David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving, 2 Sam. 7:18-29

P. Dixon     8/01/10

By way of review, here are the terms of the covenant God made with David.  They are found in verses 11-17.   They contain 6 elements found in the first 6 verses.

1.       I will make you a house, 1

2.      I will raise up an offspring from you and establish his kingdom forever, 12.

3.      He will build a house for my name, 13.

4.      I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me, and discipline him when he goes astray, 14.

5.      I will never remove my steadfast love from him.

6.      David’s house and kingdom shall endure forever, 15.

David's Response: Prayer of Gratitude

David prayed with awe and thanksgiving over God’s sovereign claim to bestow the divine blessing on his seed and that nation.  The prayer is reflected in 1 Chron. 17:16-27.   Both prayers serve as models of praise and thanksgiving for God’s sovereign purposes.

The Basis of his Gratitude

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.

1.      Because of God’s grace.

Sometimes we think too highly of ourselves than we ought to think, and conversely, we think too lowly of God than we ought to think.  The two necessarily go together, and one necessarily leads to the other.  This is a serious error common to humanity.   David’s response to this revelation of God regarding the covenant God was making with him  serves as a model of how we should always respond to the blessings of God.  David expresses genuine humility in light of  God’s sovereign choice of him and his seed.  He acknowledges his unworthiness.  It was not his doing that caused God to bless him so much.  Rather, it was pure grace.  Only when we come to understand this can be begin to respond to God properly.  We go astray when we allow ourselves to think we deserve anything but damnation.  If we get anything other than that it is pure grace, including grace that is common to all mankind, and special grace reserved only for the elect.

Indeed, humility is the leading characteristic of the child of God, or at least, should be.   It is the first beatitude (blessed are the poor in spirit), the first implication in Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians (I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility), etc., and the first implication here of David’s response.

When you think of humble people, who comes to mind?  If you want a humbling experience, ask your spouse if you are humble.  Nobody will tell it like it is better than your spouse.   What are the things that accompany humility?  In David’s case God had to remind David of his humble and lowly state, then of God’s gracious dealings with him.  God knows how to humble his people and He works to do so, in order that they may be blessed.  It is when we forget who we were apart from God’s grace, and forget His grace that we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, and are sure to fall.

2.      Because of God’s power.

The second thing here David does that results in his giving thanksgiving and praise to God is his awareness of God’s mighty power.  He says, And yet this was a small thing in your eyes.  David is acknowledging the great thing God has done and promised was really a piece of cake for God.  For Him it was a small thing.  The attributes of God are critically important for us to understand and believe in practical ways.  God is all-powerful.  He is the omnipotent One.  God’s power today is not held in high esteem by the world which views Him, if indeed it acknowledges him at all, as limited in power.  The world has everything backwards.  It exalts man’s power and restricts or limits God’s.  Man’s power and capabilities are unlimited.  He can do anything he wants.  The sky is the limit.  The governing dogma here, of course, is the belief in freewill.  Man is free to do as he pleases.  On the other hand, the good things that happen are not caused by God.  They are caused either by man’s doing, mother nature, or good luck.   Only the bad things that happen can be attributed to God; hence the “act of God” as insurance companies call it.

But, if we are to respond to God properly we must understand not only the doctrine of grace, but also the doctrine of the power of God.  He created all things by the breath of his mouth and they exist for his glory. 

You have spoken also of your servant's house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!

3.      Because of God’s revelation.

He acknowledges the revelation of God concerning the lengthy duration and practical implications of the covenant.  The nations of the world would be wise to heed this promise of God made to David and his seed, and align their dealings with Israel accordingly.  Of the nations of the world today, only Great Britain and the U.S. have seemed to do so.  The majority of the nations choose to ignore, or even deny the existence of the covenant of God with Israel.  God’s promise to Abraham in the Abrahamic covenant is unconditional and permanent, and certainly relates to God’s promise to David’s seed, that is, that He would bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse her.  Surely, one reason God has blessed our nation is that we have supported and blessed Israel, being its chief ally.  Our nation cannot and must not ignore this biblical promise.

Likewise, we should acknowledge God’s revelation in His Word, particularly regarding the future events.  They are promised and are sure to come.  His promise concerning the house He would build the offspring of David pertains to the church, to all those who repent and believe the gospel.  God has spoken a lot concerning the great things that await his people, and this is instruction for the world.  Repent and believe the gospel, that you may be saved and receive such unparalleled blessings.

20 And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!

4.      Because of God’s intimate knowledge of us.

David extols the greatness of God because of God’s intimate and thorough knowledge of his servant.  God knows everything about David’s past, particularly his humble beginnings, as God had reminded him of.  God knows everything about David’s character and being.  He knows his heart for the Lord.  But, He also knows David’s weaknesses.  After all, David had just lovingly been rebuked by God for David’s going beyond what God had said, and not said, regarding the building of a house for the Lord.  David marvels at such knowledge.  In Psalm 139 he even knows what David is going to say before the words are formed on his mouth.  Such knowledge is both humbling and awe-inspiring.

