2 Samuel 7:1-17 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;… The narrative presents David — I. STILL CONCERNED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD. Looking round upon the splendid house he has reared, the contrast between that and the place where was the ark of God grieves him. "I dwell in a house of Cedar. but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." 1. The gratitude of his heart to the Giver of all his mercies is strongly characteristic of the man. His heart was tender as a woman's and strong as a hero's. True gratitude always acknowledges first the Band Divine. The grateful heart needs no constraint to bring the offering of the first-fruit to the Lord. 2. The piety of David is unmistakably shown here. The needle suddenly disturbed and forced from its centre trembles to return. David is never at rest, never restful, until he is obeying and serving God. A gracious soul will always revolt from meanness towards God's house and luxury toward his own. Devoted souls love to consecrate wealth and leisure to God. Gracious hearts can never do enough for God. These remove the reason for the sarcasm of the infidel, "that, "judged by the houses they are said to dwell in, the Christian's gods are very human." II. GOD'S REPLY AND DAVID'S RECEPTION THEREOF. 1. The purpose in David's heart is accepted. 2. The actual building of the Temple is denied him. Generous impulses should be taken to God. He speeds not who tries to run before the Lord sends him. Impatient hurry is apt to lead astray. 3. A wonderful promise is given him. Dr. Kennicott, Bishop Horsley, and others point out that the Hebrew verb translated "If he commit iniquity" is not in the active but in the passive voice, and thus the passage would be rendered, "I will be his Father, and he shall be my son: even in his suffering for iniquity I shall chasten him with the rod of men (with the rod due to men), and with the stripes (due to) the children of men." Another view is presented in Psalm 89. It is not the king himself but his children that are supposed to transgress and require correction, but out of faithfulness to them their chastisements are not to be destructive. Dr. Gifford, in his "Voices of the Prophets," thus writes: — "The seed which shall be of David's sons must be some descendant later than Solomon; "and the whole description is such as cannot be applied to a mortal king, or only as far as he is type of one greater than himself. It points to eternal and spiritual truth prefigured and embodied in the Kingdom of David to be realised in the Kingdom of his Son. David seems to have grasped the double application of this prophecy, to have risen to the prophetic within the promise. Reference to his Psalms will clearly establish this (62, 45, and 110.). And also study of David's prayer and thanksgiving will establish this. 4. David's reception of the promise. His heart is filled with warmest emotions of gratitude and delight. Large as the promise would be if confined to Solomon, it .would scarcely account for the profound humility and reverence depicted in the language used by David. His emotions are irrepressible. (H. E. Stone.) Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies; |
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