The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 4 · Section 211
SECT. CCXI.
DAvid then aſſembles to Jeruſalem all the Princes and Rulers of the Tribes, all the Captains and Commanders of the Army, together with his own Sons, and his ſervants and Officers; and in this general Aſſembly of Princes and people ſtanding upon his feet (though poſſibly ſupported by ſome of his ſervants) he made his laſt and farewell ſpeech and exhortation unto them: He begins, Give ear unto me my brethren and my people, it was very much in my heart to build an houſe for the Ark the footſtool (b)The Lord being repreſented as ſitting between the Cherubims, the body of the Ark was as it were his Footſtool. See Pſal. 99.5. & 132.7.of God, and I made conſiderable preparations in order thereunto. But God ſaid to me by Nathan the Prophet, Thou ſhalt not build an houſe for me becauſe thou haſt been a man of a war. The Lord may chuſe and employ whom he pleaſes in any ſervice he has to do; none can juſtly ſay to him why doſt thou ſo. Among our twelve Tribes he choſe the Tribe of Judah (who was the fourth Son of Jacob, Gen. 29.35.) that out of it a King (c)See Gen. 49.8, 10.ſhould be taken to rule over his people. In the Tribe of Judah he choſe the houſe of Jeſſe my Father which was none of the greateſt families of the Tribe, [1 King. 12.16] and of that family he choſe me the youngeſt of eight Sons [1 Sam. 16.11.] to be King over Iſrael for ever, that is, as long as I lived. And now of all my Sons he hath choſen Solomon (who has ſix brothers elder than himſelf, ſee 1 Chron. 3.4, 5.*There 19 Sons of David are reckoned up.) to ſit upon the Throne of this Kingdom after me, which in a peculiar manner belongs unto him. And he hath promiſed to be a Father to this my Son Solomon and to eſtabliſh his Kingdom for ever (that is for a long time) if he be careful to keep his commandments and ſtatutes as he does at this day. Now in the preſence of this great congregation (the repreſentative body of Iſrael, who are the Lords peculiar people) and in the audience of God himſelf who heareth this charge that I give you, I ſolemnly exhort you all to keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which are made known to you, and if you be ignorant in any thing that belongs to your duty, ſeek to be inſtructed in it, that you may quietly poſſeſs this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you from generation to generation.
Having ended his Exhortation to the Princes and people, he now turns his ſpeech to Solomon, ſaying, And thou Solomon my Son, know thou the God of thy Father and ſerve him with an upright heart, and with a willing mind; for the Lord ſearcheth all hearts, and underſtandeth all the imaginations and workings of the thoughts. If thou ſeek him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forſake him by a total and final apoſtaſie, he will renounce thee and caſt thee off for ever. Take heed therefore to thy ſelf and to thy ways; and ſeeing the Lord hath choſen thee to build an houſe for his name, which is to be to him for a Sanctuary wherein his Ark is to reſt, be thou ſtrong and couragious, and ſee that thou frame it according to this pattern that here I now give thee. Behold this is the pattern of the whole building, as it was revealed to me by the Spirit of God, this is the model of the Porch, and the diſtinct parts of the Temple, and of the place of the Mercy-ſeat, as alſo of the Chambers, Treaſuries, inward Parlours and Courts; and here I give thee alſo the order and courſes of the Prieſts and Levites, and what work and ſervice they are to perform in the houſe of the Lord. I give thee alſo a pattern of all the ſacred utenſils and veſſels that are to be made for the ſervice of the Temple. As for the veſſels that are to be made of Gold I have weighed out ſo much Gold as will be ſufficient to make them, and as for the veſſels of ſilver I have alſo appointed a ſufficient quantity of ſilver. I have appointed gold for the Candleſticks (a)There was but one Golden Candleſtick in the Tabernacle, but there were to be ten in the Temple., and Tables of ſhew-bread, and for the bowls, cups and baſons, and for the Altar of Incenſe, and for the chariot (b)That is of the two great Cherubims to be made of Olive-wood, and covered over with plates of gold, which were to overſhadow the Ark. See 1 King. 6.23. They are called here the cha…iot of the Cherubims, becauſe the Angels are called the Lords Chariots, Pſal. 68.17. Inſedit Cherubimis Deus, 1 Sam 4.4.of the Cherubims that are to ſpread out their wings and cover the Ark; all this the Lord made me to underſtand through his good hand upon me, and gave me this pattern in writing by his Prophet Nathan. Therefore be thou ſtrong and of good courage, fear not nor be diſmayed, for the Lord God even my God will be with thee, he will not fail thee nor forſake thee, but carry thee on till thou haſt finiſhed all things belonging to the Temple, and the ſervice thereof. And the Prieſts and Levites in their ſeveral courſes will aſſiſt thee in what belongs to them; and thou wilt have many skilful artificers that will readily aſſiſt thee about things of Gold, Silver, Braſs, Wood, or any other materials. And I doubt not but the Princes and all the people will be wholly at thy command.
