Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 Chronicles 17:2

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Plans for a permanent house (16:37-17:27)

On being brought to Jerusalem, the ark had been placed in a tent that David prepared for it (see v. 1). David appointed temple servants to remain with the ark to guide the worship, apparently under the direction of the senior priest, Abiathar. The other chief priest, Zadok, was in charge of the worship at the tabernacle, which was still at Gibeon (37-43).

One reason why David did not shift the tabernacle from Gibeon was that he was planning to build a permanent dwelling place for the ark in Jerusalem. He wanted to build a house for God, but God wanted rather to build a house for David. The house God wanted to build was a dynasty, a line of royal descendants, one of whom would build the temple (17:1-27; see notes on 2 Samuel 7:1-29).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

GOD REJECTS DAVID'S PURPOSE TO BUILD A TEMPLE
BUT PROMISES THE MESSIAH WHOSE THRONE WOULD
LAST FOREVER; DAVID'S PRAYER OF RESPONSE

"And it came to pass, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah dwelleth under curtains. And Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thy heart; for God is with thee. And it came to pass the same night, that the Word of God came to Nathan, saying, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith Jehovah. Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in: for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel, unto this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. In all places wherein I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to be shepherd of my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedar? Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be prince over my people Israel: and I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee; and I will make thee a name, like unto the name of the great ones that are in the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in their own place, and be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel; and I will subdue all thine enemies. Moreover I tell thee that Jehovah will build thee a house. And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house; and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee; but I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David."

2 Samuel 7:1-17 is parallel to these fifteen verses; and we have written fourteen pages of comments on them in Vol. 4 (2 Samuel) of the Historical Books in our series of commentaries, pp. 81-94.

The variations in the two accounts are not significant. God's prohibition against David's intention of building God a house was stated in the form of a question in 2 Samuel, but appears here as a positive commandment forbidding it. The meaning is the same either way. The Hebrew method of making a negative statement frequently took the form of a question as in Luke 18:8.

Also, both accounts make it absolutely certain that the passage has no reference whatever to Solomon. This, of course, is disputed. Jacob M. Myers, for example, wrote that, "Verse 11 must not be made to bear too much weight… it seems to refer only to Solomon."The Anchor Bible, Chronicles, p. 126. However, it is impossible to put "too much weight" on verse 11! It thunders the message, found also in the parallel, that the Great One who would build God a house would appear after (yes, that's the word, AFTER) David's death; and Solomon did not appear after David's decease, but during his lifetime and was co-regent with him for a period. See our extensive comment on this in the parallel.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 17

And Nathan the prophet said, [Good,] do all that is in your heart; for God is with thee. And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord spoke to Nathan the prophet, and said, Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in: for I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but I have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another. Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, did I ever speak a word to the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house [of crystal, no] of cedars? [Sorry.] ( 1 Chronicles 17:2-6 )

I would like to say that I think that it is wrong for us to judge. We do not know the true motives of man and we only assume what motivations might be. However, in the same token, I would like to say that I don't think that God has ever required that we build for Him some fancy place to worship Him. I believe that God can be better worshipped in nature than in a building. I only wish the weather permitted for us to worship outside. I think that it would be a much more fitting cathedral to just worship God outside.

In the Old Testament when they, when God instructed them in the building of the altars, God said, "I don't want you to bring any tool on the stone. I don't want you carving fancy stones and all. Just take the plain rock without bringing any tool on it and set it up for the altar." Because God didn't want people's attention to be distracted from Him to some fancy ornamentation that man had built.

Now, I don't really feel that God has changed. I don't think that God is wanting to attract people to fancy architecture or to fancy ornamentation. I think the more natural that we can be in our worship of God, the more we are closer to the real heart and intent of God. As natural as possible. And as I say, if the weather would permit, I would rather worship God outside. I love to go up to the conference center and I like to take the classes outside and just sit there in the pine needles. And you get that smell of the pine needles, and you get the sound of the wind through the trees, and you hear the blue jays, and the squirrel is running up the tree and all. And I love to worship God in that kind of a cathedral. With the blue sky above, and just nothing of man's handiwork. Nothing of which you can glory in the work of man.

Now God said, "Hey look, ever since I've been with you I've been in a tent. Moving from place to place. And in all the time, did I ever say build me a house of cedar? Have I asked for anything like that? No, I didn't. I'm content with the tent."

