2 Samuel 7: 1 - 29
Sitting in His Shadow
7 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, 2 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.” 3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” 4 But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying, 5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’ 8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel. 9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth. 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; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also, the LORD tells you that He will make you a house. 12 “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. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.” 17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. 18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? 20 Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant. 21 For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. 22 Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods? 24 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God. 25 “Now, O LORD God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said. 26 So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You. 28 “And now, O Lord GOD, You are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant. 29 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.”
Today’s topic is ‘Sitting in His Shadow’. If our Magnificent Holy Creator Is Spirit how then does one sit in His Shadow?
Let me list for you a couple of verses that deal with this question;
Psalm 17: 8 “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,
Psalm 36: 7 “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
Psalm 57: 1 “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.
Psalm 63: 7 “Because You have been my help, Therefore, in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
Psalm 91; 1 “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
It sounds to me after reading these verses that David spent some time in our Holy Master’s Shadow. Still, though I am sure that you do not understand exactly the meaning. For one thing our Holy Lord God does not have wings. So, what is the Psalmist trying to say?
If you were with us in our last study David brought the Ark to Jerusalem. Where did he put it in? Now don’t say Jerusalem. If you go back to last week’s chapter we find the answer, “17 So they brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it.’
The Ark was placed in a tabernacle (tent) that David had erected for it. This was not the Tabernacle that the Israelites used in the Wilderness. This was a tent which David had erected for the Ark to be placed in.
I am sure that you know all about the Ark because you saw the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, right? On top of the golden box was a lid of solid gold and was called the Mercy Seat. On the lid was formed two cherubim that were facing toward the middle. Here is where Almighty God said His Presence would dwell between the cherubim’s.
No one could look at the Ark except the High Priest. David knew this, but he also loved our Holy Yahweh God so much that he was able to do. He was still able to sit in the Lord’s Shadow. You see when the sun shone on the tent it cast a shadow. The Shadow of the Ark cast by the sun shining through the tent on the cherubim’s wings atop the Mercy Seat was displayed in an area outside the tent. In this spot David spent his prayer time. Awesome!
We are going to read all about this in today’s chapter after our Holy Lord God informs David that He was going to bless David’s future generations.
It was natural that looking around at his own palace, with which he was clearly delighted, (a palace of cedar represented the height of even a king’s ambition, it was the height of luxury and a firm seal on his grandeur), David considered that Yahweh ought also to enjoy such a house. He did not, of course, realize it, but by this he was basically bringing Yahweh down to his own materialistic level. He was soon to be reminded that Yahweh had no such ambitions and was not to be so bound. Yahweh was not interested in a local palace even though later He would graciously allow them to build one.
How we love to tie Him down to a place. We like to think that God has taken residence only where we go to worship. No, the church is made up of people not a building.
David’s suggestion follows naturally on what occurred in the last chapter. There the Ark of YHWH had been brought into Jerusalem and placed in a specially made Tent. Now David was thinking beyond that to placing it in a permanent home, a House of cedar. But what David was forgetting was that the Ark of YHWH was the Ark of the God of Battle, of the God of power and movement, of the God of justice, not the Ark of a God of comfortable palaces and soft living. It would be because David spent too much time in his palace of cedar at the time when kings went forth to war that he would sin with Bathsheba (chapter 11). We need to beware of ‘houses of cedar’ (Jeremiah 22.14).
7 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, 2 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.”
This revelation clearly comes a good way into David’ reign, for it occurs once he himself was established in his house of cedar (5.11), a house which would have taken a good while to build and was in fact built by Hiram of Tyre who himself ruled towards the end of David’s reign. It also occurs once David had been given rest from all his enemies, in other words when he had finally established his empire.
It is a tribute to David’s genuine feeling for Yahweh that at such a time his thoughts should turn towards how he could show his gratitude to The Holy God of Israel for all that He had done for him. And as he looked around at his house of cedar he began to think how wrong it was that he should have such a magnificent palace while, the Ark of God only had a tent made of curtains for its resting place. We must not, of course, trivialize this by assuming that David had a limited view of Yahweh as bound to a tent. Quite apart from the high view of God that he constantly reveals in his Psalms (Psalms 2; 89), he brought up his son to recognize that ‘even the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain you’ (1 Kings 8.27). And he undoubtedly knew that Yahweh was continually active wherever he himself went, whether at home or abroad. Nevertheless, it quite understandably felt wrong to him that, among men, Yahweh’s earthly dwelling place should simply be a place made only of curtains.
Think about the point of truth brought out here. David’s thinking is a reminder of how often we seek to fit God within our limited perceptions and ideas.
To his credit David did not just steam ahead and build it. He called on Nathan to in to discover what God’s view on the matter was.
