2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is housed inside the curtains of a tent.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent men to David, with cedar-trees and woodworkers and stoneworkers: and they made David a house.
And the Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him and said, There were two men in the same town: one a man of great wealth, and the other a poor man.
And you are to make a House for me, with ten curtains of the best linen, blue and purple and red, worked with designs of winged ones by a good workman. Every curtain is to be twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure. Five curtains are to be joined together, and the other five are to be joined together. And you are to put twists of blue cord on the edge of the outside curtain of the first group of five, and on the edge of the outside curtain of the second group of five; Fifty twists on one curtain and fifty on the other, the twists to be opposite one another. Then make fifty gold hooks, joining the curtains together by the hooks, and in this way the House will be made. And you are to make curtains of goats' hair for a tent over the House, eleven curtains. Every curtain is to be thirty cubits long and four cubits wide, all of the same measure. Five of these curtains are to be joined together, and the other six are to be joined together, the sixth being folded over to make a hanging in front of the tent. And you are to put fifty twists of cord on the edge of the outside curtain of one group, and fifty twists on the edge of the outside curtain of the other group. Then make fifty brass hooks and put the hooks into the twists, joining the tent together to make it one. And the folded part which is over of the curtains of the tent, the half-curtain which is folded back, will be hanging down over the back of the House. And the cubit which is over of the ten curtains at the sides will be hanging over the two sides of the House as a cover. And then you are to make a cover for the tent, of sheepskins coloured red, and a cover of leather over that.
Then they took in the ark of God and put it inside the tent which David had put up for it; and they made offerings, burned offerings and peace-offerings before God.
Now all the acts of David, first and last, are recorded in the words of Samuel the seer, and the words of Nathan the prophet, and the words of Gad the seer;
And it came to the minds of the disciples that the Writings say, I am on fire with passion for your house.
Who was pleasing to God; and he had a desire to make a holy tent for the God of Jacob.
And they took in the ark of the Lord, and put it in its place inside the tent which David had put up for it: and David made burned offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord.
So Nathan gave David an account of all these words and this vision.
But the ark of God had been moved by David from Kiriath-jearim to the place which he had made ready for it, for he had put up a tent for it at Jerusalem.
Till I have got a place for the Lord, a resting-place for the great God of Jacob.
A curse is on him who is building his house by wrongdoing, and his rooms by doing what is not right; who makes use of his neighbour without payment, and gives him nothing for his work; Who says, I will make a wide house for myself, and rooms of great size, and has windows cut out, and has it roofed with cedar and painted with bright red. Are you to be a king because you make more use of cedar than your father? did not your father take food and drink and do right, judging in righteousness, and then it was well for him?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 7
Commentary on 2 Samuel 7 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 7
Still the ark is David's care as well as his joy. In this chapter we have,
2Sa 7:1-3
Here is,
2Sa 7:4-17
We have here a full revelation of God's favour to David and the kind intentions of that favour, the notices and assurances of which God sent him by Nathan the prophet, whom he entrusted to deliver this long message to him. The design of it is to take him off from his purpose of building the temple and it was therefore sent,
2Sa 7:18-29
We have here the solemn address David made to God, in answer to the gracious message God had sent him. We are not told what he said to Nathan; no doubt he received him very kindly and respectfully as God's messenger. But his answer to God he took himself, and did not send by Nathan. When ministers deliver God's message to us, it is not to them, but to God, that our hearts must reply; he understands the language of the heart, and to him we may come boldly. David had no sooner received the message than, while the impressions of it were fresh, he retired to return an answer. Observe,