2 Samuel 7:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!

NIV: "What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord.

NASB: Again what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, Lord God!

CSB: What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord God.

NLT: 'What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord.

KJV: And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.

NKJV: Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant.

David is sitting before the Lord, likely meaning that he's in the tent that holds the ark of God. He has come to offer a prayer of response to God's great promises given to him through the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7:4–17). David is amazed that God would promise to go beyond what He has already done for David and establish David's house for generations to come, although he is an imperfect mortal person (2 Samuel 7:18–19).

Now, though, David admits that God knows everything about him. David understands that God hasn't made this covenant because God was fooled into thinking David is better than he really is. God knows his servant David inside and out, good and bad, strength and weakness. Yet He will still carry out this plan to establish David's throne forever. David recognizes this as grace.

In God's grace, He also lets David know his plan. David calls himself the Lord's servant, and he is. But Jesus told the disciples, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).

David doesn't have the words to express how he feels. Fortunately, he knows that God can see the gratitude in his heart.

Second Samuel 7:18–22 relates David's thanks for God's promises. God chose David to be king when he was just a shepherd boy. God gave him the crown, a family, and peace. But God will bless him even more: with a great legacy and an eternal kingdom that will find its fulfillment in Jesus (2 Samuel 7:8–17). David pours out his gratefulness for God's grace. He also thanks God for choosing Israel to be His people, and asks that God will, indeed, fulfill His promises (2 Samuel 7:23–29). First Chronicles 17:16–20 mirrors this part of David's prayer.

In 2 Samuel 7, David wants to build a temple for the ark of the covenant. He's convicted that he has a big house, so the ark doesn't belong in a tent (2 Samuel 5:11–12; 6:17). God declines David's request. Rather, God will build David a "house": a dynasty. David's son will be king—and that sone will build the temple. David's throne will be established forever. David responds with a humble prayer of gratitude and praise, asking God to do all He has promised for David and for Israel. God will, through Jesus (Revelation 22:16). First Chronicles 17 records the same events.

In 2 Samuel 7, David learns he can't out-give God. God has made him king and given him a mansion and a family (2 Samuel 5:3, 11–15). He's allowed David to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1–15). Now, David wants to build the ark a proper temple. Instead, God says David's son will build the temple, and God will build David a lasting dynasty. Solomon does build the temple (1 Kings 5), and Jesus will fulfill David's dynasty (Luke 1:32).

Second Samuel continues the story of David, who will become king over Judah. The other tribes of Israel are resistant, eventually sparking a civil war. David wins and makes Jerusalem his capital. Early success is followed by moral failure and controversy in David's house. The book of 1 Kings will begin by detailing David's decline and death.