Bible Commentaries

WHICH IS GRANDER? GOD’S HOUSE OR MINE?

‘I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.’

2 Samuel 7:2

I. The first lesson we should note is how well David employed his time of rest.—He was at peace just then, and all was well with him, yet his heart was full of the glory of the Lord. Erasmus, in one of his witty letters, tells a story about a storm he had been in. One of the passengers, when the ship was like to sink, was overheard praying to the Virgin very earnestly, and vowing to her any number of great candles if only she would bring him safe ashore. Some one upbraided him for such a vow, knowing well he had no money to fulfil it. But the man said, ‘Hush! If I once get ashore, catch me giving her a single candle.’ Now as this passenger acted towards the Virgin, so do a great many people act towards God. In times of peril or distress or illness they are ready to promise all kinds of strange obedience; but when the quiet days come, and when the sun is shining, and when they are free from pain and are at rest, how quickly they forget the eager promise and the vows they so passionately uttered in the storm! But David was a man after God’s own heart. He cried to Him when the sky was black as midnight. When the lion and the bear came up to rend his flock, when he stood against the champion Goliath, then he relied upon Jehovah’s help. But when all was at rest with him, he did not forget. When the peril was over, he walked with his Redeemer. And it is that stability, through storm and peace, that is the sure sign-manual of the saint.

II. Learn how God honours a good purpose.—God said to David, ‘It was good that it was in thine heart’ (1 Kings 8:18). Not for David was the building of the Temple—never by his hands was it to be reared—yet the fact that he had dwelt on such a scheme was very pleasing in the eyes of heaven. So God refuses David’s offer to build Him a house, but He wraps up His refusal in such a burst of grace and glory and revelation that David forgets to be disappointed, and can only marvel at the greatness and goodness of God. It was not that God was displeased with David’s desire to build Him a house; indeed, He said, ‘Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.’

III. The last lesson is how God tempers and illuminates His disappointments.—This was a very sore disappointment to King David, yet what a chapter of glorious promises conveys it! God shows him how he had watched him in the past. God tells the honour and glory of the future. He opens the eyes of David to the wings of love that are arched over the whole of his career. He says to him, ‘To-day I disappoint you; but do not think of to-day all by itself. Lay it against the background of a love that never failed you yet, and never will.’ But God had another plan for His loved servant; and when David saw it, it was so much better than his own plan that he cried out in an ecstasy: ‘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.’

Illustrations

(1) ‘I knew a girl who made the early resolve that she would give her life to foreign missions. But as she grew to womanhood her health gave way, and she knew that never could she build her temple. Yet that early purpose so impressed her character, and so filled her with loving interest in Christ’s kingdom; it made her such a blessing to her friends, and touched so many with missionary zeal: that she has heard God saying not once, but fifty times, “It was good that it was in thy heart.”’

(2) ‘When Æneas, in the tale of Virgil, flies from Troy, he makes his father, Anchises, carry the sacred things. Fresh from carnage as Æneas was, he felt it would be impiety to touch them. And a similar feeling broods upon this story, and keeps David from his cherished purpose, as if the hands which were imbrued in slaughter, must not erect the house of heavenly mercy.’ (See 1 Chronicles 22:8.)

(3) ‘Note the gentleness and considerateness of God’s dealings with His people. David seems surprised, almost overwhelmed, by the graciousness of the message which he received. His disappointment was so sweetly tempered by recallings of past mercies, and assurances of continual favour. Illustrate from the expressions used in Psalms 18:25-27. If we can plainly see that God’s ways with us are gracious at one time, we can trust that they are gracious at another time, when they may seem strange to us. “He doeth all things well.”’

(4) ‘How good it is to sit before the Lord—not exactly praying or asking, but communing—speaking as a man with his friend. We can but say, Do as Thou hast said, and may solace ourselves on the absolute certainty that every word will be fulfilled.’

(5) ‘Here we meet him in a new light. He is devout as well as daring. He has his hour and his place for prayer as well as for statesmanship. If David and Daniel, men of business, were also men of prayer, surely we have no excuse for neglecting this privilege. He who makes a business of prayer will be pretty sure to make a prayer of business. We need learn the lesson with which our study opens. The busiest man in all that land was the man who “went in and sat before the Lord.”

For we, brought forth and reared in hours

Of change, alarm, surprise,

What shelter to grow ripe is ours,

What leisure to grow wise?’

DAVID AT PRAYER

‘Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and said,’ etc.

2 Samuel 7:18

We are chiefly concerned with the matter of David’s prayer.

We have said that he was alone with God. Consequently we find here much as to David, but even more as to God.

I. Now see what David says of himself.—‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?’ His tone was very humble. He owed nothing to himself or to his parentage.