We've been praying what we should do here. We, of course, probably we could use, let us put it that way, a much larger facility. It would be nice to be able to have just two services on Sunday morning. As long as the Lord gives me strength, I love the three; I don't mind it. But it would be nice if we could have a larger church where we wouldn't have to put people over in the overflow auditoriums to watch on close circuit TV. It would be great if we could all be gathered together in one place to worship the Lord. And we have the money that we could do it. And the Board has been discussing. We've got the property and we've been discussing building. But we, more or less, came to the conclusion that since we feel the coming of the Lord is so near it will be better to take the money and use it in outreaches to get the Gospel out to people than to spend it in a building. And so we can go through the inconvenience of having to put people over there and people... Of course, fortunately the weather is nice and some people are fortunate enough to sit outside. We've talked about getting some speakers like we had for the Easter Sunrise service and put them out there so people could come and start sitting out there in the lawn. And the overflow could just be out there on the lawn, and you just sit out there and worship the Lord. We don't know what to do. We do need larger facilities, and we're praying about them. I even looked at some plastic cathedrals. That is, plastic domed kind of thing. Pretty sharp, actually, and very inexpensive, and they just take steel girders. Sort of a glorified kind of a tent. And my wife doesn't like it but...

But David desired to build a house for God. He said, "Hey look, I'm living in this palace. This house is cedar and God is living in a tent and I want to build a house." And Nathan said, "Oh, that's great, do what's in your heart." And God spoke to Nathan and said, "Go back, tell David not to build Me a house. He can't do it. I've been in a tent all the while. I got used to tents, sort of like it. I've never asked him to build me a house of cedar."

Now knowing that this would be a disappointment to David, the Lord said to him.

And thus say unto my servant David ( 1 Chronicles 17:7 ),

Oh, I like that. Oh, that God would say that, "My servant Chuck." Wouldn't that be neat? To have God talk of you that way? My servant. What a joy and what a privilege.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took you from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that you should be the ruler over my people Israel: and I have been with thee whithersoever you have walked, I have cut off all your enemies from before thee, I have made thy name like the name of the great men that are in the earth. Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning, and since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee a house ( 1 Chronicles 17:7-10 ).

You know, every once in a while the Lord speaks to me of what He has done for me. And I just am overwhelmed. And quite often when I start, you know, getting in my flesh a bit and I think, "Oh, it'd be so nice to have this. Or that would be great." The Lord speaks to me and says, "Hey, haven't I done enough for you already? Look what I've done. Aren't you satisfied? If you want, I'll do more, but aren't you satisfied?" Oh Lord, so satisfied, so satisfied.

God just said, "Hey, David, look what I've done for you, man." Now David was wanting to do something for God. God says, "No, I don't you to do anything for me, David. Let me tell you what I've done for you and let me tell you what I'm going to do for you." You know, so often ministers are constantly telling people, "You ought to be doing this for God. You ought to be giving more for God. You ought to be sacrificing more for God. You ought to be praying more for God. You ought to be you know witnessing more for God." And they're always emphasizing what you ought to be doing for God. God says, "Hey, hey, no, no. I want to tell you what I've done for you and what I want to do for you."

It's interesting the New Testament really emphasizes what God has done for man, but we hear so little preaching on that. So much of the preaching is what man ought to be doing for God. And you hear so little of what God has done for you. And yet the whole emphasis of the New Testament is what God has done for you. And so what I do for God is only a responding to what God has done for me. You see, my natural response for what God has done for me is all God is looking for. Hey, He's done so much for me. I just respond to it. That's the truest service. That's the truest praise. That's the truest worship that you can offer to God is just responding to what He has done. Knowing and responding to the work of God is the true motivation behind anything that you ever do for the Lord.

You never should be doing out of an endeavor to obligate God to do for you. "Now let's get out and really work for God so that God will bless and our church will grow. Let's get out and praise the Lord tonight so God will bless us." You see, work so God will bless it. No, that's the opposite emphasis of the New Testament. The emphasis of the New Testament is what God has done for you, respond to it.

Paul spends the first three chapters of the book of Ephesians telling the people what God had done for them. "Thanks be unto God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: According to his abundant mercy wherewith He hath chosen us before the foundation of the world. And predestined that we should be adopted as sons and has redeemed us by His blood, even forgiven our sins. That we might have this glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus. And then He sealed us with His Holy Spirit of promise" ( Ephesians 2:3-13 ). All of what God has done for them. And he spends three chapters telling them. Then after telling them all that God has done, he said, "Now walk worthy of the call" ( Ephesians 4:1 ). Respond to God. Respond to the work of God.

Peter emphasizes what God has done. "Thanks be unto God." You see it always begins with, "Thank God for what He has done!" Thanks be unto God who "hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is incorruptible, and undefiled, and fades not away; that is reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God" ( 1 Peter 1:3-5 ). Oh, that is what God has done for you! You say, "Well, don't I have some part in there?" Yeah, he gets to that. But notice he puts God's part first. Never man's part first. Never is it man's part first. It's always God's part first, and then man's response to it. So looking at Peter again. "Thanks be unto God who hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fades not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God." That's all God's part. And then he gives you your part through faith. So easy, just believe it. Just believe it.

