For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
Parallel Translations
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For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
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For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.
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For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou wrought all this greatness, to make Thy servant know it.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to 2 Samuel 7:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Psalms 115:1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
- Psalms 138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.
- Ephesians 3:11 according to the eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Luke 12:32 Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
- 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
- Ephesians 1:9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
- Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Deuteronomy 9:5 Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
- Joshua 23:14-15 “Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it. It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you,
- Matthew 11:26 Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- Luke 1:54-55 He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his offspring forever.”
- Luke 1:72 to show mercy toward our fathers, to remember his holy covenant,
- Luke 10:21 In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Sa 7:21 For thy word’s sake, and according to…
2Sa 7:21 For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know [them].
Ver. 21. For thy word’s sake,] i.e., For thy Christ’s sake, saith Junius: or for thy promise’s sake made unto me by Nathan, as 2Sa 7:25.
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And according to thine own heart, &c., ] i.e., Ex mere motu, out of pure and unexcited love thou didst give thy word and promise: and for thy word’s sake thou wilt perform it.
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 For thy word’s sake; that thou mightest fulfil thy…
For thy word’s sake; that thou mightest fulfil thy promises made to me by Samuel and Nathan, and thereby demonstrate thy faithfulness.
According to thine own heart, i. e. of thine own mere liberality and good pleasure, without any desert of mine. So far was David, though now a very gracious man, from thinking his actions meritorious.
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To make thy servant know them, i.e. that thy gracious and wonderful purposes of mercy towards me, which lay hid in thine own heart, might be manifested unto me and others by thy most kind words and actions. So it agrees with 1Ch 17:19.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For thy word's sake,.... For the sake of the…
For thy word's sake,.... For the sake of the promise he had made to him by Samuel, that he should be king, and his kingdom should be established; or for the sake of the Messiah, that should spring from him; the Memra, as the Targum, the essential Word of God; and so the Septuagint version, "because of thy servant", with which agrees the parallel text in Ch1 17:19,
and according to thine own heart; of his own sovereign good will and pleasure, of his own grace, as the Arabic version, and not according to the merits and deserts of David:
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hast thou done all these great things; in making him king of Israel, and settling the kingdom in his posterity to the times of the Messiah, who should spring from him:
to make thy servant know them; as he now did by Nathan the prophet, what he and his should enjoy for time to come; so that it is not only a blessing to have favours designed, purposed, and promised, but to have the knowledge of them, to know the things that are freely given of God.
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 Thy word's sake - That thou mightest fulfil thy…
Thy word's sake - That thou mightest fulfil thy promises made to me, and thereby demonstrate thy faithfulness. Own heart - Or thy own mere liberality and good pleasure, without any desert of mine. So far was David, though a very gracious man, from thinking his actions meritorious.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Word’s sake. Some copies (Haydock) of the Septuagint read…
Word’s sake. Some copies (Haydock) of the Septuagint read "servant’s sake," as 1 Paralipomenon xvii. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. For thy word’s sake — The word is…
21. For thy word’s sake — The word is the promise of the perpetuity of the throne of David, which was magnified before all Israel, and in later times referred to as the “sure mercies of David.” The Divine purpose to exalt the throne of David involved, also, the purpose of magnifying the word of prophecy.
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 21. For thy word’s sake] To fulfil Thy promises…
21. For thy word’s sake] To fulfil Thy promises made to me through Samuel. The reading of 1Ch_17:19, and of the LXX. here, is for thy servant’s sake.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain For thy word"s sake; In 1Ch_17:19 we read, "For…
For thy word"s sake; In 1Ch_17:19 we read, "For thy servant"s sake." The phrase seemed, perhaps, to the Chronicler difficult, but it does not mean "because of thy previous promise," for no such promise had been given, but "because thou hast now said it." Nor does it imply pre-existing merit in David, but that God had now chosen to declare his will, and what was according to his own heart. It thus makes God"s own good will and pleasure the cause of the great honours bestowed upon David. Instead of these great things, the Hebrew has this great thing; that is, the lasting continuance of David"s family.
God"s works and God"s heart and words.
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David looks on those great things which God had promised him as if already accomplished, so great confidence had he in the power and faithfulness of the Promiser; and, conscious that they were due to no worthiness or power of his own, he acknowledges that all originated in the heart of God and were simply in fulfilment of his word, by which they had become known to himself. For the will and the work and the word he praises God.
