9 `And thou, Solomon, my son, know the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind, for all hearts is Jehovah seeking, and every imagination of the thoughts He is understanding; if thou dost seek Him, He is found of thee, and if thou dost forsake Him, He casteth thee off for ever.
And ye have sought Me, and have found, for ye seek Me with all your heart;
and your heart hath been perfect with Jehovah our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commands, as `at' this day.'
draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you; cleanse hands, ye sinners! and purify hearts, ye two-souled! be exceeding afflicted, and mourn, and weep, let your laughter to mourning be turned, and the joy to heaviness; be made low before the Lord, and He shall exalt you. Speak not one against another, brethren; he who is speaking against a brother, and is judging his brother, doth speak against law, and doth judge law, and if law thou dost judge, thou art not a doer of law but a judge;
And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Look not unto his appearance, and unto the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for `it is' not as man seeth -- for man looketh at the eyes, and Jehovah looketh at the heart.'
and he goeth out before Asa, and saith to him, `Hear, me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Jehovah `is' with you -- in your being with Him, and if ye seek Him, He is found of you, and if ye forsake Him, He forsaketh you;
God `is' a Spirit, and those worshipping Him, in spirit and truth it doth behove to worship.'
And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I `am' Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.
`Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you; for every one who is asking doth receive, and he who is seeking doth find, and to him who is knocking it shall be opened.
They trust in Thee who do know Thy name, For Thou hast not forsaken Those seeking Thee, O Jehovah.
and `the righteous by faith shall live,' and `if he may draw back, My soul hath no pleasure in him,' and we are not of those drawing back to destruction, but of those believing to a preserving of soul.
My son, if thou dost accept my sayings, And my commands dost lay up with thee, To cause thine ear to attend to wisdom, Thou inclinest thy heart to understanding, For, if for intelligence thou callest, For understanding givest forth thy voice, If thou dost seek her as silver, And as hid treasures searchest for her, Then understandest thou fear of Jehovah, And knowledge of God thou findest. For Jehovah giveth wisdom, From His mouth knowledge and understanding.
And they do not teach any more Each his neighbour, and each his brother, Saying, Know ye Jehovah, For they all know Me, from their least unto their greatest, An affirmation of Jehovah; For I pardon their iniquity, And of their sin I make mention no more.
But -- in this let the boaster boast himself, In understanding and knowing Me, For I `am' Jehovah, doing kindness, Judgment, and righteousness, in the earth, For in these I have delighted, An affirmation of Jehovah.
`And I have known, my God, that Thou art trying the heart, and uprightness dost desire; I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these: and now, Thy people who are found here I have seen with joy to offer willingly to Thee. `O Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this to the age for the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of Thy people, and prepare their heart unto Thee; and to Solomon my son give a perfect heart, to keep Thy commands, Thy testimonies, and Thy statutes, and to do the whole, even to build the palace `for' which I have prepared.'
and this is the life age-during, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and him whom Thou didst send -- Jesus Christ;
He decided the cause of the poor and needy, Then `it is' well -- is it not to know Me? An affirmation of Jehovah.
My strength and song is JAH, And He is become my salvation: This `is' my God, and I glorify Him; God of my father, and I exalt Him.
`And it hath been, when many evils and distresses do meet it, that this song hath testified to its face for a witness; for it is not forgotten out of the mouth of its seed, for I have known its imagining which it is doing to-day, before I bring them in unto the land of which I have sworn.'
then Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast done, and hast given to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, (for Thou hast known -- Thyself alone -- the heart of all the sons of man),
`I pray Thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which `is' good in Thine eyes I have done;' and Hezekiah weepeth -- a great weeping.
and he doth that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah, and walketh in all the way of David his father, and hath not turned aside -- right or left.
Let, I pray Thee be ended the evil of the wicked, And establish Thou the righteous, And a trier of hearts and reins is the righteous God.
He saith to him the third time, `Simon, `son' of Jonas, dost thou dearly love me?' Peter was grieved that he said to him the third time, `Dost thou dearly love me?' and he said to him, `Lord, thou hast known all things; thou dost know that I dearly love thee.' Jesus saith to him, `Feed my sheep;
I act wisely in a perfect way, When dost Thou come in unto me? I walk habitually in the integrity of my heart, In the midst of my house.
