Peter Barnes | 2 Samuel 7:18-29
SERMON NOTES
DAVID’S PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING
2 Samuel 7:18-29
– God made an everlasting covenant with David. David’s house would last forever; his kingdom would never perish.
1. Wonder at God’s grace.
– 7:18. Usually, Jews would stand to pray with their arms spread out (e.g. 1 Kings 8:22) or kneel (1 Kings 8:54; Eph.3:14). This is the only example in Scripture of sitting to pray.
– Gen.32:10. Calvin: ‘let me think of myself in this way: I am not merely a man, but vermin.’ If most of us heard that our lineage would go on forever, we would be filled with a sense of our own self-importance. Not David.
– 7:19-20, 21; Ps.116:12.
2. Praise for the only true God.
– 7:22. See Jer.10:6-7; 2 Chron.20:5-6. But not the context – 2 Chron.20:10-12. This one true God is different from all the other gods because He talks and acts – 7:23-24.
3. Praying the promises of God.
– 7:25-29; Dan.9:1-3. Matthew Henry: ‘It is by turning God’s promises into petitions that they are turned into performances.’ George Mueller used to pray God’s Word back to Him. Psalm 70:4.
– Walter Chantry: ‘Thus should we learn to pray: humbled by God’s goodness to us, filled with the praises of a thankful people, and pleading for the promises of God’s Word to be fulfilled toward us.’