When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
David asked to build a house for God, and God answered by promising to build a house for David. That promise reaches past the king's own death to a son, a kingdom, and a throne — so who is this son, and how can a promise outlive the man who received it?
God turned down David's offer to build. One writer explains the reason behind that refusal.
So God must always have the first place, and must always be the first mover. It would not fit His glory to let David build Him a house until He had built David a house.
God dates the promise from David's death. That is where a man's story normally ends, and where God says His giving is only starting.
David might rightly feel that the Lord had done much for him. The house of cedar was a great thing for the shepherd of Bethlehem. But what was it compared with the future? What was all that God had done, compared with what He would do?… So we see that such acts of grace did not mark only his own short span of forty years. God spoke of his house too, "for a great while to come," even for ever.
The verse points to a son who will come from David's own body. 1 Chronicles words the same promise differently, and one writer reads the two wordings as pointing in different directions.
In 1 Chronicles 17:11, "I will set up your seed after you, which shall be of your sons," directs our thoughts to Christ, the king according to God's counsels. But 2 Samuel 7:12, "your seed… which shall come from your body," points to Solomon, David's son.
So Solomon is the son in view first. Yet the promise reaches further than Solomon ever did, and commentators look beyond him to someone greater.
Solomon is first in view, but he is only a picture of Him who said while on earth, "something greater than Solomon is here." Christ alone will fulfil this great covenant-promise… He came as the Son of David according to the flesh, yet He is also David's Lord, and He is the One who spoke these words to Nathan. Just before He came, God announced, "the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
What if David's sons turned out badly? The promise takes that into account.
With David, God made another covenant, in part conditional, and in part unconditional. For the sons who came right after him, everything depended on their obedience: whether they kept the throne, and whether God blessed the nation under their rule. If they disobeyed, God would chasten them. But in one way the covenant had no conditions: God would never take His mercy away from David's house for good. One was to come from his body who would, without fail, sit on his throne.
David died, and so did every son who sat on his throne. The promise still stands, and one writer shows where its certainty rests.
The "everlasting covenant" assured David that, through his seed, God would establish his kingdom and throne for ever. We know from Acts 13:34 that the Spirit of God clearly shows Christ to be the promised seed of David. It also shows that the sure mercies of David are secured through Christ risen from the dead. So the grace of God flows out to Jew and Gentile in righteousness. It rests on the firm foundation of the death and resurrection of Christ.
- Reversed — David offered to build God a house. God would not take it until He had first built David one, because His glory asks for that order.
- Given — the promise starts where David ends. It steps over his death and covers his house "for a great while to come," even for ever.
- Extended — the son from David's body is Solomon first. But the promise fits Christ alone, and Solomon is only a picture of Him.
- Guarded — the covenant is part conditional, part unconditional. God could chasten a disobedient son, but He would never take His mercy from David's house.
- Secured — a risen Man holds David's throne, not a dynasty. Christ raised from the dead makes the mercies promised to David sure, and opens that grace to Jew and Gentile alike.
It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
David offers to build God a house of cedar. God answers by promising to build David a house instead — a son who will build the temple, and a throne that lasts forever.
Before David can build anything for God, God settles what He will build for David.
So God must always have the first place, and always be the first mover. It would not fit with His glory to let David build Him a house until He had built David a house.
The reason lies in David's own record. He spent his reign subduing enemies, and that work suits a different picture than a temple.
Solomon would also build a house for God's name (v.13). God had decreed this. David was not to be permitted to build the house because he was a man of war and had shed much blood (1 Chron. 22:8). In this way he had been a type of Christ in subduing all His enemies. The building of the house must not be linked with war and bloodshed. It must be linked with the peace that follows conquest. In that character Solomon was a type of the Lord Jesus.
Two men picture what one Man will be. The handover between them leaves no gap.
First is war and judgment, then peace and rest. These two periods differ in character, and two men are used as types. Two kings set out the Messiah's glory and reign. Yet there is no break in their reign, as when one dies and then the other comes to the throne. Solomon is anointed king before David dies. The throne is not vacant for a moment. In type David and Solomon are one. The Lord is the true David and the true Solomon.
