Deeper Commentary
1Ch 17:1 It happened that as David lived in his house, David said to
Nathan the prophet-
2 Sam. 7:1 adds: "It happened, when the king lived in his house, and
Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around". All his adult life, David had hardly slept more than a few nights in
the same place. And he had always been surrounded by enemies who gave him no
rest. Now finally he was living a stable life in his own house, with rest
from his enemies. Instead of slumping into the mire of mediocrity in his
spirituality, as many would have done, he reflects that he apparently has
more than God, as it were. He has a nice house, whilst God's house was a
tent. This desire to use a stable existence in God's service is a stellar
example to God's children of all ages.
Behold, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of
Yahweh is under curtains-
Any disparity between our own life situation and that of the things of
God... ought to concern us. David didn't stop living in a house and
instead live in a tent. Instead he did what he could to ensure that his
abundance was not kept to himself. His motives were admirable throughout,
and God saw that, but God was to use David's desires to teach that He
doesn't need works, but just wants to share the abundance of His grace
with others.
The reference to "curtains" doesn't mean that David was concerned that God's ark was under a tent, whilst he lived in a house. Rather is the reference to the ten curtains which comprised the tabernacle (Ex. 26:1). Although the tabernacle was at Gibeon and the ark in Zion, David had apparently made another tabernacle for the ark in Zion. David was assuming that he could change the Mosaic commandments about the tabernacle, and move God's purpose forward to something more permanent. We see here how he didn't consider the laws of Moses [of which the commands about the tabernacle were part] to be static. He saw them as open to interpretation and development. This was not a position he came to lightly, seeing he had been terribly punished for thinking he could flout the legislation about how the ark was to be transported.
Many of the commands within the "law of Moses" were clearly only intended for the wilderness generation, indeed they could only have been obeyed by them then; and David wondered whether the entire commands about the tabernacle were in that category. Those today who claim that Mosaic legislation is eternally binding need to give this due weight. It's not just that the Mosaic law was abrogated by the Lord's death; but the whole nature of that law was that it was never intended to all be literally applied to every subsequent generation. And that meant that it was the spirit of it which was to be discerned and followed.
1Ch 17:2 Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart; for God is
with you-
Nathan wrongly assumed that Yahweh would naturally agree to David's
proposition to move on from the Mosaic idea of a tabernacle. David didn't
actually state what he intended to do (:1), but Nathan assumes he knows
David's intentions, and assumes he knows God will agree. Such assumptions
are typical of human beings, and further adds psychological verisimilitude
to the record. Nathan of course should have had the humility to first ask
of God rather than assuming he knows God's will. The assumption we know
God's will is a common problem amongst God's people; effectively we are
elevating our gut feeling to the level of God's word.
1Ch 17:3 It happened the same night, that the word of God came to
Nathan saying-
David’s plan to build a great house was met with the word of the Lord
coming unto him “the same night”, telling him not to do this. There seems to
be some allusion to this by the Lord Jesus when He spoke of the rich fool
who wanted to build a greater barn being told the Lord’s word “that same
night”. It could be that the Lord Jesus saw something material and very
human in David’s desire to build a house for the Lord.
1Ch 17:4 Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says Yahweh, You shall not
build Me a house to dwell in-
This is very clear. David's insistence upon pushing ahead with what
became an obsession, and Solomon likewise, was a studied disregard of
these simple words. The emphasis was upon
the words "you" and "Me". David had not given due thought to the magnitude
and inappropriacy of what was in his mind; that he as a mere man could
build a house for Yahweh to live in. He had failed to perceive the
greatness of his God. Any idea of confining God within four walls was
bizarre.
1Ch 17:5 for I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought up
Israel to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tent to
another-
Although this may primarily refer to the Angel, the point is that the
God of the cosmos had intensely manifested Himself in the ark and the
tabernacle / tent which enclosed it. This of itself revealed His humility.
The idea is "I have walked continually"; like David up until this point
(see on :1), He had been a wanderer. David had now ceased his years of
wandering (see on :1), and was assuming that God was like himself, preferring a
stable and sedentary life. But this assumption that God is like us at this
moment and point of our lives is incorrect, and David later criticizes it
(Ps. 50:21). He is who He is, and not a god made in our image, as we are
at this moment; rather are we made in His image, and not the other way
around. It is for us to hear His voice in His word and accept Him as He
is, rather than assuming He will think how we do at this point in our
development. David earlier had appreciated the idea of God being a
wanderer when he was a wanderer, as his wilderness Psalms indicate. But
now he was settled, he assumed that this was how God would like to be.
