171 And it cometh to pass as David sat in his house, that David saith unto Nathan the prophet, 'Lo, I am dwelling in a house of cedars, and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah 'is' under curtains;' 2 and Nathan saith unto David, 'All that 'is' in thy heart do, for God 'is' with thee.' 3 And it cometh to pass on that night that a word of God is unto Nathan, saying, 4 'Go, and thou hast said unto David My servant, Thus said Jehovah, Thou dost not build for Me the house to dwell in: 5 for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought up Israel till this day, and I am from tent unto tent: and from the tabernacle, 6 whithersoever I have walked up and down among all Israel, a word spake I, with one of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people, saying, Why have ye not built for Me a house of cedars? 7 'And now, thus dost thou say to My servant, to David, Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have taken thee from the habitation, from after the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel, 8 and I am with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and I cut off all thine enemies from thy presence, and have made for thee a name like the name of the great ones who 'are' in the earth. 9 'And I have prepared a place for My people Israel, and planted it, and it hath dwelt in its place, and is not troubled any more, and the sons of perverseness add not to wear it out as at first, 10 yea, even from the days that I appointed judges over My people Israel. 'And I have humbled all thine enemies, and I declare to thee that a house doth Jehovah build for thee,
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Chronicles 17:1-10
Chapter Contents
David's purposes; God's gracious promises.
This chapter is the same as Isaiah 42:1; and it is for his sake, upon account of his mediation, that the promises are made good to all believers; it is in him, that they are yea and amen. For His sake it is done, for his sake it is made known; to him we owe all this greatness, from him we are to expect all these great things. They are the unsearchable riches of Christ, which, if by faith we see in themselves, and see in the Lord Jesus, we cannot but magnify as the only true greatness, and speak honourably of them. For this blessedness may we look amidst the trials of life, and when we feel the hand of death upon us; and seek it for our children after us.