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2 Samuel
Chapter Seven
2 Samuel 7
Chapter Contents
David's care for the ark. (1-3) God's covenant with
David. (4-17) His prayer and thanksgiving. (18-29)
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:1-3
(Read 2 Samuel 7:1-3)
David being at rest in his palace, considered how he
might best employ his leisure and prosperity in the service of God. He formed a
design to build a temple for the ark. Nathan here did not speak as a prophet,
but as a godly man, encouraging David by his private judgment. We ought to do
all we can to encourage and promote the good purposes and designs of others,
and, as we have opportunity, to forward a good work.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:4-17
(Read 2 Samuel 7:4-17)
Blessings are promised to the family and posterity of
David. These promises relate to Solomon, David's immediate successor, and the
royal line of Judah. But they also relate to Christ, who is often called David
and the Son of David. To him God gave all power in heaven and earth, with
authority to execute judgment. He was to build the gospel temple, a house for
God's name; the spiritual temple of true believers, to be a habitation of God
through the Spirit. The establishing of his house, his throne, and his kingdom
for ever, can be applied to no other than to Christ and his kingdom: David's house
and kingdom long since came to an end. The committing iniquity cannot be
applied to the Messiah himself, but to his spiritual seed; true believers have
infirmities, for which they must expect to be corrected, though they are not
cast off.
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7:18-29
(Read 2 Samuel 7:18-29)
David's prayer is full of the breathings of devout
affection toward God. He had low thoughts of his own merits. All we have, must
be looked upon as Divine gifts. He speaks very highly and honourably of the
Lord's favours to him. Considering what the character and condition of man is,
we may be amazed that God should deal with him as he does. The promise of
Christ includes all; if the Lord God be ours, what more can we ask, or think
of? Ephesians 3:20. He knows us better than we know
ourselves; therefore let us be satisfied with what he has done for us. What can
we say more for ourselves in our prayers, than God has said for us in his
promises? David ascribes all to the free grace of God. Both the great things He
had done for him, and the great things He had made known to him. All was for
his word's sake, that is, for the sake of Christ the eternal Word. 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, entirely engaged to the
duty, and employed in it. That prayer which is from the tongue only, will not
please God; it must be found in the heart; that must be lifted up and poured
out before God. He builds his faith, and hopes to speed, upon the sureness of
God's promise. David prays for the performance of the promise. With God, saying
and doing are not two things, as they often are with men; God will do as he
hath said. The promises of God are not made to us by name, as to David, but
they belong to all who believe in Jesus Christ, and plead them in his name.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Samuel》
2 Samuel 7
Verse 1
[1] 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;
Sat —
That is, was settled in the house which Hiram's men had built for him, then he
reflected upon the unsettled state of the ark.
Verse 2
[2] That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house
of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
Curtains —
That is, in a tent or tabernacle, verse 6, composed of several curtains.
Verse 3
[3] And
Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is
with thee.
Nathan said —
Pursue thy intentions, and build an house for the ark. The design being pious
and the thing not forbidden by God, Nathan hastily approves it, before he had
consulted God about it, as both he and David ought to have done in a matter of
so great moment. And therefore Nathan meets with this rebuke, that he is forced
to acknowledge his error, and recant it. For the holy prophets did not speak
all things by prophetic inspiration, but some things by an human spirit.
Verse 4
[4] And
it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,
The word of the Lord came — Because David's mistake was pious, and from an honest mind, God would
not suffer him to lie long in it.
Verse 5
[5] Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an
house for me to dwell in?
Shalt thou —
That is, thou shalt not.
Verse 6
[6]
Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the
children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent
and in a tabernacle.
Tent and tabernacle —
These two seem thus to be distinguished, the one may note the curtains and
hangings within, the other the frame of boards, and coverings upon it.
Verse 8
[8] Now
therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler
over my people, over Israel:
My servant —
Lest David should be too much discouraged, or judge himself neglected of God,
as one thought unworthy of so great an honour, God here gives him the
honourable title of his servant, thereby signifying that he accepted of his
service, and good intentions.
Verse 10
[10]
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that
they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the
children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime,
Appoint —
That is, I will make room for them, whereas hitherto they have been much
distressed by their enemies. Or, I will establish a place for them, that is, I
will establish them in their place or land.
My people —
Among the favours which God had vouchsafed, and would vouchsafe to David, he
reckons his blessings to Israel, because they were great blessings to David;
partly, because the strength and happiness of a king consists in the multitude
and happiness of his people; and partly, because David was a man of a public
spirit, and therefore no less affected with Israel's felicity than with his
own.
Before time —
Namely in Egypt.
Verse 11
[11] And
as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have
caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he
will make thee an house.
And as since —
Nor as they did under the judges. But all this is to be understood with a
condition, except they should notoriously forsake God.
And have caused thee — That is, and as until this time in which I have given thee rest. But
these words, though according to our translation they be enclosed in the same
parenthesis with the foregoing clauses, may be better put without it, and taken
by themselves. For the foregoing words in this verse, and in verse 10, all concern the people of Israel; but these
words concern David alone, to whom the speechs returns after a short digression
concerning the people of Israel. And they may be rendered thus.
And I will cause thee to rest, … — More fully and perfectly than yet thou dost.
He will, … —
For thy good intentions to make him an house, he will make thee an house, a
sure house, that is, he will increase and uphold thy posterity, and continue
thy kingdom in thy family.
Verse 12
[12] And
when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set
up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will
establish his kingdom.
And when, … —
When the time of thy life shall expire. This phrase implies, that his days
shall be prolonged to the usual course of nature, and not cut off in the midst,
by any violent or untimely death.
I will set — I
will set up in thy throne, thy posterity, first Solomon, and then others
successively, and at last the Messiah. So the following words may be
understood, part of his posterity in general, part of Solomon, and part of
Christ only, according to the different nature of the several passages.
Verse 13
[13] He
shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom
for ever.
He shall —
This is meant literally of Solomon, who alone did build the material house or
temple; but ultimately of Christ, who is the builder of God's spiritual house
or temple.
For my name —
That is, for my service, and glory.
For ever —
This is not meant of Solomon, for his kingdom was not for ever. But it is to be
understood of David's posterity, in general, and with special respect to
Christ, in whose person the kingdom was to be lodged for ever.
Verse 14
[14] I
will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will
chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:
His father — I
will carry myself towards him as a father, with all affection, and I will own
him as my son. This is intended both of Solomon, as a type of Christ; and of
Christ himself as is evident from Hebrews 1:5.
If he commit —
This agrees only to Solomon and some others of David's posterity; but not to
Christ, who never committed iniquity, as Solomon did, who therein was no type
of Christ, and therefore this branch is terminated in Solomon; whereas in those
things wherein Solomon was a type of Christ, the sense passes through Solomon
to Christ.
Rod of men —
With such rods as are gentle and moderate, and suited to man's weakness.
Verse 15
[15] But
my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put
away before thee.
My mercy —
That is, Or, my kindness, that is, the kingdom which I have mercifully promised
to thee and thine.
From Saul — In
regard of his posterity, for the kingdom was continued to his person during
life.
Verse 16
[16] And
thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy
throne shall be established for ever.
Before thee —
Thine eyes in some sort beholding it: for he lived to see his wise son Solomon
actually placed in the throne, with reputation and general applause, which was
in itself a good presage of the continuance of the kingdom in his family: and
being considered, together with the infallible certainty of God's promise to
him and his, (of the accomplishment whereof, this was an earnest,) gave him
good assurance thereof; especially considering that he had his eyes and
thoughts upon the Messiah, Psalms 110:1, etc. whose day he saw by faith, as
Abraham did, John 8:56, and whom he knew that God would raise
out of the fruit of his loins to sit on his throne, and that for ever: and so
the eternity of his kingdom is rightly said to be before him.
Verse 18
[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?
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, … —
How infinitely unworthy am I and my family of this great honour and happiness!
Verse 19
[19] And
this 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?
This —
Which thou hast already done for me, that thou hast brought me hitherto, to
that pitch of honour, and peace, and prosperity, in which through thy favour I
now stand.
Was small —
Though it was more than I deserved, or could expect, yet thou didst not think
it enough for thee to give to me.
A great while —
For many future ages, and indeed to all eternity.
Is this, … — Do
men use to deal so kindly with their inferiors, as thou hast done with me? No:
this is the prerogative of divine grace.
