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? This was yet a small thing in your eyes, Lord Yahweh; but you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come; and this among men, Lord Yahweh! What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Lord Yahweh. For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it. Therefore you are great, Yahweh God. For there is no one like you, neither is there any God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods? You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever; and you, Yahweh, became their God. Now, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do as you have spoken. Let your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘Yahweh of Armies is God over Israel; and the house of your servant David will be established before you.’ For you, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, have revealed to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore your servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer to you.
“Now, O Lord Yahweh, you are God, and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. Now therefore let it please you to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you; for you, Lord Yahweh, have spoken it. Let the house of your servant be blessed forever with your blessing.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv19, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29 Hebrew, is this the law of man?
Hebrew, is this the law of man?
Cometh not this rather of thy free mercy, than of any worthiness that can be in man?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–29 2Sa 7:18 Then went king David in, and sat…
2Sa 7:18 Then went king David in, and sat before the LORD, and he said, Who [am] I, O Lord GOD? and what [is] my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
Ver. 18. And sat before the Lord.] So Elias sat under the juniper, and prayed; Stephen kneeled; {Act 7:60} so did Paul and his company. {Act 20:36} The publican stood and prayed. {Luk 18:13} And the Jews had a proverb, Absque stationibus non subsisteret mundus: Were it not that the saints stood in prayer, the world would not stand. The rule here given for gesture in prayer is, that that is to be used in private which we find fittest to excite our inward devotion; and that in public there be a uniformity observed.
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Who am I, O Lord?] Thus use good men to vilify and nullify themselves before the Lord. {Pro 30:2}
That thou hast brought me hitherto?] Eξ οιων εις οια, as that noble Iphicrates said: How greatly am I advanced? May not every saint say as much See Eze 16:3-15.
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 On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 Sat: this word may note either, first, His bodily…
Sat: this word may note either, first, His bodily posture, for there is no certain gesture to which prayer is limited and we have examples of saints praying in that posture, Exo 17:12; 1Ki 19:4; or he might sit for a season whilst he was meditating upon these things, and then alter his posture, (though it be not here expressed,) and betake himself to prayer. Or rather, secondly, His continuance, as this Hebrew word is oft used, as Gen 22:11; Lev 14:8; 1Sa 1:22; 20:19, that he did not barely present himself before God but abode there for some competent time, that he might with God’s leave pour out his soul freely before him. For howsoever one may in some cases pray sitting, yet it is most probable that David would in this holy place, and upon this occasion, use a more humble and reverent gesture, such as kneeling is, which therefore David prescribeth or adviseth, Psa 95:6 and Solomon accordingly practiseth, 1Ki 8:54; 2Ch 6:13.
Who am I, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? how indefinitely unworthy am I and my family of this great honour and happiness!
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v18 We have here the solemn address David made to…
We have here the solemn address David made to God, in answer to the gracious message God had sent him. We are not told what he said to Nathan; no doubt he received him very kindly and respectfully as God's messenger. But his answer to God he took himself, and did not send by Nathan. When ministers deliver God's message to us, it is not to them, but to God, that our hearts must reply; he understands the language of the heart, and to him we may come boldly. David had no sooner received the message than, while the impressions of it were fresh, he retired to return an answer. Observe,
I. The place he retired to: He went in before the Lord, that is, into the tabernacle where the ark was, which was the token of God's presence; before that he presented himself. God's will now is that men pray everywhere; but, wherever we pray, we must set ourselves as before the Lord and set him before us.
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II. The posture he put himself into: He sat before the Lord. 1. It denotes the posture of his body. Kneeling or standing is certainly the most proper gesture to be used in prayer; but the Jews, from this instance, say, "It was allowed to the kings of the house of David to sit in the temple, and to no other." But this will by no means justify the ordinary use of that gesture in prayer, whatever may be allowed in a case of necessity. David went in, and took his place before the Lord, so it may be read; but, when he prayed, he stood up as the manner was. Or he went in and continued before the Lord, staid some time silently meditating, before he began his prayer, and then remained longer than usual in the tabernacle. Or, 2. It may denote the frame of his spirit at this time. He went in, and composed himself before the Lord; thus we should do in all our approaches to God. O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed.
III. The prayer itself, which is full of the breathings of pious and devout affection towards God.
1. He speaks very humbly of himself and his own merits. So he begins as one astonished: Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my house? Sa2 7:18. God had reminded him of the meanness of his original (Sa2 7:8) and he subscribed to it; he had low thoughts, (1.) Of his personal merits: Who am I? He was upon all accounts a very considerable and valuable man. His endowments both of body and mind were extraordinary. His gifts and graces were eminent. He was a man of honour, success, and usefulness, the darling of his country and the dread of its enemies. Yet, when he comes to speak of himself before God, he says, "Who am I? A man not worth taking notice of." (2.) Of the merits of his family: What is my house? His house was of the royal tribe, and descended from the prince of that tribe; he was allied to the best families of the country, and yet, like Gideon, thinks his family poor in Judah and himself the least in his father's house, Jdg 6:15. David thus humbled himself when Saul's daughter was proposed to him for a wife (Sa1 18:18), but now with much more reason. Note, It very well becomes the greatest and best of men, even in the midst of the highest advancements, to have low and mean thoughts of themselves; for the greatest of men are worms, the best are sinners, and those that are highest advanced have nothing but what they have received: "What am I, that thou hast brought me hitherto, brought me to the kingdom, and to a settlement in it, and rest from all my enemies?" It intimates that he could not have reached this himself by his own management, if God had not brought him to it. All our attainments must be looked upon as God's vouchsafements.
2. He speaks very highly and honourably of God's favours to him. (1.) In what he had done for him: "Thou hast brought me hitherto, to this great dignity and dominion. Hitherto thou hast helped me." Though we should be left at uncertainty concerning further mercy, we have great reason to be thankful for that which has been done for us hitherto, Act 26:22. (2.) In what he had yet further promised him. God had done great things for him already, and yet, as if those had been nothing, he had promised to do much more, Sa2 7:19. Note, What God has laid out upon his people is much, but what he has laid up for them is infinitely more, Psa 31:19. The present graces and comforts of the saints are invaluable gifts; and yet, as if these were too little for God to bestow upon his children, he has spoken concerning them for a great while to come, even as far as eternity itself reaches. Of this we must own, as David here, [1.] That it is far beyond what we could expect: Is this the manner of men? that is, First, Can man expect to be so dealt with by his Maker? Is this the law of Adam? Note, Considering what the character and condition of man are, it is very surprising and amazing that God should deal with him as he does. Man is a mean creature, and therefore under a law of distance - unprofitable to God, and therefore under a law of disesteem and disregard - guilty and obnoxious, and therefore under a law of death and damnation. But how unlike are God's dealings with man to this law of Adam! He is brought near to God, purchased at a high rate, taken into covenant and communion with God; could this ever have been thought of? Secondly, Do men usually deal thus with one another? No, the way of our God is far above the manner of men. Though he be high, he has respect to the lowly; and is this the manner of men? Though he is offended by us, he beseeches us to be reconciled, waits to be gracious, multiplies his pardons: and is this the manner of men? Some give another sense of this, reading it thus: And this is the law of man, the Lord Jehovah, that is, "This promise of one whose kingdom shall be established for ever must be understood of one that is a man and yet the Lord Jehovah, this must be the law of such a one. A Messiah from my loins must be man, but, reigning for ever, must be God." [2.] That beyond this there is nothing we can desire: "And what can David say more unto thee? Sa2 7:20. What can I ask or wish for more? Thou, Lord, knowest thy servant, knowest what will make me happy, and what thou hast promised is enough to do so." The promise of Christ includes all. If that man, the Lord God, be ours, what can we ask or think of more? Eph 3:20. The promises of the covenant of grace are framed by him that knows us, and therefore knows how to adapt them to every branch of our necessity. He knows us better than we know ourselves; and therefore let us be satisfied with the provision he has made for us. What can we say more for ourselves in our prayers than he has said for us in his promises?
3. He ascribes all to the free grace of God (Sa2 7:21), both the great things he had done for him and the great things he had made known to him. All was, (1.) For his word's sake, that is, for the sake of Christ the eternal Word; it is all owing to his merit. Or, "That thou mayest magnify thy word of promise above all thy name, in making it the stay and store-house of thy people." (2.) According to thy own heart, thy gracious counsels and designs, ex mero motu - of thy own good pleasure. Even so, Father, because it seemed good in thy eyes. All that God does for his people in his providences, and secures to them in his promises, is for his pleasure and for his praise, the pleasure of his will and the praise of his word.
4. He adores the greatness and glory of God (Sa2 7:22): Thou art great, O Lord God! for there is none like thee. God's gracious condescension to him, and the honour he had put upon him, did not at all abate his awful veneration for the divine Majesty; for the nearer any are brought to God the more they see of his glory, and the dearer we are in his eyes the greater he should be in ours. And this we acknowledge concerning God, that there is no being like him, nor any God besides him, and that what we have seen with our eyes of his power and goodness is according to all that we have heard with our ears, and the one half not told us.
