1 Chronicles 28:9

_AND THOU, SOLOMON MY SON, KNOW THOU THE GOD OF THY FATHER, AND SERVE HIM WITH A PERFECT HEART AND WITH A WILLING MIND: FOR THE LORD SEARCHETH ALL HEARTS, AND UNDERSTANDETH ALL THE IMAGINATIONS OF THE THOUGHTS:_ _ IF THOU SEEK HIM, HE WILL BE FOUND OF THEE; BUT IF THOU FORSAKE HIM, HE WILL CAST THEE OFF FOR EVER._ And thou, Solomon my son. The royal speaker now turns to Solomon, and in a most impressive manner presses upon him the importance of sincere and practical piety. KNOW THOU. He did not mean head knowledge-for Solomon possessed that already-but that experimental acquaintance with God which is only to be obtained by loving and serving Him....

1-10 During David's last sickness, many chief priests and Levites were at Jerusalem. Finding himself able, David spoke of his purpose to build a temple for God, and of God's disallowing that purpose. He opened to them God's gracious purposes concerning Solomon. David charged them to cleave stedfastly to God and their duty. We cannot do our work as we should, unless we put on resolution, and fetch in strength from Divine grace. Religion or piety has two distinct parts. The first is knowledge of God, the second is worship of God. David says, Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. God is made known by his works and word. Revelation alone shows the whole character of God, in his providence, his holy law, his condemnation of sinners, his blessed gospel, and the ministration of the Spirit to all true believers. The natural man cannot receive th...

KNOW THOU THE GOD OF THY FATHER - “Knowing God,” in the sense of having a religious trust in Him, is an unusual phrase in the earlier Scriptures. It scarcely occurs elsewhere in the historical books. David, however, uses the phrase in his Psalms Psalms 36:10; and its occurrence here may be accepted as evidence that the entire speech is recorded in the actual words of the monarch....

EXPOSITION The contents of this chapter may be said to form one scene with those of the next up to verse 25. They represent David in the presence of a magnificent company of witnesses, the flower of the Church, the military and the civil elements of his kingdom, devolving upon his son both the building of the temple and the throne itself. 1 CHRONICLES 28:1 One Hebrew word (שׂרֵי) stands for the PRINCES (twice), CAPTAINS (three times), and STEWARDS (once) of this verse. The classification of the verso speaks for itself. There are the princes of Israel; _i.q. _the princes of the tribes (1 Chronicles 27:16,...

AND THOU, SOLOMON MY SON,.... Who was present in this assembly, and presented to them by David as his successor, and their future king: and having addressed them, he turns himself to him, and exhorts him, saying, KNOW THOU THE GOD OF THY FATHER; who was his Father and covenant God, and whom he served and worshipped, and who had bestowed upon him many favours, both temporal and spiritual; and having had such an experience of his goodness, he exhorts his son to seek to know more and more of him, and to own and acknowledge him as his God, and to love and fear him: SERVE HIM WITH A PERFECT HEART, AND WITH A WILLING MIND; cordially and sincerely, cheerfully and freely, neither in an hypocritical manner, nor through force and constraint, nor with loathing and weariness: FOR THE LORD SEARCHETH ALL HEARTS; the hearts of all men, even of kings, and knows from what principles and with what view...

1 Chronicles 28:1. _And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards ever all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem._ David, in his old age, and soon to die, summoned a great representative assembly of the notables of his kingdom. 1 Chronicles 28:2. _Then David the king stood up upon his feet,_ He was ill, and obliged to keep his bed; but; he left his couch for this solemn occasion. He did not even remain seated, although extremely weak; but he stood up upon h

7. THE LAST ACTS OF DAVID AND HIS DEATH CHAPTER 28 The Great Assembly _ 1. The Address of David to the assembly (1 Chronicles 28:1)_ 2. The patterns, the gold and the silver delivered to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:11) 3. His encouraging words to Solomon (1 Chronicles 28:20) The events in this chapter connect with 1 Chronicles 23:1. There we find the brief statement that David was old and full of years and that Solomon his son was made king over Israel. Then follow the Chapter s which acquaint us with the preparations David had made for the building of th

DAVID'S ADDRESS TO THE GREAT ONES OF THE LAND: HE GIVES SOLOMON THE PLANS OF THE TEMPLE. In this chapter the thread of the narrative is taken up from where it was left at the end of _ch._ 22. 1 Chronicles 28:2. my brethren and my people: see Deuteronomy 17:15, where it is said that one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee. As so often elsewhere, the ideas of the Chronicler are dominated by the Law; an oriental king does not place himself on a level with his subjects in this way. 2 Samuel 19:12 f. does not contradict this, for there David is speaking in reference to the elders of the land, some of whom were his kinsmen; it was, moreover, a time of grievous stress for

MIND. soul. Hebrew. _nephesh._ App-13....

David's Charge to Solomon 9. _know thou the God of thy father_ For this use of _know_cp. Exodus 5:2; Isaiah 1:3; Jeremiah 31:34. _with a perfect heart_ i.e. with a _single, undivided_heart. In 2 Chronicles 15:17 the heart of king Asa is described as _perfect_, because he took no part in the idolatrous practices which prevailed in his day. Faithfulness to Jehovah, not moral perfection, is implied in phrases of this kind. _the Lord searcheth_ Cp. Ezekiel's vision of the Lord's detection of secret idolatry (Ezekiel 8