Ver. 21. "_For Thy word"s sake, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things to make Thy servant know them._"
In 1 Chron. xvii. 19, the words run thus: "Lord, on account of Thy _servant_, and according to Thine own heart, hast Thou done all these great things, to make known all the glorious things." Hence, by the "word," a promise given to David can alone be intended,--a word formerly spoken to David, which contained the germ of the present one.
There is, no doubt, a special allusion to the word in 1 Sam. xvi. 12: "And the Lord said. Arise and anoint him, for this is he." (Compare 2 Sam. xii. 7; Ps. lx.x.xix. 21; Acts xiii. 22.) _According to Thine heart_: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and [Pg 146]
plenteous in mercy," Ps. ciii. 8. _All these great things_,--_i.e._ the promise of the eternal dominion of his house. ????????? and ?????????--words in which David takes special delight--never mean "greatness," but always "great things." (Compare remarks on Ps. lxxi. 21, cxlv. 3.) The words, "To make know," etc., indicate that the _making_ refers, in the meantime, only to the divine decree.
Ver. 22. "_Wherefore Thou art great, Lord G.o.d: for there is none like Thee, neither is there any G.o.d besides Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears._"
_Wherefore_--in the first instance, on account of the great things which Thou hast done unto me. _According to all_, etc., _i.e._, as this is confirmed by all, etc. Of this David has been reminded anew by his personal experience. Just as he does here, David, in Ps. xl. 6, rises from his personal experience to the whole series of G.o.d"s glorious manifestations in the history of His people. As to the words, "There is none like Thee, neither is there any G.o.d besides Thee," compare the fundamental pa.s.sages Exod. xv. 11; Deut. iii. 24, iv. 35.
Ver. 23. "_And where is there a nation on earth like Thy people Israel, for whose sake G.o.d went to redeem them for a people to Himself, and make Him a name, and to do for you great things, and terrible things for Thy land, putting away from before Thy people, whom Thou redeemedst to Thee out of Egypt, heathen and their G.o.ds?_"
We must here compare the fundamental pa.s.sages, Deut. iv. 7, 34, x.x.xiii.
29, in which that which Israel has received from his G.o.d is praised, as being without precedent and parallel. In ??? and ????? the address is, with poetical liveliness, directed to Israel. _For you great things_--instead of, To do for them great things, as the Lord has done for you. The phrase ???? ??? means, literally, only, "away from before Thy people;" "putting" must be supplied from the preceding ?????, and from a comparison of the fundamental pa.s.sages, Exod. xxiii. 28, 29, x.x.xiv. 11; Deut. x.x.xiii. 27, to which the concise expression refers.
The text in Chronicles, which expressly adds what we have here to supply, ???? ????, "to drive out before," is, in this case also, merely a parallel pa.s.sage which, by the addition of a word, serves as a commentary.
Ver. 24. "_And Thou hast confirmed to Thyself Thy people_ [Pg 147]
_Israel to be a people for ever, and Thou, Lord, art become their G.o.d._"
Ver. 25. "_And now, Jehovah G.o.d, the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as Thou hast said._"
Praise and thanks for the promise are followed by the prayer for its fulfilment.
Ver. 26. "_And let Thy name be magnified for ever, so that it may be said, Jehovah Zebaoth_ (is) _G.o.d over Israel. And the house of Thy servant shall be firm before Thee._"
_Let Thy name be magnified_, instead of, Give cause for its being glorified; compare Ps. x.x.xv. 27, xl. 17.--_Is G.o.d over Israel_, _i.e._, proves Himself to be such, by protecting the house of the king, on whom the salvation of Israel depends. In Chronicles it is thus expressed: "Jehovah Zebaoth, the G.o.d of Israel, is G.o.d for Israel," _i.e._. He fulfils to Israel what He promised (Jarchi). The prayer for the establishment of David"s house is expressed in the form of confidence, in the conviction based upon the word of G.o.d, that such is according to the will of G.o.d.
Ver. 27. "_For Thou, Jehovah Zebaoth, G.o.d of Israel, hast opened the ear of Thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house. Therefore Thy servant found_ (in) _his heart to pray this prayer unto Thee._"
(Otherwise, his heart would have failed him; he would have had neither the desire nor the courage.) Ver. 28. "_And now, Lord Jehovah, Thou art G.o.d, and Thy words are truth, and Thou hast promised unto Thy servant these good things._ Ver. 29. _And now let it please Thee to bless the house of Thy servant, that it may continue for ever before Thee; for Thou, Lord Jehovah, hast spoken, and, by Thy blessing, the house of Thy servant shall be blessed for ever._"
To whom does this promise refer, which David received through Nathan?
