2 Samuel 7

2Sa 7:1-3.

NATHAN

APPROVES THE

PURPOSE OF

DAVID TO

BUILD

GOD A

HOUSE.

2. the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house

of cedar--The palace which Hiram had sent men and materials to build

in Jerusalem had been finished. It was magnificent for that age, though

made wholly of wood: houses in warm countries not being required to

possess the solidity and thickness of walls which are requisite for

dwellings in regions exposed to rain and cold. Cedar was the rarest and

most valuable timber. The elegance and splendor of his own royal

mansion, contrasted with the mean and temporary tabernacle in which the

ark of God was placed, distressed the pious mind of David.

3. Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart--The

piety of the design commended it to the prophet's mind, and he gave his

hasty approval and encouragement to the royal plans. The prophets, when

following the impulse of their own feelings, or forming conjectural

opinions, fell into frequent mistakes.

(See on

1Sa 16:6;

2Ki 4:27).

2Sa 7:4-17.

GOD

APPOINTS

HIS

SUCCESSOR TO

BUILD

IT.

4-17. it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came unto

Nathan--The command was given to the prophet on the night immediately

following; that is, before David could either take any measures or

incur any expenses.

11. Also the Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house--As a

reward for his pious purpose, God would increase and maintain the

family of David and secure the succession of the throne to his dynasty.

[See on

1Ch 17:10].

12. I will set up thy seed after thee, &c.--It is customary for the

oldest son born after the father's succession to the throne to succeed

him in his dignity as king. David had several sons by Bath-sheba born

after his removal to Jerusalem

(2Sa 5:14-16;

compare

1Ch 3:5).

But by a special ordinance and promise of God, his successor was to be

a son born after this time; and the departure from the established

usage of the East in fixing the succession, can be accounted for on no

other known ground, except the fulfilment of the divine promise.

13. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the

throne of his kingdom for ever--This declaration referred, in its

primary application, to Solomon, and to the temporal kingdom of David's

family. But in a larger and sublimer sense, it was meant of David's Son

of another nature

(Heb 1:8).

[See on

1Ch 17:14.]

2Sa 7:18-29.

DAVID'S

PRAYER AND

THANKSGIVING.

18. Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord--Sitting was

anciently an attitude for worship

(Ex 17:12;

1Sa 4:13;

1Ki 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.

19. is this the manner of man, O Lord God?--that is, is it customary

for men to show such condescension to persons so humble as I am? (See

1Ch 17:17.)

20. what can David say more unto thee?--that is, my obligations are

greater than I can express.