Verse 20
[20] And
what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord GOD, knowest thy servant.
David say —
Either in a way of gratitude and praise, words cannot express my obligations to
thee, nor my sense of these obligations: Or in a way of prayer. What can I ask
of thee more than thou hast freely done? Thou knowest - Thou knowest my deep
sense of thy favours, and my obligations to thee. And my condition and
necessities, what I do or may need hereafter; and as thou knowest this, so I
doubt not thou wilt supply me.
Verse 21
[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.
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.
Verse 22
[22]
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.
Great —
Both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which
thou hast done for me.
Verse 24
[24] For
thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for
ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God.
Confirmed —
Partly, by thy promises, and that sure covenant which thou hast made with them:
and partly, by thy glorious works wrought on their behalf, as it appears this
day.
Their God — In
a peculiar manner, and by special relation and covenant: for otherwise he is
the God and father of all things.
Verse 26
[26] And
let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over
Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.
Let thy name —
That is, do thou never cease to manifest thyself to be the God and governor of
Israel.
Verse 27
[27] For
thou, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I
will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray
this prayer unto thee.
This prayer, … —
That prayer that is found in the tongue only will not please God. It must be
found in the heart. That must be lifted up and poured out before God.
Verse 28
[28] And
now, O Lord GOD, thou art that God, and thy words be true, and thou hast
promised this goodness unto thy servant:
That God —
That God who hast declared thyself to be Israel's God, and in particular my
God.
Verse 29
[29]
Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may
continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with
thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.
Continue forever, … —
When Christ for ever sat down on the right-hand of God, and received all
possible assurance, that his seed and throne should be as the days of heaven,
then this prayer was abundantly answered.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2
Samuel》
A King’s Questions
1. Who am I, O Lord God?—Man’s Insignificance (v.18)
2. What is my house—Man’s Insufficiency (v.18)
3. Is this the manner of man?—God’s Sovereignty
(v.19)
4. What can David say any more unto Thee?—God’s
Omniscience (v.20)
5. What one nation in the earth is like Thy
people?—god’s Redeeming Grace (v.23)
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-29
Verses 1-17
I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within
curtains.
Proposal to build a temple
1. The spirit of David was essentially active and fond of work. Even
in Eastern countries, with their proverbial stillness and conservatism, such
men are sometimes found, but they are far more common elsewhere. Great
undertakings do not frighten them; they have spirit enough for a lifetime of
effort, they never seem weary of pushing on. When they look on the disorders of
the world, they are not content with the languid utterance, “Something must be
done;” they consider what it is possible for them to do, and gird themselves to
the doing of it. For some time David seems to have found ample scope for his
active energies in subduing the
Philistines and other hostile tribes that were yet mingled with
the Israelites, and that had long given them much annoyance. When all his
enemies were quieted, and he sat in his house, he began to consider to what
work of internal improvement he would now give his attention. Was it right that
there should be such a contrast between the dwelling-place of David and the
dwelling-place of God? It was the very argument that was afterwards used by
Haggai and Zechariah after the return from captivity, to rouse the languid zeal
of their countrymen for the re-erection of the house of God. “Is it time for
you, O ye, to dwell in your celled houses and this house lie waste?” A generous
heart, even though it is a godless one, is uncomfortable When surrounded by
elegance and luxury, while starvation and misery prevail in its neighbourhood.
To the feelings of the godly a disreputable place of worship, contrasting
meanly with the taste and elegance of the hall, or even the villa, is a pain
and a reproach. What we have more need to look at is the disproportion of the
sums paid by rich men, and even by men who can hardly be called rich, in
gratifying their own tastes and in extending the kingdom of Christ. Wealth
which remunerates honest and wholesome labour is not all selfishly thrown away.
But it is somewhat strange that we hear so seldom of rich Christian men
devoting their superfluous wealth to maintaining a mission station with a full
staff of labourers, or to the rearing of colleges, or hospitals, or Christian
institutions, which might provide on a large scale for Christian activity in
ways that might be wonderfully useful. It is in this direction that there is
most need to press the example of David.
2. When the thought of building a temple occurred to David, he
conferred on the subject with the prophet Nathan. Nathan was to inform David
that, unlike Saul, he was not to be the only one of his race to occupy the
throne; his son would reign after he was gathered to his fathers, the kingdom
would be established in his bands, and the throne of his kingdom would be
established for ever. To this favoured son of his would be entrusted the honour
of building the temple, God would be his father, and he would be God’s son. The
proposal which David had made to build a temple was declined. The time for a
change, though drawing near, had not yet arrived. The curtain-canopied
tabernacle had been designed by God to wean His people from these sensuous
ideas of worship to which the magnificent temples of Egypt had accustomed them,
and to give them the true idea of a spiritual service, though not without the
visible emblem of a present God. The time had not yet arrived for changing this
simple arrangement. God could impart His blessing in the humble tent as well as
in the stately temple.
3. But the message through Nathan contained also elements of
encouragement, chiefly with reference to David’s offspring, and to the
stability and permanence of his throne. To appreciate the value of this promise
for the future, we must bear in mind the great insecurity of new dynasties in
Eastern countries, and the fearful tragedies that were often perpetrated to get
rid of the old king’s family, and prepare the way for some ambitious and
unscrupulous usurper. To David, therefore, it was an unspeakable comfort to be assured
that his dynasty would be a stable dynasty; that his son would reign after him.
A father naturally desires peace and prosperity for his children, and if he
extends his view down the generations, the desire is strong that it may be well
with them and with their seed for ever. But no father, in ordinary
circumstances, can flatter himself that his posterity shall escape their share
of the current troubles and calamities of life.
4. The emotions roused in David by tills communication were alike
delightful and exuberant. He takes no notice of the disappointment--of his not
being permitted to build the temple. Ally regret that this might occasion is
swallowed up by his delight in the store of blessing actually promised. And
here we may see a remarkable instance of God’s way of dealing with His people’s
prayers. Virtually, if not formally, David had asked of God to permit him to
build a temple to His name. That petition, bearing though it did very directly
on God’s glory, is not vouchsafed. But in refusing him that request, He makes
over to him mercies of far higher reach and importance. And how often does God
do so! How often, when His people are worrying and perplexing themselves about
their prayers not being answered, in God answering them in a far richer way!
Glimpses of this we see occasionally, but the full revelation of it remains for
the future.
5. It is a striking scene that is presented to us when “David went
in, and sat before the Lord.” It is the only instance in Scripture in which any
one is said to have taken the attitude of sitting while pouring his heart out
to God. Yet the nature of the communion was in keeping with the attitude. We
seem to see in this prayer the very best of David--much intensity of feeling,
great humility, wondering gratitude, holy intimacy and trust, and supreme
satisfaction in the blessing of God. We see him walking in the wry light of
God’s countenance, and supremely happy. The joy of David in this act of
fellowship with God was the purest of which human beings are capable. It was
indeed a joy unspeakable and full of glory. Oh that men would but acquaint
themselves with God and be at peace! (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
David’s desire to build a temple
I. David’s counsel
and purpose to build the temple allowed by man but disallowed by God.
1. First, the moving cause of this counsel was the peace God had
given him now round about.
2. Second, Nathan’s over-hasty approving of David’s purpose (v. 3)
before he had well considered it in his own mind, or consulted with God about
it. This was Nathan’s private opinion, but not by Divine revelation, which
showeth, that the prophets did not always speak by prophetical inspiration, but
sometimes as private men by a human prudence.
3. Third, God suffers not His servants to lie long under mistakes. He
comes to Nathan that night to rectify both his and David’s error (2 Samuel 7:4-7), from whence:
II. The reasons God
rendered to David why he was refused to build the temple.
1. He was a martial man, and had shed much blood. The temple was a
type of the church built by Christ, that Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), therefore saith God, I
reserve this piece of service for thy son Solomon, whose name signifies
peaceable.
2. It was meet the shadow should be suitable to the substance.
2. A second reason is rendered by Solomon (1 Kings 5:3), that God had designed
David soon after this transaction to wage war with the nations round about
Israel, therefore could he look for little leisure to carry on so great and
glorious a fabric.
