink in deep waters (2Sa_22:5-6.) Probably as a king, as a public man, David more habitually and simply cast himself upon the Lord. As a domestic man, he was less upon his guard. He expected no lion, no bear, no Goliath difficulty in his home; he therefore did not meet home temptations and troubles as he had met them: I come to Thee in the name of the Lord of hosts. And some of you may now be drinking of a similar cup of domestic bitters.
II. Let us look at Davids personal resource: Yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant.
1. In duration it is everlasting. From everlasting the counsel of peace was between them both--the Father and the Son; the Son, who as Messiah was to sit and rule upon His throne, and be a priest upon His throne (Zec_6:13.) It is that covenant, which, to use the forcible language of Paul to Titus, God, who cannot lie, promised in Christ before the world began.
2. Observe its completeness: Ordered in all things: This is all my salvation, and all my desire. Nothing is left to captious chance; nothing to inconstant and changeable man. There are no contingencies with God; nothing takes Him by surprise.
3. Look also at its certainty: Sure. The uncertainty of all earthly things is one sad ingredient in the cup of earths bitterness. Such was Davids personal resource at seventy, amidst domestic sorrow. And when we look at the sufficiency: of it, we may well ask, What has the man of the world to fall back upon, when all his earthly hopes are blighted; what to be compared with the believers resource? (J. East, M. A.)
Davids dying song
How many choice thoughts have we gained in the bedchamber of the righteous, beloved? I remember one sweet idea; which I once won from a death-bed. A dying man desired to have one of the Psalms read to him, and the 17th being chosen, he stopped at the 6th verse, Incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech, and faintly whispering, said, Ah, Lord, I cannot speak, my voice fails me; incline Thine ear, put it against my mouth, that Thou mayest hear me. None but a weak and dying man, whose life was ebbing fast, could have conceived such a thought. It is well to hear saints words when they are near heaven--when they stand upon the banks of Jordan. But here is a special case, for these be the last words of David.
I. The Psalmist says he had sorrow in his house. Although my house be not so with God. What man is there of all our race, who, if he had to write his history, would not need to use a great many althoughs? If you read the biography of any man, as recorded in the Sacred Word, you will always find a but, or an although, before you have finished. Naaman was a mighty man of valour, and s great man with his master, but he was a leper. There is always a but in every condition, a crook in every lot, some dark tint upon the marble pillar, some cloud in the summer sky, some discord in the music, some alloy in the gold. So David, though a man who had been raised from the sheepfold, a mighty warrior, a conqueror of giants, a king over a great nation, yet had his althoughs, and the although which he had was one in his own house.
1. But I imagine that the principal meaning of these words of David refers to his family--his children. David had many trials in his children. It has often been the lot of good men to have great troubles from their sons and daughters.
2. What must I say to any of those who are thus tried and distressed in estate and family? First, let me say to you, it is necessary that you should have an although in your lot, because if you had not, you know what you would do; you would build a very downy nest on earth, and there you would 1ie down in sleep; so God puts a thorn in your nest in order that you may sing. It is said by the old writers that the nightingale never sang so sweetly as when she sat among thorns, since say they, the thorns prick her breast, and remind her of her song. So it may be with you. Ye, like the larks, would sleep in your nest did not some trouble pass by and affright you; then you stretch your wings, and carolling the matin song, rise to greet the sun. Trials are sent to wean you from the world; bitters are put into your drink, that ye may learn to live upon the dew of heaven: the food of earth is mingled with gall, that ye may only seek: for true bread in the manna which droppeth from the sky. Your soul without trouble would be as the sea if it were without tide or motion; it would become foul and obnoxious. But, furthermore, recollect this, O thou who art tried in thy children--that prayer can remove thy troubles. There is not a pious father or mother here, who is suffering in the family, but may have that trial taken sway yet. Faith is as omnipotent as God Himself, for it moves the arm which leads the stars along.
II. David had confidence in the covenant. Oh! how sweet it is to look from the dulness of earth to the brilliancy of heaven! How glorious it is to leap from the ever tempest-tossed bark of this world, and stand upon the terra-firma of the covenant! So did David. Having done with his Although, he then puts in a blessed yet. Oh! it is a yet, with jewels set: He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.
