Structure:
(EBC)
A. The present: gratitude for divine favor (7:18–21)
B. The past: praise for what God has already done (7:22–24)
C. The future: prayer for divine fulfillment of covenant promises (7:25–29)
Ob and In:
1. The humble gratitude and the exclamation of David
18b “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD God, and what is my family, that you should have brought me to this point? 19 And you didn’t stop there, O LORD God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. Is this your usual way of dealing with men, O Sovereign LORD? 20 What more can David say to you? You have given your servant special recognition, O Sovereign LORD!
(EBC) David addresses God with a title unique to the books of Samuel—“Sovereign LORD”—which he employs seven times (vv.18, 19 [bis], 20, 22, 28, 29)...And if God is sovereign to David, he recognizes his own status as vassal by referring to himself ten times as the Lord’s “servant”
The gratitude was in proportion to the humble attitude of David and to the greatness of God as well as what He has done to me.
Reflection: Do I lack humble attitude? Do I know who I am, Who God is and what this Great God has done to me?
2. Question: What is the link between v.21 and 22?
21 For the sake of your promise and according to your purpose you have done this great thing in order to reveal it to your servant. 22 Therefore you are great, O Sovereign LORD, for there is none like you! There is no God besides you! What we have heard is true! 23 Who is like your people, Israel, a unique nation on the earth? ...You made Israel your very own people for all time
(EBC) The ancient establishment of Israel as God’s own people “forever” (v.24) is now to be channeled through David and his dynasty, which will continue “forever” (vv.25, 29 [bis]; see also v.13 and comment). The old Abrahamic and Sinaitic covenant formula—“I will be your God, and you will be my people”—undergoes yet another variant (see comment on “I will be his father, and he will be my son” in v.14) as David emphasizes that the Lord has “become their [Israel’s] God”
David recognized that his family was the tool to accomplish God's covenant to Israel, i.e. being His people permanently. However, why revealing to David is a part of this?
3. What does Israel, being a people of mean?
23bTheir God went to claim a nation for himself and to make a name for himself! You did great and awesome acts for your land, before your people whom you delivered for yourself from the Egyptian empire and its gods. 24 You made Israel your very own people for all time. You, O LORD, became their God.
What does it not mean?
(EBC) Because Yahweh is incomparable, it follows that the people He elected as His own and with whom He entered into communion, who of themselves had no qualities worthy of this attribute, may also be considered incomparable. The application of a divine attribute to the nation does not denote their deification
What does it mean according to this passage?
(EBC) Israel’s matchless Lord, who brooks no rivals, has gone out to do three things for his grateful people: “redeem” them (cf. Deut 7:8; 9:26; 13:5; 15:15; 21:8; 24:18; Neh 1:10; Jer 31:11), “make a name” for himself (see comment on v.9; cf. also v.26), and “perform great and awesome wonders” (cf. Deut 10:21; cf. also Deut 7:21; 10:17; Neh 9:32; Pss 99:3; 106:22; 145:6; Isa 64:3; Dan 9:4; Joel 2:31 [“great and dreadful”]; Mal 4:5 [“great and dreadful”]) by driving out the enemy.
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