3. The third reason of God’s refusing David for this work is found in
this Divine oracle to David here, saying, there is no necessity or present
haste for building Me a house, seeing that a tent has given Me content to dwell
in, ever since Israel’s coming out of Egypt, and so will be still till My time
be come; yet as I have been hitherto all-sufficient unto Israel, so will be as efficacious to them
from the ark of My presence in the tabernacle, as if it were magnificently
fixed in the temple.
4. The oracle of God secretly taxeth David for being too preposterous
in his zeal, saying all the judges of Israel were willing to wait for a Divine
warrant to this great work, none of them durst undertake it for want of my
commanding warrant, and wilt not thou wait also? Zeal must be rightly timed (1 Chronicles 17:6.) (C. Ness.)
The sanctuary for the people
I. The sanctuary,
in David’s view was the house of the Lord. The sanctuary signifies a holy or a
sanctified place--a dwelling-place of the Most High--a place where people
assembled to honour God and worship Him in the spirit of liberality and
holiness.
II. In the
sanctuary, work must be done for the world. The religion of Christ reaches out
to the lost and the undone. Giving is not a hindrance but a help. The poorest
as well as the richest feel that it is a blessed privilege to give. The widow’s
mite has a right to a place in the aggregations which support missions and
which build up the waste places.
III. The sanctuary
is the training-place for the nobler nature. Business is laid aside. The
sharpness, the grasping, the watching, the suspicious spirit may be banished.
IV. The condition
of the sanctuary evidences our regard for God. What we do for friends at home
attests our love for those committed to our keeping. So what is done for the
sanctuary proves the regard cherished for every effort put forth to promote the
glory of God and advance the interests Of our fellow-men. David felt this when
he called attention to the fact that he dwelt in cedar while the ark of God
dwelt within curtains. He did not desire to build the temple to save his soul,
but because of his love for God and of his desire to promote the interests of
His cause. (J. D. Fulton, D. D.)
The intended temple
David looking at his own personal comfort did not say, Let me now
enjoy it; I have paid dearly for it; everything in my house cost me blood; if
any man is entitled to a long quiet afternoon in life, I am the man; I am
thankful for this tranquillity, and nothing shall disturb it. Men of David’s
quality never made speeches of that kind: their peace is in their activity;
their Sabbath is in their worship. So, said David, look at the condition of
affairs: I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God dwelleth within
curtains, etc. Truly, he was a poet with a fine sense of rhythm. Were a
syllable too-much in a line it would afflict him like the puncture of an edged
instrument. Without studying letters, he knew when things swung in astronomic
rhythm and balance and harmony. We may have lost that fine sense of unity and
practical poesy; some men have lost it in speech. God has set all things in
relation. He is a God of order. He has published the universe as a poem, and
all his goings fall into noble sequence. We must study that spirit and pray for
it, so that we cannot rest while a picture is out of square, whilst a pillar
that ought to be upright is leaning a little to the right or to the left. We
ought to be flung into disorder and sense of shame by a false colour, a false
note. But while this is impossible to us in a practical way, what is possible
to us is a sense of moral justice, a sense of righteous relation, a sense of
what is due to God. To be at ease whilst His house is without a roof is to
proclaim oneself no child of Heaven.
1. Having come into personal comfort, David will do good. That is the
right expression of gratitude. What can I do for the Church? What can I do for
the poor? Having read many books, and acquired some information, what can I do
for the ignorant?
2. Nathan and David settled the matter according to their own will.
Nathan was a man who might perhaps be not indisposed to agree with the king
whatever he said. He may come to another temper under Divine ministry; for that
we must wait. The idea struck Nathan as a good one. Nathan had no objection. He
said, The idea is beautiful; carry it out instantaneously; the Lord is
evidently with thee; that is a thought the image and superscription of which
cannot be mistaken; and Nathan went home to sleep. There are some things that
appear to need no judgment. There are some proposals that are so beautiful and
precious that we at once accept them, endorse them, and pass them on to
fulfilment, and then retire to rest. The Lord taught David another lesson; he
said: This thing is all wrong; it is out of season; there is much more to be
done before this man can advance in the direction he has proposed: my house
must not be built by his hands; I have an interest in my house: I care for the
masonry as well as for the sanctuary. No blasphemer ought to be engaged in
building the walls of a cathedral; no flippant man ought to touch the meanest
part of God’s house; and no man of blood should build s temple.
3. Yet how gentle is the Most High! Who can speak like God? It is the
dignity that gives the value to the condescension. The lesson which God taught
to David is to trust the providence which has been good from the very
first:--“Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote,”--so I am not going to forsake
thee; if I had taken thee from a throne, reasoning in another direction might
have been at least partially justified, but “I took thee from the sheepcote,
from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel.” God will
have His providence judged as a whole--that is to say, he will have the mind
thrown back to the point of origin, and have all the days linked, like loops of gold, like loops of
light; then he will say to the subject of His gracious government: Look back at
the beginning; count the days; read between the lines; study the whole, and see
how all the time I have been building thee a house; and, until that house is
finished, wait! What peace it would give to us all if we could adopt this holy
method of criticism I Look at the beginning: Where were we? What were we? How
have we been trained, watched, defended!
4. God further shows that all things are critically timed: “Thou
shalt sleep with thy fathers” (v. 12)--But God never sleeps. He says: “I will
put thee to rest, O brave soldier, chivalrous grand heart I will close thine
eyelids, stained with rivers of tears; I bury the universe.” We must leave
something for the future to do. All things are written down in God’s book. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
Significance of the ark within curtains
Was not that long continuance in the humble tabernacle intended to
make plain the contrast between this God and the gods who were enshrined in the
massive structures that Israel had seen in Egypt? Was it not a lesson, even in
the days when Israel needed some accommodation to its weakness in the shape of
symbolical and ceremonial worship, that He “dwelleth not in temples made with
hands?” Was it not an early gleam of the perfect day--a protest as strong as
could then be made against localising the Divine presence and creating “sacred
places?” The degree of religious development in Israel could not yet dispense
with all localising, but the minimum of it was attained by the dwelling of the
ark in the tabernacle; and there was a danger, which experience proved to be
only too real, that a gorgeous temple should become the tomb of religion rather
than the dwelling-place of God. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The church contrasted with the palace
The cedar was largely used for decorative purposes throughout the
whole East. In “Nineveh and its Remains,” Layard thus describes the internal
appearance of an Assyrian building: “The ceilings . . . were divided into
square compartments, painted with flowers, or with the figures of animals. Some
were inlaid with ivory, each compartment being surrounded by elegant borders
and mouldings. The beams, as well as the sides of the chambers, may have been
gilded, or even plated with gold and silver; and the rarest woods, in which the
cedar was conspicuous, were used for the woodwork.” (Zephaniah 2:14; Jeremiah 22:14; 1 Kings 6:15; 1 Kings 7:3.) The true relation of
the houses of men to the house of God may be illustrated from Ancient Athens.
The dwelling-houses of Athens were mean; its temples were the wonder of the
world, abounding in all magnificence of wealth and art. (Sunday School Times.)
Remembering God’s house
Mathew Henry says: “Note: When God, in His providence, has
remarkably done much for us, it should put us upon contriving what we may do for
Him and His glory. ‘What shall I render unto the Lord?’” And John Trapp adds:
“Ahab dwelt in a palace of ivory, and yet had no thoughts of heart for God and
His service.” David and Ahab both have their like among the sons of men.
Purpose in life
The great Socialist, Robert Dale Owen, says: “I committed one
fatal error in my youth, and dearly have I bewailed it; I started in life
without an object, even without an ambition. Had I created for myself a
definite purpose--literary, artistic, scientific, social, there would have been
something to labour for, and to overcome. But the power is gone. I have thrown
away a life. I am an unhappy man.” Lack of purpose has ruined more lives than
has a deliberately-chosen bad purpose. It leaves that life at the mercy of
every shabby influence without a guiding principle or unifying power. (H. O.
Mackey.)
Communion with God
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 Psalms 89:1-52. 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.)