5. He expresses a great esteem for the Israel of God, Sa2 7:23, Sa2 7:24. As there was none among the gods to be compared with Jehovah, so none among the nations to be compared with Israel, considering,
(1.) The works he had done for them. He went to redeem them, applied himself to it as a great work, went about it with solemnity. Elohim halecu, dii iveruni - Gods went, as if there was the same consultation and concurrence of all the persons in the blessed Trinity about the work of redemption that there was about the work of creation, when God said, Let us make man. Whom those that were sent of God went to redeem; so the Chaldee, meaning, I suppose, Moses and Aaron. The redemption of Israel, as described here, was typical of our redemption by Christ in that, [1.] They were redeemed from the nations and their gods; so are we from all iniquity and all conformity to this present world. Christ came to save his people from their sins. [2.] They were redeemed to be a peculiar people unto God, purified and appropriated to himself, that he might make himself a great name and do for them great things. The honour of God, and the eternal happiness of the saints, are the two things aimed at in their redemption.
(2.) The covenant he had made with them, Sa2 7:24. It was, [1.] Mutual: "They to be a people to thee, and thou to be a God to them; all their interests consecrated to thee, and all thy attributes engaged for them." [2.] Immutable: "Thou hast confirmed them." He that makes the covenant makes it sure and will make it good.
6. He concludes with humble petitions to God. (1.) He grounds his petitions upon the message which God had sent him (Sa2 7:27): Thou hast revealed this to thy servant, that is, "Thou hast of thy own good will given me the promise that thou wilt build me a house, else I could never have found in my heart to pray such a prayer as this. I durst not have asked such great things if I had not been directed and encouraged by thy promise to ask them. They are indeed too great for me to beg, but not too great for thee to give. Thy servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer;" so it is in the original, and the Septuagint. Many, when they go to pray, have their hearts to seek, but David's heart was found, that is, it was fixed, gathered in from its wanderings, and entirely engaged to the duty and employed in it. That prayer which is found in the tongue only will not please God; it must be found in the heart; the heart must be lifted up and poured out before God. My son, give God thy heart. (2.) He builds his faith and hopes to speed upon the fidelity of God's promise (Sa2 7:25): "Thou art that God (thou art he, even that God, the Lord of hosts, and God of Israel, or that God whose words are true, that God whom one may depend upon); and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant, which I am therefore bold to pray for." (3.) Thence he fetches the matter of his prayer, and refers to that as the guide of his prayers. [1.] He prays for the performance of God's promise (Sa2 7:25): "Let the word be made good to me, on which thou hast caused me to hope (Psa 119:49) and do as thou hast said; I desire no more, and I expect no less; so full is the promise, and so firm." Thus we must turn God's promises into prayers, and then they shall be turned into performances; for, with God, saying and doing are not two things, as they often are with men. God will do as he hath said. [2.] He prays for the glorifying of God's name (Sa2 7:26): Let thy name be magnified for ever. This ought to be the summary and centre of all our prayers, the Alpha and the Omega of them. Begin with Hallowed be thy name, and end with Thine is the glory for ever. "Whether I be magnified or no, let thy name be magnified." And he reckons that nothing magnifies God's name more than this, to say, with suitable affections, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel. This bespeaks the God of Israel gloriously great, that he is the Lord of hosts; and this bespeaks the Lord of hosts gloriously good, that he is God over Israel. In both, let his name be magnified for ever. Let all the creatures and all the churches give him the glory of these two. David desired the performance of God's promise for the honour, not of his own name, but of God's. Thus the Son of David prayed, Father, glorify thy name (Joh 12:28), and (Joh 17:1), Glorify thy Son, that thy Son may also glorify thee. [3.] He prays for his house, for to that the promise has special reference, First, That it might be happy (Sa2 7:29): Let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant; and again, with thy blessing. "Let the house of thy servant be truly and eternally blessed. Those whom thou blessest are blessed indeed." The care of good men is very much concerning their families; and the best entail on their families is that of the blessing of God. The repetition of this request is not a vain repetition, but expressive of the value he had of the divine blessing, and his earnest desire of it, as all in all to the happiness of his family. Secondly, That the happiness of it might remain: "Let it be established before thee (Sa2 7:26); let it continue for ever before thee." Sa2 7:29. He prayed, 1. That the entail of the crown might not be cut off, but remain in his family, that none of his might ever forfeit it, but that they might walk before God, which would be their establishment. 2. That his kingdom might have its perfection and perpetuity in the kingdom of the Messiah. When Christ for ever sat down on the right hand of God (Heb 10:12), and received all possible assurance that his seed and throne shall be as the days of heaven, this prayer of David the son of Jesse for his seed was abundantly answered, that it might continue before God for ever. See Psa 72:17. The perpetuity of the Messiah's kingdom is the desire and faith of all good people.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–29 Then went King David in,.... Into the tabernacle where…
Then went King David in,.... Into the tabernacle where the ark was, which he had prepared for it, Sa2 6:17,
and sat before the Lord; before the ark, the symbol of his presence, and prayed, and gave thanks, as follows: from whence it appears that a sitting posture was sometimes used in prayer, of which we have other instances, Exo 17:11. It is said (y) that Pythagoras, and also Numa, ordered that worshippers should sit. So that this act of devotion is not to be limited to any particular posture, though it seems most agreeable either to stand or kneel; and the Jews look upon this to be a peculiar case, and infer from hence that none were allowed to sit in the court but the kings of the house of Judah (z); and some of them (a) will not allow that to them, since the seraphim above are even said to stand, Isa 6:2; and suppose the meaning of this to be only that David supported himself in the court; and some render the words, "he remained before the Lord" (b); he continued in meditation, prayer, and thanksgiving, and such like acts of devotion, for a considerable time; so the Targum, in Ch1 17:16."King David came and continued in prayer before the Lord:"
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and he said, who am I, O Lord God? a creature, a sinful creature, a mean and unworthy one, undeserving of a place in the house of God, and of access unto him, and to receive any favour from him, less than the least of all saints, less than the least of all mercies:
and what is my house: or family of which he was, the family of Jesse; for though it sprung from a prince in Israel, yet was but low and mean, in comparison of some others, and especially unworthy of the regard of the great God:
that thou hast brought me hitherto? to such grandeur and dignity, as to be king over all Israel and Judah, to have all his enemies subdued under him, and to be at peace and rest from them, and established in his kingdom; and which he signifies the Lord alone had brought him to, through many difficulties and tribulations, and which he could never have attained unto by his own wisdom and power, nor by the assistance of his friends; it was all the Lord's doing, and wondrous in his eyes.
(y) Vid. D. Herbert. de Cherbury de Relig. Gent. c. 7. p. 65. (z) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 69. 2. Maimon & Bartenor. in Misn. Yoma, c. 7. sect. 1. (a) Midrash in Abarbinel in loc. (b) "et mansit", Vatablus.
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 On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 In - Into the tabernacle. Sat - He might…
In - Into the tabernacle. Sat - He might sit for a season whilst he was meditating upon these things, and then alter his posture and betake himself to prayer. Who am I, &c. - How infinitely unworthy am I and my family of this great honour and happiness!
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 25 Verse 18. Sat before the Lord] Sometimes, when a…
Verse 18. Sat before the Lord] Sometimes, when a Hindoo seeks a favour from a superior, he sits down in his presence in silence; or if he solicits some favour of a god, as riches, children, &c., he places himself before the idol, and remains in a waiting posture, or repeats the name of the god, counting the beads in his necklace. - WARD.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 27 2Sa 7:18. Then went King David in — Into…
2Sa 7:18. Then went King David in — Into the tabernacle. And sat before the Lord — That is, before the ark, the symbol of the divine presence, and where God was then peculiarly present, and was believed by David to be so. David probably sat for a season, while he meditated on these things, and then altered his posture and betook himself to prayer. It must be observed, however, that the Hebrew word, ישׁב, jashab, here rendered sat, may with equal propriety be translated, remained before the Lord. The Hebrews never addressed prayers or praises to God but either standing up or prostrate on the earth, and even their kings are always described as standing when they prayed or gave thanks in the temple. See Eze 46:1-2; compared with 2Ki 11:14, and 2Ch 23:13. Nor is there any other posture of worship mentioned in Scripture, but standing, or kneeling, or falling on the face. Who am I, O Lord God? — How infinitely unworthy am I and my family of this great honour and happiness! Thus David begins his address to God in a becoming spirit of humility and self-abasement, acknowledging his utter unworthiness of the blessings which God had already bestowed on him.
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 On vv18, 19, 23, 27 Sat before the Lord - In the tent where…
Sat before the Lord - In the tent where the ark was. Standing or kneeling was the usual attitude of prayer (1Ki 8:22, 1Ki 8:54-55; but compare Exo 17:12). Modern commentators mostly take the word here in the sense of waiting, abiding, not sitting: but sat is the natural rendering. David sat down to meditate, and then rose up to pray.
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 On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29 Lord. "More in soul, than by this posture of…
Lord. "More in soul, than by this posture of the body, remaining quiet in meditation and prayer." (Cajetan) --- Vatable says only kings were allowed to pary sitting, (Sa; Menochius) and they must be of the house of Juda. (Maimonides) --- they say the priests always stood in the temple. But Josephus mentions seats of lead for them. (Jewish Wars vii. 11.) The Hebrew expression may denote no more, than that David continued for a long time in fervent prayer; Josephus says, prostrate on the ground before the ark. It is not so much the posture of the body as the fervour of the soul, which God regards. See St. Augustine, ad Simp. ii. q. 4.) Pythagoras ordered his disciples to pray sitting; and Homer represents Thetis in that attitude. (Calmet) --- Far, in power and glory. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv18–20 DAVID'S PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING. (Sa2 7:18-29)
DAVID'S PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING. (Sa2 7:18-29)
Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord--Sitting was anciently an attitude for worship (Exo 17:12; Sa1 4:13; Kg1 19:4). As to the particular attitude David sat, most probably, upon his heels. It was the posture of the ancient Egyptians before the shrines; it is the posture of deepest respect before a superior in the East. Persons of highest dignity sit thus when they do sit in the presence of kings and it is the only sitting attitude assumed by the modern Mohammedans in their places and rites of devotion.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21, 23 DAVID’S PRAYER, 2Sa_7:18-29.
