44. His Exemplary Prayer (2 Samuel 7)
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
His Exemplary Prayer
2 Samuel 7
The latter part of 2 Samuel 7 contains the prayer made by David in the tabernacle, following the gracious revelation which he had received from the Lord through Nathan (verses 5-16). This prayer is among the “whatever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning” (Romans 15:4). it contains valuable instruction which we do well to take to heart. It makes known that which is a valuable preliminary aid unto stimulating the spirit of prayer. It shows us the attitude of soul which most becomes the creature when desirous of drawing near unto the great Creator. It reveals some of the elements which are found in those supplications that gain the ear of God and which “avails much.” If the Christian of today paid more attention unto the prayers of Scripture, both of the Old and New Testaments alike, and sought to pattern his invocations after theirs, there is little doubt they would be more acceptable and effectual.
We pointed out in our last that David’s sitting before the Lord denoted his earnest attention unto the message he had received from Him, his careful pondering of it, his devout surveying of the riches of Divine grace which were then spread before his mind’s eye. This preceded his prayer, and supplies a valuable hint for us to heed. Meditation upon the discoveries which God has made to us of His goodness, of His bounty, of the glorious things contained in His covenant, is a wondrous stimulant to the spirit of devotion and a suitable preparative for an approach unto the Mercy-seat. To review God’s past dealings with us, and to mix faith with His promises for the future, kindle the fires of gratitude and love. As we attend upon what God has spoken to us, when our consciences are pricked or our affections stirred, then is the best time to retire to our closets and pour out our hearts before Him.
Generally it is but an idle excuse—if not something worse—when the Christian complains that his heart is cold and the spirit of prayer is quite inactive within him. Where this be the case, it must be shamefacedly confessed to God, accompanied by the request that He may be pleased to heal our malady and bring us back again into communion with Himself. But better still, the cause of the complaint should be corrected: nine times out of ten it is because the Word has been neglected—if read at all, mechanically, without holy reflection and personal appropriation. The soul is likely to be in a sickly state if it be not regularly fed and nourished by the Bread of life. There is nothing like meditating upon Gods promises for warming the heart: “While I was musing the fire burned: then spoke I with my tongue” (Psalm 39:3).
We commented in our last upon the deep humility manifested by David on this occasion. This too is recorded for our learning. If we are becomingly to approach the Most High, there must be the taking of a lowly place before Him. This is the chief design of prayer, the prime reason why God has appointed this holy ordinance: for the humbling of the soul—to take our proper place in the dust, to kneel before the Lord as beggars, dependent upon His bounty; to stretch forth empty hands, that He may fill them. Alas that so often man, in his pride and perverseness, turns the footstool of mercy into the bench of presumption, and instead of supplicating becomes guilty of dictating unto the Almighty. Ah, my readers, take careful note that He who prayed, “Not as I will, but as You will,” was on His face before the Father (Matthew 26:39).
Now in seeking to ponder David’s pattern prayer—having duly noted above what preceded it, let us seek to profit from the various features found in it. First, observe that all is ascribed to free grace. “And what can David say more unto You? for You, Lord God, know Your servant. For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, have You done all these great things, to make Your servant know them” (verses 20, 21). David’s heart was deeply moved by a sense of God’s sovereign benignity; that such blessings should be bestowed upon him and his posterity was more than he could understand. He was lost in wonderment: words utterly failed him, as his “what can David say more unto You?” evidences. And is it not thus, at times, with every true believer? As he contemplates the abounding of God’s mercies, the richness of His gifts, the supernal future promised him, is he not moved to exclaim, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12).
Realizing his own nothingness and unworthiness (v. 18), viewing the future glories assured him (v. 19), knowing there was nothing in himself which merited any such blessings, David traces them to their true causes: “For Your Word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, have You done all these great things” (v. 21). It is the personal “Word” which he had in mind, Him of whom it is declared, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). It was an acknowledgment—”for Christ’s sake” You have so honored me! “And according to Your own heart” signifies, according to His gracious counsels, out of His own mere good pleasure. Yes, those, and those alone, are the springs of all God’s dealings with us: He blesses His people for the sake of His beloved Son, “according to the riches of His grace” and “according to His good pleasure which He has purposed in Himself” (Ephesians 1:7, 9).
Second, the greatness of God is apprehended and extolled. “Wherefore You are great, O Lord God: for there is none like You, neither is there any God beside You, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (v. 22). It is blessed to observe that David’s sense of God’s goodness in nowise abated his awesome veneration of the divine majesty. There is ever a danger at this point: we may be so occupied with God’s love as to forget His holiness, so appreciative of His tenderness as to ignore His omnipotency. It is most needful that we should hold the balance here, as everywhere else; hence did the Savior instruct us to say, “Our Father, who are in Heaven”—the latter words reminding us of the exalted dignity of the One who has deigned to adopt us into His family. Apprehensions of God’s amazing grace toward us must not crowd out the realization of His infinite exaltation above us.
God’s greatness should be duly acknowledged by us when we seek an audience with the Majesty on high: it is but ascribing to Him the glory which is His due. Prayer is reduced to a low level if it is to be confined unto the presenting of requests. The soul needs to be so absorbed with the divine perfections that the worshiper will exclaim, “Who is like unto You, O Lord, among the gods? who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). God’s supreme excellency is to be reverently and freely owned by us. It was owned by Solomon, “Lord God of Israel, there is no God like You, in Heaven above, or on earth beneath” (1 Kings 8:23). It was owned by Jehoshaphat, “O Lord God of our fathers, are not You God in Heaven? and rule not You over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in Your hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand You?” (2 Chronicles 20:6). It was by Jeremiah, “Forasmuch as there is none like unto You, O Lord; You are great, and Your name is great in might. Who would not fear You, O King of nations?” (Jeremiah 10:6, 7). What examples are these for us to take to heart. The more we heartily acknowledge God’s greatness, the more likely is He to answer our requests.
