2 Samuel 7:20
ESV
And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord God!
NIV
"What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Sovereign Lord.
NASB
Again what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, Lord God!
CSB
What more can David say to you? You know your servant, Lord God.
NLT
'What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord.
KJV
And what can David say more unto thee? for thou, Lord God, knowest thy servant.
NKJV
Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord God, know Your servant.
What does 2 Samuel 7:20 mean?
David is sitting before the Lord, likely meaning that he's in the tent that holds the ark of God. He has come to offer a prayer of response to God's great promises given to him through the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7:4–17). David is amazed that God would promise to go beyond what He has already done for David and establish David's house for generations to come, although he is an imperfect mortal person (2 Samuel 7:18–19).Now, though, David admits that God knows everything about him. David understands that God hasn't made this covenant because God was fooled into thinking David is better than he really is. God knows his servant David inside and out, good and bad, strength and weakness. Yet He will still carry out this plan to establish David's throne forever. David recognizes this as grace.
In God's grace, He also lets David know his plan. David calls himself the Lord's servant, and he is. But Jesus told the disciples, "No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).
David doesn't have the words to express how he feels. Fortunately, he knows that God can see the gratitude in his heart.