DAVID’S PRAYER, 2Sa_7:18-29.
18. Sat before the Lord — In the sanctuary on Zion before the ark of the covenant. ישׁב, sat, cannot be pressed to show the posture of David while he prayed, for the word may also be rendered waited, or tarried.
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Brought me hitherto — From a humble shepherd boy to be ruler of all Israel. 2Sa_7:8.
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 On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29 18. Then went king David in, and sat before…
18. Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord] In the tent where the Ark, the symbol of God’s presence, was. As sitting does not seem to have been a customary posture for prayer, some commentators render tarried instead of sat. Others suppose that David sat to meditate, and afterwards stood up to pray.
Who am I &c.] Cp. Jacob’s language in Gen_32:10.
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O Lord God] Whenever God is thus printed in small capitals, it represents the sacred name Jehovah. From very ancient times the Jewish practice in reading the Scriptures has been to substitute in place of Jehovah Adônai, which means my Lord, or Lord; or if the title Adônai is joined with Jehovah, as here, Elôhîm, which means God. The E. V. follows the Jewish practice in giving Lord and God, and whenever they represent the name Jehovah indicates the fact by the use of capitals. “Lord God,” which represents “my Lord Jehovah,” must therefore be distinguished from “Lord God” (2Sa_7:25), which represents “Jehovah Elohim,” i.e. “Jehovah God.” See Additional Note II. on 1 Samuel, p. 236.
The appropriateness of this address “my Lord Jehovah” in David’s thanksgiving must be carefully noted. It is not merely an acknowledgment of the Divine sovereignty in general, but expresses the consciousness of belonging specially to God, and standing under His immediate guidance and protection. See Oehler’s Theology of the Old Testament, I. 148. It is the correlative of the title “my servant” with which God distinguishes David. It calls to mind St Paul’s words “the God whose I am, whom also I serve” (Act_27:23). Compare Abram’s use of it in Gen_15:2; Gen_15:8; and Moses’ in Deu_3:24; Deu_9:26. When he turns to praise God for his dealings with Israel in general, David uses the ordinary title Jehovah Elôhîm (2Sa_7:22), and retains it in 2Sa_7:25 at the beginning of his petition, as if to identify the covenant God of Israel with the God to whom he makes his prayer: but in 2Sa_7:28-29 he returns to the more familiar address of confident trust “my Lord Jehovah.”
18–29. David’s prayer and thanksgiving
David’s address to God consists of (a) humble thanksgiving for the undeserved favour shewn to him and his house, 2Sa_7:18-21; (b) praise for God’s past manifestations of his glory in and to Israel, 2Sa_7:22-24; (c) petition for the final fulfilment of the promise, 2Sa_7:25-29.
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 On vv18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 29 (18) Then went king David in, and sat.—As always…
(18) Then went king David in, and sat.—As always at every important point in his life, David’s first care is to take that which he has in his mind before the Lord. The place to which he went must be the tent he had pitched for the ark. Here he sat to meditate in God’s presence upon the communication which had now been made to him, and then to offer his thanksgiving (2Sa_7:18-21), praise (2Sa_7:22-24), and prayer (2Sa_7:25-29).
The Divine Name is here printed with the word GOD in small capitals. This is always done in the Authorised Version wherever it stands for JEHOVAH in the original. The same custom is also followed with the word LORD. Out of reverence for the name, Jehovah never has its own vowels in Hebrew, but is printed with those belonging to Lord, or in case this word also is used, then with those belonging to God.
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 On vv18–29 David sat before the Lord. The word "sat" is…
David sat before the Lord. The word "sat" is usually explained by commentators as meaning "tarried." The rabbins give the word its ordinary meaning, and say that it was the privilege of kings to pray in a sitting posture. But we cannot possibly believe that kings at this early stage had established a special etiquette for observance in prayer, and the difficulty is merely imaginary. Because the Jews prayed standing, and we moderns pray kneeling, we both assume that to pray sitting was an irreverent act. It was not so, nor are we to think of David as sitting at ease in a chair. He sat upon the ground, as was the Oriental custom, with his feet doubled under him, and his head bent forward; and in this posture meditated upon Jehovah"s message, and then poured out his thoughts. As it is expressly said that "he sat before Jehovah," the place must have been the outer court of the tabernacle. Who am I, O Lord Jehovah! In the Authorized Version Jehovah is rendered "God," because it has the vowels of the word Elohim; usually it is rendered "Lord," because the Masserites attached to it the vowels of Adonai, "lord," equivalent to Dominus. As Adonai here precedes Jehovah, the Massorites were driven from their usual practice, and were so superstitious as to suppose it more reverent to pronounce the name Elohim than that of Jehovah, to which the Jews attached magical powers. David"s words are not so much a prayer as a meditation, full of thanksgiving, and even of wonder at the greatness of God"s mercies to him. In it he first acknowledges his own unworthiness and the meanness of his father"s house compared with the high dignity which God is bestowing upon him. For not only has he raised him to the kingly office, but promised him the continuance of his house "for a great while to come." Whether David understood as yet that he was now placed in the same position as Abraham of old, in that "in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed," is uncertain, and depends upon the interpretation put upon the following words. This only we may affirm, that whet he says in this place of his house remaining until a distant future falls far short of the meaning of the passages quoted above from the Psalms.
Vers. 18-24 (THE TABERNACLE ON ZION.) (1Ch_17:16-22)
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Thanksgiving and praise.
The duty of rendering thanksgiving and praise to God is seldom disputed, though its performance is often neglected. It is beneficial to the offerer himself, as well as to others. The conduct and language of David, on receiving the Divine communication here recorded, famish an admirable example of the spirit in which "the sacrifice of thanksgiving" should be presented.
I DEEP HUMILITY before the presence of God. "Then went King David in" from his palace of cedar to the lowly tent (the palace of the Divine King of Israel), "and sat" on the ground in a lowly posture, according to Eastern custom (expressive of his lowly state of mind), "before Jehovah," the symbol of whose presence stood veiled before him. "And (after devout thought on the communication)he said, Who am I, O Lord God?" etc. (ver. 18). Although in comparison with other men he "might have whereof to glory," yet in the conscious presence of God he had a profound sense of his weakness, insignificance, dependence, and unworthiness (Job_42:5, Job_42:6; Isa_57:15; Eph_3:8; 1Pe_5:5, 1Pe_5:6) The proud heart is never a thankful heart. The poorer we are in our own estimation the more disposed we are to "praise the Lord for his goodness." Humility is the first step of a ladder whose top reaches heaven. (Mat_5:3)
II CALM REFLECTION on his benefits. "And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God," etc. "And this which thou hast graciously promised concerning my house is the law established order or decree of or pertaining to a mortal man, O Lord God!" (ver. 19). "Is this the law of one who is a mere man created from the dust as I am, that I should be elevated to such a glorious altitude as this?" (Wordsworth). "Thou hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree". (1Ch_17:17) An expression of humble astonishment. The more he pondered it in his heart, the more he was humbled, surprised, and filled with thankfulness. We have not less cause for gratitude (Psa_8:4, Psa_8:5; 1Co_2:9, 1Co_2:10) "Forget not all his benefits," past, present, or to come. We are apt to forget them, and therefore should contemplate them frequently, enumerate them one by one, and endeavour to estimate their exceeding worth. Meditation is like a lens, by which the rays of the sun are collected into a focus and produce so intense a heat that coals of fire are kindled by it (Psa_39:3 Psa_48:9 Psa_77:11, Psa_77:12; Luk_2:19)
III INTENSE CONVICTION of his claims. "And what can David say more unto thee? for thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God!" (ver. 20). The great things which had been promised, the obligations under which they laid him, and his conviction and impression thereof, were all indescribable. Words failed him; and he could only appeal to Omniscience to witness the sincerity and depth of his grateful feeling. (Joh_21:17) Every additional benefit conferred upon us increases the claims of our Divine Benefactor on our love and devotion. His mercies are "new every morning"; (Lam_3:23) and the debt we owe is ever accumulating.
How can I repay to Jehovah All his benefits toward me? (Psa_116:12)
IV FERVENT GRATITUDE for his grace. "For thy Word"s sake;" in fulfilment of thy purpose and promise formerly expressed, "and according to thine own heart," of thy spontaneous, sovereign, unmerited favour, "hast thou done all these great things to make thy servant know them," for his consolation and encouragement (ver. 21). It is the disinterested love and abounding grace of God, displayed in his gifts, that more than anything else touches the heart and constrains it to fervent gratitude. "To my eye the workings of a heart oppressed and overflowing with gratitude are painted stronger in this prayer than I ever observed them in any other instance. It is easy to see that his heart was wholly possessed with a subject which he did not know how to quit, because he did not know how to do justice to the inestimable blessings poured down upon himself and promised to his posterity; much less to the infinite bounty of his Benefactor" (Delany).
