For the sake of Your word and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished this great thing and revealed it to Your servant.
Parallel translations
- WEB For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
- 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.
- ESV Because of your promise, and according to your own heart, you have brought about all this greatness, to make your servant know it.
- 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 quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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 that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Ps 138:2I bow down toward Your holy temple and give thanks to Your name for Your loving devotion and Your faithfulness; You have exalted Your name and Your word above all else.
- Ps 115:1Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.
- Luke 12:32Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
- Eph 1:9And He has made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ
- 1 Cor 1:1Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
- Matt 11:26Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Deut 9:5It is not because of your righteousness or uprightness of heart that you are going in to possess their land, but it is because of their wickedness that the LORD your God is driving out these nations before you, to keep the promise He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Josh 23:14–15Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.
- Luke 1:54–55He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
- Luke 1:72to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
- Luke 10:21At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.