2 Samuel 7:27
in 2 Samuel 7For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou, O Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
KJV
For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 7
Commentary
12 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Therefore hath thy servant found in his heart ... - The promises of God are the true guide to the prayers of His people. We may dare to ask anything, how great soever it may be, which God has promised to give. In this and the two following verses David expresses the same wonder at the riches of God’s grace, and the same expectation founded on that grace, which Paul does. in such passages as Eph 1:5-7; Eph 2:7, etc. marginal references.
This site's exposition
confirm forever the word You have spoken
on 2 Samuel 7:25-27
David asks God to do what He has promised, “Do as You have promised”, turning the oracle into a plea. He asks it so that God's name “will be magnified forever” as the LORD of Hosts, the title David named against Goliath.
This site's exposition
Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer
Henry notes that the Hebrew says David found his heart to offer this prayer. He holds that David dared ask this only on the promise. Spurgeon sets it beside verse 2: the heart that once planned a house for God now finds the courage to pray.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
David, understanding this, says in the second book of Kings [Samuel] … "You did also speak of the house of your servant for a long time to come." And, further on, "And now begin and bless the house of your servant that it may endure forever," etc. At that time, David was about to beget his son through whom his lineage would be carried down to Christ; through whom, in turn, his house was to be everlasting—indeed, identified with the house of God. It was to be called the "house of David" because [it was] of David's stock and, simultaneously, the "house of God" because it was a temple to God made not of stones but of people. In this house God's people shall everlastingly dwell with their God and in their God, and God with his people and in his people, God filling his people, his people filled with their God, so that "God may be all in all"—the very same God being their prize in peace who was their strength in battle.It was with this in view that, when Nathan had said, "And the Lord said to you, that you shall build him a house," David said further on, "Because you, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, have revealed to the ear of your servant, saying, 'I will build you a house.' " This is a house which we build by living virtuously and which God builds by helping us to live virtuously, for "unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain." Only, however, when this house receives its final consecration will the words God spoke by Nathan's lips come true: "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before, from the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel."
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
This prayer, &c. - That prayer that is found in the tongue only will not please God. It must be found in the heart. That must be lifted up and poured out before God.
I durst not have asked such great things if I had not been directed and encouraged by thy promise to ask them. They are indeed too great for me to beg, but not too great for thee to give. Thy servant has found in his heart to pray this prayer;" so it is in the original, and the LXX.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel,....
And, in both these, there is an eye to the Messiah and his kingdom. 1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the L ORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2869: “Prayer Found in the Heart” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
It is a very blessed thing for a child of God to be anxious to glorify his Heavenly Father, whether his wish is realized or not. The strong desire to magnify God is acceptable to Him and is an indication of spiritual health. It is certain, in the long run, to bring blessing to our own souls and I have frequently noticed that when we earnestly desire to do something special for the Lord, He generally does something for us very much of the same kind. David wished to build a house for God.
DAVID had first found it in his heart to build a house for God. Sitting in his house of cedar, he resolved that the Ark of God should no longer abide under curtains, but should be more suitably housed. The Lord, however, did not design that David should build His Temple, though He accepted his pious intentions and declared that it was well that it was in his heart.
DAVID had first found it in his heart to build a house for God. Sitting in his house of cedar, he resolved that the Ark of God should no longer abide under curtains, but should be more suitably housed. The Lord, however, did not design that David should build His Temple, though He accepted his pious intentions and declared that it was well that it was in his heart. From which we may learn that our intentions to serve the Lord in a certain manner may be thoroughly good and acceptable and yet we may not be permitted to carry them out. We may have the will but not the power—the aspiration but not the qualification. We may have to stand aside and see another do the task which we had chosen for ourselves—and yet we may be none the less pleasing to the Lord who, in His great love, accepts the will for the deed. It is a holy self-denial which in such cases rejoices to see the Lord glorified by others and at the Captain's bidding cheerfully stands back in the rear when zeal had urged it to rush to the front. It is as true service not to do as to do when the Lord's Word prescribes it. The reason why David was not to build the house is not stated here, but you will find it in 1 Chronicles 28:2, 3. "Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: for me, I had in my heart to build an house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, You shall not build an house for My name, because you have been a man of war, and have shed blood." David's wars had been necessary and justifiable and by them the people of the Lord had been delivered. But the Ever Merciful One did not delight in them and would not use for building His Temple an instrument which had been stained with blood.