`If ye at all turn back -- you and your sons -- from after Me, and keep not My commands -- My statutes, that I have set before you, and ye have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, then I have cut off Israel from the face of the ground that I have given to them, and the house that I have hallowed for My name I send away from My presence, and Israel hath been for a simile and for a byword among all the peoples; as to this house, `that' is high, every one passing by it is astonished, and hath hissed, and they have said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land and to this house? and they have said, Because that they have forsaken Jehovah their God, who brought out their fathers from the land of Egypt, and they lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them; therefore hath Jehovah brought in upon them all this evil.'
And Jehovah seeth that abundant `is' the wickedness of man in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart only evil all the day;
and there is not a created thing not manifest before Him, but all things `are' naked and open to His eyes -- with whom is our reckoning.
and lo, Jehovah is standing upon it, and He saith, `I `am' Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father, and God of Isaac; the land on which thou art lying, to thee I give it, and to thy seed;
for I was ashamed to ask from the king a force and horsemen to help us because of the enemy in the way, for we spake to the king, saying, `The hand of our God `is' upon all seeking Him for good, and His strength and His wrath `is' upon all forsaking Him.'
And, according as they did not approve of having God in knowledge, God gave them up to a disapproved mind, to do the things not seemly; having been filled with all unrighteousness, whoredom, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil dispositions; whisperers,
the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,
Thou, thou hast been shewn `it', to know that Jehovah He `is' God; there is none else besides Him.
and Jehovah smelleth the sweet fragrance, and Jehovah saith unto His heart, `I continue not to disesteem any more the ground because of man, though the imagination of the heart of man `is' evil from his youth; and I continue not to smite any more all living, as I have done;
And Jehovah saith unto Moses, `Lo, thou art lying down with thy fathers, and this people hath risen, and gone a-whoring after the gods of the stranger of the land into the midst of which it hath entered, and forsaken Me, and broken My covenant which I made with it; and Mine anger hath burned against it in that day, and I have forsaken them, and hidden My face from them, and it hath been for consumption, and many evils and distresses have found it, and it hath said in that day, Is it not because that my God is not in my midst -- these evils have found me?
And Solomon saith, `Thou hast done with Thy servant David my father great kindness, as he walked before Thee in truth and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee, and Thou dost keep for him this great kindness, and dost give to him a son sitting on his throne, as `at' this day.
If they do hear and serve, They complete their days in good, And their years in pleasantness. And if they do not hearken, By the dart they pass away, And expire without knowledge.
Jehovah `is' my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God `is' my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower.
A refining pot `is' for silver, and a furnace for gold, And the trier of hearts `is' Jehovah.
And the destruction of transgressors and sinners `is' together, And those forsaking Jehovah are consumed.
And, O Jehovah of Hosts, trier of the righteous, Beholder of reins and heart, I do see Thy vengeance out of them, For unto Thee I have revealed my cause.
Cut off have been My people for lack of knowledge, Because thou knowledge hast rejected, I reject thee from being priest to Me, And thou forgettest the law of thy God, I forget thy sons, I also!
and ye have not known Him, and I have known Him, and if I say that I have not known Him, I shall be like you -- speaking falsely; but I have known Him, and His word I keep;
and having prayed, they said, `Thou, Lord, who art knowing the heart of all, shew which one thou didst choose of these two
awake up, as is right, and sin not; for certain have an ignorance of God; for shame to you I say `it'.
for if the willing mind is present, according to that which any one may have it is well-accepted, not according to that which he hath not;
wherefore, a kingdom that cannot be shaken receiving, may we have grace, through which we may serve God well-pleasingly, with reverence and religious fear;
feed the flock of God that `is' among you, overseeing not constrainedly, but willingly, neither for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind,
Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast done according to all that the stranger calleth unto Thee for, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee like Thy people Israel, and to know that Thy name hath been called on this house which I have builded.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Chronicles 28
Commentary on 1 Chronicles 28 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 28
1Ch 28:1-8. David Exhorts the People to Fear God.
