18: God’s covenant with David — 2 Samuel 7:1-27

7Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ² the king said to the prophet Nathan, “See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.” ³ Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.”

⁴ But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: ⁵ Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? ⁶ I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. ⁷ Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders 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 you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; ⁹ and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. ¹⁰ And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, ¹¹ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. ¹² When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth 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 a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. ¹⁵ But I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. ¹⁶ Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever. ¹⁷ In accordance with all these words and with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.

David’s Prayer

¹⁸ Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? ¹⁹ And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord God! ²⁰ And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
²¹ Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness, so that your servant may know it.
²² Therefore you are great, O Lord God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. ²³ Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them, by driving out before his people nations and their gods? ²⁴ And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O Lord, became their God. ²⁵ And now, O Lord God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised. ²⁶ Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David will be established before you. ²⁷ For you, O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. What is the situation as this section begins? Who is David talking with? What is he proposing to do? How does the other person react to David’s idea?

2. How does God react to the project? What does he say to Nathan? What does he tell the prophet to say about his past experience with the Israelites? What does God promise about the future of the people? 

3. What is Nathan to tell David about his relationship with God? What promises is Nathan supposed to convey to David about his offspring? Who is actually going to build the temple (see Notes)?

4. What promises does God make about David’s future? About his descendants? About his kingdom?

5. How does David respond to all this? What does he say to God? How does he describe the covenant God has made with him? What does he say about his relationship with God? What does he say about God’s character?

6. What does David say about God’s relationship with Israel? About what God has done for the people?

Get Personal:

Which of God’s promises are most important to you? Why? How does God help you to rely on these promises in your walk with Jesus?

7:1. Rest — the Old Testament uses the word to mean relief from stress and struggle.
7:2-3. Prophet — Nathan is the spiritual advisor to the king, not the spiritual and political leader of the people (the role of Moses and Samuel).
Cedar . . . tent — Cedar was a prized wood and symbol of success and permanence, whereas a tent meant transient or temporary.
7:5. Go and tell — God corrects Nathan, who had initially told the king “the Lord is with you.”
7:13. He shall build — David’s son, Solomon builds the first temple.
7:14. Father . . . son — the idea that the king was a “son” of the nation’s god was fairly common in the ancient Middle East.

7:15. I will not take — God promises David that he will punish his offspring when they sin but he will not forsake them.
7:16. Made sure forever before me — God extends the promise of the previous verse, and hints that Jesus will be the ultimate – and permanent – king. Psalm 89 echoes God’s promise: You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: ‘I will establish your descendants forever, and build your throne for all generations,’” [3-4].
7:22. No God besides you — David acknowledges God’s uniqueness and the special relationship between God and the Israelites.