Sat before the Lord - In the tent where the ark was. Standing or kneeling was the usual attitude of prayer (1Ki 8:22, 1 Kings 8:54-55; but compare Exodus 17:12). Modern commentators mostly take the word here in the sense of waiting, abiding, not sitting: but sat is the natural rendering. David sat down to meditate, and then rose up to pray. read more
Is this the manner of man - Compare 1 Chronicles 17:17. Our passage may be thus understood: But this is the law (or prerogative) of a great man to found dynasties which are to last into the far future. David expresses his astonishment that he, of such humble birth, and one so little in his own eyes, should not only be raised to the throne, but be assured of the perpetuity of the succession in his descendants, as if he were a man of high degree. read more
2 Samuel 7:18. Then went King David in Into the tabernacle. And sat before the Lord That is, before the ark, the symbol of the divine presence, and where God was then peculiarly present, and was believed by David to be so. David probably sat for a season, while he meditated on these things, and then altered his posture and betook himself to prayer. It must be observed, however, that the Hebrew word, ישׁב , jashab, here rendered sat, may with equal propriety be translated, remained ... read more
2 Samuel 7:19. This Which thou hast already done for me, that thou hast brought me hitherto to this pitch of honour, and peace, and prosperity in which, through thy favour, I now stand. Was small Though it was more than I deserved, or could expect, yet thou didst not think it enough for thee to give to me. A great while For many future ages, and indeed to all eternity. Is this, &c. Do men use to deal so kindly with their inferiors as thou hast done with me? No; this is the... read more
God’s promise and David’s prayer (7:1-29)When David expressed his desire to build God a permanent symbolic dwelling place, God reminded him through the prophet Nathan that Israel’s God, Yahweh, was not limited to one land or one place. For that reason his symbolic dwelling place had been a tent, something that was movable and could be set up in any place at all (7:1-7).Nevertheless, because the people of Israel were not spiritually in a condition where the ideal for them could work, God would... read more
Then . It is grace that really humbles. sat before the LORD . Very different from sitting before one's self, as in 2 Samuel 7:1 . Who am I . . . ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 . Compare 2 Samuel 7:1 . When David sat in his own house he sat before him-self. See Structure, p. 416, "Q" and "Q". O Lord GOD = O Adonai Jehovah . Adonai because (1) David is the servant and He the master; (2) because this title has to do with lordship in the earth. App-4 . Compare verses: 2 Samuel 7:7 , 2... read more
manner = Torah or Law. man. Hebrew. ha-adam = the man. "And is this the law of the man? "i.e. the Man of Psalms 8:5 , Psalms 8:6 , who is to have dominion over all the earth, embracing all the world in the scope of this blessing in connection with the Messiah. This is an exclamation of greatest surprise and wonder of this revelation concerning David's son and David's Lord. read more
DAVID'S PRAYER OF GRATITUDE TO GOD"Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in thy eyes, O Lord God; thou hast spoken also of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast shown me future generations, O Lord God. And what more can David say to thee? For thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God! Because of thy promise, and according to thine own heart, thou hast... read more
2 Samuel 7:18. And sat before the Lord— Dr. Pococke, in his first volume, p. 213, has given us the figure of a person half sitting, and half kneeling; that is, kneeling so far as to rest the most muscular part of his body on his heels: which, he observes, is the manner in which inferior persons sit at this day before great men, and that it is considered as a very humble posture. Agreeably to which he informs us, in his second volume, p. 102, that the attendants of the English consul, when he... read more
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The Pulpit Commentary - 2 Samuel 7:19
And is this the manner of man, O Lord God? Hebrew, and this is the law of man, O Lord Jehovah. In the parallel passage ( 1 Chronicles 17:17 ) the Hebrew has, "And thou hast regarded me according to the law of a man of high degree." The rendering of the Authorized Version here, which, by making the clause interrogative, implies a negative, gives absolutely no sense; but some commentators render, "And this is the manner of men, O Lord Jehovah," understanding thereby that God was acting... read more