But, Reader, if we pause to admire the conduct of Nathan, what a pause of admiration ought we to make here, in contemplating the goodness, the grace, the condescension, (what shall I call it) the astonishing condescension of a most gracious God. Oh! Reader! who hath ever calculated, what breast of an angel hath ever fully conceived the astonishing subject, that the High and Holy One, which inhabiteth eternity, should ever look upon, much less dwell with, and yet more dwell in the human mind! Great Lord of heaven and earth, who is it of whom we speak, when we contemplate the great mystery of godliness; God manifest in the flesh! Mark, Reader, as you go over every part and portion of this gracious message of God to his servant, how the whole furnisheth evidence upon evidence of that glorious character in which the Lord once for all revealed himself in the Mount to Moses, until the confirmation of it was finally and indelibly sealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean when the Lord passed by, before the man of God, and proclaimed; The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Exodus 34:6. And was not this message to David a renewed proclamation of the same? I pass over the consideration of the various precious things contained in this message of the Lord; for the several expressions themselves, in their own sweet order and simplicity, possess a power, when under the Holy Ghost's teaching, to convey to the Reader's mind, an apprehension of the love of God in Christ to his people; which no Commentator, less than God the Spirit, can improve. But I beg the Reader to observe the grace of the Lord towards David. After having reminded him how he hid been with him, and how he had led him, and defended him, and made his name great among the great ones of the earth; after the recapitulation of these outlines in David's own history, let the Reader observe with me, how the Lord calls upon David to attend to higher things than matters of a temporal nature. In the throne and kingdom which the Lord promiseth to establish with David's seed, and which was to be forever, how plainly are the features of Jesus and his kingdom, as the seed of David after the flesh, here pointed out. Solomon, the son and successor of David, was indeed to build a temporal house for the Lord, and great earthly splendor was to distinguish that temple. But never could it be said of Solomon, in the peculiar sense in which it is here expressed; I will be his father, and he shall be my son; much less, that his throne should be established forevermore. Pause, Reader! and look up with holy thankfulness and praise, while you behold the love of God the Father thus bursting forth in such precious intimations, concerning the throne, and dominion of our adorable Redeemer, at an age so remote from the time of Jesus's coming. Behold! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us! Remark also, the prominent features of Jesus and his kingdom, in the relation here given by God the Father. I tell thee (saith the Lord to David) that the Lord will build thee an house: and I will establish his throne forever. And the prophet saith, in confirmation of it; He shall build the temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory. And this was said several generations after Solomon's death, and after Solomon's temple was rased to the ground. Zechariah 6:13. Precious are these views of the glorious Covenant grace and mercy, founded and secured as it is in Jesus.
1 Chronicles 17:3-15
3 And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:
5 For I have not dwelt in an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
6 Wheresoever I have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?
7 Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from followinga the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel:
8 And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thee, and have made thee a name like the name of the great men that are in the earth.
9 Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,
10 And since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. Moreover I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore I tell thee that the LORD will build thee an house.
11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
13 I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee:
14 But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.
15 According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.