1Ch 17:6 In all places in which I have walked with all Israel, did I speak a
word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of My
people saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’’-
David desired to build God a physical house. But God's
response is in clear enough language: God did not want a physical house
because
1. It was not really possible for man to build God a house ("Shalt
thou build me an house for me to dwell in?" in 2 Sam. 7:5 is surely
rhetorical)
2. God had never asked Israel to build Him such a house before; indeed,
it had been His expressed will that He should dwell among Israel in the
temporary form of the tabernacle. God wanted a temporary abode to point
forward to the fact that the reality was in Christ; thus the Law of Moses
had features built into it which were intrinsically temporal, to point men
forward to the stability and finality of Messiah. By building a permanent
temple, Solomon reflects his lack of focus on the Messiah to come.
3. He would only have a permanent physical house when His people were
permanently settled, never to be moved again (2 Sam. 7:10), i.e. in the
Kingdom. Yet Solomon perceived that his kingdom was in fact the final
Kingdom of God. David made this mistake, in assuming in Ps. 72 that
Solomon’s Kingdom would undoubtedly be the Messianic one…and Solomon
repeated the error, yet to a more tragic extent.
4. God plays on the confusion between 'house' in the sense of
household, and 'house' in the sense of a physical building. He says: 'You
want to build me a physical house. But I
am going to build you a household which
will be my Kingdom'. The implication is that David's desire for a physical
house was altogether too human, and that there is an opposition between
what man thinks he can physically do for God, and the fact that God wishes
to do things for men. Yet Solomon went ahead with his works rather than
grappling with the reality of sheer grace. He so wanted to do
something. He betrays this when he writes in Ecc. 9:7: “God now accepts
your works”. The Hebrew translated “accepts” means literally to satisfy a
debt, and is elsewhere translated ‘to reconcile self’. He saw works as
reconciling man’s debt to God, rather than perceiving that grace is
paramount. He keeps on about David his father; and yet there was a crucial
difference. David perceived the need for grace as the basis of man’s
reconciliation with God; whereas Solomon thought it was works. David wrote
that God wants a broken heart and not thousands of sacrifices; yet Solomon
offered the thousands of sacrifices, but didn’t have the contrite heart of
his father.
5. To desire a physical house for God is to overlook the promised
Messiah- that was surely the implication of the promise of the Lord Jesus
following right on from the statement that a physical house was not
required. Is. 57:15 and Is. 66:2 explain why this is- because God does not
live in what man builds, but will fully dwell in one man to whom He will
look, one who would have a humble spirit towards Him. And this man was of
course the Lord Jesus. Solomon’s obsession with the temple therefore
reflected his deeper problem- of not being focused upon the Christ to
come.
So it ought to be clear from all this that God's response to the
request to build a temple was negative; He did not want a physical temple.
None of the four reasons for this listed above were just temporary
considerations; they were reasons which were valid for all time. There can
be no doubt that God's response here is at the basis of Is. 66:1,2: "The
heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house
that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all these
things hath mine hand made... but to this man will I look, even to him
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word" . God is
saying that it simply isn't possible to build Him a house; instead, He
seeks to dwell in the hearts of men. Yet Solomon wasn’t interested in the
personal spiritual mindedness which enables this to happen. This is the
same spirit as God's response to David: 'You can't build me a physical
house, I will build my own household of believers'.
These words of Is. 66 are twice quoted in the New Testament. "God that
made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is
Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands... as
though He needed any thing" (Acts 17:24,25). The reason for God not
dwelling in temples is that He is Lord of heaven and earth. This reason
does not change with time; He was Lord of heaven and earth at David's time
just as much as He is now.
1Ch 17:7 Now therefore, you shall tell My servant David, ‘Thus says Yahweh
of Armies, I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, that
you should be prince over My people Israel-
David was asked to reflect that his wandering around as a shepherd as
a child and teenager had been to prepare him for leading Israel. But
leading a people likewise involves an element of mobility, and God as the
ultimate leader of Israel was likewise moving on and never static. Hebrew
shepherds usually lead their sheep, but here David is described as being
moved from following sheep, to going ahead as a leader. Here we have an
example of where language and imagery is used in a way we might consider
opportunistic; but this is the nature of Semitic writing and reasoning. A
failure to appreciate the Hebrew nature of the Bible has led to so many
misinterpretations of it.
