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:
So among the last acts of David was the numbering of the sons of Levi, from twenty years old and over. Their place was by the side of the sons of Aaron in all the work of the house of the Lord, in the open spaces and in the rooms, in the making clean of all the holy things, in doing all the work of the house of the Lord, The holy bread was in their care, and the crushed grain for the meal offering, of unleavened cakes or meal cooked over the fire or in water; they had control of all sorts of weights and measures; They had to take their places every morning to give praise and make melody to the Lord, and in the same way at evening; At every offering of burned offerings to the Lord, on Sabbaths, and at the new moons, and on the regular feasts, in the number ordered by the law, at all times before the Lord; And they had the care of the Tent of meeting and the holy place, under the direction of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the work of the house of the Lord.
I have put watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will not keep quiet day or night: you who are the Lord's recorders, take no rest, And give him no rest, till he puts Jerusalem in her place to be praised in the earth.
And he got together all the chiefs of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. And the Levites, all those of thirty years old and over, were numbered; and the number of them, by heads, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand. Of these, twenty-four thousand were to be overseers of the work of the house of the Lord, and six thousand were judges and men of authority; Four thousand were door-keepers; and four thousand gave praise to the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise. And David put them into divisions under the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
So he made Asaph and his brothers keep their places there before the ark of the agreement of the Lord, to do whatever had to be done before the ark at all times day by day: And Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, with their brothers, sixty-eight of them, to be door-keepers: And Zadok the priest, with his brothers the priests, before the House of the Lord in the high place at Gibeon; To give burned offerings to the Lord on the altar of burned offerings morning and evening, every day, as it is ordered in the law of the Lord which he gave to Israel; And with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were marked out by name to give praise to the Lord, for his mercy is unchanging for ever; And Heman and Jeduthun had horns and brass instruments sounding loudly, and instruments of music for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were to be at the door.
And the Lord said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's family are to be responsible for all wrongdoing in relation to the holy place: and you and your sons are to be responsible for the errors which come about in your work as priests. Let your brothers, the family of Levi, come near with you, so that they may be joined with you and be your servants: but you and your sons with you are to go in before the ark of witness. They are to do your orders and be responsible for the work of the Tent; but they may not come near the vessels of the holy place or the altar, so that death may not overtake them or you. They are to be joined with you in the care of the Tent of meeting, doing whatever is needed for the Tent: and no one of any other family may come near you. You are to be responsible for the holy place and the altar, so that wrath may never again come on the children of Israel. Now, see, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel: they are given to you and to the Lord, to do the work of the Tent of meeting.
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.