One Chronicles Seventeen

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

1 Chronicles 17:1 Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains.

Nathan the prophet. This is the first reference to Nathan in 1 Chronicles. Note that this chapter is essentially identical to 2 Samuel 7. Evidently the Chronicler appropriated it from the earlier account for his own more exclusively Judaistic record. It is possible that both obtained it from the no-longer-extant “book of Nathan the prophet” (1 Chronicles 29:29).

1 Chronicles 17:2 Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee.

1 Chronicles 17:3 And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,

1 Chronicles 17:4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:

1 Chronicles 17:5 For I have not dwelt in an 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.

1 Chronicles 17:6 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 an house of cedars?

1 Chronicles 17:7 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:

1 Chronicles 17:8 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.

1 Chronicles 17:9 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,

1 Chronicles 17:10 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 an house.

build thee an house. David already had a fine house (1 Chronicles 17:1). God is speaking of a “house” in the sense of a dynasty. His “seed” would reign over his house forever (1 Chronicles 17:12; Luke 1:31-33).

1 Chronicles 17:11 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.

with thy fathers. David already knew that he would some day go to be with his dead son (2 Samuel 12:23). Now God also told him he would “go to be with thy fathers.” The souls of both patriarchs and deceased infants are safe in heaven.

1 Chronicles 17:12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.

build me an house. This portion of the great Davidic covenant was precursively fulfilled by Solomon. See notes on 2 Samuel 7:12-16.

for ever. The ultimate fulfillment of the covenant is only in Christ.

1 Chronicles 17:13 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:

1 Chronicles 17:14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.

1 Chronicles 17:15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.

1 Chronicles 17:16 And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?

1 Chronicles 17:17 And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.

1 Chronicles 17:18 What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant.

1 Chronicles 17:19 O LORD, for thy servant's sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things.

1 Chronicles 17:20 O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

none like thee. David believed and knew that there was only one true Creator God, and that “all the gods of the people are idols” (1 Chronicles 16:26), and also that God had chosen the nation Israel to be His own people in a special way (1 Chronicles 17:22).

1 Chronicles 17:21 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

1 Chronicles 17:22 For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God.

1 Chronicles 17:23 Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.

1 Chronicles 17:24 Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee.

1 Chronicles 17:25 For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee.

1 Chronicles 17:26 And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant:

1 Chronicles 17:27 Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.