But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
The promise came as God's answer when David desired to build a house for the ark, declaring that not David himself but his son Solomon would build it. In that answer God pledged to be a father to Solomon and to receive him as a son. Even if Solomon did wrong he would be corrected with chastening administered through human means. Yet mercy would not depart from David's son, who would not be removed and rejected as Saul had been put away before David.
The same word assured David himself of continuing mercy and favor toward him and toward his descendants and his kingdom, unlike the withdrawal from Saul. It shows that God pities and has compassion on the weakness of erring people, that He will punish transgression, and that He will forgive when there is repentance. In the wider setting of 2 Samuel 7:12-16 this enduring mercy points to the promised Messiah as the descendant of David who would reign on David's throne, in contrast to Saul's removal. That promise was misapplied by those who expected the Messiah at His first coming to seize an earthly throne by force and overthrow Rome, failing to recognize His humble first advent as distinct from His glorious second coming.
The promise came as God's answer when David desired to build a house for the ark, declaring that not David himself but his son Solomon would build it. In that answer God pledged to be a father to Solomon and to receive him as a son. Even if Solomon did wrong he would be corrected with chastening administered through human means. Yet mercy would not depart from David's son, who would not be removed and rejected as Saul had been put away before David.
The same word assured David himself of continuing mercy and favor toward him and toward his descendants and his kingdom, unlike the withdrawal from Saul. It shows that God pities and has compassion on the weakness of erring people, that He will punish transgression, and that He will forgive when there is repentance. In the wider setting of 2 Samuel 7:12-16 this enduring mercy points to the promised Messiah as the descendant of David who would reign on David's throne, in contrast to Saul's removal. That promise was misapplied by those who expected the Messiah at His first coming to seize an earthly throne by force and overthrow Rome, failing to recognize His humble first advent as distinct from His glorious second coming.