2 Samuel 7:22

2Sa 7:22 Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for [there is] none like thee, neither [is there any] God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Ver. 22. Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God.] Great in goodness. Optimus Maximus.

According to all that we have heard with our ears.] Thy sweet promises - those fruits of thy free grace - give us good cause to think and to say so.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Sa 7:22. Wherefore thou art great — Both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which thou hast done for me. Neither is there any God besides thee — Thus Hannah had expressed herself in her song, in which she prophesied of him, 1Sa 2:2; 1Sa 2:10. According to all that we have heard — That is, what their forefathers had reported concerning the wonders which God had done by Moses and Joshua, and in the time of the judges.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:22 There is no one like you: David affirms God’s uniqueness (see also 22:32; Deut 4:39; 1 Sam 2:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(22) All that we have heard with our ears.—Such expressions are common enough in all languages not only for that which has been communicated orally, but for all that has been made known in any way; the same word is used with reference to written records in Deu_4:6; 2Ki_17:14; 2Ki_18:12; 2Ki_19:16 (in Hezekiah’s prayer in reference to Sennacherib’s letter); Neh_9:29; probably Est_2:8; and in many other places. (So also the corresponding Greek word, Rev_1:3, &c). It is therefore entirely unnecessary to suppose that David refers here only to oral tradition; he means the history of the Divine dealings with his people as recorded in their sacred books.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. Wherefore thou art great] Since Thou hast done these great things for me, I praise Thee and acknowledge Thy greatness. Cp. Psa_35:27; Psa_40:16; Psa_48:1.

for there is none like thee, &c.] Cp. Exo_15:11; Deu_3:24; Deu_4:35; 1Sa_2:2.

according to all, &c.] David passes from the evidence of God’s greatness derived from his own experience, to the evidence afforded by the history of His dealings with Israel, handed down from father to son by oral tradition. Cp. Exo_10:2; Deu_4:9; Psa_44:1; Psa_86:8-10.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore thou art great, O Lord God,.... In his name, nature, persons, and perfections, purposes, promises, and works:

for there is none like thee; for his essence and attributes, for his greatness and goodness, for what he is in himself, for what he is to his people, and has done for them:

neither is there any God beside thee; there is but one God, the living and true God, the former and maker of all things; all others are but fictitious and factitious gods, see Sa1 2:2;

according to all that we have heard with our ears; concerning what he did in the land of Egypt upon the Egyptians, and in the wilderness, in favour of the Israelites, and in the land of Canaan, by driving out the inhabitants before the people of Israel, and in the times of the judges, in raising them up to deliver his people.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Thou art great, both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which thou hast done for me,

All that we have heard with our ears; what we have heard from our parents, or out of thy word, concerning the incomparable excellency of thy majesty, and of thy works; of that I have this day eminent experience.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Wherefore thou art great. God"s goodness is to David a proof of his greatness, and he sees it displayed, not only in his dealings with himself, but also in the past history of the Jewish nation. There is in this a depth of evangelic piety. An unconverted heart would see the greatness of God in the majesty of creation, or in severe dealings with the impenitent. David saw it in acts of mercy and kindness. We look upon Elijah as the very type of sternness, yet he too recognized the presence of God in "the still small voice" of gentleness and love. (1Ki_19:13)

God surpassingly great and ever the same.

because thou doest these great things, extending on through the ages, and because thou canst and dost foresee and predict them, "thou art" manifestly "great" thyself, surpassing all others; the very God our fathers worshipped and have told us of. David"s knowledge of God becomes to a greater degree personal insight and conviction through the new revelation with which he is favoured. It is well when living conviction as to God is wrought through experience of his kindness rather than his severity.

I THE SURPASSING GREATNESS OF GOD.

1. God is great.

(1) In his nature. Infinite in all his perfections. Great, not only in power and knowledge, but in righteousness and love. "His greatness is unsearchable". (Psa_145:3)

(2) In his operations. In these his greatness is exercised and displayed. In his works of creation, preservation, redemption, and government, we see how great he is. David saw it in his dealings towards himself and his posterity. In the nature of his plans and purposes; in his ability to rule a free world through successive ages, so as to effect their accomplishment; and in the power to predict and promise the result with certainty, God appears unspeakably great. Thus prophecy as well as creative energy manifests the greatness of God, both in the Divine plan itself a grand scheme of justice and love stretching from the beginning to the end of time, and on throughout eternity and in the revelation of it to man.

2. God is great beyond all others. "There is none like unto thee, neither is there any God beside thee." He has no equal, none that approaches him in majesty.

(1) No creature. All are at an infinite distance beneath him. He has made some creatures to resemble him in a measure in their intelligence, goodness, and position over other creatures; but their resemblance is like that of the image of the sun in a dewdrop to the sun itself. Whatever his creatures may be, they and their capacities are derived and dependent; he is underived and independent ("from everlasting"); their powers are very limited, his unbounded; none of them can create or give life; he is the

of life"; (Psa_36:9) they are mutable, he immutable; they mortal, he "only hath immortality". (1Ti_6:16)

(2) No god. David would think of the divinities worshipped by the peoples around; we may think of all the objects of worship in idolatrous nations, ancient and modern. Regarding them as they exist in the minds of men, producing certain effects upon them, how utterly unlike our God! We feel it almost profane to compare them with him. But in reality they are nonentities, "vanities," as they are so frequently called in Holy Scripture. There is no God beside our God.

II HIS IDENTITY WITH THE GOD MADE KNOWN TO US FROM FORMER TIMES. "According to all that we have heard with our ears". (Psa_78:3, Psa_78:4) David recognizes that the God who was so wondrously and graciously revealing himself to him was the same God whom he had been taught to revere and trust on account of the great things he had done for Israel in former days. The form of manifestation was different; the things done were different; but there were the same Divine perfections apparent, the same care for the people whom he had chosen. It was a joy to the king to discern that Jehovah, the God of the fathers, was communicating with him; and that what he was doing and promising corresponded with what he had heard of him. The revelation which God has given of himself in Christ differs in many respects from the old revelations; the operations of God under the new covenant differ from those under the old. But as we come into living communion with God in Christ, and become ourselves the subjects of his grace; as also we learn the great things which God has done and is doing under the gospel, and the promises he makes to those who receive it; we too shall rejoice to discern that our God is the same as was worshipped by the faithful of old, and all through the ages Jehovah, the living God, still righteous and merciful and almighty; still doing wonders of power and grace; and doing them on a vastly wider scale, no longer chiefly in Israel, but amongst all nations. One God unites all generations, is to unite all peoples. The God of our fathers is our God, and our experience of him corresponds with theirs. Thus the records of his revelations and proceedings in all the past become available for instruction, and the encouragement of faith and hope, in the present and the future.

From the whole subject let us learn:

1. To rejoice in and praise God. It is matter for just thankfulness that we have a God so great and glorious to worship and confide in, One who lives and works evermore, and is throughout all ages the same God.

2. To expect great things from One so great, for ourselves and the whole Church. He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which worketh in us"; (Eph_3:20) and which has ever wrought among and on behalf of his people "according to all that we have heard with our ears.

3. To realize conscious communion with the saints of all ages. And so with all saints in earth and heaven.

4. To abjure tile folly, sin, and peril of declining the friendship of this great Being, and living in enmity with him. G.W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Great - Both in power and in goodness, as appears by the great and good things which thou hast done for me.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.