3 Then Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”
It is interesting that Nathan the prophet at first went along with David. He wholly approved of the idea, and assured David that Yahweh was with him. This response meant that he thought that Yahweh agreed with the proposal (in which case he spoke without consulting Yahweh), but more likely it was simply his reminder to David that Yahweh generally fully supported David by His presence in all that he did (‘is with you’), and would therefore no doubt approve.
4 But it happened that night that the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying,
That same night the word of The Lord came to Nathan. It is a reminder that our Holy Father God knew what David had said and was fully aware of what was going on (how often we forget this). Yahweh wanted David to know immediately that he must not go ahead with his plans.
5 “Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Would you build a house for Me to dwell in? 6 For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, even to this day, but have moved about in a tent and in a tabernacle.
His words started with a reminder that David was His servant. It was a clear reminder that even being the great king that David was he served a Greater King. He was as much under Yahweh’s command as the least of the servants in the household were under his. But it was also a title of honor It was no light thing to serve Yahweh.
This is a balance that we, as His servants, must always maintain. On the one hand those who serve Yahweh are greatly privileged. On the other they must be humble. They must remember that they are appointed solely to humbly do His bidding, not their own.
Our Holy Ruler then questioned what David had determined to do, and asked on what grounds he thought that he had the right to alter the situation that had always stood (i.e. the ‘status quo’)? Did he not realize that Yahweh had always been pleased to dwell in a tent, ever since He had delivered His people out of Israel? And more, He had wanted to live in a tent, because He had wanted to be alongside His people, and to live as they lived. He had wanted to share with all of them in their lifestyles and in their sufferings. It was a reminder that although He dwelt in the High and Holy Place, He also dwelt with those who were of a humble and contrite spirit (Isaiah 57.15) and shared their afflictions. He did not want His people to feel that He was ‘above them’. He wanted them to know that He was One with them in their pains.
Nor did He need the self-aggrandizement of a house of cedar. If a Temple was to be built which would adequately portray His glory it would require to cover the whole earth, for the whole earth is full of His glory. As Solomon would say, ‘even the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain You. How much less this house that I have built’. Thus, a Tent better represented His glory, for it was a reminder that He was too great for anything more splendid, which could therefore only be temporary accommodation.
7 Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’
Let David think about it. Did he not realism that Yahweh had called many to be shepherds of His people Israel, just as He had David? But let him consider this. In all the places where He had walked with them, had He ever commanded that they build Him a house of cedar? The answer expected was ‘No!’ It was undoubtedly a gentle rebuke, while recognizing David’s goodwill, for He was reminding David that David’s thoughts were not His thoughts, and that David did not see things as He saw them. What could a house of cedar mean to the invisible One Who dwelt on? A tent indeed best represented Him, for it was a reminder that His permanent dwelling was not among men, and that no Temple could be splendid enough to reveal His glory.
8 Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel.
Yahweh commences with an historical preamble. He reminds David that it was He Who had called him from his humble occupation as shepherd in order that He might raise him to the exalted position of Prince and War-leader over His people, over Israel.
9 And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.
And He had been ‘with him wherever he went’, whether following the sheep (verse 8), serving Saul at court, commanding a military unit, hiding out in the wilderness, establishing his kingship, building up his empire or ruling over Israel. All had been under the hand of YHWH, and He had been present with him in them all. Sometimes it might not have seemed like it. But even in his darkest hours it had been so.
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; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously, 11 since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.
Yahweh then assured ‘His servant David’ that He had greater purposes than the building of houses of cedar. Rather He was intending to build David’s house (his descendants and dynasty) into an everlasting house that would rule over His everlasting kingdom forever. This was the House that Yahweh had in mind. There are three basic elements to His promise:
• The first is that David himself will have a great name like the great ones of the earth (verse 9).
• The second is that David’s son who directly follows him will be adopted by Yahweh as His son, and that He will be faithful to him even if he strays (verses 14-15).
• The third is that He will establish through David’s seed an everlasting kingly rule that will never cease (verses 13, 16).
12 “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. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 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. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
Our Holy Father Is speaking about two things to David. In cone context the emphasis is on ‘house’ as referring to descendants. The second point is that David’s son would build The Great and Mighty Yahweh a earthly house. Thus, it was clearly being promised that his son Solomon would establish a permanent house for Yahweh’s Name, that is, would ‘build a dynasty’ for the sake of His Name.
16 And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”
But more importantly the continuation of David’s dynasty and of his kingly rule would be established forever and would thus finally be over an everlasting kingdom. In other words, in some way the future of David’s house is guaranteed, with the result that it will culminate one day in an everlasting rule over an everlasting kingdom. For David this would have been an astonishing and hugely gratifying thought, probably one that was beyond his wildest dreams.
17 According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
It is now emphasized that these words, and this vision, which Nathan had received from Yahweh, were subsequently spoken to David, for this message was for him.
