1Und es geschah, als David in seinem Hause wohnte, da sprach David zu Nathan, dem Propheten: Siehe, ich wohne in einem Hause von Cedern, und die Lade des Bundes Jehovas wohnt unter Teppichen. 2Und Nathan sprach zu David: Tue alles, was du im Herzen hast, denn Gott ist mit dir. 3Und es geschah in selbiger Nacht, da geschah das Wort Gottes zu Nathan also: 4Gehe hin und sprich zu David, meinem Knechte: So spricht Jehova: Nicht du sollst mir das Haus zur Wohnung bauen; 5denn ich habe nicht in einem Hause gewohnt von dem Tage an, da ich Israel heraufgeführt habe, bis auf diesen Tag; sondern ich wanderte von Zelt zu Zelt und von Wohnung zu Wohnung. 6Wo immer ich wanderte unter ganz Israel, habe ich zu einem der Richter Israels, dem ich gebot, mein Volk zu weiden, ein Wort geredet und gesagt: Warum habt ihr mir nicht ein Haus von Cedern gebaut? 7Und nun sollst du also zu meinem Knechte David sagen: So spricht Jehova der Heerscharen: Ich habe dich von der Trift genommen, hinter dem Kleinvieh weg, daß du Fürst sein solltest über mein Volk Israel; 8und ich bin mit dir gewesen überall, wohin du gegangen bist, und habe alle deine Feinde vor dir ausgerottet; und ich habe dir einen Namen gemacht, gleich dem Namen der Großen, die auf Erden sind. 9Und ich werde einen Ort setzen für mein Volk Israel und werde es pflanzen, daß es an seiner Stätte wohne und nicht mehr beunruhigt werde; und die Söhne der Ungerechtigkeit sollen es nicht mehr aufreiben, wie früher 10und seit den Tagen, da ich Richter über mein Volk Israel bestellt habe. Und ich werde alle deine Feinde demütigen; und ich tue dir kund, daß Jehova dir ein Haus bauen wird. 11Und es wird geschehen, wenn deine Tage voll sind, daß du zu deinen Vätern hingehst, so werde ich deinen Samen nach dir erwecken, der von deinen Söhnen sein wird, und werde sein Königtum befestigen. 12Der wird mir ein Haus bauen; und ich werde seinen Thron befestigen auf ewig. 13Ich will ihm Vater sein, und er soll mir Sohn sein; und ich will meine Güte nicht von ihm weichen lassen, wie ich sie von dem weichen ließ, der vor dir war. 14Und ich will ihm Bestand geben in meinem Hause und in meinem Königreich auf ewig; und sein Thron soll fest sein auf ewig. 15Nach allen diesen Worten und nach diesem ganzen Gesicht, also redete Nathan zu David. 16Da ging der König David hinein und setzte sich vor Jehova nieder und sprach: Wer bin ich, Jehova Gott, und was ist mein Haus, daß du mich bis hierher gebracht hast? 17Und dies ist noch ein Geringes gewesen in deinen Augen, o Gott! und du hast auch von dem Hause deines Knechtes geredet in die Ferne hin; und du hast mich angesehen nach der Weise eines hochgestellten Menschen, Jehova Gott! 18Was soll David noch weiter zu dir reden von der Ehre an deinem Knechte? Du kennst ja deinen Knecht. 19Jehova, um deines Knechtes willen und nach deinem Herzen hast du all dieses Große getan, um alle diese großen Dinge kundzutun. 20Jehova, niemand ist dir gleich, und kein Gott außer dir, nach allem, was wir mit unseren Ohren gehört haben. 21Und wer ist wie dein Volk Israel, die einzige Nation auf Erden, welche Gott hingegangen ist, sich zum Volke zu erlösen, um dir einen Namen zu machen, große und furchtbare Dinge zu tun, indem du vor deinem Volke, das du aus Ägypten erlöst hast, Nationen vertriebst? 22Und du hast dir dein Volk Israel zum Volke bestimmt auf ewig; und du, Jehova, bist ihr Gott geworden. 23Und nun, Jehova, das Wort, das du über deinen Knecht und über sein Haus geredet hast, möge sich bewähren ewiglich; und tue, wie du geredet hast! 24Ja, es möge sich bewähren! und dein Name sei groß auf ewig, daß man spreche: Jehova der Heerscharen, der Gott Israels, ist Gott für Israel! Und das Haus deines Knechtes David sei fest vor dir. 25Denn du, mein Gott, hast dem Ohre deines Knechtes eröffnet, daß du ihm ein Haus bauen willst; darum hat dein Knecht sich ein Herz gefaßt, vor dir zu beten. 26Und nun, Jehova, du bist es, der da Gott ist , und du hast dieses Gute zu deinem Knechte geredet. 27Und nun, es hat dir gefallen, das Haus deines Knechtes zu segnen, daß es ewiglich vor dir sei; denn du, Jehova, hast es gesegnet, und es wird gesegnet sein ewiglich.
