How to use the different types of prayer in one prayer (2 Sam 7.19–29)

Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet, this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord GOD! And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD! Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have wrought all this greatness so that your servant may know it. Therefore you are great, O LORD God; for there is no one like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. Who is like your people, like Israel? Is there another nation on earth whose God went to redeem it as a people, and to make a name for himself, doing great and awesome things for them, by driving out before his people nations and their gods? And you established your people Israel for yourself to be your people forever; and you, O LORD, became their God.
And now, O LORD God, as for the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever; do as you have promised. Thus your name will be magnified forever in the saying, ‘The LORD of hosts is God over Israel;’ and the house of your servant David will be established before you. For you, O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have made this revelation to your servant, saying, ‘I will build you a house’; therefore your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you.
And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant; now therefore may it please you to bless the house of your servant, so that it may continue forever before you; for you, O Lord GOD, have spoken, and with your blessing shall the house of your servant be blessed forever.

This prayer is one of the better examples of the purpose of this study. It is an excellent model for enriching our prayers because it demonstrates the interconnectedness of prayer types. That can lead us to turn a prayer of thanksgiving into a prayer of praise, turning the blessings around to shine in both directions. Our prayers become more organic, interconnected, and rich. This prayer is worth a detailed examination.

Background

After the defeat of the Philistines and the capture of Jerusalem, David has the ark of the covenant brought to the new capital city. It is a time of great rejoicing for Israel. (David’s wife even criticizes him for being a bit too celebratory in public.)

Chapter 7 begins with David telling the prophet Nathan that he wants to build a temple for the Ark of the Covenant. He notes that he, the king, lives in a beautiful house made of cedar, but God’s Ark is housed in a tent. Nathan tells the king he should do as he wished.

But that night, God sends a message to Nathan in a dream. He instructs him to tell David that he is not to build Him a house—instead, God will make a great house of David.

When Nathan tells David, David is overcome. He goes to the tent of the covenant, and sits before the altar and offers this prayer. It is one of the longer prayers we have studied so far. It contains praise, thanksgiving, and petition, which flow and overlap in an illuminating way.

We have discussed the close connection between prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of praise. In general, prayers of thanksgiving offer thanks to God for something specific he has done for someone or some group. A praise prayer is usually a tribute to the character of God or some aspect of his general nature. It might praise Him for who He is as sovereign or creator of the universe, or for his acts of love and grace, or, sometimes, for some great things he has done in the past. In this prayer, the connection and overlap between the two is quite close. The entire prayer reads much like a praise prayer, yet the context is David’s response to God’s specific promises to David and his descendants. David wanted to honor God by building him a house that He deserved. Instead, God said, “No, I am going to honor you by building your ‘house.’” David was overwhelmed. Imagine if you were homeless and without many prospects. Someone comes along and gives you a place to stay and a job. You save some money, rent an apartment, get back on your feet, and want to repay them for the money they spent on you. They tell you, “no, you will not. Instead, I am going to buy you a house and pay for your education.” A mere “thank you!” seems terribly inadequate. This why the prayer sounds more like a praise prayer than a mere thanksgiving.

When God blesses us in some surprising way, this prayer is an excellent model. It is also a good model for a prayer of praise which looks back at the things God has done for us. Often, we do not see the guidance and direction God is giving us until much later. Then we look back and realize that we arrived at this place because of many of the things God did for us.

Note the first words of the prayer. David is so overcome that the opening words are questions about why God would bless him with such abundance.¹ “Who am I” that you would do this for me? God is the king of the universe, yet he bends down to help us and nurture us. It is a prayer we can all utter.

David does not think only of himself: he realizes that the blessing of his household will also have an effect on all Israel. What are some ways that God’s blessings to you have benefited others? Asking ourselves this question can help us avoid the radical individualism of the modern world, and lead us to think of how God might use us within our community.

David then launches into a more typical praise of God. He touches on His greatness, the things He has done, and with specificity, the things He has done for Israel which made them into a great nation. Note again that David does not just focus on himself and his blessings—he sees what God has done for Israel by using David. Furthermore, he sees that the results of the blessing turn back to God himself. When God blesses us, it shows other people the kind of God he is, and it further praises God.

Next, David returns to the issue of a “house” for God. He accepts God’s words but asks that the house of David (which God will build) will be a house that glorifies God. This emphasizes how we can take what might be a thanksgiving prayer and turn it into a praise prayer. When God blesses us in an overwhelming way, we can focus on how that blessing not only affects us, but can bless other people and praise God! Even more of a focus on God is found in the closing words of this section, where David attributes his ability to prayer this prayer to God.

The prayer closes with a repeat of the praise of God for his truth and his promises. This is followed by a petition which asks nothing new but restates what God has already said he will do. Even the petition functions as a thanksgiving and praise! The last line of the prayer summarizes the entire prayer: God speaks, God blesses, and it will be so because He is God.

Meaning

This prayer demonstrates how prayers can move beyond petition, thanksgiving, intercession, and so on. They can go beyond a prayer before meals, an evening prayer, or a prayer for a friend in need. We see that the categories of prayer are not just individual elements that we mix and match and insert into our prayer life. There is a complexity here that mirrors the interconnectedness of our spiritual and physical lives. As we grow in prayer, the types, purposes, and contents of our prayers begin to weave and flow one into another. We may even start to wonder if the true purpose of prayer, the end to which all prayers flow, is the praise of God.

Application

While we have often prayed only one prayer type, this is a good opportunity to practice mixing the types. This does not mean just picked a type, one after the other, and piling them on each other. Rather, seek some order and meaning to them all. If you can connect them with an idea or a theme, all the better. Write down brief answers to each of the following questions.

What do you appreciate most about God’s character today?
What are you most thankful for?
What are you most worried about?
Who are you most concerned about today?
What act or words are you most ashamed of today?
What would you like to change about yourself (perhaps related to the previous question)?

Using the answers to those questions, construct a prayer that begins with praise, then continues through thanksgiving, petition, intercession, confession, and vow. Offer the prayer to God with David’s prayer in mind.

Compare Jacob’s similar words and reactions in his prayer in Gen 32.10 (see “Jacob’s Petition for Safety (Gen 32.9–12)” in Praying Through the Bible, Volume 1 (Genesis–Joshua) (2015); see also Psalm 8.4 for a similar thought about humans in general. ↩