1. David assembled all the princes of Israel—that is, the representatives of the people, the leading men of the kingdom, who are enumerated in this verse according to their respective rank or degree of authority.
princes of the tribes—(1Ch 27:16-22). Those patriarchal chiefs are mentioned first as being the highest in rank—a sort of hereditary noblesse.
the captains of the companies—the twelve generals mentioned (1Ch 27:1-15).
the stewards, &c.—(1Ch 27:25-31).
the officers—Hebrew, "eunuchs," or attendants on the court (1Sa 8:15; 1Ki 22:9; 2Ki 22:18); and besides Joab, the commander-in-chief of the army, the heroes who had no particular office (1Ch 11:10-12:40; 2Sa 23:8-39). This assembly, a very mixed and general one, as appears from the parties invited, was more numerous and entirely different from that mentioned (1Ch 23:2).
2. Hear me, my brethren, and my people—This was the style of address becoming a constitutional king of Israel (De 17:20; 1Sa 30:23; 2Sa 5:1).
I had in mine heart—I proposed, or designed.
to build an house of rest—a solid and permanent temple.
for the footstool of our God—God seated between the cherubim, at the two extremities of the ark, might be said to be enthroned in His glory, and the coverlet of the ark to be His footstool.
and had made ready for the building—The immense treasures which David had amassed and the elaborate preparations he had made, would have been amply sufficient for the erection of the temple of which he presented the model to Solomon.
3. 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.
4, 5. he hath chosen Solomon—The spirit of David's statement is this:—It was not my ambition, my valor, or my merit that led to the enthronement of myself and family; it was the grace of God which chose the tribe, the family, the person—myself in the first instance, and now Solomon, to whom, as the Lord's anointed, you are all bound to submit. Like that of Christ, of whom he was a type, the appointment of Solomon to the kingdom above all his brethren was frequently pre-intimated (1Ch 17:12; 22:9; 2Sa 7:12-14; 12:24, 25; 1Ki 1:13).
7. I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments—The same condition is set before Solomon by God (1Ki 3:14; 9:4).
8. Now … in the sight of all Israel, … keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord, &c.—This solemn and earnest exhortation to those present, and to all Israel through their representatives, to continue faithful in observing the divine law as essential to their national prosperity and permanence, is similar to that of Moses (De 30:15-20).
1Ch 28:9-20. He Encourages Solomon to Build the Temple.
9, 10. And thou, Solomon my son—The royal speaker now turns to Solomon, and in a most impressive manner presses upon him the importance of sincere and practical piety.
know thou—He did not mean head knowledge, for Solomon possessed that already, but that experimental acquaintance with God which is only to be obtained by loving and serving Him.
11. Then David gave to Solomon … the pattern—He now put into the hands of his son and successor the plan or model of the temple, with the elevations, measurements, apartments, and chief articles of furniture, all of which were designed according to the pattern given him by divine revelation (1Ch 28:19).
12. the pattern of all that he had by the spirit—rather, "with him in spirit"; that is, was floating in his mind.
15, 16. the candlesticks of silver—Solomon made them all of gold—in this and a few minor particulars departing from the letter of his father's instructions, where he had the means of executing them in a more splendid style. There was only one candlestick and one table in the tabernacle, but ten in the temple.
18, 19. the chariot of the cherubim—The expanded wings of the cherubim formed what was figuratively styled the throne of God, and as they were emblematical of rapid motion, the throne or seat was spoken of as a chariot (Ps 18:10; 99:1). It is quite clear that in all these directions David was not guided by his own taste, or by a desire for taking any existing model of architecture, but solely by a regard to the express revelation of the divine will. In a vision, or trance, the whole edifice, with its appurtenances, had been placed before his eyes so vividly and permanently, that he had been able to take a sketch of them in the models delivered to Solomon.
20. Be strong and of good courage—The address begun in 1Ch 28:9 is resumed and concluded in the same strain.
21. behold, the courses of the priests and Levites—They were, most probably, represented in this assembly though they are not named.
also the princes and all the people—that is, as well the skilful, expert, and zealous artisan, as the workman who needs to be directed in all his labors.