A commentator
Charles Spurgeon1834–1892
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2869: “Prayer Found in the Heart” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) · Written before 1892.
proposed
It is a very blessed thing for a child of God to be anxious to glorify his Heavenly Father, whether his wish is realized or not. The strong desire to magnify God is acceptable to Him and is an indication of spiritual health. It is certain, in the long run, to bring blessing to our own souls and I have frequently noticed that when we earnestly desire to do something special for the Lord, He generally does something for us very much of the same kind. David wished to build a house for God. "No," says Jehovah, "you have been a man of war and I will not employ a warrior in spiritual business. But I will build you a house." So, although David may not build a house for God, it is well that the plan of it is in his heart and God, in return, builds up his house, and sets his son and his son's son upon the throne after him. But, my dear Friend, if you should not find an opportunity to do all that is in your heart, yet, nevertheless, it is well that it is there. Carry out the project if you can, but if you cannot, it may be that as you have desired to deal with the Lord, so will He deal with you. If you have sown sparingly, you shall reap sparingly. If you have sown liberally, you shall reap largely, for, often and often, the Lord's dealings with His own people are a sort of echo to their hearts of their dealings with Him. Sometimes it happens that God will not let His servants do what they would most of all like to do. David had long been storing up gold and silver in great quantities that he might build that house for the Lord. It had been the great project of his life that he might make a fit sanctuary for the Ark of the Covenant.
The words behind it
25 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתָּה֩ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֜וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| גָּלִ֜יתָה | galitah | you have uncovered | H1540 → | 186 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֹ֤זֶן | ʾozen | [the] ear of | H241 → | 187 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֙ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בַּ֖יִת | bayit | a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אֶבְנֶה־ | ʾevneh- | I will build | H1129 → | 376 times |
| לָּ֑ךְ | lakh | for <the> you | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | there- | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֵּ֗ן | ken | -fore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| מָצָ֤א | matza' | he has found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֙ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לִבּ֔וֹ | libo | heart his | H3820 → | 595 times |
| לְהִתְפַּלֵּ֣ל | lehitpalel | to pray | H6419 → | |
| אֵלֶ֔יךָ | ʾeleikha | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַתְּפִלָּ֖ה | hatefilah | the prayer | H8605 → | |
| הַזֹּֽאת׃ | hazot | <the> this | H2063 → | 603 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַתָּה֩you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
יְהוָ֨הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֜וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
גָּלִ֜יתָהyou have uncovered
galitahH1540 →186 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֹ֤זֶן[the] ear of
ʾozenH241 →187 times
עַבְדְּךָ֙servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
בַּ֖יִתa house
bayitH1004 →2046 times
אֶבְנֶה־I will build
ʾevneh-H1129 →376 times
לָּ֑ךְfor <the> you
lakh
עַל־there-
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֵּ֗ן-fore
kenH3651 →771 times
מָצָ֤אhe has found
matza'H4672 →455 times
עַבְדְּךָ֙servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
לִבּ֔וֹheart his
liboH3820 →595 times
לְהִתְפַּלֵּ֣לto pray
lehitpalelH6419 →
אֵלֶ֔יךָto you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַתְּפִלָּ֖הthe prayer
hatefilahH8605 →
הַזֹּֽאת׃<the> this
hazotH2063 →603 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 40:6Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
it leads to
- Hebrews 10:5–12
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.
- Isaiah 1:11
“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood…
- 1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…
- Psalms 51:16
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
- Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Hebrews 10:5–12
Through
Psalms 10:17You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their hearts. You will incline Your ear,
it leads to
- Psalms 145:19
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.
- 2 Chronicles 34:27
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its people, and because you have humbled yourself before Me and you have…
- Psalms 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.
- Psalms 145:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.12; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1412: Where True Prayer is Found; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2869: “Prayer Found in the Heart” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1412: “Where True Prayer is Found” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.