1Ch 17:8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all
your enemies from before you-
David's continual wandering up until the point of :1 had always been
with God's presence "with you wherever", as he often celebrates in his
wilderness Psalms. This connects with God's own
statement that He Himself had "walked continually" (:5,6; 2 Sam. 7:6). Those years had
been in order to get David to appreciate God's own constant journeying.
This is to be a feature of every believer's life. Even if we live and die
in the house we were born in and never move 20 km. from our home village,
life with God is a constant journey. And all within us will seek to turn
it into the stability of mere religion, as David was seeking to do.
God encourages David to see himself as representative of Israel by
saying this; they are words replete with reference to Israel in the
wilderness and their establishment in the land. As David so loved his
people and was their representative, for all they did to him, so with the
Lord Jesus and His people. When God asked David “choose thee one of” three
possible judgments, each of them involved the whole nation- e.g. “Shall
seven years of famine come unto thee” (singular). David was their
representative even in their time of failure.
I will make you a name, like the name of the great ones who are in
the earth-
This is now developed by God into saying that He will make David a
house / family. That family was to bear David's great name, but the "great
name", the greatest in the earth [reading "great ones" as an intensive
plural for a singular great name] was that of Yahweh. And this Name was to
be carried by David's house and particularly by the Messianic seed who was
now to be promised. 2 Sm. 7:9 AV "I have made thee a great name" shows the
intentional confusion of tenses. David had been made a great name, but
that was just a foretaste of how great his name was to become through his
future descendant and house.
1Ch 17:9 I will appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant
them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more.
Neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the
first-
This connects with how David had just planted the ark in its "place" in
Zion (2 Sam. 6:17). God is saying that His grace is such that He will do
exceeding far above what we ever ask or think to do for Him. He would
plant and place Israel in an eternal Kingdom, just as David had planted
and placed the ark in Zion. As David personally had been given rest from
his enemies (see on :1), so would Israel be granted rest.
These words would have been comforting to the exiles; ultimately they would not be afflicted as they had been by the Babylonians, and would return to their land permanently (2 Sam. 7:10 s.w. for "afflict" in Zech. 10:2; Zeph. 3:19; Lam. 3:33; 5:11). The word used in 1 Chron. 17:9, 'to waste', is also used of the Babylonian wasting of Judah (Lam. 3:4).
1Ch 17:10 and from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people
Israel; and I will subdue all your enemies-
The constant affliction Israel experienced at the time of the judges
was because of their sins; they had no rest from their enemies because of
their continual unfaithfulness to Yahweh. These promises are therefore
tantamount to saying that God would somehow permanently establish His
people, in a way not conditional upon their faithfulness because He would
somehow make them faithful. This is the language of the new covenant
offered to the exiles, and is achieved today through the work of the Holy
Spirit keeping us from falling from the covenant. The "blessing" promised
to Abraham is therefore interpreted in Acts 3:25,26 as the power of God
turning away His people's hearts from sin. And the same is implied in
these promises to David.
Moreover I tell you that Yahweh
will build you a house-
To what was God referring to when He told David that David's son would
build him a house? Firstly, we must bear in mind that in hundreds of
places, the Hebrew word for "house" means 'household'. The eternal house
promised to David is paralleled with the Kingdom; and a Kingdom is
comprised of people. This is what is in view, not the building of any
literal temple at the Lord's return. The Kingdom is the house of Jacob (Lk. 1:33). That
the house of David is the Kingdom is evident from 2 Sam. 7:13,16; 1 Chron.
17:14 (cp. Lk. 11:17). The Kingdom was taken from the house of Saul and
given to the house of David (2 Sam. 3:10), but later the Kingdom was taken
from the house of David because of Solomon's apostacy (1 Kings 14:8). This
is proof enough that at best the promises to David had only a tiny
fulfilment in Solomon's Kingdom.