1. David rejoiced in the covenant, because it is Divine in its origin. Yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant.
2. But notice its particular application. Yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant. Here lies the sweetness-of it to me, as an individual.
3. Furthermore, this covenant is not only Divine in its origin, but it is everlasting in its duration.
4. But notice the next word. It is ordered in all things. Order is heavens first law, and God has not a disorderly covenant. It is an orderly one. When He planned it, before the world began, it was in all things ordered well.
5. That word things is not in the original, and we may read it persons, as well as things. It is ordered in all persons--all the persons whose names are in the covenant; it is ordered for them, and they shall come according to the promise: All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.
6. To wind up our description of this covenant, it is sure. We cannot call anything sure on earth; the only place where we can write that word is on the covenant, which is ordered in all things and sure.
III. The Psalmist had a satisfaction in his heart. This is, he said, all my salvation, and all my desire.
1. He is satisfied with his salvation.
2. Then, the Psalmist says, he has all his desire. There is nought that can fill the heart of man except the Trinity. God has made mans heart a triangle. Men have been for centuries trying to make the globe fill the triangle, but they cannot do it; it is the Trinity alone that can fill a triangle, as old Quarles well says. There is no way of getting satisfaction but by gaining Christ, getting heaven, winning glory, getting the covenant, for the word covenant comprises all the other things. All my desire--says the Psalmist. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The everlasting covenant, the believers support under distress
Now there are three parts of this last prophecy of David:, The first of them concerns the subject of all prophecy and promises, that he had preached about and declared, and that is Christ himself, in the third and fourth verses. The second of them concerns himself, as he was a type of Christ (2Sa_23:5.) The third part concerns Satan and the enemies of the Church, in opposition unto the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
I. A great surprisal and disappointment; Although my house be not so with God. I have looked that it should be otherways, saith he, that my house should have a great deal of glory, especially that my house should be upright with God; but I begin to see it will be otherwise. The best of the saints of God do oftentimes meet with great surprisals and disappointments in the best of their earthly comforts: their houses are not so with God. The reasons hereof why it may be thus, are:
1. Because there is no promise of the covenant to the contrary. There is no promise of God secures absolutely unto us our outward comforts, be they of what nature they will, be they in our relations, in our enjoyments, in our persons, of what kind they will, why yet we may have a surprisal befal them in reference to them all; because there is no promise of God to secure the contrary, therefore it may be so.
2. Sometimes it is needful it should be so, though we are apt to think the contrary; and that for these three reasons:
(1) To keep continually upon our hearts a due awe of the judgments of God; of the actings of Gods providence in a way of judgment; which otherwise we should be apt to think ourselves freed from.
(2) It is needful to keep us off from security in ourselves.
(3) They are sometimes actually needful to awaken the soul out of such deep sleep of present satisfaction, or love of this world, which nothing else will do.
That which we should learn from hence, by way of use, is:
1. Not to put too great a value upon any contentment whatever we have in this world, lest God make us write an although upon it.
2. Let us be in an expectation of such changes of Providence, that they may not be great surprisals unto us.
II. That the great reserve and relief for believers, under their surprisals and distresses, lies, in betaking themselves to the covenant of God, or to God in His covenant. Although my house be not so with God. Why do they so?
1. They do it because of the author of the covenant.
2. The second reason is taken from the properties of the covenant; what kind of one it is: and they are three. It is an everlasting covenant. His a covenant that is ordered in all things. And it is a covenant that is sure.
(1) It is the great relief of our souls, because it is an everlasting covenant. How is this everlasting? It is everlasting in respect of the beginning of it; it is everlasting in respect of the end of it; and it is everlasting in respect of the matter of it.
(2) The second property of this covenant is, That it is ordered in all things. What is order? Order is the disposition of things into such a way, such a relation one to another, and such a dependence one upon another, as they may all be suited to attain their proper end. This is order. Now, saith he, this covenant is ordered. These are the heads of the glorious order of this covenant, that gives it its life, beauty, and glory. Its projection was in the wisdom and love of the Father. It had a solemn confirmation in the blood of the Son: hence the blood of Christ is called the blood of the covenant. But when all this is done, how shall this covenant be executed? That is the work of the Holy Spirit.