V LOWLY ADORATION of his perfections. "Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God," etc. (ver. 22). The greatness of Jehovah, the incomparable One, the only God, was manifested in his dealings with his servant, as in the whole history of Israel, "according to all that we have heard with our ears." David had the most exalted views of his character as the All-wise and All-powerful, the Condescending, Faithful, Gracious, Merciful, and (1Sa_2:2; Psa_113:6) and he delighted in the contemplation and praise of his infinite excellence. God himself is greater than anything he has done or promised to do; but by means of his doings and revelations we are enabled to know him and draw nigh to him in worship and adoration, wherein the soul finds its noblest activity, rest, and joy.
VI GENEROUS SYMPATHY with his people. "And what one nation in the earth is like thy people," etc. (vers. 23, 24)? An incomparable people!
1. Redeemed by mighty acts.
2. Designed for a special purpose to be his possession or property, and to "show forth his praise.
3. Established in covenant relationship forever (ver. 16; Rev_21:3, Rev_21:7) David "glorified God" in them; and in doing so he showed his love for them, his sympathy and identity with them. (2Sa_5:12) His thanksgiving and praise were large hearted and disinterested. The selfish heart (like the proud heart) is never a thankful heart. The more we esteem others the more numerous the occasions we find for gratitude to God, and the more we abound therein,
VII ENTIRE CONSECRATION to his service and glory. He avowed himself the servant of God (ver. 21), freely and gladly surrendered his will to him, sought what he promised, and desired that his Name might be "magnified forever" (ver. 26). This is the essence of the sacrifice of praise. "Father, glorify thy Name" (Joh_12:28; Php_1:20)
As of their will, the angels unto thee Tender meet sacrifice, circling thy throne With loud hosannas; so of theirs be done By saintly men on earth. (Dante, "Purg.," 11.)
D.
Meditation before the Lord.
David, with a heart filled with wonder and gratitude by the message from heaven communicated to him by Nathan, "went in and sat before the Lord," and poured forth his thoughts and feelings in the words which follow. He probably went into the tent in which he had placed the ark, and there meditated and prayed. But the phrase, "before the Lord," is very frequently employed with out any reference to the ark, the tabernacle, or the temple. God is everywhere, and every where we may place ourselves as in his special presence, and with acceptance and profit offer him our thoughts and worship; and we do well often to imitate David in this respect.
I THE CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE, AND INDEED ESSENTIAL, TO RIGHT THOUGHT AND WORSHIP WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE FELT PRESENCE OF GOD.
1. The exclusion of the world and its influences. "Before the Lord," the world, with its gains, pleasures, opinions, applause, or disapproval, vanishes from view, or appears as nothing; and thus we are delivered from its blinding and perverting influence.
2. Intense consciousness of God. He is for the time our All. His character, works, relation to us, dealings with us, claims upon us, judgment respecting us, stand forth glorious and impressive.
3. Intense consciousness of ourselves, our real nature, relationships, responsibilities to God and man. In the light of the Divine presence these things appear quite otherwise than when we regard only the material and the human.
4. Greater susceptibility to Divine influences, and receptivity of Divine gifts. Our hearts are prepared to receive more of the Holy Spirit; and we do receive more.
II THE SPIRITUAL PROFIT THUS SECURED.
1. Fuller and truer knowledge. "In thy light shall we see light", (Psa_36:9) which includes knowledge and much besides. "Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end". (Psa_73:17) In the presence of God we obtain deeper insight into his nature and character, understand better his plans and methods. Our thoughts of him are enlarged and quickened. And in knowing him we come to know ourselves; his greatness reveals our littleness; his holiness, our sinfulness; and his fatherly love and redeeming grace, the true worth and dignity of our souls. Coming to him, as the disciples to Christ, to tell him what we have been doing and teaching, the poverty and imperfections of our lives become manifest to us.
2. In his presence, too, we learn the relative values of holiness and sin, time and eternity, this world and the next.
3. Richer and deeper emotions and affections. Penitence and humility, gratitude and love, confidence and hope, peace and joy, are all nourished best in the presence of God. Coming to him to confess our sins and failures, we shall, as we look into his face, be inspired with new and more hopeful resolve. Bringing our cares and fears to him, as Hezekiah the letter of Sennacherib, (Isa_37:14) we shall be relieved of them, and gain new courage and patience.
1. Ever better worship. Which will naturally spring from an enriched and spiritual life. Worship which is not offered "before the Lord" is not worship at all; and the more his presence is felt the worthier will our worship be.
2. Ever growing power to live according to our convictions and resolutions. "Before the Lord," his children grow brave and strong to do and endure. His eye felt to be upon them, they act nobly; his love realized by them, their hearts are filled with a love mighty to serve him and their brethren, and to conquer the evil powers. Finally: The measure of our disposition to go before God for converse with him, instruction, stimulus, consolation, etc., is the measure of our actual piety. We lose much of the highest happiness and profit through negligence in this respect. All that occupies our minds and moves our hearts becomes sanctified and elevated as we go aside and bring it "before the Lord." On the other hand, the greatest attention to religious observances which are not, through faith and love, done in the presence of God, is worthless, dishonouring to God, and useless, yea, worse than useless, to the worshipper. G.W.
Vers. 18, 19.
Effects of God"s goodness on the heart.
(Suitable for a birthday or the new year.) David, having retired into the presence of God, pours out before him the feelings of his heart, in view of what God had done for him, and what he had just promised to do.
I THE MERCIES CONTEMPLATED.
1. Past leading. "Thou hast brought me hitherto." How much this included in David"s case! How much in the case of every one of us! Each should recall in God"s presence the particulars of his own life. Life itself, reason, health, preservation, supply of wants, home surroundings and comforts, the
2. love of parents, etc., education, advancement in life, deliverances from perils and sicknesses, honours, the advantages of living in a country civilized, free, Christian; the Word and ordinances of God, connection with his Church and ministers, and all that has flowed therefrom the life of God in the soul, pardon, peace, hope, the Spirit of adoption, love to God and men, access to God, the communion of saints, growth in grace, victory over temptations, opportunity and will to do good, success in Christian labours, support in troubles and benefit from them. Also the blessings of one"s "house wife, children, good children especially, and their happiness. It is an endless task to remember and recount all the mercies of God; but the attempt is always salutary.
3. Promises as to the future. "This was yet a small thing in thy sight, but thou hast spoken also of thy servants house for a great while to come." Astonished and grateful as David was in view of his past experience of God"s goodness, the promises he had now received respecting the perpetuation of his kingdom into the distant future still more affected him We also have "given unto us exceeding great and precious promises," stretching onward into the eternal future. The kindness of God in the past is but "a small thing." Even his spiritual gifts, great as they are, and the necessary preparation for the eternal, are but a slight foretaste and pledge of the exaltation, perfection, glory, and bliss which be will bestow upon his children in increasing abundance forever and ever.
II THEIR GIVER. The contemplation of our history and prospects will bare a beneficial or injurious effect as we do or do not recognize God as the Giver of all. Some men regard themselves as the architects of their own fortunes, and are correspondingly filled with self-satisfaction. David ascribed all to God; and we ought to be like him in this. For if we have done much for ourselves, the power, opportunity, and will to do so came from him; if friends have greatly aided us, these also were God"s gifts. In spiritual things it is especially obvious that "by the grace of God" we are what we are.
III THEIR RECEIVER. "Who am I," etc.? The thought of David"s insignificance and that of his family rendered the Divine goodness to him more conspicuous and impressive. So we shall more duly estimate the goodness of God to us, if we think rightly of ourselves; and a due impression of the greatness of his goodness will lead us to a just estimate of ourselves. At every step of our review of the past and anticipation of the future shall we be reminded of the many exhibitions of our own unworthiness. "Who am I? a frail and insignificant creature, a sinner, a great and persistent sinner; at best, a very imperfect Christian; proved to be such by innumerable instances that I should be so favoured now, and should have such hopes of everlasting blessing set before me?
IV THE EMOTIONS AWAKENED BY THEM.
1. Astonishment. At the Divine goodness, sovereign, free, unbounded, condescending. At the return made, which would appear incredible were it not for the sure testimony of memory and consciousness.
2. Gratitude and love. Expressed in praise and self-consecration. (Rom_12:1)
3. Humility. The mercies of God revealing the more our unworthiness. The perception of his hand in our lives making our own part in the good they have contained seem insignificant. "Not unto us," etc.. (Psa_115:1) "Who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?". (1Co_4:7)
4. Benevolence. His loving kindness producing loving kindness in our hearts, as we contemplate it; and prompting to a return of benefits, which, as they cannot be conferred on God himself, we bestow on his representatives. "Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in. (Eph_5:1, Eph_5:2, Revised Version) "Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another G.W. (1Jn_4:11)
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 On v18 Then went King David in and sat before the…
2Sa_7:18-19
Then went King David in and sat before the Lord.
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Davids address to the Lord
I. The sovereignty of Divine grace. A purpose of love is disclosed here. It is seen in the choice of David and his house, and in the merciful designs which were announced to them. The text furnishes us with a striking illustration of the plighted love of God to Christ and His people. The element of election is conspicuous in this narrative. The great truth that God has, in Christ Jesus, chosen to Himself a church, is brought to the level of our comprehension.
II. The headship of Christ. You may have remarked that the promises were made to David personally, although his family was included in the blessing. The covenant was with Jesses son, who was regarded as the progenitor of a chosen seed--Thine house,--thy kingdom,--thy throne shall be established for ever. David elsewhere alludes to this, for, amongst his last words, he says that God had made a covenant with him, ordered in all things and sure--meaning that He had promised to him certain irrevocable blessings. Here, then, we have another very important truth connected with our salvation, namely, that Christ is the covenant-head of His Church; that he is the representative of His people in all that concerns their salvation; that all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him amen.
