Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
1 Chronicles 29:29

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 1 Chronicles 29:29. The acts of David - first and last — Those which concerned him in private life, as well as those which grew out of his regal government. All these were written by three eminent men, personally acquainted with him through the principal part of his life; these were Samuel and Gad the seers, and Nathan the prophet. These writings are all lost, except the particulars interspersed in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, none of which are the records mentioned here.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Solomon presented to the people (28:1-29:30)

David had been forced to appoint Solomon as king hastily when he learnt that another son, Adonijah, was plotting to seize the throne for himself (see notes on 1 Kings 1:5-53). That very unceremonious anointing of Solomon was followed soon after by a second anointing, this time with full religious and regal ceremony (see 29:22). This second occasion is the one that the Chronicler refers to here. David presented Solomon to the people as the one who, by God’s choice, would succeed him as king and build the temple (28:1-10). David gave Solomon the plans he had prepared for the temple and its service. He encouraged Solomon to persist in the work till the temple was finished and in use according to the plans he had set out (11-21).

In addition to the money and materials he had already given for the project (see 22:14), David gave a lavish offering from his own personal funds. His example prompted the people to make similarly generous offerings (29:1-9). The joyful response from the people brought from David an outburst of magnificent praise to God. He gladly acknowledged that everything that people possess comes from God; therefore, in making offerings to him, the Israelites had only given back what he had already given them. They had done this joyfully and willingly, and David prayed that they would maintain such devotion to God always (10-20).
Next day the people joined in a great festival and swore allegiance to Solomon as their new king (21-25). The writer will now continue with the story of Solomon, but before doing so he gives a brief summary of the reign of David (26-30).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE DEATH OF KING DAVID

"Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. Now the acts of David the king, first, and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, with all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries."

See my Introduction to 1 and 2 Chronicles for a discussion of the extensive documentation behind what is written herein. This is an appropriate place indeed to separate 1 Chronicles from 2 Chronicles, since 2 Chronicles deals with the reign of Solomon, the rebellion of the ten northern tribes, the affairs of the divided kingdom, the rapid corruption of Israel that led to their captivity, and with their history until Cyrus' decree for the rebuilding of the temple.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

On the character of the works alluded to, see Introduction to Chronicles.

Gad the seer - Gad is not given here the same title as Samuel. Samuel’s title is one, apparently, of higher dignity, applied only to him and to Hanani 2Ch 16:7, 2 Chronicles 16:10. Gad’s is a far commoner title; it is applied to his contemporaries Asaph 2 Chronicles 29:30, Heman 1 Chronicles 25:5, and Jeduthun 2 Chronicles 35:15, to Iddo 2 Chronicles 9:29; 2 Chronicles 12:15, to Jehu, the son of Hanani 2 Chronicles 19:2, and to the prophet Amos Amos 7:12. When “seers” are spoken of in the plural, it is the term almost universally used, only one instance Isaiah 30:10 occurring to the contrary.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 29

Furthermore David the king said unto the congregation, Solomon my son, whom God had chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of many colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper wealth, placed the gold and the silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that which I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and the seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses: the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD? ( 1 Chronicles 29:1-5 )

So David is, has told of his own commitment and now he's challenging them for a commitment of giving to God. "This is what I have done. This is what I propose to do. Now who of you are willing to offer your service unto the Lord?"

And the chief of the fathers, the princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly, and they gave for the service of the house of God, of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And they all with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. And the people rejoiced, for they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also received with great joy ( 1 Chronicles 29:6-9 ).

So how are we to give to God? Just this way. We are to give with a willing heart, with a complete heart. And we are to give with rejoicing. Give what you can. Give with a free rejoicing heart. Now God doesn't want you to give to Him out of pressure. God doesn't want you to give to Him because you're being forced or constrained to do it. Because God never wants you to gripe over what you gave to Him. What an insult to God for a person to turn around and gripe over what they gave. Complain over what they gave. That would be horrible. God never wants that to happen. Therefore, He always wants your gift to come from your own heart. That which you purposed in your own heart to give to God willingly. That which you can give cheerfully, give. That which you can't give cheerfully, don't give. If you can't do it with a cheerful, willing heart, then don't do it at all. It's of no value. God isn't interested in it.

And so these men gave complete heart willingly unto the Lord. And there was great rejoicing. There's real joy in giving to God.

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all ( 1 Chronicles 29:10-11 ).

Now verse eleven here sounds much like the final phrase of the Lord's prayer. "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever" ( Matthew 6:13 ). Look at it again. "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all." David was so great with words and so able to praise the Lord. I love the way David is just able to express himself to the Lord so freely, so. And really with such great expression. "Lord, Yours is the kingdom. The whole earth is Yours and the whole universe."

Both riches and honor come of thee, you reign over all; and in your hand is power and might; and in your hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come from thee, and of thine own we have given to thee ( 1 Chronicles 29:12-14 ).

