Matthew Poole's Commentary Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. 1 CHRONICLES CHAPTER 17. David, deigning to build God a house, Nathan at first approveth of it; after, by the word of God, forbiddeth him 1 Chronicles 17:1-10; promising him blessings and benefits in his seed, 1 Chronicles 17:11-15. David’s prayer and thanksgiving, 1 Chronicles 17:16-27. This whole chapter is explained, 2 Samuel 7, where the same things are recorded with very little variation of the words; which also hath been considered in my notes upon that chapter; to which I refer the reader, taking notice here but of some very few things. Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. No text from Poole on this verse. And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, No text from Poole on this verse. Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in: No text from Poole on this verse. For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. No text from Poole on this verse. Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars? No text from Poole on this verse. Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: No text from Poole on this verse. And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. No text from Poole on this verse. Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning, The children of wickedness; such as are devoted and wholly given up to wickedness; elsewhere called children of Belial. And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house. No text from Poole on this verse. And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. No text from Poole on this verse. He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. No text from Poole on this verse. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: No text from Poole on this verse. But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. In mine house; in my dwelling-place; either, 1. In Jerusalem, the place where God had put his name for ever, 2 Kings 21:4,7 2 Chronicles 6:5,6: compare 1 Kings 11:36 15:4. Or, 2. In the temple, which is more properly and constantly called God’s house; and so this expression agrees but very imperfectly with Solomon, or his successors, who might be said to be settled in God’s house, because they were settled near it, and in some sort set over it, because they were to take care that the priests and others should perform their offices and God’s service in it; but strictly and properly agrees only to Christ, to whom alone that promise also of an everlasting establishment in this kingdom belongs, as was noted on 2 Samuel 7. And this expression seems to be most emphatically added, to signify that that person in whom all those promises should be fully and perfectly accomplished, to wit, the Messias, should be settled not only in the king’s throne, as others of David’s successors were, but also in God’s house or temple; and consequently, that he should be a Priest as well as a King; which mystery was more clearly revealed to David, Psalm 110:1,2,4, and may be intimated, though obscurely, (as was fit and usual in that state of the church,) in these words. In my kingdom; either, 1. In the kingdom of Israel, which God calls his kingdom, because he was in a special manner their King and Governor, having raised them up and formed them into a kingdom, and given them that protection and assistance which kings owe to their kingdoms; and because he expected and required from them what kings do from their people, that they should be wholly governed by his laws, and devoted to his service. Or, 2. In God’s kingdom in a more large and general sense. And this, as well as the former phrase, may seem singularly to belong to the Messiah, who was not only to be the King of Israel, but also of all nations, as was foretold even in the Old Testament, as Psalm 2:6-12 22:27,28 72:11 Isaiah 2:4 Haggai 2:7; and so this may be an intimation of that great mystery which is more fully revealed in the New Testament, to wit, that Christ is the Head, or King, or Governor of all God’s church, consisting of Jews and Gentiles, and of all nations, and indeed of all creatures, the angels not excepted; all which is God’s kingdom, and by him given to his Son, our blessed Lord Christ. And for the signification of these great things, there is so great and remarkable an alteration of the phrase here from what it is in 2 Samuel 7, where, speaking to David, he constantly calls it his (i.e. David’s) kingdom, and his house, 2 Samuel 7:12,13,2 Samuel 7:16,19,25,27, for which he here saith my house, and my kingdom, which also he distinguisheth from his throne, which is mentioned in the next clause of this verse, and in 1 Samuel 7:11,12. But these things I submit to the judicious reader. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. No text from Poole on this verse. And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? Sat before the Lord; which may note either his gesture, or his continuance there till he had finished this following prayer. And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God. i.e. Thou hast treated me as if I had been born the son of a great monarch, and not a poor shepherd, as indeed I was, O Lord God. Otherwise thus, Thou hast regarded or respected me as the type or figure, or according to the rank or order of that excellent man, or man of high degree, who is also the Lord God, i.e. of the Messiah, who is God-man, i.e. Thou hast given to me and my house an everlasting kingdom, which is the peculiar privilege of that great person the Messiah, Daniel 2:44 7:13,14. What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. No text from Poole on this verse. O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. For thy servant’s sake; in 2 Samuel 7:21, it is, for thy word’s sake, i.e. for the sake of thy word and promise made to thy servant; as that phrase, for David’s sake, is oft thus understood, for God’s covenant’s sake made with David. O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. No text from Poole on this verse. And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? No text from Poole on this verse. For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God. No text from Poole on this verse. Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. No text from Poole on this verse. Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee. Or, The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is a God to Israel, i.e. he is really to his people that which he hath styled himself, their God, having taken such care of them, and showed such mercy and truth to them, as did fully answer that title. For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee. No text from Poole on this verse. And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: No text from Poole on this verse. Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever. No text from Poole on this verse. |
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