1 Chronicles 22:1-19
1 Then David said, This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.
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.
3 And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;
4 Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.
5 And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
6 Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.
7 And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:
8 But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.
9 Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon,a and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.
10 He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
11 Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.
12 Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.
13 Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.
14 Now, behold, in my troubleb I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
15 Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workersc of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.
16 Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.
17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
18 Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.
19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.
1 Chronicles 22:14. In my trouble, that is, in my state of weakness and wars, I have prepared a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver. David having been victorious over eight nations, must have collected an immense booty, and made his armies rich. We read of no princes, except Cræsus and Sardanapalus, who had any treasure like this. A talent of gold was three thousand shekels. But admitting that the shekel of the sanctuary was twice as heavy as the common shekel, the half of the above sum is very great. Josephus takes off nine tenths of this sum: he makes the gold ten thousand talents, and the silver one hundred thousand, which the critics estimate at sixty eight millions of our money! Josephus seems to be the true reading; the former sum almost exceeds credibility.
REFLECTIONS.
In addition to the former remarks on this subject, it should be noticed here, that David hung upon the promise made by Nathan, and held it fast, as christians should always do. His soul embraced the recent indications of the Lord's temple being highly typical of the christian church. David, having convoked the elders of Israel, on the spot where the Lord had required the sacrifice to stay the plague by atonement, expresses the great desire he had to build a house to the name of the Lord, and how he was disallowed, because of his wars; and he seems to add of his own accord, because he had shed much blood. He apprized them that Solomon his son was designated for that honour. Hence this young prince was in his name, which signifies peace, and in his kingdom and work, a striking figure of the kingdom of Christ; for the Son of man came not to destroy men's lives, but to save them; and he will make wars to cease to the ends of the earth.
Hence likewise we see that God, in the economy of providence, delighteth not in war, and the effusion of blood. Judgment is his strange work. And though he had given David many extraordinary marks of approbation in his wars; yet these were solely because milder means had failed in bringing the heathen back by repentance to morality, and by reformation to the simplicity of their covenant of Noah.
We have next the very great piety of David exhibited on a broad scale. He wasted not his treasures in vain parade; he laid them out for God the giver; and as he loved religion in his youth, so to the latest moment of his life he thought nothing too much to do, either for God or for his ministers. The vast preparation of materials is proof how much his heart was in this blessed work: and though the son was preferred to the sire, he took no offence, but proceeded with a grateful heart. What submission, what humility, what zeal, and what a reproach to those christians who, because they cannot be first in a popular work, refuse to act in a secondary way, and even withhold the aids so essential to the design. In many cases they do not even allow their minister food and raiment.