The principle reaches past Solomon's day. God settles His dwelling only where the fighting has ended.
David could not build this house. Peace had to come first, before the Lord could make His lasting dwelling among His people. As long as they wandered in the desert, the Lord joined Himself to them by the tabernacle, sharing their life as pilgrims and travellers. Then came the wars of Canaan under Joshua and the judges; these had not stopped until the reign of David. God cannot dwell in rest where there is war. The first condition for His lasting dwelling with His people in Canaan is that peace be made. It is the same, spiritually, for the Church. When the "good news of peace" is announced, God builds up His house, the holy temple in the Lord. This work continues until the full rest of glory.
Solomon built the temple and reigned. But the word "forever" reaches past him.
Solomon is first in view. But he is only a type of Him who said while on earth, "something greater than Solomon is here." Only in Christ will this great covenant-promise be fulfilled. God announces chastening for his offspring. But the covenant cannot be cancelled, for God's gifts and calling are irrevocable… And when He was about to come — the Son of David according to the flesh, but also David's Lord, the One who spoke these words to Nathan — God announced: "the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33). That throne and that kingdom He has not yet received.
Read on and the promise appears to change. This verse promises a throne forever; then comes a word about correction. Commentators see two strands side by side. One rests on God's purpose. The other rests on the king's obedience.
When Christ, as the Son of David, is before the mind of the Spirit, the promise is unconditional. It is the announcement of God's purpose in grace. But when David's children, his immediate descendants, are in view, their continuance on his throne depends on their responsibility — on their keeping God's law and walking according to His commandments.
- God first. David offers to build a house for God; God answers by building a house for David. He is always the first mover, and His glory would not allow the order to be reversed.
- Peace first. The man of war could not build. God does not settle His dwelling where there is still war. That principle holds today, while the good news of peace builds His house.
- Two kings, one Christ. David subdues the enemies. Solomon builds in the rest that follows. The throne is never empty between them. The Lord is both the true David and the true Solomon.
- Solomon first, Christ finally. Solomon is in view, but only as a picture. The word "forever" is fulfilled in Christ alone, whose throne, commentators note, He has not yet taken up.
- Grace outlasts failure. The son may be corrected; the covenant cannot be cancelled. Where God's purpose in grace is in view, the promise carries no conditions at all.
I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men;
God has just promised David a lasting house, and now He binds Himself to David's son with the language of a family. Everything hangs on who that son is — the promise of a Father's love comes with the warning of a father's rod.
The first half of the verse looks past David's immediate heir. One writer asks whether Solomon is all that is meant:
Is this only in the person of Solomon? No, God directs David's attention to Christ, the Seed of David. What thoughts must have filled the king's heart in the presence of such an honour given to his house! The promises of grace extend to the eternal kingdom: "I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to Me a son." The son of David will be the Son of God! (Heb. 1:5). What a prospect for David's heart! A river of grace flows to him and shall flow out from him!
Hebrews quotes this verse to prove that Christ ranks above the angels. The words give Him more than a title:
A second Scripture, 2 Samuel 7:14, shows further that the fame of Christ exceeds that of angels. It tells us that Christ not only stood in the relationship of Son of God. All through His path in this world He also enjoyed the privileges that belong to that relationship: "I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son."
The second half of the verse assumes that the son will sin. That settles who is in view:
"I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to Me a son." Hebrews 1:5 quotes this as referring to the Lord Jesus, which is of course the most important matter. In a secondary way it was true of Solomon, but not in the vital, eternal way that it is true of Christ. "When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men." This cannot refer to the Lord Jesus, but it does refer to Solomon. Solomon did commit iniquity: he had many wives and even worshipped their idols.
The same words that Hebrews applies to Christ also cover a king who could fail. Chronicles retells this promise and leaves that side out:
The words of 2 Samuel 7:14 apply to the fallible and responsible king... This is what happened to David himself in the book of Samuel. Chronicles mentions neither his failure nor the prolonged chastisement, the "rod of men," which followed it.