Now David said, "Hey, Lord, it's all yours. You're the One that's given riches. You're the One that gives power. You're the One that gives abilities and everything else. It all belongs to You. And so actually all we've done is give You that which is really Yours anyhow."

Now we need to see ourselves as just stewards over God's things. God set man upon the earth to sort of tend the garden. Man sought to rule over the garden. Man sought to rule over the earth. God just placed us here to take care of it. We've done a very poor job. Greed got in the way. I want more than what I need. I don't need more than that, but I want more than that. And so I'm always striving to get more than I really need myself. And thus, we get deeper into the resources of the earth. And rather than just keeping them and preserving them, we use them up for our own greed. And thus, we have destroyed so many of the ecological balances in nature because of our greed.

"Lord, it all belongs to You. We were just taking care of it. We have done a bad job. We're only giving You back, Lord, that which is really Yours to begin with." You'd never really give God anything. "Who am I that I'm able to do this for You, Lord? Who am I, Lord, that I could give to You?" To me, giving is one of the most tremendous privileges that God has allowed us. That I could give to God. Really, God doesn't need anything I have. But He allows me to give to Him anyhow. And He blesses me for giving to Him. Not because He needs it, but because I need the blessings. So He allows me the privilege of giving to Him. And then He pays me dividends. God is so good.

For we are strangers before thee, sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none that is abiding ( 1 Chronicles 29:15 ).

"None that is abiding." There are some today who are so much into positive confession they're beginning to claim now they're not going to die. David said, "There are none that are abiding." We're all sojourners. Our life is like a shadow.

O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name comes from Your hand, it is all Your own. I know also, my God, that You try the heart, and You have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now I have seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee ( 1 Chronicles 29:16-17 ).

"Lord, You know that what I gave. You know my heart. You know, Lord, I gave it to You out of the uprightness of my heart willingly: and now I have the joy of seeing all these people do the same thing."

O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: and give unto Solomon my son a complete heart, to keep thy commandments, and thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision. And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king with them. And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, they offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, and on the morrow the day after, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all of Israel: they did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest ( 1 Chronicles 29:18-22 ).

So great celebration and worship of God and the feasting that was associated with the worship. Now these sacrifices, thousand rams, thousand lambs, thousand oxen and so forth, they all were barbecued really and eaten by the people. They had a giant barbecue, and you just go around and grab the meat that you desire and just an abundance. Everybody just before the Lord worshipping God. You see, only the sin offering couldn't be eaten. But these were peace offerings and unto the Lord which were offerings of fellowship. And so the great feast that they had company it. And the days, they were called the feasts, the times of their national holidays, the Passover and Pentecost and Trumpets. They were the feasts of the Passover. The feast of Pentecost. The feast of Trumpets because they would always be times of great feasting together. And the idea was eating together with the Lord. "Lord, we offer this as a sacrifice unto You, and You're going to have this portion of it and we'll eat the rest, as we worship You and thank You for all of Your blessings and all of Your goodness and all."

And so the times of worshipping God were great times of fellowship and rejoicing and eating. So your potlucks and everything are all in order, really. God enjoys you just eating and enjoying it and fellowshipping with Him. As you are feasting together, and it should be a time of just thanksgiving and worship unto God.

And so Solomon sat on the throne as the king instead of David his father, and he prospered; and all of Israel obeyed him. And all the princes, and the mighty men, likewise the sons of David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years in Hebron, thirty-three in Jerusalem. And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead. Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel, the book of Nathan, the book of Gad ( 1 Chronicles 29:23-29 ),

These three men were prophets. They each wrote books, and of course, we have the books of Samuel, First and Second Samuel, the seer. But we do not have, and of course, even Samuel, Second Samuel wasn't written by him completely. We have the books. We do not have the book of Nathan and the book of Gad. They are lost books.

All of his reign, his might, the times that he went over, and over Israel, the time of his reigning over all of the kingdoms of the countries ( 1 Chronicles 29:30 ).

So we come to the end of a good friend, David.

May the Lord be with you and bless you and watch over you during the week. May your love and commitment to God grow day by day. And may we each one consider what we are giving to God and how we give it. That we might render unto God that which is pleasing and acceptable in His sight, of our time, of our service, of our abilities, of our substance. God bless you. In Jesus' name. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

David’s death 29:26-30

The writer highlighted David’s greatness again and cited documentation for the sources he had used in researching David’s life and reign. The Chronicler identified 32 sources that he used in writing 1 and 2 Chronicles. Most of these were official annals, genealogical records, or prophetic records. [Note: See Howard, pp. 238-42.] Compare the summary of Moses’ life in Deuteronomy 34:7.

As the reign of David closed, God had already fulfilled many of His promises in the Davidic Covenant. Yet many remained unfulfilled. On the basis of God’s faithfulness thus far the Chronicler had built a solid base of confidence that He would also fulfill those that remained. This fulfillment motif is one he carried through his history of David and Solomon’s successors that follows in 2 Chronicles.