III. The marvellous preservation of the church. David, in the text, speaks of Gods providential care during the past: Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto? and he expresses confidence in His promised favour for the future: Thou hast spoken also of Thy servants house for a great while to come. David and his family had been, and were still to be, the objects of Gods providential care; and Christ and His people being typified by them, we must regard that circumstance as declaratory of the duration and stability of the Church. Observe, that from the beginning there has always been a preservation of--
1. A godly seed amongst the wicked. The Lords people have ever been in a minority. They are variously described by the inspired penman as a remnant, a garden enclosed, a vineyard; and by our Saviour as a little flock. It is interesting to observe that the righteous seed maintained in the world has been expressly taught of the Lord: and consequently that in all ages there has been a preservation of--
2. The truth amidst error. At first it was imparted by Jehovah Himself to Adam, and to Enoch, and to Abraham, and to Moses. Afterwards the Lord was pleased to raise up prophets whose special mission it was to declare His will. Then came our Saviour, who was the Truth itself, and after him the apostles and evangelists. The doctrines of salvation were declared to Adam as they are preached to you now. Mans lost estate, redemption through Christ, justification by faith, and the need of personal holiness have been set forth in every era of revelation. They are to be found in the first promise, in the ceremonies of the Levitical law, and in the writings of the prophets as well as in the New Testament. The truth has never been extinguished. (A. B. Whatton, LL. B.)
Prospect and retrospect
We pause as on an isthmus of time; the past and the future are alike open to view. There are no utterances which more fitly express our emotions, as we glance back over the years, than these used here: Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And there are no words better for us to speak, as we are looking forward into the eternity we are rapidly nearing, where the fruition of our best hopes is ere long to be, than these which the king employed in his gratitude then: And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God; but Thou hast spoken also of Thy servants house for a great while to come.
I. The retrospect.
1. In the history the review of the past was laid upon David himself. What a series of reflections must have thronged upon that kings mind as he sat there in silence alone with the ark of God. He had not journeyed along over the hills and valleys of years by ways of pleasantness and by paths of peace. He would well consider his dangers and his deliverances too. He could not have forgotten the hour in which, as a stripling lad, he had slain the Philistine giant with the pebble from the brook, only by trusting in the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then that would make him think of the terrible manner of Sauls attacks upon his life while he as a simple-hearted minstrel was trying to soothe him with his harp. He would seem to see at this moment of review, perhaps as he had never seen before, that his defences must have been actually Divine. Who could have turned in their course those javelins that went quivering through the air out of the mad monarchs hand? This was a career that might well be reviewed in the words, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? The call, therefore, is very plain to us: Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. David might sometimes wonder why, among all that band of brethren of his, so stalwart and strong, he, the weakest and the youngest, had been selected for this wonderful place of honour as the king of Israel. But we may marvel the more that we were made to be the recipients of this grander honour still as kings and priests unto God. Among the private papers of John Howard was found after his death one bearing only these pathetic words: Lord God, why me? Such a reflection must have been suggested in the very spirit of Davids exclamation there before the ark: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto!
2. The result of this retrospection upon the prayer of the king is the special thing to be observed, because there comes to view the true temper which on every such occasion as this ought to be found in the heart of the Christian. But there appears nothing of superciliousness nor of self conceit, not even of satisfied complacency, in David at this moment. On the contrary no words can be found which in more vigorous terms could express his humility and utter self-abnegation than these he employs for himself: Who am I, O Lord God! Matthew Henry, commenting in his own inimitable way, exclaims in a kind of expostulation at his self-abasement: Why, he was upon all accounts a very considerable and valuable man! His endowments were extraordinary. His gifts and graces were eminent. He was a man of honour, success, and usefulness; the darling of his country and the dread of its enemies. But David here evidently counts himself nothing before his Maker, and attributes everything to Gods sovereign grace to him. Nor is this all: he disclaims also any credit for his relationship and family connection. David was evidently an essentially modest man. He made very much the same remark as this to his royal predecessor on the occasion when he was offered the hand of his daughter in marriage. A calm and candid review of his past religious life always humbles a genuine Christian, rather than exalts him into self-importance. There are so many falls for which he is responsible; there are so many neglects for which he is to blame; there are so many weaknesses in his character and so many errors in his walk, that he feels he has little reason to grow self-complacent. It is better to keep saying with this king before the mercy-seat: Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
II. Having now considered the believers retrospect, we turn to consider his prospect, as he sits at the table of the Lord. You cannot fail to observe how, in the utterance of the text, the comparative value of these two was reckoned. Glorious indeed were the remembrances which thronged upon David--the deliverances, the honours, the communings; he dismisses them at once when he begins to think of the anticipations he is permitted to cherish. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The grateful monarch
I. The posture he assumed. Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord.
II. The fervent gratitude he expressed. It was called forth:
1. By looking back at the past. Who am I, O Lord God? etc.
2. By thinking of the future. And this was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord God, etc.
III. The touching appeal he presented. And what shall David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant.
1. Thou knowest the sinfulness of Thy servant. David knew something of this himself, but he was by no means aware of the depths of wickedness which were within him.
2. Thou knowest the weakness of Thy servant. He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
3. Thou knowest the integrity of Thy servant. According to an Indian proverb--A diamond with flaws is more precious than a pebble that has none. Now David, in addition to his great transgression, had several flaws; his infirmities and failings were many; and yet the whole of his history shows that he was a true child of God notwithstanding.
4. Thou knowest the desires of Thy servant. It was in Davids heart to build a temple for God; but although not permitted to carry the design into execution, He whom he sought to serve and honour, approved of the feeling by which he was prompted, and accepted the will for the deed. Thus the humble believer can say, Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hid from thee.
5. Thou knowest the obligations of Thy servant. Often should the question be asked, How much owest thou unto thy Lord? David owed much; for Gods merciful kindness towards him had been great. Let us then think of these things. Never Should we forget that all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. And let us ask ourselves, what effect the contemplation of Gods knowledge has upon our minds? Does it inspire us with joy, or make us miserable? Is it a congenial, or an unwelcome and repulsive theme? The subject speaks to the self-righteous formalist. Ye are they which justify yourselves before me; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men, is abomination in the sight of God. It speaks to all workers of iniquity. The practical language of such is, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? (Expository Outlines.)
Davids prayer for his house
The plan of David to build a house magnifical for Jehovah was not approved. Man proposes; God disposes. We think we know; but God knows better. The Divine veto was conveyed to him as gently as possible; it was coupled with a great promise, Thy house and thy kingdom shall be established before thee.
1. On receiving this communication the king left his cedar palace, went into the weather-beaten tabernacle, and sat before the Lord. The season of silent prayer is of inestimable value. Some of our deepest feelings are more readily expressed in silence than in words. A hand-clasp has volumes in it. Our Lord never preached a more impressive sermon to Peter than when He turned and looked on him. So in our communion With God we may sometimes make known our most earnest desires without a word (1Sa_1:13-15).
2. Then David pours out his soul in thanksgiving. He makes audible acknowledgment of Gods goodness in taking him from the sheepfold and setting him up as the head of a royal line; and in his promises of goodness for a great while to come. His gratitude finds its climacteric expression in the words, There is none like Thee; neither is there any God beside Thee. One thing is clear: God loves to be thanked for His goodness. Observe how the importance of thanksgiving is emphasised in the Scriptures (Psa_95:2). Paul enjoins the Philippians to make known their requests with thanksgiving unto God (Php_4:6). Possibly our prayers would be more effectual if they were more frequently winged with praises. The filial spirit, without which there can be no true approach to the mercy-seat, suggests a due recognition of the Fathers goodness.
3. Then Davids prayer: Let the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee. This was in pursuance of a covenant. God on His part had promised to perpetuate the Davidic line; David on his part had promised faithfulness. The plea, in the present instance, was but a reminder: Do according to thy word! The unit of church membership, now as in the Old Economy, is the household. Every Christian head of a family has a covenant with God, in which salvation is promised to thee and thy seed after thee. The same law is over all Gods people; but some fall short of their privilege in refusing to claim it. The man who has no family altar, for example, can scarcely put God in remembrance of His covenant. If we want our households saved, let us cover them with a constant canopy of intercession; saying often, like David, O Lord, thou hast promised! Thou hast promised!
4. The prayer of David was answered gloriously.
(1) The sovereignty of Judah was continued in his line until the beginning of the Christian era (Gen_49:10).
(2) Then came Christ, of the Davidic line. In His triumphal entry He was greeted, Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!
(3) The Davidic covenant is thus bound up with the destinies of the Christian Church. (Homiletic Review.)
Marrow and fatness
I. The humility apparent in Davids words.
1. He owned the lowliness of his origin--What is my house? He came not of royal blood.
2. David laid the most stress upon his own personal unworthiness. He said, Who am I? What was there in me that thou shouldest make me a king, and a progenitor of the Christ? And will not each believer here say the same? Who am I?
II. Davids wondering gratitude.
1. He wondered, first, at what God had done for him: What is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?--to a house of cedar, and to be able to talk about building a house for thee: to be thy chosen king, and to have my seed established on my throne, and to become the ancestor of the Christ!
2. David did not end his wonder there, but went on to another and greater theme, viz., the blessings which the Lord had promised him. He praised the Lord for what he had laid up as well as for what he had laid out. He said, And this was yet a small thing in thy sight, O Lord God, but thou hast spoken also of thy servants house for a great while to come. What a wonderful expression! And this was yet a small thing in thy sight.
