stowed upon
them through him. A commentary upon it is formed by Ps. lxxxix. 22-24,
in which it is said of David: "With whom My hand shall be continually.
Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact upon him,
nor the son of wickedness afflict him. And I crush his enemies before
him, and will smite those who hate him."

Ver. 11. "_And since the day that I commanded judges over My people
Israel, I have given thee rest from all thine enemies. And the Lord
telleth thee, that the Lord will make thee an house._"

The first part of this verse comprehends all the benefits formerly
enumerated;--the second adds another, which, however, is closely
connected with the previous ones. The circumstance that the Lord first
gave rest to David, and, in him, to the people, was a sign of his
election which could not but manifest itself afterwards in the care for
his house. The promise, "The Lord will make thee an house," was to
David an answer to prayer, as is shown by Ps. xxi. 3, 5, lxi. 6,
cxxxviii. 3. Even the thought of building the temple was a question put
to the Lord, as to whether He would, in harmony with His past conduct,
give a duration to his house, different from that of the house of Saul.

Ver. 12. "_And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, I shall cause thy seed to rise up after thee which shall
proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom._"

The [Hebrew: hqiM] does not signify the beginning of existence, but the
elevation to the royal dignity. [Hebrew: zre], _seed_, denotes the
posterity, which, however, may consist of one only, or be represented
by a single individual. In the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xvii. 11, the
words run thus: "Thy seed which shall be of thy sons," _i.e._, who
shall be one of thy sons (Luther). The truth of the promise, "I shall
establish his kingdom," became manifest, _e.g._, in the vain
machinations of Adonijah. That the fulfilment of this promise must be
sought in the history of Solomon, in whom the difference between the
house of David and that of Saul first became evident (instead of, "I
establish," in ver. 12, we find, in the second member of ver. 13, "I
establish for ever"), is seen from 1 Kings viii. 20, where Solomon
says, "And the Lord hath performed His word which [Pg 139] He spake;
for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne
of Israel, as the Lord promised." (Compare 1 Kings ii. 12: "And Solomon
s