and God hath said to me, Thou dost not build a house to My name, for a man of wars thou art, and blood thou hast shed.

But God said to me, You are not to be the builder of a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have taken life;

Thou shalt not build a house - See 2-Samuel 7:6, 2-Samuel 7:13, and the observations at the end of that chapter.

But God said unto me, thou shalt not build an house for my name,.... This he said by Nathan the prophet, 2-Samuel 7:5.
because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood: see 1-Chronicles 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, as by his son, who should reign in unbroken peace.