The New Testament is very insistent that the true temple of God is the body of Christian believers (1 Cor. 9:13; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 10:21; 1 Pet. 4:17; Rev. 3:12; 11:1,2; 1 Tim.3:15). This string of passages is quite some emphasis. Yet Christ was the temple; he spoke of the temple of his body (Jn. 2:19-21; Rev. 21:22). For this reason, the Gospels seem to stress the connection between Christ and the temple (Mk.11:11,15,16,27; 12:35; 13:1,3; 14:49; Lk. 2:46; 21:38). Christ's body was the temple of God. By being in Christ, we too are the temple (1 Cor. 3:16,17; Eph. 2:21), our body is the temple of God (1 Cor. 6:19). Yet Solomon was not Christ centred; he didn’t want to see this connection. And we too can have an over-physical view of the Kingdom, centred around a literal temple in Jerusalem etc., rather than perceiving that the Kingdom / reign of God is, in its essence, over the hearts of men and women like us. The future political Kingdom will be the concrete articulation of the essence of the Kingdom principles which are now being lived out in the hearts of the people who are under the Lord’s present kingship.
In the person of Jesus, the essence of the Kingdom came nigh to men (Mt. 10:7; 11:4; 12:28)- and this was why one of His titles is “the Kingdom”. The Kingdom of God is about joy, peace and righteousness more than the physicalities of eating and drinking. In this sense the Kingdom was “among” first century Israel. The Kingdom of God is not merely a carrot held out to us for good behaviour. It is a reality right now, in so far as God truly becomes our king. Even in the Old Testament, the word "temple" does not normally refer to the physical temple outside the records of Solomon's building of the temple. It is often stated that the house David's seed was to build would be for the Name of Yahweh. His Name refers to His mental attributes. A physical house is inappropriate to express these.
If the house refers to a
household of righteous believers, all becomes plain. This explains why 2
Sam. 7:13,26 parallels God's eternal name with the eternal house and
Kingdom which was promised to David. Building a house was a common Hebrew
idiom for developing a household (Ruth 4:11; Dt. 25:9). God's promise to
David about building him an eternal household was anticipated in His words
to Eli: "I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to
that which is in mine heart and in my mind (i.e. David, 1 Sam. 13:14): and
I will build him a sure house", in contrast to God's destruction
of Eli's household (1 Sam. 2:35). 1 Kings 11:38 clinches the idea that
this refers to David: "I will be with thee, and build thee a sure
house as I built for David". In passing, note that these words to
Solomon remind him that God will build him a house, in
opposition to the way in which Solomon so frequently speaks about building
God a house.
There is a play on words with the Hebrew word bayith [‘house’]. It is used about David’s house / family (1 Chron. 17:10,16,17,23,24) and that of God (vv. 12,14). Our house is God’s house. He is, therefore, to be at the centre of family life.
1Ch 17:11 It shall happen, when your days are fulfilled that you must go
to be with your fathers-
There is a strong sense that God has determined a number of "days"
for our mortal life (Ps. 23:6; 2 Sam. 7:12), and David like all of us
wished to know how many those days were for him, in order that he might
live an appropriately humble life in response to realizing his frailty
(Ps. 39:4). But that predetermined number of days can be cut short (Ps.
102:4,23,24) or extended (1 Kings 3:14; Prov. 9:11). Hezekiah would be the
parade example of this; his days were cut short (Is. 38:10), and then
lengthened in response to prayer (2 Kings 20:6). God is open to dialogue,
His timetable in our personal lives is flexible according to our prayers;
and He is also responsive to human behaviour. Like Job we should perceive
our life as "my days" (he uses this term multiple times), so that we might
use each of them for Him.
That I will set up your seed after you, who shall be of your sons-
"Set up" has a similar meaning to "establish". It is tempting to note
that the Hebrew word is often translated "arise", and to wonder if there
is here a hint that this seed will experience a bodily resurrection. The
possible fulfilment in David's family was precluded by his sin with
Bathsheba and the resultant effects upon his "house"; the same word for
"set up" is in 2 Sam. 12:11 of how God would "raise / set up evil out of
your own house". His house "was not so with God", as he concluded at the
end of his life; and so he with us look for a fulfilment in his Messianic
seed, the Lord Jesus, and the house of people being built up / established
in Him.
The promise to David concerning Christ precludes his physical existence at the time the promise was made: “I will set up your descendant [singular] after you, which shall proceed out of your body... I will be his father, and he shall be my son” (2 Sam. 7:12,14). Notice the future tense used here. Seeing that God would be Christ’s Father, it is impossible that the Son of God could have already existed at that point in time when the promise was made. That this seed “shall proceed out of your body” shows that he was to be a literal, physical descendant of David. “The Lord has sworn in truth unto David... Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne” (Ps. 132:11). Solomon was the primary fulfilment of the promise, but as he was already physically in existence at the time of this promise (2 Sam. 5:14), the main fulfilment of this promise about David having a physical descendant who would be God’s son, must refer to Christ (Lk. 1:31-33).