He hath undertaken two things.
(1) To assure our souls of all things on the part of God. And
(2) to undertake on our parts to give us hearts, that we shall love Him, and fear Him.
There is an addition of order, in reference to the matter of it, here expressed.
(1) It is ordered in all the things of grace on the part of God.
(2) It is ordered in reference unto sin. There was a great deal of glory and beauty in the first covenant; but there was no order taken about sin; that, if any sin came in, the first covenant was gone and broken, and of no use any more.
(3) The last property of this covenant is, that it is sure. It is ordered in all things, and sure. If it had not been sure, it would not have been a relief unto us.
The springs of the security of this covenant are two:
1. The oath of God;
2. The intercession of Christ. (J. Owen, D. D.)
Household religion
Last words of dying David. As the dying are sometimes visited with a wave of physical strength to which they were strangers in life, so often in death the believer is blessed with a mental and spiritual vision, he rises to a state of exultation in which he feels, sees, comprehends things altogether beyond his usual ken. At evening-time there is often marvellous light for the child of God. To King David it took the form of a vision of the ideal King that one day should arise (see marg. R.V.) No contemporary suggested it, no history fanned a recollection; it was an inspiration of God. (2Sa_23:2.) Nothing else was sufficient to explain how a warrior of those brutal days came to conceive of a kingdom that should be as morning light after darkness. Not even yet has a kingdom of earth appeared that might be so described. Where is the realm to-day whose working-classes, e.g., would say it was as a morning without clouds? David, like Abraham, saw afar off the day of Christ. Then, turning from the vision of the ideal future to the actual present, the bitter confession of the text is made.
I. We have here the confession of the disappointed idealist. Compared with others, David, easily first of the kings, gave peace from enemies round about, established religion, and by his hymns and personal character made it popular, and made internal order and justice sure. The secret of his success was the secret of his acknowledgment of failure, viz., that he had a very lofty standard which he felt he had failed to reach. The explanation of many a believers depression, and of many an earnest workers discouragement.
II. We have here the confession of the disappointed Godly parent. We know what had happened in the matter of Absalom, and what subsequently transpired between Adonijah and Solomon. Coming events which cast their shadows before upon the dying fathers heart. He saw there was no likelihood that the ideal he had failed to attain would be attained by any of his house. And this, although a fathers hope will linger longer than anyones respecting his children. We have then, here a dying fathers pillow stuffed with thorns because his family is not right with God. In the dying hour it is our own kith and kin we want around us--fortune, fame, etc., are of little moment--and if believers ourselves the all-consuming anxiety is how do they stand with God? What explanations or warnings may we get from Davids instance?
(1) The mothers of his children were, for most part, Godless mothers. His marriages were either marriages of convenience (neighbouring princesses) or the outcome of inflamed passion.
(2) David apparently gave all his time and strength to his kingdom, and neglected his family.
(3) Davids own life must have been a sore hindrance to his influence. (R. Bevan Shepherd, M. A.)
Davids distress, consolation, and experience
I. A depth of distress. My house, says David, is not so with God. He had many trials; but with regard to the affliction before us, we may observe two things; that it was domestic; and that it was principally, though not entirely, of a moral nature.
II. An all-sufficiency of consolation. Although my house is not so with God.
1. And first it tells us that this covenant is everlasting. Its counsels and its contrivances were from eternity.
2. Secondly, he tells us that this everlasting covenant is ordered in all things. Nothing in it is left to any contingency, nothing left to the intermeddlings of men.
3. Thirdly, he tells us that this covenant ordered in all things is sure. The covenant of works made with Adam was soon destroyed; the national covenant of the Jews was soon destroyed; and the people, dispersed over the face of the earth, remain to this day a proverb and a by-word. But this covenant is unchangeable; it is as sure, as the truth of God, as the faithfulness of God can make it.