Some Rabbins, and _Grotius_, would fain restrict it to Solomon and his more immediate posterity. This opinion, however, is refuted by the single circ.u.mstance, that they are compelled to a.s.sume merely a long duration of time, instead of the eternity which is here promised to the house of David. And that such cannot be the meaning of the words "for ever," is abundantly confirmed by a comparison with [Pg 148] Ps.
lx.x.xix. 30, "And I place his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." In these words of the Psalm there is a reference to Deut.
xi. 21, where the _people_ of the Lord are promised a duration "as the days of heaven and of earth." An absolute perpetuity is everywhere ascribed to the people of G.o.d. If, then, the house of David is placed on the same level as they, its perpetuity must likewise be absolute.
_Further_,--with such a view, it is impossible to comprehend what David here says in his prayer, regarding the greatness of the promise, and also what he says in Ps. cx.x.xviii. 2: "For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name." The giving of the promise is there placed on a loftier elevation than all the former deeds of the Lord.
Others--as _Calovius_--would refer the promise to Christ alone. But vers. 14, 15 are decisive against this view; for, according to them, G.o.d will not, by a total rejection, punish the posterity of David, if they commit sin,--from which the reference is evident to a posterity merely human, and hence sinful. According to ver. 13, David"s posterity is to build a temple to the Lord,--a declaration which, with reference to David"s plan of building a temple to the Lord, can, in the first instance, be understood in no other way than as relating to the earthly temple to be built by Solomon. To this consideration it may be added, that, in 1 Chron. xxii. 9 seqq., David himself refers this announcement primarily to Solomon, and that Solomon, in 1 Kings v. 5 seqq., and in 2 Chron. vi. 7 seqq., refers it to himself.
Nor is there entire soundness in the view of those who, following _Augustine_ (_de Civitate Dei_ xvii. 8, 9), a.s.sume the existence of a double reference,--to Solomon and his earthly successors on the one hand, and to Christ on the other. Thus _Brentius_: "Solomon is not altogether excluded, but Christ is chiefly intended." It is true that these interpreters are substantially right in their view; but they err as to the manner in which they give expression to it. The promise has not a reference to two subjects simultaneously.[6] It views David"s house as an _ideal_ unity.
[Pg 149]
The promise is given to the house of David, vers. 11, 16, 19, 25, 26, 27, 29; to his seed, ver. 12. It is to the house of David that the absolute perpetuity of existence, the unchangeable possession of the grace of G.o.d--a relation to G.o.d similar to that of a son to his father--and the inseparable connection of their dominion with the kingdom of G.o.d in Israel, are guaranteed.
Footnote 1: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "He thought that this duty was imposed upon him by the Word of G.o.d. For, as the state enjoyed peace, the royal palace was finished, and his family established, there seemed to be nothing wanting but to build a temple to the Lord."
Footnote 2: In 1 Kings viii. 16, Solomon thus reports what, in 2 Sam.
vii., had been spoken to David, in reference to the house of the Lord: "Since the day that I brought up My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house that My name might be in it; and I chose David to be over My people Israel." The comment on this pa.s.sage is given by the parallel one, 2 Chron. vi. 5, 6: "I did not choose any man to be a ruler over My people Israel. And I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel." Since David resided in Jerusalem, the election of David, announced in 2 Sam. vii., implies also the choice of Jerusalem as the place of the sanctuary. Hence, we must add to 1 Kings viii. 16, the supplement: "And in connection with this choice, David (the Davidic dynasty) is to build Me an house at the place of his residence." The Vulgate translates very correctly: _Sed elegi._ Solomon then continues, _Ver._ 17: "And it was in the heart of David my father (namely, before he received this divine revelation) to build an house for the name of the Lord, the G.o.d of Israel. _Ver._ 18.
And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto My name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart. _Ver._ 19. And thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto My name."
Footnote 3: _Seb. Schmid_ says: "He rightly considers the tribes and the judges as one. For the tribes are viewed in the judges who had sprung from them, and _vice versa_, the judge, in his paternal tribe.