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary 1 Let us observe here,
I. How desirous and solicitous good people should be to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world, to the utmost of their capacity. David could not be easy in a house of cedar while the ark was lodged within curtains,
1Chr 17:1. The concerns of the public should always be near our hearts. What pleasure can we take in our own prosperity if we see not the good of Jerusalem? When David is advanced to wealth and power see what his cares and projects are. Not, What shall I do for my children to get portions for them? What shall I do to fill my coffers and enlarge my dominions? But, What shall I do for God, to serve and honour him? Those that are contriving where to bestow their fruits and their good would do well to enquire what condition the ark is in, and whether some may not be well bestowed upon it.
II. How ready God's prophets should be to encourage every good purpose. Nathan was no sooner aware of David's good design than he bade him
go and do all that was within his heart (
1Chr 17:2), for he had no reason to doubt but that God was with him in it. Ministers should stir up the gifts and graces that are in others as well as in themselves.
III. How little God affects external pomp and splendour in his service. His ark was content with a tabernacle (
1Chr 17:5) and he never so much as mentioned the building of a house for it; no, not when he had fixed his people in great and goodly cities which they builded not,
Deut 6:10. He commanded the judges to
feed his people, but never bade them
build him a house, 1Chr 17:6. We may well be content awhile with mean accommodations; God's ark was so.
IV. How graciously God accepts his people's good purposes, yea, though he himself prevents the performance of them. David must not
build this house, 1Chr 17:4. He must prepare for it, but not do it; as Moses must bring Israel within sight of Canaan, but must them leave it to Joshua to put them in possession of it. It is the prerogative of Christ to be both the author and finisher of his work. Yet David must not think that, because he was not permitted to build the temple, 1. His preferment was in vain; no,
I took thee from the sheep-cote, though not to be a builder of the temple, yet to be
ruler over my people Israel; that is honour enough for thee; leave the other to one that shall come after thee,
1Chr 17:7. Why should one man think to engross all the business and to bring every good work to perfection? Let something be left for those that succeed. God had given him victories, and made him a name (
1Chr 17:8), and, further, intended by him to establish his people Israel and secure them against their enemies,
1Chr 17:9. That must be
his work, who is a man of war and fit for it, and he must let the building of churches be left to one that was never cut out for a soldier. Nor, 2. Must he think that his good purpose was in vain, and that he should lose the reward of it; no, it being God's act to prevent the execution of it, he shall be as fully recompensed as if he had done it;
The Lord will build thee a house, and annex the crown of Israel to it,
1Chr 17:10. If there be a willing mind, it shall not only be accepted, but thus rewarded. Nor, 3. Must he think that because
he might not do this good work therefore it would never be done, and that it was in vain to think of it; no,
I will raise up thy seed, and he shall build me a house, 1Chr 17:11,
1Chr 17:12. God's temple shall be built in the time appointed, though we may not have the honour of helping to build it or the satisfaction of seeing it built. Nor, 4. Must he confine his thoughts to the temporal prosperity of his family, but must entertain himself with the prospect of the kingdom of the Messiah, who should descend from his loins, and whose throne should be
established for evermore, 1Chr 17:14. Solomon was not himself so settled in God's house as he should have been, nor was his family settled in the kingdom: But there shall one descend from thee whom I will settle in my house and in my kingdom, which intimates that he should be both a high priest over the house of God and should have the sole administration of the affairs of God's kingdom among men, all power both in heaven and in earth, in the house and in the kingdom, in the church and in the world. He shall be
a priest upon his throne, and
the counsel of peace shall be between them both, and
he shall build the temple of the Lord, Zech 6:12,
Zech 6:13.