Concern for religious things
David’s self is all right, but in the nobility of the grace
that God has given to him, his thoughts are away from self and upon God. What
ails John Welsh that he rises at a most unseasonable time to wrap his plaid
about him, and sob, and groan, and cry? The ark of God--that is, Scotland--is
within curtains, is being buffeted by the winds of indifference, and that robs
the eyelids of John Welsh of their sleep, and he tells his wife that he cannot
rest, for he has the souls of three thousand to answer for, and he knows not
how it is with many of them. John Welsh is like David, concerned not for
himself, but for God. Ah, the times have been in this land when men were
burdened with the public state, when a Christless generation would lie heavily
on the hearts of the covenanted people, when sleep would fly, and groans and
tears would come for the wickedness of the land. Campbell, of Kinnioncleugh,
what ails you? You are in the covenant of grace, and the tears, bitter and
salt, are running down your cheeks. What is the sorrow? What is the burden? Has
the Lord forsaken you? They ask him, “Why this agony and groaning?” He replied,
“It is the ‘ark’ in Scotland that I am concerned about. It is Scotland’s kirk
that I am troubled about.” Ah! there are few now burdened about Scotland’s
kirk. As prosperity and wealth come, the spiritual drought and spiritual
darkness, and the awful indifference of a generation that will not have God, do
not lie as burdens, as they should, on our hearts. We are content with the
houses of cedar; we are content, and we rub our hands in a kind of competing
glory in church extension. Denomination after denomination is rushing on for
denominational objects, and the unholy fire is being spread abroad, while all
the time God’s ark is within curtains, the people axe unsaved, and their hearts
are empty of love to Jesus. (J. Robertson.)
Self-denying grace needed in the church
Do you know the problem in the heathen field? Do you know why
those Chinese and those heathen tribes refuse to come to Christ? It is because
they do not believe in our earnestness. For every commercial post there are a
thousand applicants; for every chance to get the gold that perisheth, there are
competitors by the score; but to tell the story of redeeming love, one is
considered sufficient for a province containing two million souls. Oh, this
awful blame that lies at the door of the professing Church of Christ! We are
dwelling in cedar while the ark of the Lord is buffeted by the storms. Real
grace cannot be content with self, with the house of cedar. Because our wealthy
churches have no missionary spirit, have no self-denying, but are wasting their
givings on self, the poorer parts of the cities and the heathen fields are left
struggling and helpless. Verily God in His day will judge the so-called
Christian communities. Oh, for more of the self denying grace that David had!
He felt that the very house of cedar was about to tumble down upon him while
the ark of God was exposed to the storms of the night. (J. Robertson.)
Verses 5-17
Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?
Folded hands
1. Let us understand that a purpose may be good, yet Providence may
see fit to deny its accomplishment. That is to say, God may take the will for
the deed. We may
work up a sort of personal enthusiasm, and because the end appears right in our
eyes, may expect that Providence will immediately accept it; but, the question
is not whether the plan is good, but whether it is God’s plan for us in which
to serve Him. These so-called crises of human existence are sometimes nothing
more nor less than mere crises of human will, dictating to God what ought to be
done.
2. Let us remember that a wish may be intense, and yet it is not on
that account to be granted. We act so often from mixed motives that we are not
always the ones to know whether wishes we cherish are not wiles of the devil.
The day has been for many a child of God, when he struggled with some most
eager and passionate desire of his heart; God denied it, and the believer has
lived to thank Him on the bended knees of his grateful soul. God has promised
to grant, not what we seek or crave or implore in set terms, but what we “need”
(Philippians 4:19).
3. Let us acknowledge that sometimes a human heart is too full of
unworthy feeling for success in high spiritual endeavour. Hence the Lord does
not entrust this to such agents. This hard decision for David is not without
its parallel in modern experience. Are none of us men “of blood”? It is related
of Richard the Lion-hearted that for seven whole years he would not suffer
himself to take the Sacrament, because he was conscious of real hatred in his
heart towards the king of France. It is possibly a poignant experience, but it
may be profitable to acknowledge, “There are things I cannot do, because God is
holier than I am.” For this will leave the way open for fresh increases in
holiness at once; and it also settles one’s mind down to give over
impossibilities, and take up what is legitimately within reach.
4. Let us admit freely, that an intention may be excellent, and yet
have to be surrendered into another’s hands. This plan of David was good, but
Solomon was to carry it out; that was all (1 Kings 8:18). God may choose to
have his work done by those whom he selects, and not by volunteers.
5. Let us believe that a human heart may be apparently broken, and
yet remain full of joy. Every now and then we fall on some new chapter which
shows King David’s frank delight in this lowly task permitted to him (1 Chronicles 28:2-8). He rouses the
whole nation with his enthusiasm; and yet his first sentence of address is a
candid statement of his purpose which the Lord had thwarted the moment he
mentioned it, and now of the purpose which had come in the place of it, making
him as happy as a child. Now let us add only an illustration of this whole
thought, and finish. Two boys, Franz Knigstein and Albrecht Durer, once lived
together in Nuremberg; they were going to be artists, and had entered Michael
Wohlgemuth’s study for instruction. The parents of both were poor, and were
struggling to keep their sons at their work, until they should be able to care
for themselves. Of these two pupils, the master knew that Albrecht possessed
genius, but Franz would never make a painter of whom he should be proud. But
both were industrious and frugal and affectionate. They loved each other
tenderly, and were kind and faithful unto all at home. Years passed on: one
went to Italy, the other continued study in Germany. Ere long Franz married,
and, by and by, Albrecht; and the old people died, and times were hard, and art
was dull. Albrecht feared that Franz had not the artist spirit, and could never
succeed. Once they planned together to make an etching of the passion of our
Lord; when they came to show each other what had been accomplished, the picture
of Franz was cold and lifeless, while that of Albrecht was full of beauty.
Franz himself saw it then. He was in middle life, and so far as he knew he had
been a failure. He must give it up; he could not be successful as an artist.
But he did not complain; only for a passionate moment he buried his face in his
hands. Then he said in broken tones, though still full of courage: “The good
Lord gave me no such gift as this; but he has something yet for me to do; some
homely work shall be found for me; I was blind so long, so much time I have
lost; be you the artist of Nuremberg, and I ” “O, Franz! be quiet an instant,”
exclaimed Albrecht; and a quick rush was made to the paper before him on the
table. Only a few lines with a swift pencil: Franz thought he was adding
another stroke to his etching, and waited patiently leaning over the mantel
with his fingers twined and clasped. And then, next day. Albrecht showed his
friend the sheet: “Why, those are only my own hands,” said Franz; “where did you
get them?” And there was hardly need of an answer. “I took them as you stood,
making the sad surrender of your life so very, very bravely; and I murmured to
myself, those hands that may never paint a picture, can now most certainly make
one; I have faith in those folded hands, my brother-friend: they will go to
men’s hearts in the years to come!” And, sure enough, the prophecy was true;
for over the artistic world has gone the tale, and over the worlds of love and
duty has gone the picture; and the Folded Hands, by Albrecht Durer, are but the
hands of Franz Knigstein once folded in sweet, brave resignation, when he gave
up his dearest wish, and yet believed the good Lord had a homely duty for him
to do, worth the doing. That is the picture which hangs up over my table, and
has hung there for years; a mere copy of an etching that belongs in the
gallery of Vienna. What it means is, there are some things, my Christian
friend, you and I can never do! But there are others we can do, and we can
always do something towards accomplishing a preparation for some one else to
finish; and what matters all the humiliation, if only the dear Lord gets the
glory? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Verse 8
I took thee from the sheepcote.
God’s making of a life
Though he was a born king by nature and character, David was not
born a king. His father was a simple farmer, and his childhood was spent in the
quiet scenes of a humble village. Jesus was born in the same Judean
village-city, little Bethlehem. It is exactly thus that God ever carries out
His mighty programme of action in creation, providence, and grace. The Rev. W.
L. Watkinson says that, on visiting an art gallery recently, he noticed that
some of the greatest pictures had not a splendid thing in them. The ordinary
artist, when he wants to be effective, paints in a breadth of golden harvest,
or be portrays a kingfisher or some other iridescent bird, or a tree in bloom,
or that captivating thing, a rainbow. But you will notice that some of the
greatest painters that ever lived never touch these things. They take common
things--a railway cut, a ploughed field--no conspicuous object, only the black
earth, the brown earth, the red earth; but their touch is a supreme touch, so
that you can see the blossom in the dust and the rainbow in the cloud; and the
picture, although it contains not a brilliant thing, is bathed in imagination,
poetry, and beauty. So Christ can take the most common human plants in His
garden and develop them into the most indescribable beauty and interest. God
can take our poor humble lives and crown them with dignity and glory, as He
honoured David the shepherd boy, if we fall into the royal line of the servants
of righteousness. Before honour is humility. David was not a self-exalted king.
