Passage
He said to Nathan the prophet: Dost thou see that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?
2 Samuel 7:2 (DRB)
Nearby Context
2 Samuel 7:1 And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,
2 Samuel 7:2 He said to Nathan the prophet: Dost thou see that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?
2 Samuel 7:3 And Nathan said to the king: Go, do all that is in they heart: because the Lord is with thee.
2 Samuel 7:4 But it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "said", "nathan", "prophet", "dost", "thou", "dwell", "house", and "cedar". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "nathan", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 1's "And it came to pass when the..." into verse 3's "And Nathan said to the king Go...", so "said" and "nathan" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "nathan" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.