3. David had yet another theme for wonder, which was this--the manner of the giving of all this. There is often as much in the manner of a gift as in a gift itself.
III. Davids emotion of love.
1. David found but a scant outlet for his love. What precious words are these: What can David say more? It is love struck dumb by receiving an unspeakable gift. The king was exactly in the same case as Paul when he said, What shall we then say to these things?
2. Notice the childlikeness of this love. What can David say more?
3. Observe, it is a love which longs for communion, and enjoys it. He says, What can David say more unto thee? He can talk to other people, but he does not quite know how to speak to God, and then he adds, For Thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant, which is a parallel passage to that of Peter, Lord, Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that I love Thee.
4. But do you see it is obedient love as well? It is not mere sentiment, there is a practicalness about it, for he says, Lord, Thou knowest Thy servant, he subscribes himself as henceforth bound to Gods service. With delight he puts on his Masters livery, and sits like a servitor in the hall of the King of kings, waiting to hear what shall be spoken to him.
IV. Davids heart was full of praise.
1. The praise was for the freeness of the grace which brought him such blessedness. For thy words sake, and according to thine own heart hast thou done all these great things. Whenever the believer asks why God gave him grace in Christ Jesus he can only resort to one answer--the Lords own heart has devised and ordained our salvation.
2. David praised also the faithfulness of God. He says, For Thy words sake. Is not that the ground upon which all mercy is received by the child of God? God has promised it and will keep His word. He never did run back from His covenant yet.
3. Then the kings heart was taken up with the greatness of the covenant blessings. According to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things. They were all great. There was not a little mercy among them.
4. Once more David praised God for his condescending familiarity. According to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things, to make Thy servant know them. They were revealed to David by a prophet, just as Jesus communed with His disciples, and said, I have told you before it come to pass, that when it come to pass ye may believe.
V. Davids soul was round up in high thoughts of God, for our text concludes with these words: Wherefore Thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. God is great. He is the greatest because He is the best. The old Romans used to say, optimus maximus--the best, the greatest. Thou, God, art good, and therefore Thou art great. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The solicitude of success
Through the lips of Nathan David had received from God a personal message of the greatest moment. Then the king went in and sat before the Lord, breaking out into the language of the text, which is of the nature of an expostulation. He did not receive the message as one he had a right to expect; he expresses no exultation, only surprise and solicitude; his soul was troubled by his rare fortune, troubled as men generally are by disaster. But is not this a common experience of sincere and devout souls? They are humbled rather than elated by the honours they receive; the praises lavished upon them and their doings surprise and chasten them; their unlooked-for riches excite in their heart a troubled wonder; their specially happy lot seems so far in excess of what they might reasonably expect that they dare hardly realise it; their exceptional health, affluence, promotion, or felicity gives them from time to time a sense of positive uneasiness and painfulness. Who am I, O Lord God, and what: is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? It may seem paradoxical to say so, but in deep, true souls disappointment and disaster often cause less anxiety and questioning than is occasioned by brilliant success. We know what we are, we know the errors, sins, and general unworthiness which have marked our career, and we cannot understand our good fortune; we suspect that we are being lifted up to be cast down; we are perturbed by a secret fear lest these windfalls and triumphs may in one way or other precipitate our ruin, as superior beauty is often fatal to birds and flowers; and we conceive the dread lest these earthly successes may only aggravate our doom as the good things of Dives did. Who am I, and what is my house, that I should be so distinguished? Yet this is the right spirit in which to accept accessions of wealth and social distinctions and joys. It is a far truer temper than to regard our luck as the reward of our merit, and to boast ourselves in our good fortune. To recognise our demerit, and to acknowledge that riches and honours are Gods free gifts, is the true attitude towards worldly advancement and advantage. But at the same time we must not permit morbid feeling to blind us to the graciousness of God, and to rob us of the sweetness of His gifts. Let us then learn to trust God in His bright providences as we do in His dark ones, and to take His richest gifts without suspicion or misgiving. It is a fine trait in the Christian character when we can fill high places and enjoy goodly things in the spirit of unquestioning trust and appreciation. After the king had humbled himself before God because of these extraordinary favours, he concludes: And what can David say more unto Thee? for Thou knowest Thy servant, O Lord God. For Thy words sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou wrought all this greatness to make Thy servant know it. The suspicious, ascetic spirit is not the highest mood of life. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Alone with God
Christian life in our day is full of activity. It finds pleasure in planning, giving, and working for the growth of Christs kingdom. The spirit of consecration gives joy to all Christians who recognise it, and inspires confident hopes in the aggressive movements of the Church. But it conceals, also, a great peril. All Christian power springs from communion with God, and from the indwelling of Divine grace. One can do good to others only as his own heart pulsates with love to Jesus, and has a present experience of His love. We can impart only what we receive. Any spring will run dry unless fed from unfailing sources. Any Christian labour will be fruitless, and Christian zeal be like sounding brass, unless the soul waits daily upon God, and finds new strength in prayer and in the study of the Bible.
Courtiers privileges
It would be a great favour if a king should give leave to one of his meanest subjects to have a key of his privy chamber, to come to him and visit him, and be familiar with him when he pleaseth. How would such a favour be talked of in the world? Yet this is but a faint image of what the believer is admitted to. He may come not merely to the palace of mercy, and the throne of grace, but to the very heart of God. Confidences such as ours surpass all the familiarities of friendship, and yet they are permitted, nay commanded, between the All-glorious Lord and our poor sinful selves. We may well copy the example of David when he went in and sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house? And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Thou hast brought me hitherto.--
Thus far
These verses represent David as coming to a point in his life when he steps aside for a moment out of the current of events to ask what they all mean, what light they throw upon his own life and destiny, and what on the character of God. David had become King now over all Israel and Judah, and he had conquered the Philistines sufficiently to have a moments rest. The kingdom is established. David is so impressed with this that he retires to be alone with God, and in the sacred solitude he says: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought us thus far? And David felt that he was, somehow or other, being worked by a vast Power, that he was in the sweep of a tremendous current of purposes, part of a larger scheme than he himself had ever conceived, and evidently destined for some end larger than he knew. His life, he felt, could never be explained from himself. He was king of the people, but, just as surely, he was the servant of Jehovah. A greater than he was really directing his course. What had happened up to this point was proof, too, that somewhat more was intended. The sense of great things to come came in with that interpretation of the past. The wonder of accomplishments thus far shot into the future as a luminous prophecy of high destiny and great ends. And with this sense of his importance, and the importance of the nation at having a distinct place in the Divine economy, came a great sense of humility. Who am I, and what is my house? The moment man learns his real greatness he is humble; it is when he masquerades an absent majesty he lifts a proud head. Now, it is always a difficult thing to construct the theology of history. I am not going to attempt it here. But a much more difficult thing, I think, is to learn history and have no theology. I do not suppose that David, or the man who wrote his history, or we ourselves, would speak of God taking him from the sheep-fold and making him king and giving him success in any such sense as to make God the Author of Davids misdoings. It is quite true that we cannot apply any theology to a satisfactory explanation of all the facts of history, but to read history and behold its trend and drift and its vast issues without believing in the Ordering Intelligence, who is moral and good, is to me impossible. Take away the belief in the self-conscious personality of God, said Tennyson, and you take away the backbone of the world. On God and God-like men we build our trust. Now, if we survey the past of the world and of mankind we may always ask with incredulity, And is this the law of man, O Lord God? And with the conviction that God is at work, which any adequate view of the past gives, comes the belief in the still greater future. So much is done that it must be little, I think, compared with what remains. Think for a moment of the evolution of mankind. Let man read back the history of his race as far as he can, until ,he sees his ancestors of the Tertiary Period joining together to fight against the stronger animals. What a tremendous distance he has come from that early struggle to this present time when he is not only lord over the brute creation, but when he bends the elements of nature into his service! Think how from a few simple sounds he has developed all the richness of a modern language! Captain Cook said the language of Fuegians was like a man clearing his throat. Think of the wonderful way in which man has risen from physical to moral and spiritual conceptions. The story of it lies embedded in our language to-day. One writer sums it up by saying: From A to Z the dictionary is crowded with examples of the physical roots from which moral and intellectual terms have sprung. Supercilious, e.g., means literally one who raises his eyebrows. Then, how did it come to mean a quality of spirit? Because man came to read the inner nature and to relate it to physical expression. A calculating man simply meant at first one who counted with small stones (calculus, pebble), but calculation now is a mental effort. This passage of words from physical to intellectual, moral, and spiritual meanings, indicates the passage of man to higher stages of life. Long, long ago man began to guess in a very crude way about the causes and properties of things, and the outcome is modern science with all its wonders. Well, having brought us thus far, is it not certain that much more is in store for us? Mr. Wallace puts fifteen great discoveries, all applications of science, to the credit of the nineteenth century, as against eight for all previous history. Is this wonder a sign that we are nearing the end of the world? Nay, rather we have just discovered that the reserve of the universe is exhaustless. Each generation of physicists, says Mr. H. Spencer in his last book, discovers in so-called brute matter powers which but a few years before the most instructed