4. Fourthly, the importance he attached to it. It is all my salvation, says he. All my salvation requires to be done is here, and all my salvation requires to be given is here. And how much is required? Is the pardon of our sins necessary? There it is. Is holiness necessary? There it is. Is strength necessary? He will put strength in us. Is grace necessary? This covenant gives it. Is glory necessary? It provides it. Is God necessary Himself, with all His relations and attributes? This is the grand provision in the covenant--I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They have all of them a God, each a God for himself; a God to guide them, a God to guard them, a God to supply all their need from His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
5. He tells us also of the love he bare to it. It is all my desire. What can I wish for besides?
III. An instructive experience.
1. This experience of David calls upon you, in the first place, and says, see what variations there are in the views and the feelings even of the Godly. If it is now dab, with them, the day is neither clear nor dark, as Zechariah says, it is a mixture of both. Every thing with regard to them now is a chequered scene. The image of the Church now may be a bush burning with fire, and not consumed; and the motto of the Church should be, Perplexed, but not ill despair; cast, down, but not destroyed.
2. This experience admonishes you, in the next place, and says, do not look for too much here. There are some persons, who idolize life; but after all, what is it found to be? In what condition, and at what period of it, does it effectually belie the language of Young, who says that, for solid happiness--
Too low they build who build beneath the stars?
They are walking in a vain show, they are disquieting themselves in vain; they are seeking the living among the dead.
3. This experience admonishes you how to improve your afflictions; and how to render them, not only harmless, but even beneficial. And this will be the ease, when, like David, we are turned towards Him, and ask, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night? Though no affliction for the present is joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. The ploughman is not angry with the ground; but he drives the ploughshare through it to prepare it for the reception of the seed. The husbandman is not angry with the vine; but he cuts it, and prunes it, in order that it may bring forth more fruit. As constantly as the ox is in the field of labour, he must have the yoke on; and Jeremiah compares affliction to a yoke, and says, It is good for a man to bear the yoke. Let but the Lord impose it upon us, and it will sit easy, and it will bear well.
4. This experience of David admonishes you not to cherish discontent, nor to dwell principally on the dark side of your condition, but to cherish cheerfulness, to look on the bright side.
5. What you are principally to derive from this experience is to see what resources genuine Godliness has. From what you have heard, you learn that it-does not exempt; its votaries from afflictions; but then, you see, it sustains them under those afflictions; it turns them, at least, into a blessing. (W. Jay.)
The covenant of grace, a support under sorrow
Standing on the borders of the eternal world, David looks back to his humble original, and blesses that goodness Which God had displayed to him, in elevating him to eminence both in the Church and the state.
I. Even the children of God, those who are within the bonds of His covenant, may have to contend with domestic afflictions, may have to lament their errors and their falls, and must be extended on the bed of death.
II. The nature of this covenant. It was primarily made with the glorious Redeemer, as the head and surety of believers; but it is also made with all those who, by faith, accept that Saviour who has ratified it with His blood, and who make of this covenant thus sealed, all their salvation and all their desire.
1. It is everlasting; it is, in the language of the apostle, The eternal purpose which the Father purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. All the manifestations of it in time, and all the blessings which constantly flow from it, are only the accomplishment of the gracious designs that were formed infinite ages before a creature lived.
2. It is ordered in all things; planned and arranged by Him whose knowledge is infinite, and whose wisdom is unerring; by Him rendered so comprehensive that all things, all possible exigencies, all conceivable events that can befall the Christian, are provided for; every difficulty, every trial, every, tear, and every struggle, were foreseen; together with the effects to be produced by them.
3. This covenant is sure. If there be any truth in the promise and in the oath of Jehovah; if there be any strength in that mighty Redeemer, who is its surety, or any virtue in that blood which sealed it, then those who have a personal interest, in it, may triumph in the stability of their hopes. (H: Kollock, D. D.)