16 We have here David's solemn address to God, in answer to the gracious message he had now received from him. By faith he receives the promises, embraces them, and is persuaded of them, as the patriarchs, Heb,
1Chr 11:13. How humbly does he here abase himself, and acknowledge his own unworthiness! How highly does he advance the name of God and admire his condescending grace and favour! With what devout affections does he magnify the God of Israel and what a value has he for the Israel of God! With what assurance does he build upon the promise, and with what a lively faith does he put it in suit! What an example is this to us of humble, believing, fervent prayer! The Lord enable us all thus to seek him! These things were largely observed, 2 Sa. 7. We shall therefore here observe only those few expressions in which the prayer, as we find it here, differs from the record of it there, and has something added to it.
I. That which is there expressed by way of question (
Is this the manner of men, O Lord God? ) is here an acknowledgment:
Thou hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree. Thou hast made me a great man, and then treated me accordingly. God, by the covenant-relations into which he admits believers, the titles he gives them, the favours he bestows on them, and the preparations he has made for them, regards them according to the estate of men of high degree, though they are mean and vile. Having himself distinguished them, he treats them as persons of distinction, according to the quality he has been pleased to put upon them. Some give these words here another reading:
Thou hast looked upon me in the form of a man who art in the highest, the Lord God; or,
Thou hast made me to see according to the form of a man the majesty of the Lord God. And so it points at the Messiah; for, as Abraham, so David, saw his day and was glad, saw it by faith, saw it in
fashion as a man, the Word made flesh, and yet saw his
glory as that
of the only-begotten of the Father. And this was that which God spoke concerning his house for a great while to come, the foresight of which affected him more than any thing. And let it not be thought strange that David should speak so plainly of the two natures of Christ who in spirit called him
Lord, though he knew he was to be his
Son (
Pss 110:1), and foresaw him
lower than the angels for a little while, but afterwards
crowned with glory and honour, Hebre 2:6,
Hebre 2:7.
II. After the words
What can David say more unto thee, it is here added,
for the honour of they servant? 1Chr 17:18. Note, The honour God puts upon his servants, by taking them into covenant and communion with himself, is so great that they need not, they cannot, desire to be more highly honoured. Were they to sit down and wish, they could not speak more for their own honour than the word of God has spoken.
III. It is very observable that what in Samuel is said to be
for thy word's sake is here said to be
for thy servant's sake, 1Chr 17:19. Jesus Christ is both
the Word of God (
Revel 19:13) and
the servant of God (
Isa 42:1), and it is for his sake, upon the score of his meditation, that the promises are both made and made good to all believers; it is in him that they are
yea and amen. For his sake is all kindness done, for his sake it is made known; to him we owe all this greatness and from him we are to expect all these great things; they are
the unsearchable riches of Christ, which, if by faith we see in themselves and see in the hand of the Lord Jesus, we cannot but magnify as great things, the only true greatness, and speak honourably of accordingly.
IV. In Samuel, the Lord of hosts is said to be the
God over Israel; here he is said to be
the God of Israel, even a God to Israel, 1Chr 17:24. His being the God
of Israel bespeaks his having the name of
their God and so calling himself; his being a God
to Israel bespeaks his answering to the name, his filling up the relation, and doing all that to them which might be expected from him. There were those that were called
gods of such and such nations, gods of Assyria and Egypt, gods of Hamad and Arpad; but they were no gods to them, for they stood them in no stead at all, were mere ciphers, nothing but a name. But
the God of Israel is a
God to Israel; all his attributes and perfections redound to their real benefit and advantage.
Happy therefore, thrice happy, is the people whose God is Jehovah; for he will be a God to them, a God all-sufficient.
V. The closing words in Samuel are,
With thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed forever. That is the language of a holy desire. But the closing words here are the language of a most holy faith:
For thou blessest, O Lord! and it shall be blessed for ever, 1Chr 17:27. 1. He was encouraged to beg a blessing because God had intimated to him that he had blessings in store for him and his family:
Thou blessest, O Lord! and therefore unto thee shall all flesh come for a blessing; unto thee do I come for the blessing promised to me. Promises are intended to direct and excite prayer. Has God said,
I will bless? Let our hearts answer,
Lord, bless me, 2. He was earnest for the blessing because he believed that those whom God blesses are truly and eternally blessed:
Thou blessest, and it shall be blessed. Men can but
beg the blessing; it is God that
commands it. What he designs he effects; what he promises he performs; saying and doing are not two things with him. Nay,
it shall be blessed for ever. His blessings shall not be revoked, cannot be opposed, and the benefits conferred by them are such as will survive time and days. David's prayer concludes as God's promise did (
1Chr 17:14) with that which is
for ever. God's word looks at things eternal, and so should our desires and hopes.