‘Is this the manner of man, O Lord God?’ He does not assume, as some do, to understand the philosophy of God’s actions (19). The words are not quite clear, but they probably mean either that God’s ways are not man’s ways (‘And this is the law of man’), or that he was amazed that this decree (16) should be made for such weak human beings as himself and his descendants. ‘Can this be the kind of man God chooses?’ As the old saint cried, when wave upon wave of Divine communion rolled over his soul, ‘Why me, Lord, why me?’

But he accepted at once the honour put upon him. ‘What can David say more unto Thee? for Thou, Lord God, knowest Thy servant.’ There is no true modesty in shrinking back, as Moses did at first when he was called in the wilderness. It is always safe to be in the way of God’s appointing.

For David saw now (19, 21) that he was an instrument in God’s hands. ‘For Thy word’s sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these things, to make Thy servant know them.’ God was fulfilling Himself. He is faithful to His promises and to His purposes.

One more point as to himself. Humble, not pretending to understand God’s dealings; meekly accepting these great honours which were laid upon him; recognizing that he was simply an instrument in God’s hands, David saw also that if he and his son were to be established upon the throne it would have to be by their remaining close to God. See how he links these two together. ‘Let Thy name be magnified, and let the house of David be established before Thee.’ Had David always lived ‘more nearly as he prayed’ his reign would have been even more glorious than it was.

II. Notice, again, what David says here as to God.—Much may be learned from the titles with which he addresses God. ‘O Lord God.’ Wherever God is thus printed in small capitals it represents the sacred name of Jehovah. From very ancient times the Jewish practice in reading the Scriptures has been to substitute in place of Jehovah Adonai, which means my Lord, or Lord; or if the title Adonai is joined with Jehovah, as here (v. 18), Elohim which means God. The English version 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 disguished from ‘Lord God’ (v. 25) which represents Jehovah Elohim, i.e. ‘Jehovah God.’ ‘O Lord God’ (18) ‘O Lord God’ (22), ‘their God’ (24), ‘The Lord of hosts’ (26), here are the names which David uses.

Briefly, we may sum up the principal points as to what David says about God.

He recognises God’s supremacy (22), His universal government (23–25), His glory (‘let Thy name be magnified,’ 26), His special and personal care for David (27), and His sure faithfulness (28, 29). It is natural to ask, Were these great promises made to David and to his descendants fulfilled? Literally, they were not. They were made conditional (14), and the conditions were broken. But the spiritual kingdom was established in the person of Christ. ‘Great David’s greater Son.’ ‘Unto the Son He saith, Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom.’ It is impossible to do full justice to this prophecy without going through David to Him Who, while He was David’s Son, was also David’s Lord. This is a good time in which to say a word or two as to prayer. For one thing, is it not in the highest degree reasonable? David comes at once into living contact with his best friend, with the Lord of hosts, with the Governor of the whole universe. Prayer links him in with all that is best and wisest and strongest in earth and heaven. But was not David disappointed when the answer to his dearest wish was made known to him? He was like Moses, who came to the borders of Canaan and yet entered not in. He did want to build the house for God himself. Prayer is not always answered as we expect or hope. We may say ‘to-day,’ but God may say ‘to-morrow.’ We may say ‘I,’ but God may say ‘thy son.’ If every letter were to be answered just as we expected, there would be no need for any answer at all. God’s appointments are often man’s disappointments. Take them where David took his, into the presence of God. The light which fills the hour of prayer is the only light in which to read God’s will concerning us.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Notice two things about David praying: (1) He went direct to God. Nathan, who appears now for the first time, was a pure-hearted, fearless man, “the hope of the new generation,” but when David prayed he did not call in Nathan. In the great emergencies of life prayer is personal and private. It belongs only to God and the soul. (2) David prayed in the accustomed place. “He went in.” Prayer anywhere may soon become prayer nowhere. He does not now remain in his house, but he goes into the sanctuary. It is well that many churches are open in the business hours of the week for any who desire a quiet minute or two just when the tide of life runs fastest.’

(2) ‘The main lesson of David’s prayer is that promise should ever be the basis and measure of prayer. The mould into which our petitions should run is, “Do as Thou hast said.” There is no presumption in taking God at His word. Let us seek to stretch our desires to the width of God’s promises, and to confine our wishes within their bounds.’

(3) ‘“According to His own heart” (v. 20) God blesses me. I fancy that this second clause outruns and surpasses the first, glorious although the first is. The language of the lips cannot unveil all that lies in the soul; the promises of my Lord do not explain and exhaust His thoughts of peace: God’s heart is fuller, profounder, sweeter, more mysterious, more ineffable, than God’s word. Only heaven and the everlasting ages will reveal to me what He has planned and what he has gained for me in Jesus Christ, my “boundless and running over” Lord. Am I not a prince in the blood-royal of the skies?’