A sure covenant
I. The description which he gives of this great covenant.
1. The time it is to last. It is an everlasting covenant--strictly everlasting--never, never to expire.
2. The completeness of its arrangements. It is ordered in all things, and sure. The covenants of men are often very incomplete. Something, perhaps, hath been forgotten or lost sight of in the drawing of them up, which makes them almost good for nothing to the parties they are made with. Some case, some circumstance, is unprovided for, which, as soon as it occurs, makes the covenant of none effect. Not so in respect of the covenant of grace made with sinners through a Saviour. No, that is all complete in its provisions. Complete in reference to Gods requirements. For it satisfies His justice; it fulfils His truth; it displays His holiness; it magnifies His love; it sets forth His wisdom; it commends His mercy; it shows forth at once all His glorious perfections, and puts a song of praise into the lips of men and angels. And it is complete, again: in reference to man; nothing, nothing is there wanting in the salvation of Christ Jesus to make it everything poor sinners want.
II. The interest which David states himself to have in this everlasting covenant. God hath made it, saith he, with me. He had an assurance, then, that he was personally interested in this covenant. He could lay his hand on it and call it his--a covenant made particularly with himself. And, brethren, there is little comfort otherwise. It is a poor thing to look upon salvation, and to say, This and that man have a part in it. The comfort is when we can bring it nearer home; when we can think, upon good grounds, I have a share in it.
III. Davids fillings.
1. All my salvation. Why that, in other words, is to tell us that he could most comfortably rest upon it, rest upon it altogether.
2. This, saith he, this everlasting covenant of grace, is all my desire. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
Consolations of the covenant of grace
Yet this little word yet wraps up a great and sovereign cordial in it. Though Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah be gone, and gone with many smarting aggravations too; yet hath He made with me a covenant; yet I have this sheet anchor left to secure me: Gods covenant with me, in relation to Christ, this under-props and shores up my heart. As all the rivers run into the sea, and there is the congregation of all the waters; so all the promises and comforts of the Gospel are gathered into the covenant of grace, and there is the congregation of all the sweet streams of refreshment, that are dispersed throughout the Scriptures. The covenant is the storehouse of promises, the shop of cordials and rare elixirs, to revive us in all our faintings; though, alas, most men know no more what are t, heir virtues or where to find them, than an illiterate rustic put into an apothecarys shop. (Flavel.)
Divine covenant compensates earthly disappointment
It is wise, when we are disappointed in one thing, to set over against it a hopeful expectancy of another, like the farmer who said, If the peas dont pay, let us hope the beans will. Yet it would be idle to patch up one rotten expectation with another of like character, for that would, only make the rent worse. It is better to turn from the fictions of the sanguine worldling to the facts of the believer in the Word of the Lord. Then, if we find no profit in our trading with earth, we shall fall back upon our hearts treasure in heaven. We may lose our gold, but we can never lose our God. The expectation of the righteous is from the Lord, and nothing that comes from Him shall ever fail.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain 2 Samuel
2 Samuel
THE DYING KING’S LAST VISION AND PSALM
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2Sa 23:1 - 2Sa 23:7.
It was fitting that ‘the last words of David’ should be a prophecy of the true King, whom his own failures and sins, no less than his consecration and victories, had taught him to expect. His dying eyes see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of Him who is to be a just and perfect Ruler, before the brightness of whose presence and the refreshing of whose influence, verdure and beauty shall clothe the world. As the shades gather round the dying monarch, the radiant glory to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from afar, and stretched out longing hands of greeting toward it. Then his harp is silent, as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings had snapped them.
I. We have first a prelude extending to the middle of 2Sa 23:3. In it there is first a fourfold designation of the personality of the Psalmist-prophet, and then a fourfold designation of the divine oracle spoken through him. The word rendered in 2Sa 23:1 ‘saith’ is really a noun, and usually employed with ‘the Lord’ following, as in the familiar phrase ‘saith the Lord.’ It is used, as here, with the genitive of the human recipient, in Balaam’s prophecy, on which this is evidently modelled. It distinctly claims a divine source for the oracle following, and declares, at the outset, that these last words of David were really the faithful sayings of Jehovah. The human and divine elements are smelted together. Note the description of the human personality. First, the natural ‘David the son of Jesse,’ like ‘Balaam the son of Beor’ in the earlier oracle. The aged king looks back with adoring thankfulness to his early days and humble birth, as if he were saying, ‘Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should proclaim the coming King.’ Then follow three clauses descriptive of what ‘the son of Jesse’ had been made by the grace of God, in that he had been raised on high from his low condition of a shepherd boy, and anointed as ruler, not only by Samuel and the people, but by the God of their great ancestor, whose career had presented so many points of resemblance to his own, the God who still wrought among the nation which bore the patriarch’s name, as He had wrought of old; and that, besides his royalty, he had been taught to sing the sweet songs which already were the heritage of the nation. This last designation shows what David counted God’s chief gift to him,-not his crown, but his harp. It further shows that he regarded his psalms as divinely inspired, and it proves that already they had become the property of the nation. This first verse heightens the importance of the subsequent oracle by dwelling on the claims of the recipient of the revelation to be heard and heeded.