Grace and responsibility both stand in this promise, and neither cancels the other:
God keeps His counsel of grace certain. He keeps His judgments just as certain, if the king fails to meet the demands of His holiness. These two currents, grace and responsibility, run side by side and never get mixed. In 2 Samuel 7:13-16 the words of the Lord to David bring this out in a striking way. On one side stands the election of grace. On the other stands the responsibility of the king and its consequences. After these two principles comes the assurance that God will still fulfil His counsels.
The warning was not a formality. It fell on the kings who followed:
God's promises about His people Israel did not depend on how they acted. Yet in His governmental ways they could not escape punishment for their sins... Read the history of the kings of Judah, and you see how necessary this chastening was in God's ways. Even the best of the kings who sat on David's throne had to be chastened. In the end the nation went into captivity because it had turned away from the Lord.
The apostle later borrows these words and applies them to Christians, widening the family:
Here again the Holy Spirit led the apostle to borrow words from various parts of the Old Testament, especially 2 Samuel 7:8, 14... Here He says, "I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me." This is our new relationship in positive blessing, and it assumes the divine nature given to us.
- Father — God binds Himself to David's son in family terms: "I will be to him a father."
- Fulfilled — Solomon held the place in a lesser way. Hebrews 1:5 applies the words to Christ, who enjoyed a Son's privileges all through His life on earth.
- Fallible — the clause about iniquity shows that a sinful king is in view; Chronicles leaves that side of the promise out.
- Fatherly rod — chastening came through human hands, and the kings of Judah felt it right down to the captivity.
- Firm — grace and responsibility run side by side without mixing. The discipline is real, and God's counsel still stands.
but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before thee.
Through the prophet Nathan, God has just warned that David's son will feel the rod if he does wrong. This verse sets the limit of that rod. It points back to Saul, the first king, whose story ended another way. The ESV reads "my steadfast love." The writers quoted below use the older word "mercy." It is the same promise.
The promise holds two things at once, and neither cancels the other.
God holds His plan of grace sure. He holds His judgments just as sure, if the king fails to meet the demands of His holiness. These two currents, grace and responsibility, run side by side and never get confused. In 2 Samuel 7:13–16 the words of the Lord to David show this in a striking way. On one side stands the election of grace. On the other stands the responsibility of the king and what follows from it. After these two principles comes the assurance that God's plans will still be fulfilled.
The son in view is first Solomon, a real man who could go wrong and did. God promised him both discipline and a lasting line.
After this God speaks to David about Solomon. Here he is no longer a picture of Christ, but a man who can fail. As such, God entrusts responsibility to him. He can fall under God's discipline and chastening. "If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the sons of men" (v. 14). But his lineage will be established forever.
This verse turns on one difference. God corrects the king He chose; He does not discard him.
God announces chastening for his offspring. But no one can cancel the covenant, for God's gifts and calling are without repentance… More than that, the LORD confirmed this great covenant with an oath: "Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me" (Ps. 89:35–36).
Another writer splits the covenant into what is conditional and what is not.
With David, God made another covenant, partly conditional and partly unconditional. For the descendants who came straight after him on the throne, two things hung on their obedience: keeping the throne, and the blessing of the nation under their rule. If they disobeyed, God would chastise them. But in one respect the covenant had no conditions: God would never take His mercy away from David's house for good.
Saul is the measure here of what David's line will never face. One writer sets the two kings side by side.
So under the righteous government of the LORD, Saul, the man of flesh, met disappointment and was set aside. David, the man of faith, first held the affection of all Israel and Judah (1 Sam. 18:16), and then sat firmly on the throne of a united nation.
David's house did collapse, and David saw it coming. His last words show where he put his confidence.
He recognises the ruin of his house under the rule of responsibility. So he goes back to the eternal covenant, to "the sure mercies of David." In 2 Samuel this truth holds up the king's heart at the end of his life, when he must face the ruin of his house, the fruit of his own failure.
That mercy became sure only through resurrection. Older translations call it "the sure mercies of David." The ESV calls it "the holy and sure blessings of David" (Acts 13:34).
We must have Christ's resurrection even to get the earthly blessings of Israel. So in Acts 13 Paul says that God raised Christ "from the dead, no more to return to corruption"; and "I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David," Isaiah 55. Israel could not have them without death and resurrection. So the sure mercies of David are proof of resurrection. Nothing was sure until then. If they trusted a living man, everything failed.
