but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has shed blood.’
A great deal of service David had done in his day, had served his generation according to the will of God, Act 13:36. But now the time draws night that he must die, and, as a type of the Son of David, the nearer he comes to his end the more busy he is, and does his work with all his might.
Commenting on 1 Chronicles 28:1-10
But God said unto me, thou shalt not build an house for my name,.... This he said by Nathan the prophet, Sa2 7:5. because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood: see Ch1 22:8.
thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood--The church or spiritual state of the world, of which the temple at Jerusalem was to be a type, would be presided over by One who was to be pre-eminently the Prince of Peace, and therefore would be represented not so fitly by David, whose mission had been a preparatory one of battle and conquest...