And that the matter is thus to be understood, is clear, because, in Chronicles, where the judge is spoken of, he is introduced in the plural: "Why have _ye_ not built Me an house," etc.? viz., thou, judge, with thy tribe."
Footnote 4: That ???, properly "habitation," "abode," is used here, as frequently, of the sheep-cote, is shown by Ps. lx.x.xviii. 70, which is based upon our pa.s.sage.
Footnote 5: Michaelis says: "Just as in the preceding verses also, the house of David did not mean a heap of stones and wood brought together, but a congregation of people."
Footnote 6: This mistake was corrected by _Seb. Schmid_. He says: "The promises here given to David have, of course, a reference to Solomon; but not such as if they were to be fulfilled only in the person of Solomon, and not also in his posterity, and, most of all, in the Messiah to be descended from David and Solomon."
There is no direct mention of the person of the Messiah; and yet the words, when considered in their full import, point, indirectly, to Him.
The absolute perpetuity of the race can be conceived of, only when at last it centres in some superhuman person. But still more decisive is the connection in which this promise stands to Gen. xlix. The dominion which is there promised to Judah is here transferred to David. It is then to David"s race that the exalted individual must belong, in whom, according to Gen. xlix. 10, Judah"s dominion is to centre at some future period. That David really connected the promise which he received with Gen. xlix. 10, is shown by 1 Chron. xxviii. 4 (compare p.
91), and also by the name, Solomon, which he gave to his son; compare ibid. That Solomon also founded his hopes regarding the future upon a combination of Gen. xlix. and 2 Sam. vii., is shown by Ps. lxxii., which was composed by him; compare pp. 91, 92.
But, as respects this combination, David was not left to himself.
He received further light from the source from which the promise had come to him. Although his mission was not properly a prophetic one,--although, in the main, it belonged to him to describe poetically what had come to him through prophetic inspiration, yet prophetic inspiration and sacred lyric are frequently commingled in him. The man who is "the sweet psalmist of Israel" claims a ??? in 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, and, in ver. 2, says that the Spirit of G.o.d spake by him, and His word was upon his tongue. In Acts ii. 30, 31, Peter declares that, by the divine promise, David received, first the impulse, and afterwards further illumination, by the prophetic spirit dwelling in him. The latter declaration, moreover, rests on the testimony of the Lord Himself, in Matt. xxii. 43, where He says that in Ps. cx., David had spoken ?? p?e?at?, _i.e._, seized with the Holy Spirit.
It is true that, in a series of Psalms, David is not any more [Pg 150]
explicit and definite than the fundamental prophecy, but speaks only of the grace which the Lord had conferred upon the Davidic race by the promise of a dominion which should outlast all earthly things. Thus it is in Ps. xviii., where, in the presence of the congregation, he offers those thanks which previously he had, as it were, privately expressed, for the glorious promise made to him;--in Ps. xi., where, in the name of the people, he expresses thankful joy for this same promise;--in Ps. lxi. and in the cycle of Psalms from Ps. cx.x.xviii. to cxlv.--the prophetic legacy of David--in which, at the beginning, in Ps.
cx.x.xviii., he praises the Lord for His promise of eternal mercy given to him, and then, with the torch of promise, lightens up the darkness of the sufferings that are to fall upon this house,--Psalms with which Ps. lx.x.xix. and cx.x.xix., which were composed at a later period, and by other writers, are closely connected.
But there are other Psalms (ii. and cx.) in which David, with a distinctness which can be accounted for only by divine revelation, beholds the Messiah in whose coming the promise in 2 Sam. vii. should find its final and complete fulfilment. Whilst David, in these Psalms, represents the Messiah as his ant.i.type, as the mighty conqueror, who will not rest until He shall have subjected the whole earth to His sway, Solomon, in Ps. lxxii., represents Him as the true Prince of Peace, and His dominion, as a just and peaceful rule. The circ.u.mstances of the time of Solomon form, in a similar way, the foundation for the description of the Messiah in Ps. xlv., which was written by the sons of Korah.
