Verse 1

Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, [is yet] young and tender, and the work [is] great: for the palace [is] not for man, but for the a LORD God.

(a) Therefore it should be excellent in all points.

Verse 3

Moreover, because I have set my b affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, [which] I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

(b) His great zeal for the furtherance of the temple made him spare no expenses, but to bestow his own peculiar treasure.

Verse 4

[Even] c three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses [withal]:

(c) He shows what he had of his own store for the Lord's house.

Verse 5

The gold for [things] of gold, and the silver for [things] of silver, and for all manner of work [to be made] by the hands of artificers. And who [then] is d willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

(d) He was not only liberal himself but provoked others to set forth the work of God.

Verse 8

And they with whom [precious] stones were e found gave [them] to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

(e) Meaning, they who had any.

Verse 9

Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with f perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

(f) That is, with good courage and without hypocrisy.

Verse 10

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed [be] thou, LORD God of g Israel our father, for ever and ever.

(g) Who revealed yourself to our father Jacob.

Verse 14

But who [am] I, and what [is] my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things h [come] of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

(h) We gave you nothing of our own, but that which we have received from you: for whether the gifts are corporal or spiritual, we receive them all from God, and therefore must give him the glory.

Verse 15

For we [are] i strangers before thee, and sojourners, as [were] all our fathers: our days on the earth [are] as a shadow, and [there is] none abiding.

(i) Therefore we have this land loaned to us for a time.

Verse 18

O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the k imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:

(k) Continue then in his good mind, that they may serve you willingly.

Verse 20

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 l king.

(l) That is, revered the king.

Verse 21

And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings unto the LORD, on the morrow after that day, [even] a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, [and] a thousand lambs, with their m drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel:

(m) Meaning, all kinds of liquor which they mingled with their sacrifices, as wine, oil, etc.

Verse 23

Then Solomon sat on the n throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.

(n) This declares that the kings of Judah were figures of Christ, who was the true anointed, and to whom God gave the chief government of all things.

Verse 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 o Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,

(o) The books of Nathan and Gad are thought to have been lost in the captivity.

Verse 30

With all his reign and his might, and the p times that went over him, and over Israel, and over all the kingdoms of the countries.

(p) Meaning the troubles and griefs.