He was called to rule, and he followed the Divine call wherever it led him,
whether into the desert or into the palace.
Filling present limits
If a man be not signally successful in his present field he cannot
reasonably hope to be more successful in a larger field. He must first fill out
to his existing limits before he will be able to expand into the area of larger
boundaries. A man may indeed have abilities beyond the sphere he is in at
present, but in every such case the first indication of this is his filling
that sphere satisfactorily. If he lacks where he is, he ought not to feel that
he could do better, or even as well, if he were in a larger place. It were
folly to expect that there is milk enough for a gallon measure when it cannot
fill a pint pot. (Great Thoughts.)
God the Giver of power
That God is the Giver of power and dominion is a truth which has
always been recognized in the unchangeable East. Thus, in the inscription of
Darius on the rock at Behistun, the ninth paragraph reads: “Says Darius the
king:--Ormazd [the god] granted me the empire. Ormazd brought help to me so
that I gained this empire. By the grace of Ormazd, I hold this empire.”
Substitute “Jehovah” for “Ormazd,” and David might truthfully have written that
inscription. Again, in the Annals of Assurbanipal which are preserved on
terra-cotta cylinders, now in the British Museum, it is said: “I am
Assurbanipal, the seed of [the gods] Assur and Beltis, son of the great king of
the North Palace, whom [the gods] Assur and Sin the lord of crowns, raised to
the kingdom, prophesying his name from the days of old; and in his birth have
created him to rule Assyria. [The gods] Shamas, Vul, and Ishtar, in power most
high, commanded the making of his kingdom.” (Sunday School Times.)
From obscurity to eminence
For purposes of sober illustration or intense appeal to the
unselfish and heroic, nothing can surpass the life of David Livingstone, whom
Florence Nightingale called “the greatest man of his generation.” The vision of
the boy placing his book on the spinning-jenny and studying amid the roar of
the machinery at Blantyre, or sitting contentedly down before his father’s door
to spend the night, upon arriving after the hour for locking it; the old coat,
eleven years behind the fashion, which he wore when he emerged at Cape Town
after Kolobeng had been pillaged; the sadness of the scene when he buried his
little daughter in “the first grave in all this country,” he wrote to his
parents, “marked as the resting-place of one of whom it is believed and
confessed that she stall live again”; his jocular letters to his daughter Agnes
about his distorted teeth, “so that my smile is like that of a hippopotamus”;
the meeting with Stanley when he was a “mere ruckle of bones”; the indomitable
grit of the man whose last words in Scotland were, “Fear God, and work
hard”--this life is full of such things as these, capable of use, inviting it.
And when, before or since, has this world been swayed by eloquence comparable
with that of his death? No pulpit has ever spoken with such power. The worn
frame kneeling by the bedside at Ilala, pulseless and grill, while the rain
dripped from the eaves of the hut, dead in the attitude of prayer, solitary and
alone, sent a thrill through the souls of men which, thank God, is vibrating
still, and is working out the redemption wrought once for Africa by the world’s
Redeemer. (W. G. Blaikie.)
Verses 8-17
Go, do all that is in thine heart.
Divine correction of a prophet’s mistake and Divine denial of a
king’s desire
1. It is pleasant to glance at the circumstances which gave birth to
David’s desire to build the temple. The regal position into which he passed on
the death of Saul was no bed of roses. The land was still over-run by the
Philistines, who held many of its strongest fortresses. Jerusalem was in the
hands of the Jebusites. There was hard and long-lasting work to be done, but David
gave himself to it with full purpose of heart; and his God who had called him
to it did not suffer him to labour in vain. Victory after victory crowned his
arduous struggles, until, at last, the Philistines were for ever banished; the
Land of Promise was fully possessed by the Israelites; and David’s unresisted
rule extended over all the twelve tribes. It was a happy time for the king and
his people. Peace had come into the land, and prosperity was in her train. “The
king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his
enemies.” We can scarcely enter into the joy which all this created, and the
thankfulness it inspired; not because we know nothing of such circumstances,
but because we have-always lived in them. Those who have never mourned on
account of the deep darkness of midnight, cannot appreciate the beauty of the
dawn and the splendours of the noon like men who through long hours of thick
gloom have watched and waited for the morning. How can we estimate the
blessedness of peace and security, as it was estimated by the Hebrews after
nearly a life-time of constant disquiet and bloody strife, and well-grounded
dread of national annihilation and of individual slavery or death? It may be
asked, if David were so joyous and thankful, could he not have taken his harp
of sweet and solemn sound, and have expressed his new-born praise in some
new-born psalm? Doubtless he did this, but it was not enough to satisfy his
gratitude. The truly thankful heart is glad to put on its singing robes, and
lift its exultant strains to heaven; but it cannot be contented with words and
music alone, even though another David should pen the hymn, and an inspired
Handel should compose the melody. It will want to express its emotion in works,
to put on the garb of a willing servant, and, in addition to saying great
things about God, to do right and good and noble things for God. Let us be
assured that if “we know and believe the love that God hath to us”--if His love
have enkindled ours--we too shall be eager to embody our living thankfulness in
deeds of truth, and kindness, and purity. The praise that expresses itself in
action is not only the most acceptable to God, it is also the only praise which
can give relief to the spirit burdened with a sense of what it owes to Him,
whose mercy is like Himself--without beginning of days or end of years.
2. We must turn from the origin and nature of David’s purpose to
Nathan’s mistaken sanction of it. A sympathetic heart is a great quickener of
the brain. If
your spirit be in unison with that of another man, how readily you and he can
understand each other. Half words are enough, and either of you can fully
discern the other’s desire or purpose long before his language has fully
disclosed it. It is this taw of our nature which makes it so much easier for a
man to find out the Divine Will when his heart is brought into living sympathy
with God. Then his faculty of discernment is so perfect that to him God can
say, “I will guide thee with Mine eye.” Between Nathan and David there was this
sympathy, so that the latter had scarcely begun to speak about his purpose
before the former divined all that be intended. Here is a most instructive case
of the fallability of an always good and ofttimes inspired man! It is
frequently difficult to distinguish between the inclinations of our own wills
and the guidance of God’s hand. It is so easy to mistake the bent of our own
desires for the intimations of Providence; and when our own hearts are in
favour of a thing it requires little argument to convince us that God is in
favour of it too. No matter how wise or right any course may appear to be, if
we would be always safe we must always distrust our own unaided judgments, and
cherish the dependent and teachable spirit, which cries, “Lord, what wilt Thou
have me to do?” Nathan went home to his evening prayer, and his nightly rest,
and was speedily made aware of his error.
3. We have now to look at the denial of David’s desire, and at the
facts and promises which were set before him to reconcile him to his
disappointment. There was neither disdain of his gratitude nor condemnation of
his idea that the prospered nation ought to have a better house for holy
service. The Lord in His great kindness was careful so to convey the denial
that it could not possibly impair David’s faith in the Divine love, nor excite
his hostility to the Divine plan. He testified that God’s gentleness had made
him great. Of that gentleness he seldom had richer experience than on this
occasion.
Nathan’s mistake
David’s proposal was so generous and so religious that the prophet
Nathan didn’t have a question that its prompting was from the Lord. He was
ready to bid the king God-speed, without a doubt as to the propriety of the
thing proposed. But the sequel showed that David’s plan didn’t have the Lord’s
approval. Nor was this the last time that a man of God made a mistake in
supposing that because a proposition was a religious one it necessarily had the
Lord’s approval. A young man comes to his pastor, and says that he has decided
to give up everything else and study for the ministry. It doesn’t follow that
the minister ought to say, “Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the Lord is
with thee.” It is still a question whether this well-intentioned proposal is
really of the Lord. So again, it may be, when a man comes with a proposition as
to the use of his property, in establishing a local fund for the support of the
ministry, in founding another college, or in building a new hospital. To show a
religious purpose is one thing. To be sure that that purpose has the Lord’s
approval, or that just as it is it deserves the approval of the Lord’s
ministers, is quite another thing. Other men of God need to learn caution from
the experience of Nathan. (H. C. Trumbull.)
