DAVID’S LONGING TO BUILD A HOUSE FOR THE LORD In acknowledgment of God’s goodness to him, David wanted to build Him a house considering it unfitting for himself to dwell in a house of cedar, while the Ark of the Covenant dwelt inside tent curtains. 1- David’s wish to build a house for the Lord 1-3 2- A son of David’s seed would build that house 4-17 3- David’s thanksgiving to God 18-29 1- David’s wish to build a house for the Lord: The author of this book was not committed to the chronological order of events with the intention to reveal David’s heart wish: to build a house for the Lord to replace the tabernacle. He mentioned this wish directly after he mentioned the episode of bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the city of David. What came here, was most probably realized after the war that was mentioned in the following chapter; and after: “The Lord has given him (David) rest from all his enemies all around” (2 Samuel 7: 1) There is no doubt that this thought was in the depths of David and he most probably yearned to build a house for the Lord before building his own house ranking God above all aspects of his life. Although this thought grew more intense, when he brought the ark of the covenant into his city, he did not talk about it to the prophet ‘Nathan,’ until he got rest from wars intending to build a house so huge, that required long years of peace; namely, with no distractions by wars. Nathan had been a special respectful prophet, faithful to God and to the king who, firmly and bravely, yet decently, rebuked the king when he committed adultery with the wife of ‘Uriah the Hittite’ (2 Samuel 11: 1-15). He, together with ‘Gad’ the seer, organized the service in the house of the Lord (2 Chronicles 29: 25). Nathan also helped ‘Bathsheba to give the throne to ‘Solomon’ (1 Kings 1) Nathan at first approved David’s request to build a house for the Lord, considering it to be a good and fitting request. Yet, when he sought the counsel of God, he was told to leave this to David’s son after him. 2- A son of David’s seed would build the house of the Lord: It seems that God talked to Nathan in a vision at night (2 Samuel 7: 4, 17). God rejected David’s request to build him a house, arguing that God had not dwelt in a house since the time that he brought the children of Israel up from Egypt, and had not demanded that from them; He is not a man to need a house (Isaiah 66: 1). God so confirmed, to keep his people from assuming that he realized all those victories, to make them build a great temple for Him; and also to keep them from getting preoccupied, later on, with the house of God as a great building. He wanted to confirm that they are themselves His living house; His wish is to dwell among them, and to proclaim His perpetual presence in them, through their holy life. That was expressed clearly in the New Testament, when the disciples asked the Lord Christ to behold the great buildings of the temple; to be told that “Not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 48 24: 1); He talked as well, of the temple, being the temple of His body, that the Jews would destroy on the cross and in three days, He would raise it up (John 2: 19); granting us the risen life through our unity with Him. St. Peter likewise told us about the living temple, built by living stones, which are the congregation of believers (1 Peter 2: 5). I have talked, in the book “The Church as the house of God,” of the connection between the Church building and the inner life in which I quoted some of the following words of the scholar Origen: [Let me, O Lord Jesus Christ, be worthy of participating in building Your house ...I wish I could provide gold for the mercy seat (Exodus 25: 17), for the ark of the covenant, for the lamp stand, or for the lamps! ... Let us build the tabernacle of the God of Jacob, our Lord Jesus Christ, and adorn it1]. [Let there be an altar for the soul in the middle of the heart; on which to offer the sacrifices of prayers and the burnt offerings of mercy; On it, let the oxen of pride be slain by the knife of meekness; and the rams of anger, with the goats of luxuries, be killed.... Let the soul know how to set, within the holy of holiness of its heart, a lamp stand, persistently giving light2]. What glorifies God are not the huge stone buildings, but the living souls , risen from the dead by the Lord Christ; that proclaim His presence and kingdom in them. That is why God made prominent, His dealings with David: How “He took him from the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be ruler over His people, over Israel” and how” He has been with him wherever he has gone; and has made him a great name” (2 Samuel 7: 8, 9).; As though, together with every spiritual conquest, and every inner success, the glorified house of God is proclaimed in us. Anyway, David’s heart request was not altogether denied; but the Lord promised to realize it through a son of his seed giving a reason for that which was “he has shed much blood and has made great wars;” So it was fitting for the house of God to be built in the days of Solomon, “For I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days” (1 Chronicles 22: 8, 9). The house of God would be built by Solomon, a symbol of the Lord Christ, the Son of David according to the flesh, Who set the Church of the New Testament, a spiritual house, and dwelt in it by the Holy Spirit. St. Augustine says: [Who thinks that that great promise (2 Samuel 7: 12-16), was realized in Solomon, makes a great mistake; as he listens to the words “He shall build a house for My name” ; but he does not listen to the words: “He shall be My Son, and I will be His Father; and I will establish the throne of His kingdom over Israel forever” (2 Samuel 7: 10). Let him hearken and meditate in Solomon’s house, full of foreign women, who worshipped foreign gods; and the king himself, who had once been wise, then was deceived by his women, and had even fallen to worship their idols. Let nobody dare to assume that God promised that in vain; or that He had no prior knowledge of what would be of Solomon and his house. Therefore, it is fitting for us not to doubt, that these things were actually realized in our Lord Jesus Christ, who came of David’s seed according to the flesh (Romans 1: 3); so that our view here, would not be as vain as that of the carnal Jews, who, although they 1On Exod. hom. 13. 2 Ibid hom. 9. 