16 The agreement which he made with Abraham, and his oath to Isaac;
Saying, I have taken an oath by my name, says the Lord, because you have done this and have not kept back from me your dearly loved only son, That I will certainly give you my blessing, and your seed will be increased like the stars of heaven and the sand by the seaside; your seed will take the land of those who are against them; And your seed will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, because you have done what I gave you orders to do.
And he saw the Lord by his side, saying, I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac: I will give to you and to your seed this land on which you are sleeping. Your seed will be like the dust of the earth, covering all the land to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south: you and your seed will be a name of blessing to all the families of the earth.
Brothers, as men would say, even a man's agreement, when it has been made certain, may not be put on one side, or have additions made to it. Now to Abraham were the undertakings given, and to his seed. He says not, And to seeds, as of a great number; but as of one, he says, And to your seed, which is Christ. Now this I say: The law, which came four hundred and thirty years after, does not put an end to the agreement made before by God, so as to make the undertaking without effect.
For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself, Saying, Be certain that I will give you my blessing, and make your numbers very great. And so, when he had been waiting calmly for a long time, God's word to him was put into effect. For men at all times make their oaths by what is greater; and any argument is ended by the decision of the oath. So that when it was God's desire to make it specially clear to those who by his word were to have the heritage, that his purpose was fixed, he made it more certain with an oath; So that we, who have gone in flight from danger to the hope which has been put before us, may have a strong comfort in two unchanging things, in which it is not possible for God to be false;
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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.