And I will establish his kingdom-
"Prepared" or "established" is a major theme in the promises of the
eternal establishment of David's throne (2 Sam. 7:12,13,16 etc.), and
Solomon wrongly assumed that the conditional nature of the promises
concerning the seed were just irrelevant to him as he had wisdom.
Therefore he uses the word of how his kingdom has been "established" (1
Kings 2:24 s.w.). Solomon's contenders for the throne were all stopped by
God, they tried to prepare or establish themselves but it never worked out
(2 Sam. 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5); and so surely Solomon has the idea in mind
that he has been established as the promised Messianic seed of David with
an eternally "established" throne and kingdom. This leads him to the
conclusion that the outcome of wisdom and folly is in this life, and he
has no perspective of a final day of judgment and eternal establishment of
God's Kingdom on earth. This is why the simplistic dichotomies he presents
in Proverbs between the blessed and wise, and the cursed and foolish, are
not always true to observed experiences in this life. For it is the future
Kingdom which puts them in ultimate perspective.
1Ch 17:12 He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne
forever-
Ultimately, as shown above, this refers to the building up of the
house of believers to be the throne of the seed's eternal kingdom. The
Lord Jesus will reign upon us, "whose house are we" (Heb. 3:6); we are His
throne, the basis of His Kingdom. And that house and throne are being
built up now, although it will only be more materially and physically
articulated at His second coming and the establishment of His literal
Kingdom upon earth. This process of building up is achieved by the
colossal work of the Lord Jesus through His Spirit, calling, converting
and transforming His people to be His house. This is how the New Testament
alludes to these ideas of building and establishing (Acts 20:32; Rom
16:25; 1 Thess. 3:13; 2 Thess. 2:17; 3:3; 1 Pet. 5:10). Ps. 89:4 says that
this building up of the throne goes on in "all generations". The idea is
that the house and throne of the seed is built up from people of all
generations. The light never went out for God's Truth and true people. In
every generation there were some. This has big implications for those who
consider that a very specific theology, especially one based upon 19th
century revelations of truth, is required for salvation and membership of
God's people.
The fact is that God did dwell, temporarily, in
Solomon's temple. His glory entered it, and later left it in Ezekiel's
time. This is the classic example of the way in which God will go along
with men in their mistaken enthusiasm, working with them, even though this
is contrary to His preferred way of doing things. A similar example is
found in the way God forbad Israel to have a human king, because to do so
would be a denial of His superiority and of their covenant relationship
with Him. And yet Israel had a king. God did not turn a blind eye to this.
Instead He worked through this system of human kingship. Or take marriage
out of the faith. This is clearly contrary to God's ideal wishes. And yet
in some cases He is prepared to work through this, in order to being about
His purpose. There is even the possible suggestion in Acts 15:10 that God
was ‘tempted’ to re-instate the law of Moses, or parts of it, in the first
century, seeing that this was what so many of the early Christians desired
to keep. That God is so eager to work with us should in itself be a great
encouragement. Yet we must not come to presume upon God's patience,
assuming that He will go along with us.
In any case, 2 Chron. 7:12 says that God accepted the temple only as a
place of sacrifice, i.e. a glorified altar (cp. 2 Sam. 24:17,18). And yet-
God didn't really want sacrifice (Ps. 40:6; Heb. 10:5). "Now have I
chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever" (2
Chron. 7:16) is a conditional promise, followed by five verses of
conditions concerning Solomon's spirituality which he overlooked. Like
Solomon, we too can fix upon promises without considering their
conditionality. There is good reason to think that communally and
individually we are increasingly shutting our eyes to the possibility of
our spiritual failure and disaster. God constantly warned Solomon about
the conditionality of the promises, before the building started (2 Sam.
7:14), during it (1 Kings 6:11-13) and immediately after completing it (1
Kings 9:2-9). Note, too, that Solomon had the idea that if sinful Israel
prayed towards the temple, they would somehow be forgiven because of this.
God’s response was that if they sought Him wherever they were and
repented, then He would hear them- the temple was not to be seen as the
instrument or mediatrix of forgiveness which Solomon envisaged. Likewise,
Solomon’s implication that prayer offered in the temple would be
especially acceptable was not upheld by God’s reply to him about this (2
Chron. 6:24-26 cp. God’s response in 2 Chron. 7:12,13).
