2 Samuel 7:18

2 Samuel DAVID’S GRATITUDE2 Samuel 7:18 - 2 Samuel 7:29 . God’s promise by Nathan of the perpetuity of the kingdom in David’s house made an era in the progress of revelation. A new element was thereby added to devout hope, and a new object presented to faith. The prophecy of the Messiah entered upon a new stage, bearing a relation, as its successive stages always did, to the history which supplies a framework for it. Now, for the first time, He can be set forth as the king of Israel; now the width of the promise, which at first embraced the seed of the woman, and then was limited to the seed of Abraham, and thereafter to the tribe of Judah, is still further limited to the house of David. The beam is narrowed as it is focussed into greater brilliance, and the personal Messiah begins to be faintly discerned in words which are to have a partial, preparatory fulfilment, in itself prophetic, in the collective Davidic monarchs whose office is itself a prophecy. This passage is the wonderful burst of praise which sprang from David’s heart in answer to Nathan’s words.

In many of the Psalms later than this prophecy we find clear traces of that expectation of the personal Messiah, which gradually shaped itself, under divine inspiration, in David, as contained in Nathan’s message But this thanksgiving prayer, which was the immediate reflection of the astounding new message, has not yet penetrated its depth nor discovered its rich contents, but sees in it only the promise of the continuance of kingship in his descendants. We do not learn the fulness of God’s gracious promises on first hearing them. Life and experience and the teaching of His Spirit are needed to enable us to count our treasure, and we are richer than we know. This prayer is a prose psalm outside the Psalter. It consists of two parts,-a burst of astonished thanksgiving and a stream of earnest petition, grasping the divine promise and turning it into a prayer. I. Note the burst of thanksgiving { 2 Samuel 7:18 - 2 Samuel 7:24 }. The ark dwelt ‘in curtains,’ and into the temporary sanctuary went the king with his full heart. The somewhat peculiar attitude of sitting, while he poured it out to God, has offended some punctilious commentators, who will have it that we should translate ‘remained,’ and not ‘sat’; but there is no need for the change. The decencies of public worship may require a posture which expresses devotion; but individual communion is free from such externals, and absorbed contemplation naturally disposes of the body so as least to hinder the spirit.

(18) Then went king David in, and sat. —As always at every important point in his life, David’s first care is to take that which he has in his mind before the Lord. The place to which he went must be the tent he had pitched for the ark. Here he sat to meditate in God’s presence upon the communication which had now been made to him, and then to offer his thanksgiving ( 2Samuel 7:18-21 ), praise ( 2Samuel 7:22-24 ), and prayer ( 2Samuel 7:25-29 ). The Divine Name is here printed with the word GOD in small capitals. This is always done in the Authorised Version wherever it stands for JEHOVAH in the original. The same custom is also followed with the word LORD. Out of reverence for the name, Jehovah never has its own vowels in Hebrew, but is printed with those belonging to Lord, or in case this word also is used, then with those belonging to God.

2 Samuel 7:18 . Then went King David in — Into the tabernacle. And sat before the Lord — That is, before the ark, the symbol of the divine presence, and where God was then peculiarly present, and was believed by David to be so. David probably sat for a season, while he meditated on these things, and then altered his posture and betook himself to prayer. It must be observed, however, that the Hebrew word, ישׁב , jashab, here rendered sat, may with equal propriety be translated, remained before the Lord. The Hebrews never addressed prayers or praises to God but either standing up or prostrate on the earth, and even their kings are always described as standing when they prayed or gave thanks in the temple. See Ezekiel 46:1-2 ; compared with 2 Kings 11:14 , and 2 Chronicles 23:13 . Nor is there any other posture of worship mentioned in Scripture, but standing, or kneeling, or falling on the face. Who am I, O Lord God? — How infinitely unworthy am I and my family of this great honour and happiness! Thus David begins his address to God in a becoming spirit of humility and self-abasement, acknowledging his utter unworthiness of the blessings which God had already bestowed on him.

18 . Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord] In the tent where the Ark, the symbol of God’s presence, was. As sitting does not seem to have been a customary posture for prayer, some commentators render tarried instead of sat . Others suppose that David sat to meditate, and afterwards stood up to pray. Who am I &c.] Cp. Jacob’s language in Genesis 32:10 . O Lord God ] Whenever God is thus printed in small capitals, it represents the sacred name Jehovah. From very ancient times the Jewish practice in reading the Scriptures has been to substitute in place of Jehovah Adônai , which means my Lord , or Lord ; or if the title Adônai is joined with Jehovah, as here, Elôhîm , which means God . The E. V. follows the Jewish practice in giving Lord and God, and whenever they represent the name Jehovah indicates the fact by the use of capitals. “Lord God,” which represents “my Lord Jehovah,” must therefore be distinguished from “Lord God” ( 2 Samuel 7:25 ), which represents “Jehovah Elohim,” i.e. “Jehovah God.” See Additional Note II. on 1 Samuel, p. 236. The appropriateness of this address “my Lord Jehovah” in David’s thanksgiving must be carefully noted. It is not merely an acknowledgment of the Divine sovereignty in general, but expresses the consciousness of belonging specially to God, and standing under His immediate guidance and protection. See Oehler’s Theology of the Old Testament , I. 148.