Then David turned his ſpeech again to the whole Aſſembly, and ſaid to them, Solomon my Son (whom God alone hath choſen to ſucceed me) is yet young and tender, & the work that he is to do is great. For this Palace or Royal Temple that he is to build is not to be built for man, but for the Lord God, and therefore muſt be moſt magnificent. As for my ſelf, I have provided with all my might, and to the uttermoſt of my power for the building of it, and the finiſhing of all things appertaining to it. And I declare before you all (not out of pride or oſtentation, but to ſtir you up to follow my example) that I have provided gold and ſilver, and braſs and iron, and timber, and marble ſtones in abundance for this great work; yea I have provided all manner of precious ſtones, as Onix-ſtones, and glittering ſtones of divers colours. Yea, I have ſo ſet my heart on the building of this houſe for God, that I have of my own proper goods (which I had gathered for my ſelf*David got very rich ſpoils in the many wars he was engaged in, and the wealthy enemies he conquered., after I had conſecrated to God his part which was the greateſt) given three thouſand talents of Gold, viz. of the Gold of Ophir, ſeven thouſand talents of refined ſilver. The gold is for to overlay in thin plates the walls of the Temple, and the ſilver to overlay the walls of ſome particular rooms in the houſes and buildings adjoining. And now let me exhort you all to follow my example, and to aſſiſt my Son with heart and hand, with your counſel and with your purſes in this great work. And truly you have great reaſon to do it. Is not the Lord your God among you to bleſs you? Hath he not given you reſt on every ſide? Hath he not given the people, the inhabitants of the land, into my hand, ſo that they peaceably ſubmit to my government? Is not the land ſubdued before the Lord and before his people, ſo that being freed from their enemies they may quietly enjoy their poſſeſſions? Therefore ſet your hearts to ſeek the Lord your God, and faithfully to ſerve him. Ariſe and build the Sanctuary of the Lord your God, and bring the Ark and the holy veſſels of God into it. And now let me ſee who among you is willing to fill his hand with gifts this day, and freely to offer them to the Lord for the building of this houſe.
