History · Chapter 17 of 29

1 Chronicles 17

David wants to build God a house, but through the prophet Nathan God reverses the offer: instead of David building a house for God, God will build a house, a dynasty, for David. God promises to raise up David's offspring, establish his kingdom and throne forever, and be a father to him. Overwhelmed, David sits before the LORD and prays a humble prayer of wonder and trust.

What happens in 1 Chronicles 17

Living in a cedar palace while the ark remains under curtains, David tells Nathan he wants to build God a house. Nathan approves, but that night God's word comes: David will not build the house. God recounts how he took David from following sheep to rule Israel, gave him victory and a great name, and will plant his people securely. Then comes the promise: when David dies, God will raise up his seed to build the house, and God will establish that kingdom and throne forever, being a father to him and never withdrawing his mercy as he did from Saul.

Nathan relays it all. David goes and sits before the LORD, marveling that God has spoken of his house for a great while to come. He praises God as incomparable, recalls the redemption of Israel from Egypt, and asks God to do as he has said, that his name may be magnified forever.

1 Chronicles 17 in context

This is the Chronicler's version of the Davidic covenant, parallel to 2 Samuel 7, and it is a hinge of the whole Bible's storyline. For the post-exilic community without a reigning king, the promise of an everlasting throne from David's line kept hope alive.

The Chronicler emphasizes the enduring, unconditional grace of the promise, assuring readers that God's commitment to David's house had not failed despite the collapse of the monarchy.

Main themes of 1 Chronicles 17

1 Chronicles 17 (KJV)

1Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains. 2Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with thee. 3And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in: 5For 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. 6Wheresoever 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? 7Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: 8And 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. 9Also 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, 10And 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. 11And 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. 12He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever. 13I 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: 14But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore. 15According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. 16And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? 17And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God. 18What can David speak more to thee for the honour of thy servant? for thou knowest thy servant. 19O LORD, for thy servant’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20O LORD, there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt? 22For thy people Israel didst thou make thine own people for ever; and thou, LORD, becamest their God. 23Therefore now, LORD, let the thing that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant and concerning his house be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. 24Let it even be established, that thy name may be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God of Israel, even a God to Israel: and let the house of David thy servant be established before thee. 25For thou, O my God, hast told thy servant that thou wilt build him an house: therefore thy servant hath found in his heart to pray before thee. 26And now, LORD, thou art God, and hast promised this goodness unto thy servant: 27Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be before thee for ever: for thou blessest, O LORD, and it shall be blessed for ever.

Verses to carry from 1 Chronicles 17

“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.”1 Chronicles 17:11

“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:”1 Chronicles 17:13

“But I will settle him in mine house and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be established for evermore.”1 Chronicles 17:14

Reflection

David wanted to do something great for God and discovered that God had already planned something far greater for him. Where are you straining to build something for God that he may be inviting you to receive from him first? Sit, as David did, and let wonder at grace shape your prayers before you rush to serve.

A prayer from 1 Chronicles 17