Volume I Part 10 (1/2)

Ver. 21. ”_For Thy word's sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things to make Thy servant know them._”

In 1 Chron. xvii. 19, the words run thus: ”Lord, on account of Thy _servant_, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things, to make known all the glorious things.” Hence, by the ”word,” a promise given to David can alone be intended,--a word formerly spoken to David, which contained the germ of the present one.

There is, no doubt, a special allusion to the word in 1 Sam. xvi. 12: ”And the Lord said. Arise and anoint him, for this is he.” (Compare 2 Sam. xii. 7; Ps. lx.x.xix. 21; Acts xiii. 22.) _According to Thine heart_: ”The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and [Pg 146]

plenteous in mercy,” Ps. ciii. 8. _All these great things_,--_i.e._ the promise of the eternal dominion of his house. ????????? and ?????????--words in which David takes special delight--never mean ”greatness,” but always ”great things.” (Compare remarks on Ps. lxxi. 21, cxlv. 3.) The words, ”To make know,” etc., indicate that the _making_ refers, in the meantime, only to the divine decree.

Ver. 22. ”_Wherefore Thou art great, Lord G.o.d: for there is none like Thee, neither is there any G.o.d besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears._”

_Wherefore_--in the first instance, on account of the great things which Thou hast done unto me. _According to all_, etc., _i.e._, as this is confirmed by all, etc. Of this David has been reminded anew by his personal experience. Just as he does here, David, in Ps. xl. 6, rises from his personal experience to the whole series of G.o.d's glorious manifestations in the history of His people. As to the words, ”There is none like Thee, neither is there any G.o.d besides Thee,” compare the fundamental pa.s.sages Exod. xv. 11; Deut. iii. 24, iv. 35.

Ver. 23. ”_And where is there a nation on earth like Thy people Israel, for whose sake G.o.d went to redeem them for a people to Himself, and make Him a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible things for Thy land, putting away from before Thy people, whom Thou redeemedst to Thee out of Egypt, heathen and their G.o.ds?_”

We must here compare the fundamental pa.s.sages, Deut. iv. 7, 34, x.x.xiii.

29, in which that which Israel has received from his G.o.d is praised, as being without precedent and parallel. In ??? and ????? the address is, with poetical liveliness, directed to Israel. _For you great things_--instead of, To do for them great things, as the Lord has done for you. The phrase ???? ??? means, literally, only, ”away from before Thy people;” ”putting” must be supplied from the preceding ?????, and from a comparison of the fundamental pa.s.sages, Exod. xxiii. 28, 29, x.x.xiv. 11; Deut. x.x.xiii. 27, to which the concise expression refers.

The text in Chronicles, which expressly adds what we have here to supply, ???? ????, ”to drive out before,” is, in this case also, merely a parallel pa.s.sage which, by the addition of a word, serves as a commentary.

Ver. 24. ”_And Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people_ [Pg 147]

_Israel to be a people for ever, and Thou, Lord, art become their G.o.d._”

Ver. 25. ”_And now, Jehovah G.o.d, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as Thou hast said._”

Praise and thanks for the promise are followed by the prayer for its fulfilment.

Ver. 26. ”_And let Thy name be magnified for ever, so that it may be said, Jehovah Zebaoth_ (is) _G.o.d over Israel. And the house of Thy servant shall be firm before Thee._”

_Let Thy name be magnified_, instead of, Give cause for its being glorified; compare Ps. x.x.xv. 27, xl. 17.--_Is G.o.d over Israel_, _i.e._, proves Himself to be such, by protecting the house of the king, on whom the salvation of Israel depends. In Chronicles it is thus expressed: ”Jehovah Zebaoth, the G.o.d of Israel, is G.o.d for Israel,” _i.e._. He fulfils to Israel what He promised (Jarchi). The prayer for the establishment of David's house is expressed in the form of confidence, in the conviction based upon the word of G.o.d, that such is according to the will of G.o.d.

Ver. 27. ”_For Thou, Jehovah Zebaoth, G.o.d of Israel, hast opened the ear of Thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house. Therefore Thy servant found_ (in) _his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee._”

(Otherwise, his heart would have failed him; he would have had neither the desire nor the courage.) Ver. 28. ”_And now, Lord Jehovah, Thou art G.o.d, and Thy words are truth, and Thou hast promised unto Thy servant these good things._ Ver. 29. _And now let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee; for Thou, Lord Jehovah, hast spoken, and, by Thy blessing, the house of Thy servant shall be blessed for ever._”

To whom does this promise refer, which David received through Nathan?

Some Rabbins, and _Grotius_, would fain restrict it to Solomon and his more immediate posterity. This opinion, however, is refuted by the single circ.u.mstance, that they are compelled to a.s.sume merely a long duration of time, instead of the eternity which is here promised to the house of David. And that such cannot be the meaning of the words ”for ever,” is abundantly confirmed by a comparison with [Pg 148] Ps.

lx.x.xix. 30, ”And I place his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.” In these words of the Psalm there is a reference to Deut.

xi. 21, where the _people_ of the Lord are promised a duration ”as the days of heaven and of earth.” An absolute perpetuity is everywhere ascribed to the people of G.o.d. If, then, the house of David is placed on the same level as they, its perpetuity must likewise be absolute.

_Further_,--with such a view, it is impossible to comprehend what David here says in his prayer, regarding the greatness of the promise, and also what he says in Ps. cx.x.xviii. 2: ”For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.” The giving of the promise is there placed on a loftier elevation than all the former deeds of the Lord.

Others--as _Calovius_--would refer the promise to Christ alone. But vers. 14, 15 are decisive against this view; for, according to them, G.o.d will not, by a total rejection, punish the posterity of David, if they commit sin,--from which the reference is evident to a posterity merely human, and hence sinful. According to ver. 13, David's posterity is to build a temple to the Lord,--a declaration which, with reference to David's plan of building a temple to the Lord, can, in the first instance, be understood in no other way than as relating to the earthly temple to be built by Solomon. To this consideration it may be added, that, in 1 Chron. xxii. 9 seqq., David himself refers this announcement primarily to Solomon, and that Solomon, in 1 Kings v. 5 seqq., and in 2 Chron. vi. 7 seqq., refers it to himself.

Nor is there entire soundness in the view of those who, following _Augustine_ (_de Civitate Dei_ xvii. 8, 9), a.s.sume the existence of a double reference,--to Solomon and his earthly successors on the one hand, and to Christ on the other. Thus _Brentius_: ”Solomon is not altogether excluded, but Christ is chiefly intended.” It is true that these interpreters are substantially right in their view; but they err as to the manner in which they give expression to it. The promise has not a reference to two subjects simultaneously.[6] It views David's house as an _ideal_ unity.

[Pg 149]

The promise is given to the house of David, vers. 11, 16, 19, 25, 26, 27, 29; to his seed, ver. 12. It is to the house of David that the absolute perpetuity of existence, the unchangeable possession of the grace of G.o.d--a relation to G.o.d similar to that of a son to his father--and the inseparable connection of their dominion with the kingdom of G.o.d in Israel, are guaranteed.

Footnote 1: _Seb. Schmid_ says: ”He thought that this duty was imposed upon him by the Word of G.o.d. For, as the state enjoyed peace, the royal palace was finished, and his family established, there seemed to be nothing wanting but to build a temple to the Lord.”

Footnote 2: In 1 Kings viii. 16, Solomon thus reports what, in 2 Sam.