Upon this motion of the Kings, the Princes, Rulers and Captains, and all ſorts offered very willingly and liberally for the ſervice of the houſe, and 'tis like ſubſcribed what they intended to give, and that which they gave amounted to five thouſand talents of Gold, and ten thouſand drams, and ten thouſand talents of ſilver, and eighteen thouſand talents of braſs, and one hundred thouſand talents of iron. And they that had precious ſtones gave them to the Treaſure of the houſe of the Lord for this ſacred uſe. And there was great joy among all the people, becauſe of the great willingneſs and forwardneſs that was in all ſorts to contribut to this work. And David alſo rejoiced exceedingly at it, and was much pleaſed with their large, free and willing contribution. Whereupon he brake out into an holy and zealous praiſing of the Lord for it, and ſaid, Bleſſed be thou Lord God of Iſrael our Father, for ever and ever. To thee, O Lord, belongs greatneſs, power, glory, majeſty and victory: For all that is in heaven or in the earth is thine: Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and we do willingly exalt thee, and acknowledg thee to be head above all, and higher than all: Both riches and honour come from thee, and thou reigneſt over all, and in thine hand is power and might: In thine hand it is to make great, and to give ſtrength to all to whom thou pleaſeſt. Now therefore, O Lord, we exalt and praiſe thy name for thy glorious excellencies, and thy benefits conferred on us: But who am I, and what is my people that we ſhould have hearts and abilities to offer ſo freely and ſo largely as we have done? And yet we have no manner of cauſe to boaſt or glory: For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee: We do acknowledg that we are not proprietors of the goods that we poſſeſs, but only thy ſtewards: The land we dwell in is thine, we are but ſtrangers before thee, and ſojourners as all our fathers were: And our days on the earth are as a ſhadow, and there is no abiding for us here; and therefore ſeeing we are to continue but a ſhort time in this life, and have but a ſhort enjoyment of the things of this world, how can we better diſpoſe of them than for thy ſervice, who art able to give us in exchange for them an eternal inheritance in thy Kingdom. O Lord, we do willingly acknowledg that all this great ſtore we have provided for the building of an houſe for thy holy name was given us by thy free bounty, and is all thine own, and therefore we preſent unto thee only what thou thy ſelf didſt firſt give us. I know, O Lord, thou trieſt the heart, and haſt pleaſure in uprightneſs: As for my ſelf in the uprightneſs of mine heart I have willingly offered all theſe things; and now to my great joy and comfort I have alſo ſeen this people here preſent to offer willingly unto thee: O Lord God of Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob our Fathers, I pray thee keep and preſerve this holy zeal in the minds and hearts of this people, and eſtabliſh their hearts and make them ever firm to thy ſelf: And give unto Solomon my Son an upright heart to keep thy commandments, teſtimonies and ſtatutes, and to do all things required of him, and enable him to build and finiſh this ſtately Palace for thy name for which I have made ſo great proviſion.
David having ended his prayer, he call'd to the whole Congregation to bleſs the Lord, which accordingly they did with loud acclamations, and bowed down their heads and worſhipped the Lord with divine honour and adoration; which being done they bowed themſelves to the King and paid him civil honour and reſpect and ſo departed. The next day they ſacrificed Sacrifices, and offered Burnt-offerings unto the Lord, namely a thouſand bullocks, a thouſand rams, and a thouſand lambs, with the drink-offerings appertaining to them, which they offered in the name of all the people, and in ſuch abundance that all the Iſraelites there preſent might eat of the Peace-offerings that were then offered. And they did eat and drink before the Lord that day with great gladneſs of heart, and anointed Solomon a ſecond time King, his firſt anointing having been done on the ſudden, and almoſt in a tumultuary manner, and in the ſight only of a few, who did it haſtily to prevent Adonijah from making himſelf King; and therefore this ſecond anointing was done more publickly and more ſolemnly in the ſight of the Princes and Rulers, and in a great Aſſembly of the people. And they anointed him unto the Lord, that is, devoted him ſolemnly unto the Lord, and to be the Ruler of his people under him. Then they anointed Zadok to be High-Prieſt inſtead of Abiathar who had joined with Adonijah, and this was the rather done (as we may ſuppoſe) becauſe the High-Prieſthood was now tranſlated into another Family. For Abiathar was of the race of Eli, and deſcended from Ithamar, ſecond Son of Aaron, and Zadok was deſcended from Phineas who was deſcended from Eleazar his eldeſt Son, and ſo the High-Prieſthood reverted from the family of Ithamar to that of Eleazar as was foretold by God it ſhould come to paſs, 1 Sam. 2.33, 35. After this Solomon ſat on the Throne of the Lord, viz. on that Throne to which God had by his eſpecial Providence advanced him, and the diſpoſal of which the Lord in a more peculiar manner challenged to himſelf. See Deut. 17.15. And Solomon after this was very proſperous, and all Iſrael obeyed him, and all the Princes and mighty men, and all the reſt of David's Sons ſubmitted themſelves unto him. And the Lord magnified him exceedingly in the ſight of all Iſrael, and beſtowed on him ſuch royal majeſty and greatneſs as no King of Iſrael either before him or after him ever had.
1 Chron. Ch. 28. whole Chapter.
1 Chron. Ch. 29. from v. 1, to 26.