49 realize that the son mentioned here, and the one promised to David, is not Solomon; but nevertheless, through their strange blindness (to Christ, the promised and proclaimed), they claim that they are waiting for somebody else. In Solomon, a portrait of what to happen later on, indeed appeared; He built the temple, and had peace like his name (Solomon means ‘at peace’); and in his first days, he was amazingly worthy of commending; and although he seemed a shadow of our Lord Jesus Christ, he was not that in his person1]. In God’s promise given to David, that his son is to build His house, we notice the following points: a- “I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever” (2 Samuel 7: 13): Although Solomon reigned 40 years; and his descendants reigned up till the end of the kingdom, the Lord Christ is the One with no end to His kingdom (Psalm 89: 27, 36, 37). “The tabernacle of David has fallen down” (Amos 9: 11); But the kingdom of Christ will never do. In Psalm 72 : 8, it came that Solomon “shall have dominion from sea to sea; and from the River to the end of the earth.” Solomon here, is a symbol of the Lord Christ who reigns from the River; namely, through the Jordan-the water of Baptism; where He sets His kingdom in the hearts of those baptized, as members of His body, submitting to the Head. b- “I will set up your seed after you ...” (2 Samuel 7: 12): St. Augustine believes, as Solomon reigned during the life of his father David, before his death that this promise, in its essence, applies to someone else: to Christ who built the spiritual temple (1 Corinthians 3: 17). Father Lactanius says: [Solomon received the kingdom from his father himself while the prophets, as they spoke of him who would build the house, said that he would be born after David’s death. Solomon’s reign was not forever, having reigned only 40 years. Solomon was never called ‘the son of God,’ but ‘the son of David’; and the house he built was not established forever, not like the Church, which is the true temple of God; that was not built of stones but of hearts (1 Peter 2: 5), through the faith of those who believed in Him, who were called believers. As to the temple of Solomon, it was built by hand, and destroyed by hand. Finally, his father David prophesied in psalm 127, about the work of his son (according to the flesh): “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” 2] . c- The temple of God, is not the temple of Solomon, that was destroyed by Nebuchednezer, but it is the body of Christ (John 19-21), who has dwelt among us, and ascended to heaven to set us eternally in Him; By Him we have become fellows in the divine nature (Revelation 21: 3). d- “I will be his Father, and he shall be my son” (2 Samuel 7: 14). Solomon became like a son, and later on he needed to be chastened; But the Lord Christ, is the eternal Son, in Whom we were granted the sonhood; and through whom, the divine mercy will not be denied to us. Yet “if we commit iniquity, He will chasten us with the rods of men, and with the blows of the sons of men” (2 Samuel 7: 14). 1 City of God 17:8. 2 Lactantius: The Divine Institutes 4:13. 50 St. Augustine says: [As to Christ Himself, the Head of the Church, In Him there would never be any iniquity, that may need divine chastening, nor by the rods of men (2 Samuel 7: 14). ... But iniquities might be in the members of His body; namely in His people as said in psalm 89: “If his sons forsake My law ...” (Psalm 89: 30)1]. We end our talk about the divine promise to David, concerning the building of His house by his son’s hand, by the following remarks: a- In His talk, God says: “Have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commended to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?” (2 Samuel 7: 7). It is as though, building a house for the Lord, that would give Him pleasure, is to care for His people, to walk with them, and to protect them, like a shepherd cares for his flock. b- To spare David the assumption that not building the Lord’s house would reduce his status in the eye of the Lord, God said to the prophet Nathan: “Thus shall you say to My servant David” (2 Samuel 7: 8). God refers Himself to David personally; a sign of endearment. c- Not building the house until the days of Solomon, does not imply a rejection by God of His people; as He cares for them, and has even appointed a place for them: “I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more” (2 Samuel 7: 10). So would be the steadfast house of the Lord: The holiness of life of His believers. 3- David’s thanksgiving to the Lord: David most probably sat on the ground, and bowed his head before the Lord, to thank Him for the promise He gave him, saying: “Who I am, O Lord God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?” (2 Samuel 7: 18). He realized that it was not due to his personal worthiness, nor the dignity of his father’s house, that he was granted that divine promise; but it was an abundant divine grace, that brought him up to the royal throne, to be in the presence of the Lord, to enjoy His dwelling with him, and the abundance of His grace on him. How much we need to sit in inner tranquility before the Lord, to hear His joyful promises, and to talk to Him realizing the greatness of His free gift, having set us up from corruption, to make of us kings and priests, and count us as His sons, to enjoy the fellowship of His glories. “Now what can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant” (2 Samuel 7: 20). David thought himself unworthy to talk to God, who thoroughly knew his weaknesses, sins, and humiliation; as well as his love, zeal, strife and endurance.... Nothing is hidden from Him. “For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all those great things, to make Your servant know them” (2 Samuel 7: 21). The exalted gifts You gave, were not for the sake of self righteousness in man, but for the sake of Your divine promise, and Your word, that abide forever. According to Your everlasting love, You are giving Your servant those great promises. Because of His promises to His people, God granted David numerous gifts. He set for Himself a people to redeem, as their own God, who is glorified in them. For the sake 1 City of God: 17:9. 51 of the holy Church, that carries the name of Christ, He grants His exalted sacraments to His believers. David ends his prayer by asking God’s blessing: “Now therefore, let it please you to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; For You, O Lord God, have spoken it, and with Your blessing, let the house of Your servant be blessed forever”(2 Samuel 7: 29). That is the blessing for man to be forever before the Lord.
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