4And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to ccommemorate, to thank, and to praise the LORD God of Israel:
5Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then dJeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals;
6Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Song of Thanksgiving
(Ps. 96:1–13; 105:1–15; 106:1, 47, 48)
7On that day eDavid ffirst delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the LORD:
8g Oh, give thanks to the LORD!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
9Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
10Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
11Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
12Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
13O seed of Israel His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14He is the LORD our God;
His hjudgments are in all the earth.
15Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
16The icovenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
17And jconfirmed it to kJacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
18Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
19When you were lfew in number,
Indeed very few, and strangers in it.
20When they went from one nation to another,
And from one kingdom to another people,
21He permitted no man to do them wrong;
Yes, He mrebuked kings for their sakes,
22Saying, n“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
23o Sing to the LORD, all the earth;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
24Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
25For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised;
He is also to be feared above all gods.
26For all the gods pof the peoples are 1idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
27Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and gladness are in His place.
28Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
Give to the LORD glory and strength.
29Give to the LORD the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him.
Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!
30Tremble before Him, all the earth.
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved.
31Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
And let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
32Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
33Then the qtrees of the woods shall rejoice before the LORD,
For He is rcoming to judge the earth.
34s Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
35t And say, “Save us, O God of our salvation;
Gather us together, and deliver us from the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.”
36u Blessed be the LORD God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And all vthe people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.
Regular Worship Maintained
37So he left wAsaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work xrequired;
38and yObed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers;
39and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, zbefore the tabernacle of the LORD aat the 2high place that was at Gibeon,
40to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly bmorning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the LORD which He commanded Israel;
41and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, cbecause His mercy endures forever;
42and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.
43dThen all the people departed, every man to his house; and David returned to bless his house.
1 Chronicles 17
God’s Covenant with David
(2 Sam. 7:1–29)
1Now ait came to pass, when David was dwelling in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under tent curtains.”
2Then Nathan said to David, “Do all that is in your heart, for God is with you.”
3But it happened that night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying,
4“Go and tell My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: “You shall bnot build Me a house to dwell in.
5“For I have not dwelt in a house since the time that I brought up Israel, even to this day, but have gone from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.
6“Wherever I have moved about with all Israel, have I ever spoken a word to any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’ ” ’
7“Now therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “I took you cfrom the sheepfold, from following the sheep, to be 1ruler over My people Israel.
8“And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have 2made you a name like the name of the great men who are on the earth.
9“Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will dplant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more; nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore, as previously,
10“since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. Also I will subdue all your enemies. Furthermore I tell you that the LORD will build you a 3house.
11“And it shall be, when your days are efulfilled, when you must 4go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your fseed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
12g“He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
13h“I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, ias I took it from him who was before you.
14“And jI will establish him in My house and in My kingdom forever; and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
15According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.
16kThen King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O LORD God? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far?
17“And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O God; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the rank of a man of high degree, O LORD God.
18“What more can David say to You for the honor of Your servant? For You know Your servant.
19“O LORD, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making kno
wn all these great things.
20“O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
21l“And who is like Your people Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people—to make for Yourself a name by great and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before Your people whom You redeemed from Egypt?
22“For You have made Your people Israel Your very own people forever; and You, LORD, have become their God.
23“And now, O LORD, the word which You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house, let it be established forever, and do as You have said.
24“So let it be established, that Your name may be magnified forever, saying, ‘The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, is Israel’s God.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You.
25“For You, O my God, 5have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house. Therefore Your servant has found it in his heart to pray before You.
26“And now, LORD, 6You are God, and have promised this goodness to Your servant.
27“Now You have been pleased to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue before You forever; for You have blessed it, O LORD, and it shall be blessed forever.”
1 Chronicles 18
David’s Further Conquests
(2 Sam. 8:1–14)
1After this ait came to pass that David 1attacked the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines.
2Then he 2defeated bMoab, and the Moabites became David’s cservants, and brought tribute.
3And dDavid 3defeated 4Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath, as he went to establish his power by the River Euphrates.
4David took from him one thousand chariots, 5seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand foot soldiers. Also David 6hamstrung all the chariot horses, except that he spared enough of them for one hundred chariots.