1Ch 17:13 I will be his father, and he shall be My son. I will not take My
sure mercies away from him, as I took it from him that was before you-
“The sure mercies of David” result in the wicked man
forsaking his way (Is. 55:3,7). The description of the promises to David
as “sure mercies” (1 Chron. 17:13) may perhaps be with a reference to his
sin with Bathsheba; his forgiveness in that incident is typical of that
which we all receive (Rom. 4:6-8). The very existence of the “mercies of /
to David” therefore inspire us in forsaking sinful thoughts and wicked
ways (Is. 55:7).
1Ch 17:14 but I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever. His
throne shall be established forever’-
I suggested on :11,12 that this establishment of the throne was a process of
building up and establishing G
1Ch 17:15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so
Nathan spoke to David-
Nathan faithfully relayed the vision he received in these words to
David. This is in contrast to how he had over hastily assumed to know
God's word and will in the matter the day before.
1Ch 17:16 Then David the king went in and sat before Yahweh; and he said,
Who am I, Yahweh God-
It was because David was truly humble that he could immediately respond
in genuine humility to God's promises to him; whereas Solomon became proud
because of them (1 Chron. 17:16: "David the king came and
sat before the Lord, and said, Who am I...?" ). Despite the
openness with God which we see in the Psalms, despite being able to break
explicit commandments because he so finely appreciated the spirit behind
them, despite being a man after God's own heart, even in his true spiritual
maturity towards the end of his life, David "could not go before (the altar)
to enquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of
the Lord" (1 Chron. 21:30). Now this seems an eloquent essay in the true
spiritual humility of that man David.
The promises to David are described as the mercy of God (Is. 55:3;
Ps. 89:33,34). God having a son is the sign of His love for us, and this
must elicit a response in us. David himself marvelled that such mercy had
been shown to him: "Who am I... and what is my house… You know Your servant" (2 Sam. 7:18-20). And yet in the very next chapters,
we read of how David made a renewed attempt to show mercy to the house of
Saul. Mephibosheth says that he is "thy servant… what is thy servant, that
thou shouldest look upon such… as I am?" (2 Sam. 9:8 AV). Mephibosheth is
using the very words which David used to God; David is showing mercy to
Mephibosheth in the very way in which the promises of God to him were the
"mercies" shown to David. Appreciating that the promises concern us
personally, and that they reveal such loving grace from the Father, can
only lead to a similar response in showing love and grace through entering
into the lives and destinies of others.
1Ch 17:17 This was a small thing in Your eyes, O God; but You have spoken
of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have respected me
according to the estate of a man of high degree, Yahweh God-
Such is the wonder of God’s promise to us that we
really have no excuse to sin. Every sin is in a sense a denial of His
promises. God told David that he had no excuse for what he did with Uriah
and Bathsheba, because he had given him so much, “and if that had been too
little, I would have added unto you…” (2 Sam. 12:8). “Too little” sends
the mind back here, where the promises to David are described as
a “little / small thing”; the promises were so wonderful that David should not
have allowed himself to fall into such sin. And us likewise.
David is one of the major OT types of the Lord Jesus. The words of David
in Ps. 16 are quoted in Acts 2:25,29 concerning Jesus: “I have set the Lord
always before me...he is at my right hand...thou wilt not leave my soul in
hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption”. These are
words describing David’s feelings about his own death and resurrection; and
yet so identified was he with the Messiah, that they are quoted as being
directly true of Jesus. But Acts 2:29 also quotes these words with a
slightly different spin- in that David saw the Lord Jesus always
before him, and it was this sense that stabilized him. This could only have
been true in that David understood all his feelings and present and future
experiences [e.g. resurrection, not being suffered to corrupt eternally] as
being typical of the Lord Jesus. He so understood himself as a type of the
One to come that he saw this person as ever with him. This is the extent of
the typology. 1 Chron. 17:17 in Young’s Literal has David saying: “Thou hast
seen me as a type of the man on high” [i.e. Messiah]. David describes
himself at ease with clearly Messianic titles such as ‘the Christ’, ‘the man
raised on high’, and then goes on to speak of the Messiah who is to come
on the “morning without clouds”, admitting that “verily my house is
not so with God” (2 Sam. 23:1-5). This is only really understandable if we
accept that David consciously saw himself as a type of the future Messiah.
