“Now it came to pass when the king was dwelling in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around, that the king said to Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells inside tent curtains.’” David desires to build a house for the Lord, however, the Lord says that David isn’t going to build a house for Him but that He is going to build David’s house – “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
In response, David humbly says “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” David praises the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness to His people and David ends his prayer saying, “And now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. Now therefore, let it please You to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing let the house of Your servant be blessed forever.” David is a man who knows that God’s Word is true and that He never breaks a promise. We will see partial fulfillment of this promise through David’s son Solomon and total fulfillment through the coming Savior Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David.
When we get to 1 Chronicles 22:8-9 we will learn that the Lord didn’t choose David to build His house because He was a man of war – “But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days.”
We read about many of David’s battle successes today. After the victories, King David dedicates to the Lord the silver, gold, and bronze “from all the nations which he had subdued— from Syria, from Moab, from the people of Ammon, from the Philistines, from Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah…And the Lord preserved David wherever he went.”
Then David writes Psalm 60 with the intent of it to be used to teach others how to rely upon the Lord during times of conflict – …”Give us help from trouble, for the help of man is useless. Through God we will do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”
Tomorrow David meets Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth, so keep reading!
(2 Samuel 7:1-17, 1 Chronicles 17:1-15, 2 Samuel 7:18-29, 1 Chronicles 17:16-27, 2 Samuel 8:1-14, 1 Chronicles 18:1-13, Psalm 60)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 