Oh how glorious it is what God has done. And God begins to unfold for David. "Look David, I took you from the sheepcote, from following after the sheep. I made you the ruler over my people and I've blessed you. I've given you, I've subdued your enemies before you. I've established you in the land. And if that's not enough, I'll even do more for you, David. And I'm going to do more because, David, I'm going to establish your house through you. My King is going to come. David, you're going to be, from you the Messiah is going to come."

And as God began to tell David what He was going to do for him, it was too much for David. He said, "O Lord, what can I say? What can I say?" Someone has said that when prayer reaches his ultimate, words are impossible. "What can I say, God?" Too much. The realization of what God has done for you. And that's what we need to know. Paul even prayed them for the Ephesians that they might know that God might give them the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. That they might know God. And that they might know what was the hope of their calling and the exceeding richness of God's grace towards them in Christ Jesus and the exceeding power that God has made available to us. Knowing what God has done is so important. And in those days, shepherds who will teach them the knowledge of God.

And that's what the church needs today. They need to hear more of what God has done for them, rather than being pushed into works for God. Paul, what you ought to be doing for God, that's what you hear all over the place. That's the wrong message. What we need to know is what God has done for us. To know God, His glorious power, His beauty, His majesty, His goodness. And then we respond to what God has done for us.

Father, we thank You for what You have done for us. Your goodness. Your blessings. Lord, they're too much. You're too much. And Lord, we love You and we thank You. Oh, how we thank You, Lord, for Your beautiful work that You have wrought. How we praise You, Lord, for that power of Your Spirit that we see at work around us day by day, as You are gathering day by day a mighty host, as the host of God. O Lord, help us, help us to understand more fully how much You really do love us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The promises of the Davidic Covenant 17:1-15

The main reason God did not allow David to proceed with his plans to build Him a house (temple) was that God, not David, was sovereign. A secondary reason was that David was a man of war (1 Chronicles 22:8; 1 Chronicles 28:3). God reserved the right to choose who should build such a place, as well as when and where he should build it. It was inappropriate for David to decide these things, though his desire to honor God in this way was certainly commendable. David’s plans were premature and presumptuous (cf. Israel’s desire to have a king like all the other nations), though pardonable because he sought to glorify Yahweh.

"In Near Eastern thought there was a widely recognized relationship between the earthly kingship and the temple of the protecting deity of the city-state. The state was seen as a reflection of the cosmic reality of the divine government, which stood behind the state. The state, with its various hierarchies, culminated in the earthly kingship at its apex. This was thought to be parallel to a cosmic state of affairs with its own gradations in which the major deity headed a pantheon of lesser deities. The ultimate kingship of the protecting deity was thought to be expressed through, and paralleled by, the empirical kingship exercised by the ruler of the city-state on earth. This concept was given concrete expression in the relationship that existed between the temple of the city-state and the palace of the king of the city-state. The temple was the earthly residence of the deity, and the palace was the residence of the earthly representative of the deity, that is, the king." [Note: Thompson, p. 144.]

"Often we may have to accept that the work which we would dearly like to perform in terms of Christian service is not that for which we are best equipped, and not that to which God has in fact called us. It may be, like David’s, a preparatory work, leading to something more obviously grand. Recognition and acceptance of our true measure is the first and necessary step towards seeing the significance of what, in God’s purposes, we really can achieve and have achieved." [Note: McConville, pp. 55-56.]

God’s plan was that David’s son would build Him a house, and He revealed this to David (1 Chronicles 17:11-15). However, these words look beyond Solomon to One who would not fail to fulfill all God’s purposes as David’s descendant.

"This verse [13] along with Psalms 2:7; Psalms 2:12, is one of the major OT revelations on the deity of the Messiah. It foretells Jesus’ being uniquely God’s son (Hebrews 1:5; cf. Acts 13:33; Hebrews 5:5), for it is not really applicable to Solomon (cf. comment on 1 Chronicles 22:10) or to any other of David’s more immediate successors . . ." [Note: Payne, "1, 2 Chronicles," p. 396. Cf. 1 Chronicles 17:14.]

In 2 Samuel 7, the warnings of discipline if David’s descendants failed God focused attention on Solomon and the kings that followed him through Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. In 1 Chronicles 17 those warnings are absent. This fact probably indicates that the Chronicler was looking beyond the kings of Judah who had failed and died to the King who was yet to come. This king would carry out God’s will perfectly (cf. Isaiah 9:6; John 4:34). This would have given the restoration community renewed hope. [Note: For an examination of the Chronicler’s renditions of prophetic utterances, see Simon J. De Vries, "The Forms of Prophetic Address in Chronicles," Hebrew Annual Review 10 (1986):15-35.]

