- 119-
CHAPTER 17 : David's purpose of building the Temple, and its
Postponement -The " Sure Mercies" of David in the Divine Promise -
David's Thanksgiving. (2 SAMUEL 7; 1 CHRONICLES 17)
THOSE who, with devout attention, have followed the course of this history, and
marked in it that of the kingdom of God in its gradual unfolding, will feel that a
point had now been reached when some manifestation of the Divine purpose, fuller
and clearer than ever before, might be expected. As we look back upon it, not only
the whole history, but every event in it, has been deeply significant, and fraught with
symbolical and typical meaning. Thus we have marked how as each event, so to
speak, kindled a light, which was reflected from the polished mirror of the Psalter, it
seemed to throw its brightness far beyond its own time into that future on which the
day had not yet risen. But even to the men of that generation what had taken place
must have carried a meaning far beyond the present. The foundation of a firm
kingdom in Israel, its concentration in the house of David, and the establishment of a
central worship in the capital of the land as the place which God had chosen, must
have taken them back to those ancient promises which were now narrowing into
special fulfillment, and have brought into greater prominence the points in these
predictions which, though still towering aloft, sprung out of what was already
reached, and formed part of it. A never-ending kingdom, a never-passing king; a
sanctuary never to be abolished: such were the hopes still before them in the world-
wide application of the promises of which they already witnessed the national and
typical fulfillment. These hopes differed, not in character, but only in extent and
application, from what they already enjoyed. To use our former illustration, they
were not other heights than those on which they stood, but only peaks yet
unclimbed. These considerations will help us properly to understand the narrative of
David's purpose to build a temple, and the Divine communication consequent upon
it. For clearness' sake we first sketch the facts as stated in sacred history, and then
indicate their deeper meaning.
To complete the history of the religious movement of that period, the sacred writers
insert in this place the account of David's purpose to build a temple. The
introduction to the narrative (2 Samuel 7:1), and the circumstance that at the time
most if not all the wars mentioned in 2 Samuel 8 and 10 were past, sufficiently
indicate that in this, as in other instances, the history is not arranged according to
strict chronological succession. Still it must have taken place when David's power
was at its zenith, and before his sin with Bath-sheba. The king had been successful in
all his undertakings. Victorious and world-famed, he inhabited his splendid palace
on Mount Zion. The contrast between his own dwelling and that in which His ark
abode^283 to Whom he owed all, and Who was Israel's real King, was painfully great.
(^)