I GOD DOES GREAT THINGS ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE. The works of creation are great and according to his own heart, originating in himself, and on a scale proportionate to his own greatness. So with the works of his providence. But we will apply the words to redemption. The works included in this are indeed great. They are on a scale of grandeur worthy of God.
1. The methods employed are great. The Incarnation the union of God and man in one Person. The display of the glory of God in the earthly life of Christ, and at his death, resurrection, and ascension. His exaltation to be "Lord of all." The descent and operations of the Holy Spirit.
2. The work effected on behalf of man is great. The atonement especially, and all involved in it. The conquest over sin and Satan and death. The opening of the way to God and heaven.
3. The work wrought in and towards men is great.
(1) In respect to each believer. Illumination, regeneration, pardon, peace, holiness, perfection, glory everlasting, together with the special guidance and government of God"s providence tending to and issuing in these great results.
(2) In respect to the multitude redeemed and saved.
(3) In respect to the final deliverance and exaltation with the Church of the whole creation (Rom_8:19-22; Eph_1:10)
II GOD DOES THESE GREAT THINGS "ACCORDING TO HIS OWN HEART.
1. They spring from his heart. They are done spontaneously, of his own free grace and will "his own good pleasure." Not at the prompting of others, for none other could have conceived them. Not under a sense of obligation, for we had no claim upon him, except that our sin and misery appealed to his compassion. They originated in the Divine mind, sprang from the Divine love.
2. They befit his heart. They bear the stamp of the Divine nature; are worthy of his infinite wisdom, righteousness, benevolence, and power; are the grandest display of them. "It became him," etc.. (Heb_2:10)
All thy ways Are worthy of thyself Divine; But the bright glories of thy grace Beyond thine other wonders shine.
III GOD DOES THESE GREAT THINGS IN FULFILMENT OF HIS OWN WORD. "For thy Word"s sake.
1. He announces them by his Word. "To make thy servant know them." The things which God has done and will do he makes known. It is thus they become available to each and all to whom the Word is communicated. For the knowledge is the chief part of the means by which salvation is wrought. "The gospel... is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom_1:16; see also (Rom_10:13, Rom_10:14; 1Co_1:17, 1Co_1:18, 1Co_1:23; Jam_1:18; 1Pe_1:22, 1Pe_1:23) Thus also we are assured of the completion of the work of redemption. For by the promises our God lays himself under obligation to perfect the salvation of all believers. It is, therefore, a great privilege to know these great things which God works.
2. He accomplishes them according to his Word. He cannot do otherwise. He "cannot lie". (Tit_1:2) "He abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself". (2Ti_2:13) Moreover, "what he hath promised, he is able also to perform". (Rom_4:21) Now that he has given his Word, "for his Word"s sake" if there were no other reason, he will do "all these great things.
Then:
1. Let us, like David, adore and praise our God for his wondrous works, and for making them known to us. How glorious he appears in these works! Let us ascribe glory to him.
2. Let believers rest assured of the complete accomplishment of the work of their own redemption. They have the Word and the heart of God, and his actual works for them and in them, to give them assurance.
3. Let us fear, lest we should fail, through negligence and unbelief, to appropriate the redemption so wondrously wrought for us, notwithstanding our knowledge of it. (see Heb_2:1-4) G.W.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 For your word's sake
For your word's sake
"Because of what you promised to do"
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to fulfill your own purpose
"to accomplish what you planned to do"
to your servant
David refers to himself as "your servant." It can be stated in first person. AT: "to me" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
as we have heard with our own ears
The phrase "with our own ears" is used for emphasis. AT: "as we ourselves have heard" (See: Idiom)
as we have heard
Here "we" refers to David and the nation of Israel. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
What nation is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom you, God, went and rescued for yourself?
David uses a question emphasize that there is no other nation like Israel. AT: "There is no nation like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom you, God, went and rescued for yourself." (See: Rhetorical Question)
to make a name for yourself
Here "name" represents Yahweh's reputation. AT: "to make all people know who you are" (See: Metonymy)
for your land
Here "land" represents the people. AT: "for your people" (See: Metonymy)
You drove out nations
Here "nations" represents the people groups that were living in Canaan. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
word of God
reveal
servant
Lord Yahweh
God
nation
people of God
earth
name
fear
works
cast out
false god
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 7:21 God’s will, rather than David’s personal ambition, enabled…
7:21 God’s will, rather than David’s personal ambition, enabled David to accomplish great things. • you have done: David spoke of what God promised to do for his heirs over the generations as an already-accomplished fact, showing his unshakable belief in God’s faithfulness.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.