A personal Messianic element is contained in some of those Davidic Psalms also which refer to the _ideal_ person of the _righteous one_, whose image we at last find fully portrayed in the Book of Wisdom. In these the sufferings of the righteous one in a world of sin are described, as well as the glorious issue to which he attains by the help of the Lord. After his own experience, David could not have doubted that, notwithstanding the glorious promise of the Lord, severe sufferings were impending over his family, and over Him in whom that family was, at some future time, to centre. But his own experience likewise promised a glorious issue to these sufferings. The Psalms in which, besides the reference to the righteous one, and to the [Pg 151]
people, the allusion to the afflictions of the Davidic race, and to the suffering Messiah, most plainly appear, are the xxii., the cii., and the cix.
There cannot be any doubt that the Messianic promise made considerable progress in the time of David. It is, in itself, a circ.u.mstance of great importance that the eyes of the people were henceforth directed to a definite family; for, thereby, their hopes acquired greater consistency. _Further_,--The former prophecies were, all of them, much shorter, and more in the shape of hints; but, now, their hopes could become detailed descriptions, because a _substratum_ was given to them in the present. The Messiah had been foretold to David as a successor to his throne,--as a King. Hence it was, that, in the view of David himself and of the other psalmists, the earthly head of the Congregation of the Lord formed the _substratum_ for the future Saviour. The naked thought now clothed itself with flesh and blood. The hope gained thereby in clearness and distinctness, as well as in practical significance.
The slight hint of a higher nature of the Messiah, given in Gen. xlix.
8, forms the main ground for the advancing and more definite knowledge, which we find in the days of David and Solomon. Grand and lofty expectations could, henceforth, not fail to be connected with the promise in 2 Sam. vii. 14, "I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me," and with the prophecy of the absolute perpetuity of dominion, in the same pa.s.sage. In Ps. ii. 12, the Messiah appears as the Son of G.o.d ?at? ??????,--as He, in whom to trust is to be saved, and whose anger brings destruction. In Ps. cx. 1, He appears as the Lord of the Congregation and of David himself,--as sitting at the right hand of omnipotence, and as invested with a full partic.i.p.ation in the divine power over heaven and earth. In Ps. lxxi. eternity of dominion is ascribed to Him. In Ps. xlv. 7, 8, He is called G.o.d, Elohim.
Among the offices of Christ, it is especially the _Regal_ office on which a clear light has been shed. The Messiah appears prominently as He "who has dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth," Ps. lxxii. 8. In Ps. cx., however, the office of the Messiah as the eternal _High Priest_ is first revealed to the congregation. He appears as the person who atones for whatever sins cleave to His people, as their Intercessor [Pg 152] and Advocate with G.o.d, and as the Mediator of the closest communion with G.o.d. We have here the outlines, for the filling up of which Isaiah was, at a later period, called. The _Prophetic_ office of the Saviour does not distinctly appear in the Psalms. It was reserved for Isaiah to bring out into a clearer light the allusion given, on this subject, by Moses, after it had been taken up again, for the first time since Moses" day, by the prophet Joel.
It was quite natural that David, who himself was exercised and proved by the cross, should be the first to introduce to the knowledge of the Church a _suffering Messiah_. But the doctrine has with him still the character of a germ; he still mixes up the references to the Messiah with the allusions to His types. It was from these that David rose to Him; it was from their destiny that David, by the Holy Spirit, inferred what would befall Him. Nowhere, however, has David directly and exclusively to do with a suffering Messiah, as had, afterwards, the prophet Isaiah.
In all that respects the Psalms, we must content ourselves with merely a pa.s.sing glance, lest we encroach too much upon the territory which belongs to the Commentary on the Psalms. But "the last words of David,"
preserved to us in the Books of Samuel, we shall make the subject of a more minute consideration, inasmuch as they form a connecting link between the two cla.s.ses of Psalms which rest on the promise in 2 Sam. vii., viz., those referring to David"s house and family, and those relating to the personal Messiah. The "ruler among men" whom we meet in these "last words," is, in the first instance, an _ideal_ person,--viz., the Davidic race conceived of as a person; but the _ideal_ points to the _real_ person, in whom all that had been foretold of the Davidic family should, at some future period, find its full realization. It is with a view to this person, that the personification has been employed.
2 SAMUEL XXIII. 1-7.
The last words of David are comprehended in seven verses; and these, again, are subdivided into sections of five and two [Pg 153] verses respectively. First, there is a description of the fulness of blessings which the dominion of the just ruler shall carry along with it, and then of the destruction which shall overtake hostile wickedness.