Similarly, the fourfold designation of the divine source has the same purpose, and corresponds with the four clauses of 2Sa 23:1, ‘The Spirit of the Lord spake in [or “into”] me.’ That gives the Psalmist’s consciousness that in his prophecy he was but the recipient of a message. It wonderfully describes the penetrating power of that inward voice which clearly came to him from without, and as clearly spoke to him within. Words could not more plainly declare the prophetic consciousness of the distinction between himself and the Voice which he heard in the depths of his spirit. It spoke in him before he spoke his lyric prophecy. ‘His word was upon my tongue.’ There we have the utterance succeeding the inward voice, and the guarantee that the Psalmist’s word was a true transcript of the inward voice. ‘The God of Israel said,’ and therefore Israel is concerned in the divine word, which is not of private reference, but meant for all. ‘The Rock of Israel spake,’ and therefore Israel may trust the Word, which rests on His immutable faithfulness and eternal being.
II. The divine oracle thus solemnly introduced and guaranteed must be worthy of such a prelude. Abruptly, and in clauses without verbs, the picture of the righteous Ruler is divinely flashed before the seer’s inward eye. The broken construction may perhaps indicate that he is describing what he beholds in vision. There is no need for any supplement such as ‘There shall be,’ which, however true in meaning, mars the vividness of the presentation of the Ruler to the prophet’s sight. David sees him painted on the else blank wall of the future. When and where the realisation may be he knows not. What are the majestic outlines? A universal sovereign over collective humanity, righteous and God-fearing. In the same manner as he described the vision of the King, David goes on, as a man on some height telling what he saw to the people below, and paints the blessed issues of the King’s coming.
It had been night before He came,-the night of ignorance, sorrow, and sin,-but His coming is like one of these glorious Eastern sunrises without a cloud, when everything laughs in the early beams, and, with tropical swiftness, the tender herbage bursts from the ground, as born from the dazzling brightness and the fertilising rain. So all things shall rejoice in the reign of the King, and humanity be productive, under His glad and quickening influences, of growths of beauty and fruitfulness impossible to it without these.
The abrupt form of the prophecy has led some interpreters to construe it as, ‘When a king over men is righteous. . . then it is as a morning,’ etc. But surely such a platitude is not worthy of being David’s last word, nor did it need divine inspiration to disclose to him that a just king is a great blessing. The only worthy meaning is that which sees here, in words so solemnly marked as a special revelation closing the life of David, ‘the vision of the future and all the wonder that should be,’ when a real Person should thus reign over men. The explanation that we have here simply the ideal of the collective Davidic monarchy is a lame attempt to escape from the recognition of prophecy properly so called. It is the work of poetry to paint ideals, of prophecy to foretell, with God’s authority, their realisation. The picture here is too radiant to be realised in any mere human king, and, as a matter of fact, never was so in any of David’s successors, or in the whole of them put together. It either swings in vacuo, a dream unrealised, or it is a distinct prophecy from God of the reign of the coming Messiah, of whom David and all his sons, as anointed kings, were living prophecies. ‘The Messianic idea entered on a new stage of development with the monarchy, and that not as if the history stimulated men’s imaginations, but that God used the history as a means of further revelation by His prophetic Spirit.