"The Chronicler presents not one but two great kings as the ideal for Israel. The one was David, the warrior-king, who subdued the enemies of the people of God and established a secure domain. He was now passing, and the other, Solomon, was taking his place. Solomon was a man of peace who would build up the prosperity of the nation. These two things together-victory over enemies and a reign of peace-are both essential. For Christian readers these two ideals are fulfilled in the one man, Jesus Christ. He conquers all his foes but at the same time establishes a reign of peace for his own people. In this the tandem of David and Solomon are a type of Christ. [Note: Thompson, pp. 198-99. Cf. Wilcock, pp. 140-42.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Now the acts of David the king, first and last,.... All that he did that was memorable, both before he was king, and when king in Hebron, and then in Jerusalem:

behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer; which were journals of his life and actions, begun by Samuel, and carried on by Nathan and Gad; out of which what is recorded in canonical Scripture was taken by divine direction, and preserved, while other writings are lost; or rather the book of Samuel designs the first book of Samuel, and the books of Nathan and Gad the second book of Samuel, by whom it was written.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.   24 And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.   25 And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.   26 Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel.   27 And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.   28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.   29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,   30 With all his reign and his might, and the times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

      These verses bring king Solomon to his throne and king David to his grave. Thus the rising generation thrusts out that which went before, and says, "Make room for us." Every one has his day.

      I. Here is Solomon rising (1 Chronicles 29:23; 1 Chronicles 29:23): Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord. Not his throne which he prepared in the heavens, but the throne of Israel is called the throne of the Lord because not only is he King of all nations, and all kings rule under him, but he was in a peculiar manner King of Israel, 1 Samuel 12:12. He had the founding, he had the filling, of their throne, by immediate direction. The municipal laws of their kingdom were divine. Urim and prophets were the privy counsellors of their princes; therefore is their throne called the throne of the Lord. Solomon's kingdom typified the kingdom of the Messiah, and his is indeed the throne of the Lord; for the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to him; hence he calls him his King,Psalms 2:6. Being set on the throne of the Lord, the throne to which God called him, he prospered. Those that follow the divine guidance may expect success by the divine blessing. Solomon prospered; for, 1. His people paid honour to him, as one to whom honour is due: All Israel obeyed him, that is, were ready to swear allegiance to him (1 Chronicles 29:23; 1 Chronicles 29:23), the princes and mighty men, and even the sons of David, though by seniority their title to the crown was prior to his, and they might think themselves wronged by his advancement. God thought fit to make him king, and made him fit to be so, and therefore they all submitted themselves to him. God inclined their hearts to do so, that his reign might, from the first, be peaceable. His father was a better man than he, and yet came to the crown with much difficulty, after long delay, and by many and slow steps. David had more faith, and therefore had it more tried. They submitted themselves (Heb. They gave the hand under Solomon), that is, bound themselves by oath to be true to him (putting the hand under the thigh was a ceremony anciently used in swearing); or they were so entirely devoted that they would put their hand under his feet to serve him. 2. God put honour upon him; for those that honour him he will honour: The Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly,1 Chronicles 29:25; 1 Chronicles 29:25. His very countenance and presence, I am apt to think, had something in them very great and awful. All he said and all he did commanded respect. None of all the judges or kings of Israel, his predecessors, made such a figure as he did nor lived in such splendour.

      II. Here is David's setting, that great man going off the stage. The historian here brings him to the end of his day, leaves him asleep, and draws the curtains about him.

      1. He gives a summary account of the years of his reign, 1 Chronicles 29:26; 1 Chronicles 29:27. He reigned forty years, as did Moses, Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, Eli, Samuel, and Saul, who were before him, and Solomon after him.

      2. He gives a short account of his death (1 Chronicles 29:28; 1 Chronicles 29:28), that he died full of days, riches, and honour; that is, (1.) Loaded with them. He was very old, and very rich, and very much honoured both of God and man. He had been a man of war from his youth, and, as such, had his soul continually in his hand; yet he was not cut off in the midst of his days, but was preserved through all dangers of a military life, lived to a good old age, and died in peace, died in his bed, and yet in the bed of honour. (2.) Satiated with them. He was full of days, riches, and honour; that is, he had enough of this world and of the riches and honours of it, and knew when he had enough, for he was very willing to die and leave it, having said (Psalms 49:15), God shall receive me, and (Psalms 23:4), Thou art with me. A good man will soon be full of days, riches, and honour, but will never be satisfied with them; no satisfaction but in God's loving kindness.

      3. For a fuller account of David's life and reign he refers to the histories or records of those times, which were written by Samuel while he lived, and continued, after his death, by Nathan and Gad, 1 Chronicles 29:29; 1 Chronicles 29:29. There was related what was observable in his government at home and his wars abroad, the times, that is, the events of the times, that went over him,1 Chronicles 29:29; 1 Chronicles 29:30. These registers were then in being, but are now lost. Note, Good use may be made of those histories of the church which are authentic though not sacred or of divine inspiration.