4 And he put some of the Levites before the ark of the Lord as servants, to keep the acts of the Lord in memory, and to give worship and praise to the Lord, the God of Israel:
5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Uzziel and Shemiramoth and Jehiel and Mattithiah and Eliab and Benaiah and Obed-edom and Jeiel, with corded instruments of music; and Asaph, with brass instruments sounding loudly;
6 And Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests, blowing horns all the time before the ark of the agreement of God.
7 Then on that day David first made the giving of praise to the Lord the work of Asaph and his brothers.
8 O give praise to the Lord; give honour to his name, talking of his doings among the peoples.
9 Let your voice be sounded in songs and melody; let all your thoughts be of the wonder of his works.
10 Have glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who are searching after the Lord be glad.
11 Let your search be for the Lord and for his strength; let your hearts ever be turned to him.
12 Keep in mind the great works which he has done; his wonders, and the decisions of his mouth;
13 O you seed of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his loved ones.
14 He is the Lord our God: he is judge of all the earth.
15 He has kept his agreement in mind for ever, the word which he gave for a thousand generations;
16 The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac;
17 And he gave it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an eternal agreement;
18 Saying, To you will I give the land of Canaan, the measured line of your heritage:
19 When you were still small in number, and strange in the land;
20 When they went about from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people;
21 He would not let anyone do them wrong; he even kept back kings because of them,
22 Saying, Put not your hand on those who have been marked with my holy oil, and do my prophets no wrong.
23 Make songs to the Lord, all the earth; give the good news of his salvation day by day.
24 Make clear his glory to the nations, and his wonders to all the peoples.
25 For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised; and he is more to be feared than all other gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are false gods; but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Honour and glory are before him: strength and joy are in his holy place.
28 Give to the Lord, O you families of the peoples, give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory of his name; take with you an offering and come before him; give worship to the Lord in holy robes.
30 Be in fear before him, all the earth: the world is ordered so that it may not be moved.
31 Let the heavens have joy and let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, The Lord is King.
32 Let the sea be thundering with all its waters; let the field be glad, and everything which is in it;
33 Then let all the trees of the wood be sounding with joy before the Lord, for he is come to be the judge of the earth.
34 O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever.
35 And say, Be our saviour, O God of our salvation, and let us come back, and give us salvation from the nations, so that we may give honour to your holy name and have glory in your praise.
36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, for ever and for ever. And all the people said, So be it; and gave praise to the Lord.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 16
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 16 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 16
1Ch 16:1-6. David's Festival Sacrifice and Liberality to the People.
2. he blessed the people in the name of the Lord—The king commended their zeal, supplicated the divine blessing upon them, and ordered the remains of the thank offerings which had been profusely sacrificed during the procession, to be distributed in certain proportions to every individual, that the ceremonial might terminate with appropriate festivities (De 12:7).
3. flagon of wine—The two latter words are a supplement by our translators, and the former is, in other versions, rendered not a "flagon," but a "cake," a confection, as the Septuagint renders it, made of flour and honey.
4-6. he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord—No sooner was the ark deposited in its tent than the Levites, who were to officiate in the choirs before it, entered upon their duties. A select number of the musicians were chosen for the service from the list (1Ch 15:19-21) of those who had taken a prominent part in the recent procession. The same arrangement was to be observed in their duties, now that the ark again was stationary; Asaph, with his associates, composing the first or principal company, played with cymbals; Zechariah and his colleagues, with whom were conjoined Jeiel and Obed-edom, forming the second company, used harps and similar instruments.
5. Jeiel—the same as Aziel (1Ch 15:20).
6. Benaiah also and Jahaziel—The name of the former is mentioned among the priests (1Ch 15:24), but not the latter. The office assigned to them was that of blowing trumpets at regular intervals before the ark and in the tabernacle.
1Ch 16:7-43. His Psalm of Thanksgiving.
7. Then on that day David delivered first this psalm—Among the other preparations for this solemn inauguration, the royal bard had composed a special hymn for the occasion. Doubtless it had been previously in the hands of Asaph and his assistants, but it was now publicly committed to them as they entered for the first time on the performance of their sacred duties. It occupies the greater part of this chapter (1Ch 16:8-36), and seems to have been compiled from other psalms of David, previously known to the Israelites, as the whole of it will be found, with very slight variations, in Ps 96:1-13; 105:1-15; 106:47, 48. In the form, however, in which it is given by the sacred historian, it seems to have been the first psalm given for use in the tabernacle service. Abounding, as it does, with the liveliest ascriptions of praise to God for the revelation of His glorious character and the display of His marvellous works and containing, as it does, so many pointed allusions to the origin, privileges, and peculiar destiny of the chosen people, it was admirably calculated to animate the devotions and call forth the gratitude of the assembled multitude.
36. all the people said, Amen—(Compare Ps 72:19, 20; 106:48). In the former, the author of the doxology utters the "amen" himself, while in the latter the people are exhorted to say "amen." This may arise from the fact that the latter psalm originally concluded with the injunction to say "amen." But in this historical account of the festival, it was necessary to relate that the people obeyed this injunction on the occasion referred to, and therefore the words "let them praise," were altered into "and they praised" [Bertheau].
37-42. So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, &c.—The sequel of the chapter describes the appointment of the sacred musicians and their respective duties.
38. Obed-edom with their brethren—Hosah, mentioned at the close of the verse, and a great number besides (see on 1Ch 26:1).
to be porters—doorkeepers.
39, 40. And Zadok … before the tabernacle … at Gibeon—While the above-mentioned officers under the superintendence of Abiathar, were appointed to officiate in Jerusalem, whither the ark had been brought, Zadok and the priests subordinate to him were stationed at Gibeon to perform the sacred service before the ancient tabernacle which still remained there.
40. continually morning and evening—as the law enjoined (Ex 29:38; Nu 28:3, 6).
and do according to all that is written in the law—(See Nu 28:1-31). Thus, in the time of David, the worship was performed at two places, where the sacred things that had been transmitted from the age of Moses were preserved. Before the Ark in Jerusalem, Asaph and his brethren officiated as singers, Obed-edom and Hosah served as doorkeepers, and Benaiah and Jahaziel blew the trumpets. While at the tabernacle and burnt offering in Gibeon, Heman and Jeduthun presided over the sacred music, the sons of Jeduthun were door keepers, and Zadok, with his suite of attendant priests, offered the sacrifices.