It is marvelous to contemplate that the Lord knows everything about us, all our strengths and weaknesses.  I mean, compare this to the knowledge we have of each other.  A husband is to live with his wife according to knowledge, as Peter says.  His task in life is to get to know his wife well, so he can live with her in the best possible way, so he can help her to grow toward Christlikeness.  As Paul says in Phil. 1 his prayer was for the sanctification of the saints that they may grow in love in all knowledge.  It takes knowledge of the Word of God to grow in the kind of love God is talking about.  It does not come naturally, but as we learn of God.  We simply have so much to learn.  Yet, God knows all these things perfectly, even before we were born. 

21 Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

5.      Because of God’s faithfulness.

He had promised this from eternity past and revealed that in various ways and times, including the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, and now in the Davidic covenant.  God follows through with his promises.  Furthermore, David acknowledges that the promise was made according to God’s own heart, not according to anything else.   In scripture it was according to his good pleasure, according to what seemed good to God.  Our comfort and joy is in the unconditional choices of God.  He does not determine his choice according to man’s behavior, nor responses, as this covenant demonstrates.  All this causes David to extol the greatness of God and to acknowledge his uniqueness.  There is no one like him.

23 And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people, whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? 24 And you established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever. And you, O Lord, became their God.

6.      Because of God’s uniqueness.

David marvels at the uniqueness of Israel and of God’s sovereign working with the nation.  He contemplates God’s redemption of Israel from bondage in Egypt; how God demonstrated His power and glory over the false gods of Egypt and in the ten plagues; how God brought Israel out into the wilderness and provided for her, how he took her to the promised land and drove out the pagan nations.  We do the same today every time we remember our redemption from sin and death, God’s continued provisions for his church, and in our glorious future.  This is the key to learning how to give glory and praise to the Almighty God, to growing in our love for Him.  Remember his grace in the past, in the present, and in the future.

It is good for the people of God to remember God’s past blessings.  We are continually called to do so throughout scripture and we are called to remember them whenever we come to worship.  We do so in our scripture readings, hymn singing, and prayers.

David’s Petition

25 And now, O Lord God, confirm forever the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, and do as you have spoken. 26 And your name will be magnified forever, 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. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 29 Now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you. For you, O Lord God, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.”

1.       David prays that the terms of the covenant be brought to pass.   God’s sovereign counsel and eternal purposes do not deny the importance of prayer.  Just because God has sovereignly predetermined the Davidic covenant and that everything in it would come to pass does not mean we do not need to prayer it.  No, the Lord himself taught us to pray, ‘Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

2.      Courage to pray, confidence in prayer, comes from knowing what God has promised.  David knew the promise of God to him regarding the covenant, so he prayed it would come to pass with confidence and courage.  We have the same thing as believers.  If we know God has promised to accomplish something, then we can and should pray it with boldness, confidence and assurance, for He will certainly do so (1 Jn. 5:14-15).

We have been praying, Lord, increase our love for You and the saints.  We can pray this with courage and boldness, because we know it is his will, and that He has promised to bring it to pass.  It may not be in our timetable, nor as we hope, but He will certainly do so.  Our destiny is to love God perfectly.  This will be accomplished when the Lord returns and we become like Him, as we see him as he is (1 Jn. 3:2).  We also know that he who began a good work in us will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil 1:6).  Finally, we know that the work of sanctification is a process in the believer’s life begun when we were justified by faith.  The Holy Spirit works in our lives to steadily and increasingly conform us to the image of our Lord.  This is the continuing process of sanctification.  So, the Spirit works to increase our love for God and for others.  We know God is working to this end, so we can have courage to pray the same. 

Our Prayer in Response:

16 “Who am we, O Lord God, that you have brought us thus far? 17 Yet, this was a small thing in your eyes, O God.   In the days of David You spoke of his house for a great while to come, and showed him future generations, O Lord God! 18 And what more can we say to you for honoring your servant David and his offspring, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, and his house? For you know your servants. 19 For your servants’ sake, O Lord, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 There is none like you, O Lord, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 And who is like your people, the household of God, whom You redeemed with Your power and great might?  22 And you made your people, the true Israel, to be your people forever, and you, O Lord, became their God. 23 And now, O Lord, let the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do as you have spoken, 24 and your name will be established and magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel's God,’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. 25 For you, my God, have revealed to your servant that you will build a house for him. Therefore your servant has found courage to pray before you. 26 And now, O Lord, you are God, and you have promised this good thing to your servant. 27 Now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever before you, for it is you, O Lord, who have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”