For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
Parallel translations
- KJV For thy word’s sake, and according to thine own heart, hast thou done all these great things, to make thy servant know them.
- BSB For the sake of Your word and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished this great thing and revealed it to Your servant.
- NKJV For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them.
- NASB For the sake of Your word, and according to Your heart, You have done all this greatness, to let Your servant know.
- NLT Because of your promise and according to your will, you have done all these great things and have made them known to your servant.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David acknowledged that God did this great thing for the sake of His word and His own heart, making it known to His servant. God's promises flow from His own gracious purpose.
Overview
David traces the covenant not to his merit but to God's word and God's heart, His self-determined love. God acts 'according to your own heart,' grounding salvation in His sovereign goodness. This anticipates the New Testament truth that God saves according to His own purpose and grace, not our works (2 Timothy 1:9).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Eph 3:11according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord;
- Ps 138:2I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.
- Ps 115:1Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
- Luke 12:32Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
- Eph 1:9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him
- 1 Cor 1:1Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
- Matt 11:26Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Deut 9:5Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land; but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God does drive them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
- Josh 23:14–15“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.
- Luke 1:54–55He has given help to Israel, his servant, that he might remember mercy,
- Luke 1:72to show mercy towards our fathers, to remember his holy covenant,
- Luke 10:21In that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing in your sight.”
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 7:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.