A noble purpose unrealised
I. A conception of
a noble purpose. It was a great thought that came to David. It was in part
suggested by the exigencies of the situation. After the ark had come to its new
home, Asaph and others had been appointed to celebrate, and thank, and praise
the Lord, and minister before Him (1 Chronicles 16:4-37); and it is
supposed that, at this period, the twenty-four courses of priests were
appointed, an arrangement which lasted to the time of our Lord. It is thus,
especially in young life, that great conceptions visit the soul; ideals of
surpassing beauty cast a light forward upon the future; resolves of service for
God and man brace the soul as the air from the glaciers does the dwellers in
the plains; and all life assumes a nobler aspect, and is set to a higher key.
Secretly that lad resolves to be a preacher, missionary, or philanthropist; and
that girl, to be queen in an ideal home, or to go far hence to the zenanas of India.
“I will do this great thing for God,” the young heart says to itself,
altogether heedless of sacrifice, tears, blood. The bugle-notes of lofty
purpose ring out gladly, summoning the soul to noble exploit; and it is saved
from the low levels which satisfy others by the immortal hope that has already
gone forward to occupy the future. Young people, never surrender your ideal,
nor act unworthily of it, nor disobey the heavenly vision. Above all, when you
come to the house of cedar, and God has given you rest, be more than ever
careful to gird yourselves, and arise to realize the purpose that visited you
when you kept your father’s sheep.
II. The ideal is
not always realized. There is no definite “No” spoken by God’s gentle lips. He
presses His promises and blessings upon us, and leads us forward in a golden
haze of love, which conceals this negative. The plant is conscious of a great
possibility throbbing within it; but somehow the days pass, and it does not
come to a flower. The picture which is to gain immortality is always to be
painted; the book which is to elucidate the problem of the ages is always to be
written; the immortal song is always to be sung. The young man is kept at his
desk in the counting-house instead of going to the pulpit; the girl becomes a
withered woman, cherishing a faded flower; the king hands on to his son the
building of the house.
III. God explains
his reasons afterwards. What we know not now, we shall know hereafter. The
blood-stained hand might not raise the temple of peace. It would have wounded
David needlessly to have been told this at the time. It was enough to wrap up
the Divine “No” in a promise of infinite blessing; but, as the years passed,
the reason for God’s refusal grew clear and distinct before him. Meanwhile, David
possessed his soul in patience, and said to himself: God has a reason, I cannot
understand it; but it is well.
IV. An unrealized
conception may yet be fraught with immense blessing. Solomon completes the
story. David was a better man because he had given expression to the noble
purpose. Its gleam left a permanent glow on his life. The rejected candidate to
the missionary society stands upon a higher moral platform than those who were
never touched by the glow of missionary enthusiasm. For a woman to have loved
passionately, even though the dark waters may have engulfed her love before it
was consummated, leaves her ever after richer, deeper, than if she had never
loved, nor been loved in return. God will credit us with what we would have
been if we might. In the glory David will find himself credited with the
building of the temple on Mount Zion.
V. Do the next
thing. The energy which David would have expended in building the temple
wrought itself out in gathering the materials for its construction. If you cannot
have what you hoped, do not sit down in despair and allow the energies of your
life to run to waste; but arise, and gird yourself to help others to achieve.
If you may not build, you may gather materials for him that shall. If you may
not go down the mine, you can hold the ropes. There is a fact in nature known
as the law of the conservation of force. The force of the accumulating velocity
of the falling stone passes into heat, of which some is retained by the stone,
the rest passes into the atmosphere. No true ideals are fruitless; somehow they
help the world of men. No tears are wept, no prayers uttered, no conceptions
honestly entertained in vain. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Our hearts the measure of our work
Think much about intentions. Give, and it shall be given you; good
measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give
into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be
measured to you again. After which Bengel acutely annotates that it is by our
hearts that we both mete out to others and have it meted out to ourselves. It
would have gone hard with-the poor widow if she, had only had a farthing meted
out to her in her Lord’s judgment on her. But her Lord looked on her heart. And
thus it is that she sits in heaven to-day among the queens who sit there on
their thrones of gold, because she had such a queenly heart that day in the
temple porch. Both from David’s intended temple, from the poor widow’s actual
collection at the door of David’s temple, and from Bengel’s spiritual
annotation let us learn this spiritual lesson, that our hearts are the measure
both of our work and of our wages in the sight of God. You cannot build and
repair all the churches and mission-houses and manses at home and abroad you
would like to build and repair. You cannot endow all the chairs of sacred
learning you would like: You cannot contribute to the sustentation of the
Christian ministry as you would like. You cannot visit and relieve all the
fatherless and widows in their affliction as you would like. You cannot stop
all the sources of sin and misery in this world as you would like. You cannot
make the reading, or the religion, or the devotional life of your people what
your heart is full of. You wish you could. So did David. David had magnificent
dreams about the temple. He built the temple every night in his sleep. And had
he been permitted he would not have slept with his fathers till he had
dedicated a most magnificent house to the name of the Lord. But it stands in
God’s true and faithful Word, that it was all in David’s heart. And He who
looks not so much on the action as on the intention, He saw in this also a man
after His own heart. May all David’s good intentions, and generous preparations
be found in all our rich people, and may all the widow’s love and goodwill be
found in all our poor people. For the heart is the measure. And as we measure
our good words, and good wishes, and good purposes, and good preparations, and
good performances in our heart, so will it be measured back to us by Him who
sees and weighs and measures the heart and nothing but the heart. (Alex.
Whyte, D. D.)
Verses 11-16
The Lord telleth thee that he will make thee an house.
God’s covenant with David
1. This narrative is an interesting illustration of the truth that
God will honour the man who seeks to honour Him. David wanted to build a house
for the Lord, and he was moved
to it, we have reason to believe, by the highest considerations. He determined
that he would build a house for the Lord, and as far as possible make it worthy
of Him. But David, because he had been a man of war, was not permitted to carry
out the high resolve. But while the Lord did not allow David to build the
house, He permitted him to make all the necessary preparations for it. He was
permitted to gather the materials and provide the gold and the silver. And this
preparatory work does not stand as high with us as it should. It is the man who
reaps the harvest, who brings the sheaves to the garner, who gets all the
honour, while the man who did the still harder work of clearing the land and
preparing the soil for the seed is scarcely thought of. Perhaps just here it
might be well to remind ourselves that our gracious Master put a far higher
value on this preparatory work than we are accustomed to do. He placed John the
Baptist above all the prophets, above all who had gone before him, and yet
John’s work from first to last was a preparatory one. After he had gone to his
rest and reward, if any one had asked, What did John do while he dwelt among
us? the only answer could have been, He prepared the way of the Lord; he made
His path straight before Him. That was his mission, that was his life-work, and
yet it was that mission and that short life-work which lifted him to as high a
place as man had ever reached before.
2. Then, again, while David was not allowed to build the house of the
Lord, he was called to do a still greater work for the Church. David was to
write the songs of the sanctuary, and the Lord of hosts, it would seem, had
been fitting him for this greater work from his childhood up. It is a fact to
which our attention has been called by one of England’s greatest preachers that
the life of David is constantly cropping out in the psalms--that they are so
woven together and so essential to each other that we never could have had the
psalms but for the life. Now, I have spoken of this contribution to the worship
of Jehovah as a more important work than the one on which David had set his
heart--as a more important work than to build the house of the Lord. Has not
the result made the statement good? Where is the magnificent house which
Solomon built, and where the Shekinah, the terrestrial throne of Jehovah? And
where is the house built at such a fabulous cost that took its place? Not one
stone is left standing on another. But the psalms are still ours; the sacred
songs of David are still a part of our spiritual patrimony. We are marching still
to the inspired and inspiring music. They are growing daily dearer to us, like
the water from the rock which grew the sweeter the longer it flowed. But
David’s covenant God was so well pleased with that which he had it in his heart
to do that he went one step farther. If David might not build the house of the
Lord, his son might do it in his stead. And this, I think, is just what David
would have chosen for himself. If it had been left for the king of Israel to
decide, I think he would have said, “Let my son build the house; let him have
all the glory of it; let it evermore be associated with his name.” We cannot
doubt that this is what such a man as the sweet singer of Israel was would have
chosen. We live in our children. We rise up early, we sit up late, we eat the
bread of sorrow, we wear ourselves out prematurely, we reach the grave before
it is ready for us, and all: that it may be better for our children after we
are gone. And yet, strong and tenacious as our affections are, there have been
but few men among us who could love as David the king did. He was the man who
left his throne, and fasted and wept and lay all night on the earth, and
refused to be comforted, because the life of his little child was hanging by a
thread. He was the man who uttered the bitterest cry save one that ever came
from a breaking heart: “O, my son Absalom! my son! my son! would God that I had
died for thee! O, Absalom, my son! my son!” The honour of the son is the honour
of the father multiplied a hundred-fold. At all events, so it is with every man
who can love as David did.