physicists would have thought incredible. Is this march of science the law of man, O Lord God? Nay, rather, we would ask, Who are we that Thou hast brought us thus far? Think, again, how far God has brought us on the paths of morality and theology and religion. From the crudest guesses as to His own nature Be has led us into the temple of the Father of Jesus Christ, and from mistaken sacrifices to the communion of the Holy Spirit. Think how the finest moral feelings have developed out of rude physical relations; even the modesty of woman and the love of man were once what ,we should now deem vulgarities. In this the law of man, O Lord God? For Thy words sake, and according to Thine heart, hast thou wrought all this greatness? The whole development of mankind in language, art, and science, in social union, morality, and religion, is the history of a great forming Spirit bringing order out of chaos, the history of the inner word of God winning utterance: for itself through all discordant sounds, and turning the Babel of man into the Pentecost of the Holy Ghost. But let us turn our thoughts on this subject to our own individual lives. If you believe that God is conducting the march of the race to high and noble ends, you need to believe also that He is personally dealing with you. Davids thoughts turned not only upon his nation and its place in the world, but upon himself and his own relation to God. David was king, you say, and it was a wonderful thing to have come from the sheepfolds of Bethlehem to the throne of Israel. Well might the shepherd-boy of former days now ask, Who am I? But your life contains nothing startling of this kind; you were born an ordinary person, and you are an ordinary person still. Perhaps instead of success and promotion you have had much misfortune and adversity. When you think of the way you have come thus far, you have very mingled feelings about it, you see great blunders and sad mistakes--blunders and mistakes which, perhaps, have brought you a harvest of sorrows. You may be in the very midst of circumstances now which appear to be very much against you, which are at least very difficult to deal with. Types of life and careers are an infinite variety. But this thought that God is dealing with us is not confined to any type, much less confined to the successful type, From the sheepfold to the throne is by no means the one line along which the Divine leadership is recognised. Rather, indeed, it is the normal experience of man. A few men may adopt a certain course of thought, and reason themselves out of this conviction, or suppose they had done so, but mankind will never consent to it. The general feeling with regard to the race is that a God marshals it, and with regard to the individual even that man proposes and God disposes. Most men who from advanced years look back feel that someone else, not themselves, has really tracked their way. Without denying or diminishing mans share in the conduct of his own life, without in any sense risking his sense of responsibility in regard to it; without taking away any of the truth of the statement that as he sows he reaps, we all feel that There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will. Shakespeare got it out of human life, and the conviction is in human life still. To the transfiguration of events, too, there is common testimony. All of us who can look back some years know how utterly we sometimes mistook the bearing of the events through which we were passing. Ruskin says he has never known anything of what was most seriously happening to him till afterwards. Is not that true of all in a measure? What you called an accident has become the ruling factor in your lot; what you called a chance meeting has deposited the most permanent influence in your life; what you intended perhaps for your success has turned out a hindrance; what you thought was going to crush you into a final defeat has been the greatest blessing to you. Tis passing strange! and life is full of it. Crete cries out from the burden of years, and Greece ventures to the rescue. The way is blocked; nothing can be done. Greece proclaims war against Turkey, and Prince George goes to the front. Someone blunders badly, Greece is hopelessly beaten, and the iniquitous Turk revels in victory. Crete is doomed, then! No--wait; slow-footed Time will bring another message. The defeat of Greece lays an obligation on the Powers to give Crete freedom, and the time comes when Prince George becomes himself Governor of the island, and instead of the groans of oppressed men you hear the chanting of Te Deums and the voice of thanksgiving; and soldiers, instead of holding the people in terror, are pelted with flowers by little children. There have been things as strange as that in your life and mine; storms have wrought for peace, troubles have brought us strength, and we were helped from unexpected quarters. We look back to-day, and we see a great deal of our own folly and fault, and their results, but do we not also see the hand of God? But whatever you are, though bad and wicked, if you still feel there is a God above you, whose hand has been in your life though you have rebelled much, a God of mercy and redemption, a God with a great purpose which cannot be defeated, even yet the future throws open its golden doors, and the unseen powers are ready to guide you to the city of celestial life. Thus far. What for? Why alive to-day? That you may go on in the Divine life, on to do Gods work, on to use Gods power, on to manifest Gods beauty, and at last to take your own proper place in the Eternal City of God. (T. K. Williams.)
And is this the manner of man, O Lord God?--
Gods manner above mans
1. It is not the manner of men to forgive great and frequent injuries and affronts. They are too soon provoked, and sometimes incensed; and not soon, or easily reconciled. They often retain a remembrance of injuries, which they profess to have forgiven; and it is difficult to bring them to a real friendship and to manifest the genuine evidences of it. If a prince forgiveth one act of treason, he will scarce forgive a second, and still keep the traitor near him. But our God is rich in mercy. Though he is the offended party, he makes the first overtures of reconciliation, bears with many provocations, waits to be gracious, and multiplies to pardon.
2. Nor is it the manner of men to confer such benefits as God doth. They have no such inexhaustible stores and treasures, out of which to draw their gifts. What is it that princes can bestow upon their greatest favourites, compared with the gifts of God? They confer honours and titles; a mere empty sound! God gives us the real honour, the glorious privilege, of being his children. Princes may bestow gold, silver, jewels, palaces, estates. But would you, Christians, give up your present comfort and interest in the Divine favour, for any of these? The greatest favourite of a prince may be peculiarly wretched, as was the case with Haman. His station is slippery and he may soon fall into disgrace and ruin. But the Lord will give strength to his people, bless them with peace, and confirm them to the end. The favourite of a prince must die, and his master, with all his wealth and power, cannot save him: but when flesh and heart faileth, God is the strength of his servants, and their portion for ever. The favourites of men, even of princes, must be confined to a few. But God can enrich, and ennoble thousands and millions. (J. Orton.)
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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 On v18 2 Samuel
2 Samuel
DAVID’S GRATITUDE
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2Sa 7:18 - 2Sa 7:29.
God’s promise by Nathan of the perpetuity of the kingdom in David’s house made an era in the progress of revelation. A new element was thereby added to devout hope, and a new object presented to faith. The prophecy of the Messiah entered upon a new stage, bearing a relation, as its successive stages always did, to the history which supplies a framework for it. Now, for the first time, He can be set forth as the king of Israel; now the width of the promise, which at first embraced the seed of the woman, and then was limited to the seed of Abraham, and thereafter to the tribe of Judah, is still further limited to the house of David. The beam is narrowed as it is focussed into greater brilliance, and the personal Messiah begins to be faintly discerned in words which are to have a partial, preparatory fulfilment, in itself prophetic, in the collective Davidic monarchs whose office is itself a prophecy. This passage is the wonderful burst of praise which sprang from David’s heart in answer to Nathan’s words. In many of the Psalms later than this prophecy we find clear traces of that expectation of the personal Messiah, which gradually shaped itself, under divine inspiration, in David, as contained in Nathan’s message But this thanksgiving prayer, which was the immediate reflection of the astounding new message, has not yet penetrated its depth nor discovered its rich contents, but sees in it only the promise of the continuance of kingship in his descendants. We do not learn the fulness of God’s gracious promises on first hearing them. Life and experience and the teaching of His Spirit are needed to enable us to count our treasure, and we are richer than we know.
This prayer is a prose psalm outside the Psalter. It consists of two parts,-a burst of astonished thanksgiving and a stream of earnest petition, grasping the divine promise and turning it into a prayer.
I. Note the burst of thanksgiving {2Sa 7:18 - 2Sa 7:24}. The ark dwelt ‘in curtains,’ and into the temporary sanctuary went the king with his full heart. The somewhat peculiar attitude of sitting, while he poured it out to God, has offended some punctilious commentators, who will have it that we should translate ‘remained,’ and not ‘sat’; but there is no need for the change. The decencies of public worship may require a posture which expresses devotion; but individual communion is free from such externals, and absorbed contemplation naturally disposes of the body so as least to hinder the spirit. The tone of almost bewildered surprise at the greatness of the gift is strong all through the prayer. The man’s breath is almost taken away, and his words are sometimes broken, and throughout palpitating with emotion. Yet there is a plain progress of feeling and thought in them, and they may serve as a pattern of thanksgiving. Note the abrupt beginning, as if pent-up feeling forced its way, regardless of forms of devotion. The first emotion excited by God’s great goodness is the sense of unworthiness. ‘I do not deserve it,’ is the instinctive answer of the heart to any lavish human kindness, and how much more to God’s! ‘I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies,’ springs to the devout lips most swiftly, when gazing on His miracles of bestowing love. He must know little of himself, and less of God, who is not most surely melted down to contrition, which has no bitterness or pain in it, by the coals of loving fire heaped by God on his head.
The consciousness of unworthiness passes, in 2Sa 7:19, to adoring contemplation of God’s astounding mercy, and especially of the new element in Nathan’s prophecy,-the perpetuity of the Davidic sovereignty in the dim, far-off future. Thankfulness delights to praise the Giver for the greatness of His gift. Faith strengthens its hold of its blessings by telling them over, as a miser does his treasure. To recount them to God is the way to possess them more fully.
The difficult close of the verse cannot be discussed here. ‘The law for man’ is nearer the literal meaning of the words than ‘the manner of men’ {Rev. Ver.}; and, unfortunately, man’s manner is not the same as man’s law. But the usual explanations are unsatisfactory. We would hazard the suggestion that ‘this’ means that which God has spoken ‘of thy servant’s house,’ and that to call it ‘the law for man’ is equivalent to an expression of absolute confidence in the authority, universality, and certain fulfilment of the promise. The speech of God is ever the law for man, and this new utterance stands on a level with the older law, and shall rule all mankind. The king’s faith not only gazes on the great words of promise, but sees them triumphant on earth.
