Bible Commentaries
1 Chronicles 16

Verses 1-6

The offerings and Gifts

v. 1. So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace-offerings before God, both in atonement for sin and in establishing the right relation between themselves and the covenant God.

v. 2. And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord, commending their zeal and asking the richest blessings of Jehovah upon them.

v. 3. And he dealt to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread and a good piece of flesh, a measure of wine, and a flagon of wine, rather, a cake of pressed grapes.

v. 4. And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, thereby instituting divine service in Jerusalem, and to record, literally, "to bring to remembrance," to pray at the meat-offering, Leviticus 2:2, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel:

v. 5. Asaph, the chief, the man in charge of the first company of musicians, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom; and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps, these being the members of the second company of Tabernacle musicians; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;

v. 6. Benaiah also and Jahaziel, the priests, with trumpets continually before the Ark of the Covenant of God, to announce certain festivals and seasons, as well as the divisions of the psalms in the liturgical part of the Temple worship. An elaborate liturgy may well be reconciled with true piety of heart.

Verses 7-36

David's Psalm of Praise

v. 7. Then, on that day, David delivered first this psalm, to thank the Lord, into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, for use in the public worship at the Tabernacle (the hymn, as here recorded, is almost identical with Psalms 96; Cf also Psalms 105:1-15; Psalms 106:47-48):

v. 8. Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, in acknowledgment of His Godhead, make known His deeds among the people.

v. 10. Glory ye in His holy name, in proud praise; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

v. 11. Seek the Lord and His strength, in firm trust and confidence; seek His face continually. So this first strophe is a summons to praise the Lord and to seek His face.

v. 12. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth, in dealing justly both with His own people and with His enemies,

v. 14. He is the Lord, our God; His judgments are in all the earth, unmistakably plain to everyone that cares to see them, the strophe being a summons to consider the Lord's ways and judgments.

v. 15. Be ye mindful always of His covenant, the Word which He commanded to a thousand generations, as it was given from Mount Sinai and, before that, to the patriarchs;

v. 18. saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance (there is a Messianic element in these lines, and the entire strophe is a summons to keep His wonderful covenant in mind, to trust in the Messiah and His work),

v. 19. when ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it, namely, the families of the patriarchs.

v. 20. And when they went from nation to nation and from one kingdom to another people, as in the journeys of Abraham and Isaac to Philistia and Egypt, and that of Jacob to Mesopotamia,

v. 21. He suffered no man to do them wrong, as the history of each of the patriarchs shows; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes, Genesis 12:17; Genesis 20:3,

v. 22. saying, Touch not Mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm; for everyone of the patriarchs was, at the same time, a prophet of Jehovah, and the remembrance of the Lord's protection afforded to their fathers was to keep the descendants in the fear of Jehovah.

v. 23. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth, His praise should not be confined to the children of Israel; show forth from day to day His salvation, the deliverance wrought through the Messiah.

v. 24. Declare His glory among the heathen, His marvelous works among all nations; for the missionary spirit has actuated the believers of all times.

v. 25. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods, ever thing that bears that name.

v. 26. For all the gods of the people, of the heathen nations far and wide, are idols, literally, "vanities, nothingnesses"; but the Lord made the heavens.

v. 27. Glory and honor are in His presence; strength and gladness are in His place, strength and beauty in His Sanctuary, for which reason all the world should join in the praise of His greatness.

v. 29. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name; bring an offering, and come before Him; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness, in a manner harmonizing with the majesty of His holiness.

v. 30. Fear before Him, all the earth, in the veneration due to His glorious Godhead; the world also shall be stable, firmly established, that it be not moved.

v. 31. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth, this being the message which the believers of all times are to bring to all men.

v. 32. Let the sea roar and the fulness thereof; let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein, the very forces of inanimate nature being appealed to in properly picturing the glory of the Lord.

v. 33. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because He cometh to judge the earth, and even the inanimate things of creation will exult before His coming to Judgment, since it will result in their being delivered from the bondage of sin, Romans 8.

v. 34. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever, this again being a summons addressed to the believers in particular.

v. 35. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to Thy holy name, and glory in Thy praise, for the elect of the Lord will be assembled from every nation and tongue and people.

v. 36. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel forever and ever. The same doxology is found at the close of the fourth book of the Psalter, Psalms 116:19. And all the people, signifying their glad assent to the entire hymn in all its parts, just as believers do today, said, Amen, and praised the Lord.

Verses 37-43

The Ministers of the Sanctuary Appointed

v. 37. So he left there before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, in the Tabernacle at Jerusalem, Asaph and his brethren to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required, according to the arrangement which David made about the services;

v. 38. and Obededom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah to be porters, keepers of the door, in charge of the proper opening and closing;

v. 39. and Zadok, the priest, and his brethren, the priests, before the Tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, which remained a sanctuary until the time of Solomon,

v. 40. to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of the burnt offering, which remained at Gibeon, continually morning and evening, as the Law required, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel, Numbers 28;

v. 41. and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, 1 Chronicles 15:17-21, to give thanks to the Lord, because His mercy endureth forever;

v. 42. and with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should make a sound, that is, for loud sounding, to give signals that might be heard even at a distance, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun were porters, they were appointed to guard the entrance of the Tabernacle at Gibeon.

v. 43. And all the people, the festival being ended, departed, every man to his house. And David returned to bless his house, as he had before blessed the assembled congregation in the name of Jehovah. By means of this carefully ordered division of the work the services of the Lord were always edifying and interesting -a fine example to the believers of the New Testament as well.