Third, The special goodness of God to His people is owned. “And what one nation in the earth is like Your people, like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to Himself, and to make Him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible?” (v. 23). As none of the “gods” of the heathen could be compared to Jehovah, so none among the people’s of the earth have been so highly favored and so richly blessed as His privileged “Nation” (Matthew 21:43, 1 Peter 2:9). O what praise is due unto God for His distinguishing mercy and discriminating grace unto His elect. “We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation” (2 Thessalonians 2:13). The special blessings of God call for special acknowledgment: the “redemption” which we have in and by Christ Jesus demands our loudest hosannas. There is far too little praise in our prayers today: its absence denotes a low state of spirituality—occupation with self, instead of with the Lord. It is written “whoever offers praise, glorifies Me” (Psalm 50:23).
Fourth, the Covenant of Grace is celebrated. “For You have confirmed to Yourself Your people Israel to be a people unto You forever; and You, Lord are become their God” (v. 24). In the light of the whole context, it is evident that the spiritual “Israel” is here in view, contemplated as being taken into covenant relationship with the triune Jehovah. For, whenever a people is said to be God’s people, and He avows Himself as their God, it is the covenant relationship which is in view. Thus it was in the promise to Abraham: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your seed after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto you, and to your seed after you” (Genesis 17:7). Thus it is under the new covenant, “I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people” (Hebrews 8:10). It greatly encourages and emboldens the praying soul to bear this in mind.
Fifth, a believing pleading of the promises. “And now, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant, and concerning his house, establish it forever, and do as You have said” (v.25). This is blessed, and most important for us to emulate. In these words the faith of David was expressed in two ways: in believing God’s word, in pleading its accomplishment. That should be the very heart of our petitionary prayers: laying hold of the divine promise, and pleading for its fulfillment. God is not only a Speaker, but a Doer as well: “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: has He said, and shall He not do it? or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” (Numbers 23: 19). Ah, but it is one thing to assent mentally to such a declaration, but it is quite another for the heart to be really influenced thereby, and for the praying soul to appropriate that fact.
True faith looks to a promising God, and expects Him to be a performing God too: “Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:4). The business of faith in prayer is to appropriate God’s Word to our own case and beg for it to be made good unto us. Jacob did this: “And You said, I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea” (Genesis 32: 10). David is another notable example: “Remember the word unto Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope” (Ps, 119:49)—”hope” in Scripture signifies far more than a vague and uncertain longing: it denotes a confident expectation. That confident expectation was his because his faith rested upon the sure promise of Jehovah, that promise of which he here reverently reminds God. Glance through this Psalm, dear reader, and observe how frequently David requested God to act “according to Your Word”—119:25, 28, 41, 58, etc.
“Do as You have said.” Faith has no other foundation to rest upon but the Word of God. One of God’s chief ends in giving us His Word was that His people might appropriate the same unto themselves (John 20:31, 1 John 5:13). Nothing honors Him more than for us to count upon His making it good to us (Romans 4:20). Now whatever may be our case, there is something in the Word exactly suited thereto, and it is our privilege to lay hold of the same and plead it before God. Are we groaning under sin’s defilement? then plead Isaiah 1:18. Are we bowed down with a sense of our backslidings? then plead Jeremiah 3:22. Do we feel so weak as to have no strength for the performance of duty? then plead Isaiah 40:29-31. Are we perplexed as to our path and in urgent need of divine guidance? then plead Proverbs 3:6 or James 1:5. Are you sorely harassed with temptation? then plead 1 Corinthians 10:13. Are you destitute and fearful of starving to death? then plead Philippians 4:19. Reverently urge that promise and plead “Do as You have said.”
Sixth, the supreme desire: that God might be glorified. “And let Your name be magnified forever, saying, The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of Your servant David be established before You. For You, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to Your servant, saying, I will build you an house: therefore have Your servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto You” (verses 26, 27). This must be the supreme desire and the chief end in all our praying: “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). The prayer which Christ has given for our pattern begins with “Hallowed be Your name,” and ends with “Your is the glory.” The Lord Jesus ever practiced what He preached: “Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? . . . Father, glorify Your name” (John 12:27); so too at the beginning of His high priestly prayer, “Father, the hour is come; glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1). O that more of His spirit may possess us: that the honor of God may be our great concern, His glory our constant aim.
Seventh, a final pleading for God to make good His Word. “And now, O Lord God, You are that God, and Your words be true, and You have promised this goodness unto Your servant: therefore now 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” (verses 28, 29). David built his hopes upon the fidelity of God: “I entreated Your favor with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to Your Word” (Psalm 119:58)—I desire no more, I expect no less. We may be bold to ask for all God has engaged to give. As Matthew Henry said, “It is by turning God’s promises into petitions that they are turned into performances.” Flow necessary it is then that we should diligently acquaint ourselves with the Scriptures, so that we ask not “amiss” (James 4:3). How necessary that the Word dwell in us richly, that we may act in faith, nothing doubting.
Our space is exhausted. Ponder carefully, dear reader, these seven features or elements in David’s God-honoring prayer, and seek the help of the holy Spirit to pattern your supplications after his.