1Ch 17:18 What can David say yet more to You concerning the honour which
is done to Your servant?-
In view of all God had said to David, he had nothing to say to God,
and the implication is that he would now not say to God his plans of
building a house for God. His later desire and insistence upon doing so
would suggest he lost this intensity of understanding and awareness.
For You know Your servant-
David is expressing what we often do to God; that we cannot express
our gratitude enough in words or praise, we can only ask God to know us,
and know how we feel.
1Ch 17:19 Yahweh, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own
heart, You have worked all this greatness, to make known all these great
things-
David spoke of how God’s
word and “own heart” are parallel; God’s mind / spirit is
expressed in His word, although David may here more understand the "word"
as referring to God's purpose (as in Jn. 1:1) rather than the scriptures.
David was sure the promises would come true; he speaks in the past tense
of how God had worked already these great things.
1Ch 17:20 Yahweh, there is none like You, neither is there any God besides
You, according to all that we have heard with our ears-
What characterizes Yahweh as the one and only God is His grace, which
David has just experienced poured out. Divine grace is the defining
feature of the one true faith; no other god, idol or religious system
comes close to it.
1Ch 17:21 What single nation in the earth is like Your people Israel, whom
God went to redeem to Himself for a people, to make You a name by great
and awesome things, in driving out nations from before Your people, whom
You redeemed out of Egypt?-
Israel had been redeemed from the gods of Egypt. Yet they took those
gods with them through the Red Sea, and carried the tabernacle of Moloch
and Remphan through the wilderness along with that of Yahweh (Acts 7:43).
The LXX here brings out this point: "so that thou shouldest cast out
nations an their tabernacles from the presence of thy people, whom thou
didst redeem for thyself out of Egypt". That Israel carried these
tabernacles and gods with them suggests that this was a redemption
refused. And David, having experienced the grace which can only come from
Yahweh, is resolved to only serve Him and root out all such idolatry.
1Ch 17:22 For Your people Israel You made Your very own people forever;
and You, Yahweh, became their God-
God had promised to establish David's seed, God's true people, as
His throne and people for ever. David recognizes that what had been
promised to him had already been offered to Israel; although as noted on
:21, they had refused this through their idolatry and failure to be God's
exclusive kingdom / people, rejecting Him as their God. It was similar to
God's thought of rejecting His people and working instead through Moses
and his seed. God had been persuaded against that, but now David perceives
that God is going to work not through Israel as a whole but through him
and his seed. The allusion is to Dt. 32:6 where Israel act as the most
foolish nation in rejecting the God who established them as a nation.
1Ch 17:23 Now, Yahweh, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your
servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as You
have spoken-
David seems to feel the need to show his agreement with God's plan
(also in 2 Sam. 7:29). This may be because he perceived the similarity with Moses,
who was also offered to have God working not with Israel but with him and
his seed. And Moses hadn't agreed. But David agrees.
1Ch 17:24 Let Your name be established and magnified forever, saying,
‘Yahweh of Armies is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel. The house of
David Your servant is established before You’-
David believed in the fulfilment of these future promises, and so he
expresses this in terms of them already having been fulfilled. For this is
the essence of faith, to believe that we have receive that which is
promised, even if it is not yet in our hands (Mk. 11:24). And his response
was in prayerful praise, which must be our response to having received in
essence the same promises.
1Ch 17:25 For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will
build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before
You-
David was so humbled that he felt that even to pray a prayer of
thanks was something which required courage. He, the courageous warrior,
was so humbled that he found it a challenge to find courage to even thank
God for these promises. So greatly was he awed by God's grace in these
promises- promises which have in essence been made to us too, and which
should elicit a similar response.
1Ch 17:26 Now, Yahweh, You are God, and have promised this good thing to
Your servant-
The idea is "You are the one and only God". The context is Israel's
idolatry, and how God is now working through David and his seed as His
Kingdom, rather than through an Israel who rejected Him as the only true
God.
1Ch 17:27 Now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant, that
it may continue forever before You; for You, Yahweh, have blessed, and it
is blessed forever-
David describes the promises as "blessing" (also 2 Sam. 7:28,29), a word
normally used in the context of forgiveness. So David was aware of the
grossness of sin, of the need for self-examination, to ensure that his
technical breaches of the Law of Moses were truly a reflection of his
friendship with God rather than an indication of spiritual weakness. For
David's house to become God's eternal Kingdom would require their
blessing with forgiveness in order to be immortalized.
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