1 Chronicles 22:18

17-19 Whatever is done towards rendering the word of God generally known and attended to, is like bringing a stone, or an ingot of gold, towards erecting the temple. This should encourage us when we grieve that we do not see more fruit of our labours; much good may appear after our death, which we never thought of. Let us not then be weary of well doing. The work is in the hands of the Prince of peace. As he, the Author and Finisher of the work, is pleased to employ us as his instruments, let us arise and be doing, encouraging and helping one another; working by his rule, after his example, in dependence on his grace, assured that he will be with us, and that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord....

Verse 1 Chronicles 22:18. _IS NOT THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH YOU?_] "Is not the WORD of the Lord your God your assistant?" - _T_. _HATH HE NOT GIVEN YOU REST ON EVERY SIDE?_] David at this time was not only king of Judea, but had also subdued most of the surrounding nations. Thus Solomon came to the Jewish throne with every possible advantage. Had he made a proper use of his state and of his talents, he would have been the greatest as well as the wisest of sovereigns. But alas! how soon did this pure gold become dim! He began with an unlawful matrimonial connection; this led him to a commerce that was positively forbidden by the law of God: he then multiplied his matrimonial connections with heathen women; they turned his heart away from God, and the once wise and holy Solomon died a fool and an idolater....

EXPOSITION From the commencement of this chapter to the close of the First Book of the Chronicles we again travel alone, and, with the exception of parallel passages of a merely ordinary character, have no longer the assistance of comparing different descriptions of the same stretches of history. The present chapter relates David's interested and zealous preparations for the building of the temple (1 Chronicles 22:1); his exhortations and solemn charge to his son and successor (1 Chronicles 22:6); and afterwards his injunctions to the "princes of Israel" (1 Chronicles 22:17-13) to help Solomon....

IS NOT THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH YOU?.... Blessing them with wealth and riches: AND HATH HE NOT GIVEN YOU REST ON EVERY SIDE? from all enemies within and without; so that they had peace and quietness, and leisure to attend the service he recommended to them: FOR HE HATH GIVEN THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND INTO MY HAND; meaning the rest of the Canaanites, who before were unsubdued, as even the Jebusites in Jerusalem: AND THE LAND IS SUBDUED BEFORE THE LORD, AND BEFORE HIS PEOPLE; and the extent of it carried to its utmost bounds, as God had promised....

1 Chronicles 22:1 _Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel._ Now he knew where the temple was to be built; and of a certainty he had discovered that long-predestined site of which God said, «Here will I dwell.» This was the very hill whereon Abraham offered up his son Isaac; a hill, therefore, most sacred by covenant to the living God. He delighted to remember the believing obedience of his servant Abraham, and there he would have his temple built. 1 Chronicles 22:2. _And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God._ Observe here a very gracious eye to us who are Gentiles. The tem

IV. PREPARATIONS FOR THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE 1. The Preparations and Charge to Solomon CHAPTER 22 _ 1. The material (1 Chronicles 22:1)_ 2. The charge to Solomon (1 Chronicles 22:6) 3. The charge to the princes (1 Chronicles 22:17) God had accepted the sacrifice. The judgment had passed. Prayer had been answered and David, therefore, could truthfully say “this is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt-offering for Israel.” The place had therefore been pointed out on which the temple was to be reared. And from now on up to the twenty-eighth verse of chapter 26 all concerns the house which is to be built. The temple is

1 CHRONICLES 22:2 TO 1 CHRONICLES 29:30. The whole of this section is the work of the Chronicler, though it is probable that he utilised some earlier sources in compiling it; a good deal of OT material is woven into it, but it has no parallel in earlier books, as in the case of the Chapter s so far considered. 1 CHRONICLES 22:2. DAVID'S PREPARATION FOR THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE. This is an imaginative elaboration of 2 Samuel 7:1; 2 Samuel 7:13....

David's Charge to the Princes 18. _the inhabitants of the land_ Cp. 1 Chronicles 11:4, _the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land_. The remnant of the earlier inhabitants of Canaan is meant....

14. DAVID'S PROVISIONS FOR THE TEMPLE (Chapter 22) TEXT 1 Chronicles 22:1. Then David said, This is the house of Jehovah God, and this is the altar of burnt-offering for Israel. 2. And David commanded to gather together the sojourners that were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. 3. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight; 4. and cedar-trees without number: for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar-trees in abundance to David. 5. And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for Jehovah must be exceeding magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. 6. Then h

DAVID'S PREPARATIONS FOR THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE This chapter is supplementary to the narrative in the earlier books, its contents coming chronologically between 2 Samuel 24 and 1 Kings 1....