- Two currents. Grace and responsibility run side by side here. The king answers for his conduct, and God's plan still stands.
- The rod. God speaks to Solomon as a man who can fail and fall under discipline. The covenant holds correction from the start.
- The mercy. The covenant leaves out one thing: withdrawal. No one can cancel it, because God's gifts and calling are without repentance.
- The contrast. God set Saul, the man of flesh, aside under His righteous government. That removal is the one thing David's house will never face.
- The security. David died watching his house fail, and fell back on the everlasting covenant. Those mercies became sure in a risen Christ. Trusting a living man always failed.
And thy house and thy kingdom shall be made firm for ever before thee thy throne shall be established for ever.
David wanted to build a house for God, but through the prophet Nathan God promised to build David a house instead. How can any family hold a throne forever, when every human being fails?
The honour is unique, and nothing in David earned it.
In this way David's house and David's throne should be established forever (v. 16). How great an honour this was for David! No other line of all mankind could have this distinction. But it depended entirely on the grace and counsels of God, not on David's faithfulness or work.
At the end of his life David faced the ruin of his own house. He turned back to the covenant, not to his record.
He recognises the ruin of his house under the rule of responsibility, so he goes back to the eternal covenant, to "the sure mercies of David." In 2 Samuel this truth sustains the king's heart at the end of his career, when he must face the ruin of his house — the fruit of his own failure.
David planned to build for God. God answered by building for David.
If a house of cedar was a great thing, how much greater was an everlasting house and kingdom. The Lord tells you that "He will make you a house." This was reversing the matter altogether. The doings of the past were full of grace; the doings of the future would be full of glory.
The promise starts with Solomon but does not stop there, and failure along the way cannot break it.
Solomon is first in view, but he is only a picture of the One who is greater than Solomon. In Christ alone this great covenant-promise is to be fulfilled. God announces chastening for his offspring. But the covenant can never be cancelled, because God never takes back His gifts and His calling... More than that, the LORD confirmed this great covenant with an oath: "Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me" (Ps. 89:35-36).
Read on from Solomon, and the promise looks broken.
Not one of them, good or bad, had God's words fulfilled in their reign. Babylon carried the last king of Judah away as a captive... Was God's promise overthrown? It was not. If the historical account of David's seed ended in complete failure, then clearly another seed of David must come. Only then can God fulfil His promise to David. Certainly that Seed has come.
When Israel killed their Messiah, the promise of a lasting descendant looked finished.
But Israel rejected and killed their Messiah. Humanly speaking, at this point, all was lost. But what did God do? He "raised him from among the dead, no more to return to corruption," and spoke these words: "I will give to you the faithful mercies of David." God had promised that David would have a descendant to sit on his throne (2 Sam. 7:16). This promise is absolutely certain, sure and unalterable. In order that it be fulfilled, God raised up Christ from among the dead.
(Hardt quotes Acts 13:34 as "the faithful mercies of David"; the ESV reads "the holy and sure blessings of David.")
The promise finally rests on one person, born into this world as David's heir.
God would give Him the throne of His father David. Here again we see clearly that He is viewed as born into this world, as man... He should reign over the house of Jacob, not only over Judah. His reign would not be a weak power that soon passes, or a short life. It would last throughout the ages, and of His kingdom there should be no end.
Told what God would do, David stopped working and started worshipping.
His sitting would imply that he had no work to do. Instead, he is calmly considering the work of God. He becomes a worshipper rather than a doer. First, he takes his own place of being fully unworthy of all that God has done for him and of all that He would yet do.
- Sure, not earned. The house, kingdom and throne rest on God's grace and counsels, not on David's faithfulness. That is why they can stand forever.
- Sure, though chastened. Failure in David's line brings correction, but nothing can cancel the covenant. God even backed His word with an oath.
- Sure, though history failed. No king of Judah fulfilled it, and the last one ended as a captive in Babylon — proof that another Seed of David had to come.
- Sure, because of resurrection. Israel killed their Messiah. God raised Him, so the promised descendant never returns to death.
- Sure, and still ahead. God will give Him the throne of His father David, and His reign over the house of Jacob will have no end. Like David, we can only sit down and worship.