3. Because this work was not hurried on, because it was delayed, no
one was robbed, no one was oppressed, no one was oppressively taxed. The bed of
the poor man was not sold from under him to build the house of the Lord; the
stones were not cemented together with tears and blood, and when the majestic
edifice was dedicated no curses mingled with the alleluias. And that, no doubt,
was one reason why the work was thus delayed, our heavenly Father is so considerate
for the poor. And yet the building of that house in the way in which it was
done was the best thing up to that time that Israel ever did for the poor. Next
to God himself, the poor and needy, the widow and the fatherless, have no such
friend as God’s house. Building a church in any place makes it sure that the
sick will have a hospital, and the orphan a home, and the dead a burial-place
where they may sleep in peace. From beneath the sanctuary flow those streams
which carry health and life whithersoever they may go.
4. Now we have reached the climax. David’s covenant God went far
beyond his thoughts, far beyond his highest aspirations, and gave him that
which David would never have ventured to ask for. He promised to establish his
throne for ever: “And when thy days be fulfilled,” etc. Look heavenward, and
see how wonderfully this promise has been fulfilled. The Son of David is now at
the right hand of the Majesty on high; the Son of David is now seated on that
throne which has a rainbow round about it, and all power in heaven and on earth
has been committed to His hands (J. B. Shaw, D. D.)
God’s covenant with David
I. The religious
use of prosperity. In the hour of his greatest success the heart of the king
was upon a plan for the building of God’s house. In his times of trial he had
called upon God, and now in his triumph he did the same. The question as to the
comparative helpfulness of adversity and prosperity in fixing the heart on
sacred things admits of but one answer; if it fails in the one condition, it
proves to have been a deception in the other.
II. The subjection
of material prosperity to the spiritual. The supreme idea of David was to build
a house for the Lord. This old-fashioned idea is the right one for to-day--the
best belongs to God. It is also true that our gifts are largely in material
form. The cup of cold water, the loaf of bread, the new garment for the
needy--these are made sacred in Christ’s name. Practical religion means more
than mere prayer, so-called. The cup of cold water in the name of a disciple of
Christ, for aught we can see, is a factor in a real prayer. The gift of a
garment to one shivering with cold is itself a factor in the religion that
prompts one to say, “Be ye warmed.” The gift in Christ’s name is really the expression
of our prayer to Him for His blessing upon the one on whom that gift is
bestowed.
III. The divine veto
on human plans. The resolution of many an ode, like David, may seem to be best
even to the best men, and yet be out of God’s plan. But one great purpose of
one great master mind can ever succeed. King David never even dreamed that his
plans would miscarry; and Nathan the prophet declared “the Lord is with thee.”
Every prophecy has been a special revelation. Not because a recognized prophet
spoke was it certain that he would declare the mind of God. Nathan spoke
without inspiration, and made a mistake. Disappointment filled the king’s heart
upon the Divine decree, but his royal hands were-stayed. His plan was not
Divine. Scarce a man since but has winced under the Divine veto. We make
splendid plans, but under the veto those plans become mere castles in the air.
The same shadow darkens the palace and the cottage alike. We plan for health,
and the veto brings sickness; we plan for success, and the veto brings failure;
we plan for long life, and the veto brings death. It is ever so, and ever shall
be; disappointments will never cease until from the heart we shall all say,
“Thy will, not mine, be done.”
IV. The divine
leadership in our personal history. What was true in David’s life is true in
every life. We live under the Divine sovereignty. A personal God deals with His
children. Events no human brain has foreseen shape our lives. The experience of
the past gives hope for the future. He who has been with us in the days of
youth will be with us in the valley of shadows. The future of each life
brightens in our assurances of the Divine help in the past. This is the law.
Because God had been with David in his struggles all the way, therefore He
would be with him in all the days to come.
V. The great
covenant. The Divine promises are better than our fears. To the disappointed
king there came a covenant message of surpassing power. The disappointment
arose because in this day of his greatness he was not permitted to carry out
his chosen designs. The disheartened king heard the prophet’s message that
Jehovah needed no house; but a greater declaration was awaiting his attention.
It was a far-off vision the prophet has seen: “The Lord telleth thee that He
will make thee an house.” This whole theme reveals the ever-recurring fact of
the true spiritual meaning that lies beneath all Scripture history. Four
thousand years before the star shone over Bethlehem, the expectation of the
Messiah was cherished by the friends of God. The promise to Abraham was not of
seeds, as of many, but of one “which is Christ.” Jacob could bless his sons
without discerning Shiloh. Moses’ choice took into account “the reproach of
Christ.” So in our text, David plans for a house that shall bear Jehovah’s
name; and immediately
there is revealed to him the covenant, no man can break, that the anointed
shall spring from his line; and further yet, that the importance of the
spiritual kingdom far exceeds any importance of the earthly. This was the great
consolation of the centuries that Messiah’s kingdom should appear in the earth.
They lived and they died in so grand a hope, founded upon the unshaken
revelation of the Word of God--a word of the everlasting covenant. (Monday
Club Sermons.)
Verse 14
I will be his Father, and he shall be my son.
Divine relationship
I. Jehovah’s
relationship. God has written in His Word, saying, “I will be his Father, and
he shall be my son.” Here I commence with a fundamental principle, and that
because fundamental principles, in our day, are become almost obsolete; and, in
hundreds and thousands of instances, are cast aside. The fundamental principle
I mean is the original adoption of His sons. This seems to be the very spirit
of the promise of my text, “I will be his Father.” It is not left to after-date
to be fixed, but it is accomplished in after-date manifestly, to prove that
Jehovah had before ordained that it should be so.
II. The open
manifestation of the sonship. “He shall be my son.”
1. “He shall be my son,” manifestly, for the family likeness shall be
put upon him. He once bore the image of the earthly; and earthy enough God
knows he was, before regeneration work made the change in him. He bore the
image of the earthy, the image of the fallen Adam, the image of ruin, the image
of the curse. But though he has borne the image of the earthly, he shall bear
the image of the heavenly; and this family likeness expresses and exhibits,
before all the world, the distinction between the children of God and the
children of the world.
2. God’s sons are privileged to wear the family robes. You recollect
a passage in the Book of Samuel pointing to this, “With such robes were the
king’s daughters that were virgins, apparelled;” and all His sons too.
3. That when Jehovah determines openly to display the character of
His sons, it is by affording them the spirit of adoption. The privilege of
adoption is one thing, and the spirit of adoption is another. In the privilege
of adoption, all that pertains to the family of God is made over to the sons,
and secured to them for ever; but in the spirit of adoption, the poor sinner
born from above, the poor sinner regenerated by grace Divine, is brought to know
his relationship, as the apostle has it. As soon as this spirit of adoption is
sent forth into his heart, he cries out, “Father.” “Abba” is the word
given--“Father.”
4. Let me add here, the sons of God are very tenacious about the
maintaining of truth and holiness; and they are the only persons in the world
that are anxious to maintain them. In this sense also they differ from all
people, from all nations under heaven.
5. But go on just to mark, that the sons of God, especially as they
grow up a little above their boyhood, and begin to be young men in Christ and
fathers in Christ, will be very tenacious to understand all the truth, and to
hold the truth and nothing but the truth, to compare one truth with another,
and to refuse to give up an iota of it, and unfurl a banner with this
inscription upon it, “Buy the truth and sell it not.”
III. But there is
something in my text that may not be quite so welcome to my hearers, “If he
commit iniquity, i will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of
the children of men, but my mercy shall not depart away from him.”
1. You know, if the father uses his rod, he holds it tightly in his
hand; he does not throw it at the child, and let the chances be as they may
be--he holds it firmly in his hand. Now, whatever trials you may pass through,
bear in mind two things; there is something wrong, and you should say with Job,
“Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?” and then in the next place
remember that the rod is in the hand of your Father, and He will not make a
sword of it.