III. The difficult 2Sa 23:5, whether its first and last clauses be taken interrogatively or negatively, in its central part bases the assurance of the coming of the king on God’s covenant {2Sa 7:1 - 2Sa 7:29}, which is glorified as being everlasting, provided with all requisites for its realisation, and therefore ‘sure,’ or perhaps ‘preserved,’ as if guarded by God’s inviolable sanctity and faithfulness. The fulfilment of the dying saint’s hopes depends on God’s truth. Whatever sense might say, or doubt whisper, he silences them by gazing on that great Word. So we all have to do. If we found our hopes and forecasts on it, we can go down to the grave calmly, though they be not fulfilled, sure that ‘no good thing can fail us of all that He hath spoken.’ Living or dying, faith and hope must stay themselves on God’s word. Happy they whose closing eyes see the form of the King, and whose last thoughts are of God’s faithful promise! Happy they whose forecasts of the future, nearer or more remote, are shaped by His word! Happy they who, in the triumphant energy of such a faith, can with dying lips proclaim that His promises overlap, and contain, all their salvation and all their desire!
If we read the first and last clauses negatively, with Revised Version and others, they, as it were, surround the kernel of clear-eyed faith, in the middle of the verse, with a husk, not of doubt, but of consciousness how far the present is from fulfilling the great promise. The poor dying king looks back on the scandals of his later reign, on his own sin, on his children’s lust, rebellion, and tragic deaths, and feels how far from the ideal he and they have been. He sees little token of growth toward realisation of that promise; but yet in spite of a stained past and a wintry present, he holds fast his confidence. That is the true temper of faith, which calls things that are not as though they were, and is hindered by no sense of unworthiness nor by any discouragements born of sense, from grasping with full assurance the promise of God. But the consensus of the most careful expositors inclines to take both clauses as questions, and then the meaning would be, ‘Does not my house stand in such a relation to God that the righteous king will spring from it? It is, in this view, a triumphant question, expressing the strongest assurance, and the next clause would then lay bare the foundation of that relation of David’s house as not its goodness, but God’s covenant {‘for He hath made’}. Similarly the last clause would be a triumphant question of certainty, asserting in the strongest manner that God would cause that future salvation for the world, which was wrapped up in the coming of the king, and in which the dying man was sure that he should somehow have a share, dead though he were, to blossom and grow, though he had to die as in the winter, before the buds began to swell. The assurance of immortality, and of a share in all the blessings to come, bursts from the lips that are so soon to be silent.
IV. But the oracle cannot end with painting only blessings as flowing from the king’s reign. If he is to rule in righteousness and the fear of the Lord, then he must fight against evil. If his coming causes the tender grass to spring, it will quicken ugly growths too. The former representation is only half the truth; and the threatening of destruction for the evil is as much a part of the divine oracle as the other. Strictly, it is ‘wickedness’-the abstract quality rather than the concrete persons who embody it-which is spoken of. May we recall the old distinction that God loves the sinner while He hates the sin? The picture is vivid. The wicked-and all the enemies of this King are wicked, in the prophet’s view-are like some of these thorn-brakes, that cannot be laid hold of, even to root them out, but need to be attacked with sharp pruning-hooks on long shafts, or burned where they grow. There is a destructive side to the coming of the King, shadowed in every prophecy of him, and brought emphatically to prominence in his own descriptions of his reign and its final issues. It is a poor kindness to suppress that side of the truth. Thorns as well as tender grass spring up in the quickening beams; and the best commentary on the solemn words which close David’s closing song is the saying of the King himself: ‘In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This continues David's last words.
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Indeed, is my family not like this before God?
Here David is saying that he agrees with God. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "My family is indeed like this before God!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Has he not made ... way?
David acknowledges that God has made a covenant with him. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "He has indeed made ... way." (See: Rhetorical Question)
ordered and sure
This means God's covenant is properly organized and will not change so David's family can trust it.
Does he not increase my salvation ... desire?
David believes that God will always help him and cause him to prosper. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "He increases my salvation and gives me my every desire." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
family
eternity
covenant
save
fulfill
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 23:5 my family . . . everlasting covenant: David…
23:5 my family . . . everlasting covenant: David is referring to the prophecy Nathan made about David and his descendants (7:12-16). Jesus is the everlasting king who is the “descendant of David” (Matt 1:1).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.