5When the eSyrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David killed twenty-two thousand of the Syrians.
6Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became David’s servants, and brought tribute. So the LORD preserved David wherever he went.
7And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem.
8Also from 7Tibhath and from 8Chun, cities of 9Hadadezer, David brought a large amount of fbronze, with which gSolomon made the bronze 10Sea, the pillars, and the articles of bronze.
9Now when 11Tou king of Hamath heard that David had 12defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,
10he sent 13Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and 14defeated him (for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou); and Hadoram brought with him all kinds of harticles of gold, silver, and bronze.
11King David also dedicated these to the LORD, along with the silver and gold that he had brought from all these nations—from Edom, from Moab, from the ipeople of Ammon, from the jPhilistines, and from kAmalek.
12Moreover lAbishai the son of Zeruiah killed meighteen thousand 15Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
13nHe also put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David wherever he went.
David’s Administration
(2 Sam. 8:15–18)
14So David reigned over all Israel, and administered judgment and justice to all his people.
15Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;
16Zadok the son of Ahitub and 16Abimelech the son of Abiathar were the priests; 17Shavsha was the scribe;
17oBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were 18chief ministers at the king’s side.
1 Chronicles 19
The Ammonites and Syrians Defeated
(2 Sam. 10:1–19)
1Ita happened after this that Nahash the king of the people of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place.
2Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to Hanun in the land of the people of Ammon to comfort him.
3And the princes of the people of Ammon said to Hanun, 1“Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”
4Therefore Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments 2in the middle, at their bbuttocks, and sent them away.
5Then some went and told David about the men; and he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Wait at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.”
6When the people of Ammon saw that they had made themselves repulsive to David, Hanun and the people of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from 3Mesopotamia, from Syrian Maacah, cand from 4Zobah.
7So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, with the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. Also the people of Ammon gathered together from their cities, and came to battle.
8Now when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men.
9Then the people of Ammon came out and put themselves in battle array before the gate of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.
10When Joab saw that the battle line was against him before and behind, he chose some of Israel’s best and put them in battle array against the Syrians.
11And the rest of the people he put under the command of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in battle array against the people of Ammon.
12Then he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the people of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.
13“Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. And may the LORD do what is good in His sight.”
14So Joab and the people who were with him drew near for the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him.
15When the people of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fleeing, they also fled before Abishai his brother, and entered the city. So Joab went to Jerusalem.
16Now when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought the Syrians who were beyond 5the River, and 6Shophach the commander of Hadadezer’s army went before them.
17When it was told David, he gathered all Israel, crossed over the Jordan and came upon them, and set up in battle array against them. So when David had set up in battle array against the Syrians, they fought with him.
18Then the Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed 7seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand 8foot soldiers of the Syrians, and killed Shophach the commander of the army.
19And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became his servants. So the Syrians were not willing to help the people of Ammon anymore.
1 Chronicles 20
Rabbah Is Conquered
(2 Sam. 11:1; 12:26–31)
1Ita happened 1in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the armed forces and ravaged the country of the people of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But bDavid stayed at Jerusalem. And cJoab defeated Rabbah and overthrew it.
2Then David dtook their king’s crown from his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the 2spoil of the city in great abundance.
3And he brought out the people who were in it, and 3put them to work with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. So David did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and
all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Philistine Giants Destroyed
(2 Sam. 21:15–22)
4Now it happened afterward ethat war broke out at 4Gezer with the Philistines, at which time fSibbechai the Hushathite killed 5Sippai, who was one of the sons of 6the giant. And they were subdued.
5Again there was war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of 7Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s gbeam.
6Yet again hthere was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, with twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand and six on each foot; and he also was born to 8the giant.
7So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of 9Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
1 Chronicles 21
The Census of Israel and Judah
(2 Sam. 24:1–25)
1Now aSatan stood up against Israel, and moved David to 1number Israel.
2So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, band bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”
3And Joab answered, “May the LORD make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?”
4Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem.
5Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword.
6cBut he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s 2word was abominable to Joab.
7And 3God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel.
8So David said to God, d“I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; ebut now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”
9Then the LORD spoke to Gad, David’s fseer, saying,
10“Go and tell David, gsaying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ”
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 202