"Though there can be little argument that the covenant with David was unconditional both in its granting and in its perpetuity, the benefits of that covenant to David and to the nation depended on their obedience to the terms of the Mosaic Covenant within which the monarchy functioned. In this respect and only in this respect was the Davidic Covenant conditional." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 171.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

See Gill "1Ch 17:1".

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains.   2 Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.   3 And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,   4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in:   5 For I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.   6 Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me a house of cedars?   7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:   8 And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.   9 Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,   10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee a house.   11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.   12 He shall build me a house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.   13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:   14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.   15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

      Let us observe here,

      I. How desirous and solicitous good people should be to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world, to the utmost of their capacity. David could not be easy in a house of cedar while the ark was lodged within curtains, 1 Chronicles 17:1; 1 Chronicles 17:1. The concerns of the public should always be near our hearts. What pleasure can we take in our own prosperity if we see not the good of Jerusalem? When David is advanced to wealth and power see what his cares and projects are. Not, "What shall I do for my children to get portions for them? What shall I do to fill my coffers and enlarge my dominions?" But, "What shall I do for God, to serve and honour him?" Those that are contriving where to bestow their fruits and their good would do well to enquire what condition the ark is in, and whether some may not be well bestowed upon it.

      II. How ready God's prophets should be to encourage every good purpose. Nathan was no sooner aware of David's good design than he bade him go and do all that was within his heart (1 Chronicles 17:2; 1 Chronicles 17:2), for he had no reason to doubt but that God was with him in it. Ministers should stir up the gifts and graces that are in others as well as in themselves.

      III. How little God affects external pomp and splendour in his service. His ark was content with a tabernacle (1 Chronicles 17:5; 1 Chronicles 17:5) and he never so much as mentioned the building of a house for it; no, not when he had fixed his people in great and goodly cities which they builded not, Deuteronomy 6:10. He commanded the judges to feed his people, but never bade them build him a house,1 Chronicles 17:6; 1 Chronicles 17:6. We may well be content awhile with mean accommodations; God's ark was so.

      IV. How graciously God accepts his people's good purposes, yea, though he himself prevents the performance of them. David must not build this house,1 Chronicles 17:4; 1 Chronicles 17:4. He must prepare for it, but not do it; as Moses must bring Israel within sight of Canaan, but must them leave it to Joshua to put them in possession of it. It is the prerogative of Christ to be both the author and finisher of his work. Yet David must not think that, because he was not permitted to build the temple, 1. His preferment was in vain; no, "I took thee from the sheep-cote, though not to be a builder of the temple, yet to be ruler over my people Israel; that is honour enough for thee; leave the other to one that shall come after thee," 1 Chronicles 17:7; 1 Chronicles 17:7. Why should one man think to engross all the business and to bring every good work to perfection? Let something be left for those that succeed. God had given him victories, and made him a name (1 Chronicles 17:8; 1 Chronicles 17:8), and, further, intended by him to establish his people Israel and secure them against their enemies, 1 Chronicles 17:9; 1 Chronicles 17:9. That must be his work, who is a man of war and fit for it, and he must let the building of churches be left to one that was never cut out for a soldier. Nor, 2. Must he think that his good purpose was in vain, and that he should lose the reward of it; no, it being God's act to prevent the execution of it, he shall be as fully recompensed as if he had done it; "The Lord will build thee a house, and annex the crown of Israel to it," 1 Chronicles 17:10; 1 Chronicles 17:10. If there be a willing mind, it shall not only be accepted, but thus rewarded. Nor, 3. Must he think that because he might not do this good work therefore it would never be done, and that it was in vain to think of it; no, I will raise up thy seed, and he shall build me a house,1 Chronicles 17:11; 1 Chronicles 17:12. God's temple shall be built in the time appointed, though we may not have the honour of helping to build it or the satisfaction of seeing it built. Nor, 4. Must he confine his thoughts to the temporal prosperity of his family, but must entertain himself with the prospect of the kingdom of the Messiah, who should descend from his loins, and whose throne should be established for evermore,1 Chronicles 17:14; 1 Chronicles 17:14. Solomon was not himself so settled in God's house as he should have been, nor was his family settled in the kingdom: "But there shall one descend from thee whom I will settle in my house and in my kingdom," which intimates that he should be both a high priest over the house of God and should have the sole administration of the affairs of God's kingdom among men, all power both in heaven and in earth, in the house and in the kingdom, in the church and in the world. He shall be a priest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both, and he shall build the temple of the Lord,Zechariah 6:12; Zechariah 6:13.