2. But there is one other phrase: “My mercy shall not depart away
from him.” Hear the record of Divine faithfulness, “My mercy shall not depart
away from him.” The verse closes with an awful contrast, which marks the
difference between His sons and His enemies; “As I took it from Saul, whom I
put away before thee.” But He will never do this with His sons. Why so? because
they are in union with Christ. (J. Irons.)
Consciousness of sonship
Correggio stood before a grand painting, enraptured; and as he
gazed, grasping the sublime conception, amazed at the wondrous execution and
colouring of the picture, exclaimed, “Thank God! I, too, am a painter.” So,
when a Christian looks steadily at what it is to be children of our Father,
with sublime thrills of joy he can say, “Thank God! I, too, am a child of the
Lord God Almighty.” (G. C. Baldwin.)
The confidences of father and son
A young man was taking leave of a well-beloved father, who said to
him, “My son, if you are in any trouble or need anything, write to me; you know
I am always ready to do all I can for you.” “Yes, I know it, dear father,” said
the son, “and will you keep safely for me this box containing the most precious
things I own? “After a time the young man became ill, and the expected aid from
his father was delayed. A chance acquaintance said, “Your father may have
forgotten his promise.” The young man’s eyes flashed as he said with emotion,
“My father never failed me yet. I love him and he loves me. I know whom I can
trust, and I am as sure of his help as if the money were in my hand! The mail
may miscarry, but my father’s promise is sure. Never suggest to me again that
my father is not faithful to his promise.” (Weekly Pulpit.)
Verse 15
But my mercy shall not depart away from him.
But One forsaken and He victorious
At Mildmay, Mr. Spurgeon related the story of an aged saint, who,
depressed much with bodily infirmity, asked a friend if he ever knew anyone forsaken
of God, for that was his condition. “Only one,” was the reply, “but He to-day
is sitting on His Father’s throne.” (Newton Jones.)
Verse 16-17
Thy house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever.
The advantages of civil government contrasted with the blessings
of the spiritual kingdom of Jesus Christ
I. The first and
primary advantage expected from every well-constituted human government is security
and the sense of security. The depravity of our nature has introduced such a
universal selfishness and rapacity among mankind is their natural state, that
men in every age and country have been convinced of the expediency and
necessity of attempting to organise some form of government for the purpose of
their common security. While every individual is left to exert his own power as
he chooses, none can be secure either in his property or person: it becomes
absolutely indispensable, therefore, if men would escape the intolerable evils
of such a state, to collect and embody this scattered and uncertain force of
the many, in some public depository of power: such a provision is necessary for
the protection and preservation
of every community. Hence almost all nations, even the most uncivilised, have
attempted some constitution of this kind, however rude, for the prevention or
the redress of those injuries to which the subjects were continually liable by
the passions of our nature. But the utmost degree of personal security that can
be enjoyed under any form of civil power, is a most imperfect shadow of the
safety which Jesus Christ bestows upon the subjects of his spiritual reign.
Until a man submits to His mediatorial authority, he remains exposed to unutterable
evils.
II. The second
benefit expected from human governments is liberty. So far as this advantage is
consistent with the former, or with the public security, the more largely it is
enjoyed the better. But, suppose the utmost possible degree of civil liberty
enjoyed, what is it in comparison with that spiritual, real freedom, which
Jesus Christ confers? The former is, at the best, only an external,
circumstantial blessing; it does not enter into the inner man. But “if the Son
shall make you free, you shall be free indeed”: “where the Spirit of the Lord
is,” there is the only true liberty. The Christian is the genuine freeman, and
none beside is such except in name.
III. The next
advantage derived from a good government is plenty. To secure this advantage,
you are aware that there are arrangements in nature, in a great measure
independent of human institutions, and beyond the control of human policy. But
perhaps, in this respect, there has been often much error on the part of those
in power. But in the kingdom of Jesus Christ there exists an infinite plenty of
all the provisions that can be desired for all the wants of the soul. None are
neglected here: the poorest may be enriched beyond the most splendid opulence
of this world, even with “the unsearchable riches of Christ;” as the apostles,
“though poor, could make many rich,--though they had nothing, they possessed
all things.” For in Jesus Christ “all fulness” dwells, for the supply of
spiritual destitution.
IV. A tendency to
improvement in its social institutions, is a fourth benefit which ought to
accompany every well-ordered government. The best of these institutions are
such as will be at once permanent and progressive, by their intrinsic wisdom
and excellence,--by their adaptation to all the varying circumstances of the
nation,--by their power of providing for unseen and possible emergencies: they
will gradually rise from security to convenience, and then exalt convenience
into ornament--into just refinement and diffused illumination: such has been
the aim of the greatest legislators. But the difference between the most moral
and the most flagitious of natural characters, is less than the difference that
subsists between the subjects of Jesus Christ and the children of this world;
because the latter is the difference between the spiritually dead and living.
V. The fifth and
last requisite of a well-constituted government is stability: this is the crown
of all its other advantages. Nothing can be wanting to such a reign but that it
should last: and this is what the text emphatically expresses--“Thy throne shall he
established for ever”: as the Psalmist says of the Messiah, “He shall reign as
long as the sun and moon endure.” In this the kingdom of David was an emblem,
however faint, of that which would be erected by Jesus Christ; wonderfully
preserved as was the throne of Judah, while the greatest monarchies were marked
by perpetual vicissitudes: the kings of Israel were ever changing in their
line, while the descendants of David maintained a direct succession, (R. Hall, M. A.)
A long tenure of blessing
“If a man might have a cottage on a hundred years’ lease, he would prize
it much more than the possession of a palace for a day.” Of course he would;
and this it is which adds so much preciousness to the joys of heaven, for they
are eternal. The pleasures of this world, however bright they seem, are but for
this one day of life, which is already half over. If they were all they profess
to be, and a thousand times more, they would not be worthy to be mentioned in
comparison with “pleasures for evermore” at God’s right hand. (C. H.
Spurgeon.)
Christ’s reign foreshadowed
Apart from the fact that the kingdom in the form in which David’s
descendants ruled over it, has long since crumbled away, the large words of the
promise must be regarded as inflated and exaggerated, if, by “for ever” they
only mean for long generations. A “seed,” or line of perishable men, can only
last for ever if it closes in a Person who is not subject to the law of mortality.
Unless we can with our hearts rejoicingly confess, “Thou art the King of glory,
O Christ. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” we do not pierce to the full
understanding of Nathan’s prophecy. All the glorious prerogatives shadowed in
it were but partially fulfilled in Israel’s monarchs. Their failures and their
successes, their sins and their virtues, equally declared them to be but
shadowy forerunners of him in whom all that they at the best imperfectly aimed
at and possessed is completely and for ever fulfilled. They were prophetic
persons by their office, and pointed on to him. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Verse 18-19
Then went King David in and sat before the Lord.
David’s 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 Jesse’s
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 God’s 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 servant’s house for a great while
to come.” David and his family had been, and were still to be, the objects of
God’s 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 Lord’s 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. Man’s 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
servant’s 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 king’s 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 Saul’s 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 monarch’s 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
David’s 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 God’s
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 believer’s 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 David’s 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
God’s 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 God’s 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.)
David’s 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 (1 Samuel 1:13-15).
2. Then David pours out his soul in thanksgiving. He makes audible
acknowledgment of God’s 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 (Psalms 95:2). Paul enjoins the
Philippians to “make known their requests with thanksgiving unto God” (Philippians 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 Father’s goodness.
3. Then David’s 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 God’s 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.
Marrow and fatness
I. The humility
apparent in David’s 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. David’s
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 servant’s 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. David’s 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 God’s service. With
delight he puts on his Master’s livery, and sits like a servitor in the hall of
the King of kings, waiting to hear what shall be spoken to him.
IV. David’s heart
was full of praise.
1. The praise was for the freeness of the grace which brought him
such blessedness. “For thy word’s 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 Lord’s own heart
has devised and ordained our salvation.
2. David praised also the faithfulness of God. He says, “For Thy
word’s 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 king’s 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. David’s 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 God’s 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 word’s
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 Christ’s 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 moment’s 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 David’s 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 word’s 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. David’s
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 man’s 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 God’s work, on to use God’s
power, on to manifest God’s 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?--
God’s manner above man’s
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.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》