| Back to Home Page | Back to Book Index
|
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》