The humility of David, and His recognition of his subjection to YHWH comes out in this prayer which follows up on God’s promise, for he opens his prayer up by describing himself as ‘your servant’
The prayer can be split into three subsections:
• 1). Gratitude to Yahweh for what He has promised for him and his house (7.18-21).
• 2). Wonder at what this great Yahweh has done for His own people (7.22-24).
• 3). Wonder at, and prayer for, what Yahweh’s purposes are for his house (7.25-29).
18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?
David now goes in to the area where he had the tent that housed the Ark and sits before Yahweh in His shadow to pray with regard to both himself and the people.
He opens his prayer by admitting that he and his house are totally undeserving. Who is he, and what are they, that Yahweh has even brought them thus far, to sit on the throne of Israel? Even though he is now a great king he is aware of his own undeserving and recognizes that he owes it all to Yahweh, and he is amazed at Yahweh’s Love and Blessings towards him. He is amazed at God’s goodness to him.
David considers the Awesomeness of God when he says, ‘Who is like to You’ in verse 22. His wonder at God’s goodness to him leads him on to be aware of just how wonderful God Is. It is a reminder to us that self-examination fails if it does not lead on to a recognition of the wonder and grace of God. It should never lead us to despair, but, through the cross, to an appreciation of all God’s undeserved goodness towards us.
19 And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD?
David now confesses that although the remarks that God has said to him is a small thing for God to do, to David it was a huge thing. For he knows that our Holy Father God now makes the certainty of fulfilment of His promises dependent on nothing less than God’s own directive about men. The emphasis is on the certainty of fulfilment.
20 Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant.
In view of Yahweh’s Abundant Grace David finds that he can have nothing further to say. He has been rendered speechless in wonder. He can only rest on the fact that Yahweh knows him through and through.
22 Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
David praises our Great God by recognizing that it is this especially that makes Yahweh Great and like no other gods, that He faithfully carries forwards His own sovereign will in accordance with His own power and promises. He Is always consistent and totally reliable. Thus, there is none like Him, nor any gods who can compare with Him, at least as far as they have heard, One Who acts consistently and graciously on behalf of those Whom He chooses quite apart from their deserving.
23 And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name—and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land—before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods?
As David thinks back he is filled with awe and reverence as he considers what nation there is on earth which has experienced what Israel has experienced. What one nation on earth has been privileged like the one which He has chosen and redeemed for Himself, that is, like the nation of Israel ‘Whom God went to Egypt to redeem for Himself as a people’, thereby making a Name for Himself, in contrast with the other deities who did not do such a thing for their people.
24 For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God.
Yahweh God thus established to Himself His people Israel, to be a people to Himself forever, while He became their God. It was an eternal arrangement that would never cease and would be fulfilled on all those who truly responded to His covenant and obeyed Him. He would never fail those whose trust was in Him.
So David’s glorying is not just in the fact that his house is secure forever, but also in the fact that Yahweh has chosen for Himself His true people forever, so that they will be blessed together with David’s house. He is acknowledging by this the responsibility of his house for the blessing of God’s people, a responsibility wonderfully fulfilled by the Greatest Representative of that house, the Lord Jesus Christ.
David now prays with confidence that Yahweh will fulfil what He has promised, simply because that promise is founded on His word to His servant, not on anything of His servant’s own deserving. His confidence is totally in God and what He has determined.
25 “Now, O LORD God, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, establish it forever and do as You have said.
First he prays that Yahweh will confirm forever what He has promised and do as He has spoken, on the grounds that it is Yahweh’s will for His house as revealed by His word of promise. He is relying on Him to fulfil His unmerited promise.
26 So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. 27 For You, O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house.’ Therefore, Your servant has found it in his heart to pray this prayer to You.
He next prays that Yahweh’s Name will be magnified because all will be able to say, ‘YHWH of hosts Is God over Israel’, and he can say that because he knows now that God will faithfully keep those who are His true people, so that their preservation is sure.
He again expresses his confidence that because of what God has said and promised he is now assured that his house will be established forever, because it is Yahweh Himself Who of His own free choice has said that He will build him a house
28 “And now, O Lord GOD, You Are God, and Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.
His confidence lies in the fact that the Lord Yahweh Is God, and that God’s words are truth, a truth that can never be broken. Thus, having promised this good thing to His servant, it is certain and sure, because His words are true.
29 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.”
He finalizes his prayer by asking that God will be pleased to bless his house (as God’s servant) as He has promised, so that it might continue forever before Him. And he does it confident that it will be so because He has spoken it.
It was no light thing that God had promised David. It was so wonderful that as we have seen he has had to repeat himself two or three times while the wonder of it dawns on his soul. And it is because it is so wonderful that he must keep reminding both himself and God that, while it seems too good to be true, it is certainly true, because God has promised it. His confidence is totally in the certainty that God must fulfil His word.