Then in 2Sa 7:20 comes another bend of the stream of praise. The more full the heart, the more is it conscious of the weakness of all words. The deepest praise, like the truest love, speaks best in silence. It is blessed when, in earthly relations, we can trust our dear ones’ knowledge of us to interpret our poor words. It is more blessed when, in our speech to God, we can feel that our love and faith are deeper than our word, and that He does not judge them by it, but it by them.
‘Silence is His least injurious praise.’
Here, too, we may note the two instances, in this verse, of what runs through the whole prayer,-David’s avoidance of using ‘I.’ Except in the lowly ‘What am I?’ at the beginning, it never occurs; but he calls himself ‘David’ twice and ‘Thy servant’ ten times,-a striking, because unconscious, proof of his lowly sense of unworthiness.
But he can say more; and what he does further say goes yet deeper than his former words. The personal aspect of the promise retreats into the background, and the ground of all God’s mercy in His ‘own heart’ fills the thoughts. Some previous promise, perhaps that through Samuel, is referred to; but the great truth that God is His own motive, and that His love is not drawn forth by our deserts, but wells up by its own energy, like a perennial fountain, is the main thought of the verse. God is self-moved to bless, and He blesses that we may know Him through His gifts. The one thought is the central truth, level to our apprehension, concerning His nature; the other is the key to the meaning of all His workings. All comes to pass because He loves with a self-originated love, and in order that we may know the motive and principle of His acts. We can get no farther into the secret of God than that. We need nothing more for peaceful acceptance of His providences for ourselves and our brethren. All is from love; all is for the manifestation of love. He who has learned these truths sits at the centre and lives in light.
2Sa 7:22 strikes a new note. The effect of God’s dealing with David is to magnify His name, to teach His incomparable greatness, and to confirm by experience ancient words which celebrate it. The thankful heart rejoices in hearsay being changed into personal knowledge. ‘As we have heard, so have we seen.’ Old truths flash up into new meaning, and only he who tastes and sees that God is good to him to-day really enters into the sweetness of His recorded past goodness.
Note the widening of David’s horizon in 2Sa 7:23 - 2Sa 7:24 to embrace all Israel. His blessings are theirs. He feels his own relation to them as the culmination of the long series of past deliverances, and at the same time loses self in joy over Israel’s confirmation as God’s people by his kingship. True thankfulness regards personal blessings in their bearing on others, and shrinks from selfish use of them. Note, too, the parallel, if we may call it so, between Israel and Israel’s God, in that ‘there is none like Thee,’ and by reason of its choice by this incomparable Jehovah, no nation on earth is like ‘Thy people, even like Israel.’
Thus steadily does this model of thanksgiving climb up from a sense of unworthiness, through adoration and gazing on its treasures, to God’s unmotived love as His impulse, and men’s knowledge of that love as His aim, and pauses at last, rapt and hushed, before the solitary loftiness of the incomparable God, and the mystery of the love, which has intertwined the personal blessings which it celebrates, with its great designs for the welfare of the people, whose unique position corresponds to the unapproachable elevation of its God.
II. 2Sa 7:25 - 2Sa 7:29 are prayer built on promise and winged by thankfulness. The whole of these verses are but the expansion of ‘do as Thou hast said.’ But they are not vain repetitions. Rather they are the outpourings of wondering thankfulness and faith, that cannot turn away from dwelling on the miracle of mercy revealed to it unworthy. God delights in the sweet monotony and persistence of such reiterated prayers, each of which represents a fresh throb of desire and a renewed bliss in thinking of His goodness. Observe the frequency and variety of the divine names in these verses,-in each, one, at least: Jehovah God {2Sa 7:25}; Jehovah of hosts {2Sa 7:26}; Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel {2Sa 7:27}; Lord Jehovah {2Sa 7:28 - 2Sa 7:29}. Strong love delights to speak the beloved name. Each fresh utterance of it is a fresh appeal to His revealed nature, and betokens another wave of blessedness passing over David’s spirit as he thinks of God. Observe, also, the other repetition of ‘Thy servant,’ which occurs in every verse, and twice in two of them. The king is never tired of realising his absolute subjection, and feels that it is dignity, and a blessed bond with God, that he should be His servant. The true purpose of honour and office bestowed by God is the service of God, and the name of ‘servant’ is a plea with Him which He cannot but regard. Observe, too, how echoes of the promise ring all through these verses, especially the phrases ‘establish the house’ and ‘for ever.’ They show how profoundly David had been moved, and how he is labouring, as it were, to make himself familiar with the astonishing vista that has begun to open before his believing eyes. Well is it for us if we, in like manner, seek to fix our thoughts on the yet grander ‘for ever’ disclosed to us, and if it colours all our look ahead, and makes the refrain of all our hopes and prayers.
But the main lesson of the prayer is that God’s promise should ever be the basis and measure of prayer. The mould into which our petitions should run is, ‘Do as Thou hast said.’ Because God’s promise had come to David, ‘therefore hath Thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee.’ There is no presumption in taking God at His word. True prayer catches up the promises that have fallen from heaven, and sends them back again, as feathers to the arrows of its petitions. Nor does the promise make the prayer needless. We know that ‘if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us’; and we know that we shall not receive the promised blessings, which are according to His will, unless we do ask. Let us seek to stretch our desires to the width of God’s promises, and to confine our wishes within their bounds.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v23 (See Scofield "Exo 14:30")
redeem
(See Scofield "Exo 14:30")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v18 David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
v. 18. Then went King David in and sat before the Lord, he spent some time in the tent where the ark of the Lord’s presence was; for it took him a long while to become familiar with the miraculous contents of the message announced to him; and he said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, his entire family, that thou hast brought me hitherto? He humbly acknowledged that all the blessings and benefits bestowed upon him by the Lord were expressions of His free love and mercy.
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v. 19. And this, the wonderful external favors, was yet a small thing in Thy sight, O Lord God; but Thou hast spoken also of thy servant’s house for a great while to come. And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? literally, "And this is the law of the man, namely, Lord Jehovah. " David not only understood that the Messianic prophecy was given to his family, that the eternal establishment of his house and kingdom, in the person of Messiah, was included in the prophecy which had come to him, but it was also clear to him that this singular descendant would, in His person, combine two natures, the human and the divine. Messiah, the true man, would at the same time be the Lord Jehovah.
v. 20. And what can David say more unto Thee? Human language is inadequate to convey the gratitude which filled his heart. For Thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant.
v. 21. For Thy word’s sake, the promise transmitted to him by Nathan, and according to Thine own heart, out of free grace and mercy, hast thou done all these great things, for David even now considered the promises fulfilled, to make thy servant know them.
v. 22. Wherefore Thou art great, O Lord God, in the Revelation of His grace toward all mankind; for there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears, namely, of the great deeds whereby in the past God had revealed Himself to His people as such a God.
v. 23. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, an emphatic statement of the singular position Israel enjoyed in the grace of Jehovah, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for Thy land, before thy people, which Thou redeemedst to Thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? it is a short review of all the great and mighty wonders with which God had visited His people since He had chosen them for His own, down to the time when He had driven out the heathen of Canaan and their idols before Israel’s victorious armies.
v. 24. For Thou hast confirmed to Thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto Thee forever; and Thou, Lord, art become their God. The Lord’s free grace had been the source of the covenant which existed, and Israel’s obedience was the condition of the continuance of this relation.
v. 25. And now, O Lord God, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, the special Messianic promise, and concerning his house, establish it forever, as Thou hast said, so that it would truly be fulfilled.
v. 26. And let Thy name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel, the almighty God, who rules heaven and earth, is the Defender and Protector of Israel. And let the house of Thy servant David be established before Thee.
v. 27. For Thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, literally, "hast uncovered the ear," by the announcement of Nathan, saying, I will build Thee an house; therefore hath thy servant found in his heart, gained the courage, to pray this prayer unto Thee; for out of the fullness of the heart his mouth spoke.
v. 28. And now, O Lord God, Thou art that God, the one true God, and Thy words be true, and Thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant.
v. 29. Therefore, now, let it please Thee to bless, rather, begin to bless, the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee; having determined upon His course, the Lord is begged to set Himself to the fulfillment of His promise, to take it in hand speedily; for Thou, O Lord, hast spoken it, and with Thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. David completes his prayer of thanksgiving by expressing his confident hope, his firm trust, that the word of the Lord will certainly come to pass. True faith clings to the promises of God and applies them to ourselves.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 21, 24, 27 Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my…
Who am I, Yahweh God, and what is my family that you have brought me to this point?
David asks this question to express the deep emotion he felt from hearing Yahweh's proclamation. This rhetorical question can be translated as a statement. AT: "My family and I are not worthy of this honor, Yahweh God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
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in your sight
Here sight represents judgment or evaluation. AT: "in your judgment" (See: Metaphor)
your servant's family
Here David refers to himself as "your servant." This can be stated in first person. AT: "my family" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
for a great while to come
This speaks about time as if it were something that travels and arrives somewhere. AT: "and what will happen to them in the future" (See: Metaphor)
What more can I, David, say to you?
David uses this question to emphasize that he has nothing left to say to Yahweh. AT: "There is nothing more I can say to you." (See: Rhetorical Question)
your servant
Here David refers to himself as "your servant." This can be stated in first person. AT: "me" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
translationWords
Lord Yahweh
family
generation
honor
servant
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 On vv18–26 7:18-29 David responded prayerfully to God’s promise of a…
7:18-29 David responded prayerfully to God’s promise of a dynasty, repeatedly acknowledging God’s true kingship as Sovereign Lord.
7:18 David’s question, “Who am I?” was an expression of genuine humility (cp. Exod 4:11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.