1 Chronicles 29:10

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) Wherefore.—And. David’s Prayer (1Chronicles 29:10-19). David thanks God because his people are at one with him on the subject nearest his heart. Touching this fine utterance of a true inspiration, which the chronicler—or rather, perhaps, his authority—puts into the mouth of the aged king, we may remark that the spirit which found expression in the stirring odes of psalmists and the trumpet-tones of prophets in olden times, in the latter days, when psalmody was weak and prophecy dead, flowed forth in the new outlet of impassioned prayer.

Before all.—To the eyes of all (Genesis 23:11), and frequently.

Lord God of Israel our rather.—The connection is “Israel our father,” not “Jehovah our father.” (Comp. 1Chronicles 29:18; 1Chronicles 29:20; Exodus 3:6. Yet comp. also Isaiah 63:16; Isaiah 64:8; Deuteronomy 32:6; Malachi 1:6; Malachi 2:10; Jeremiah 31:9.) The fatherhood of God, though thus occasionally affirmed in prophetic writings, hardly became a ruling idea within the limits of Old Testament times. (Comp. Matthew 23:9; Matthew 6:9.)

For ever and ever.—From eternity even unto eternity. (Comp. the doxologies of the first and third books of the Psalter—Psalm 41:13; Psalm 106:48—and Psalm 103:17.)

Benson Commentary

1 Chronicles 29:10-11. David said, Blessed, &c. — David was now full of days, and near his end, and it well becomes the aged children of God to have their hearts much enlarged in praise and thanksgiving. The nearer we come to the land of everlasting praise, the more we should speak the language and do the work of that world. Thine is the greatness and the power, &c. — Thus David praises God with holy awe and reverence, acknowledging and adoring, 1st, His infinite perfections; not only that he is great, powerful, and glorious, &c., but that his is the greatness, power, and glory; that he has these perfections in and of himself, and is the centre and fountain of every thing that is excellent and blessed. 2d, His sovereign dominion, that he is the rightful owner and almighty possessor of all. All that is in heaven and in earth is thine — And at thy disposal, by the indisputable right of creation, and as Supreme Ruler and Commander of all. Thine is the kingdom — And all kings are thy subjects; and thou art to be exalted and worshipped as head above all — 3d, His universal influence and agency. All that are rich and honourable among mankind have their riches and honours from God. This acknowledgment David would have the princes to take notice of, and join in, that they might not think they had merited any thing of God by their generosity; for from God they had had their riches and honour, and what they had returned to him was but a small part of what they had received from him. Whoever are great among men, it is God that makes them so; and whatever strength we have, it is God that gives it us. Let no flesh, then, glory in his presence; for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever! Amen.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

29:10-19 We cannot form a right idea of the magnificence of the temple, and the buildings around it, about which such quantities of gold and silver were employed. But the unsearchable riches of Christ exceed the splendour of the temple, infinitely more than that surpassed the meanest cottage on earth. Instead of boasting of these large oblations, David gave solemn thanks to the Lord. All they gave for the Lord's temple was his own; if they attempted to keep it, death would soon have removed them from it. They only use they could make of it to their real advantage, was, to consecrate it to the service of Him who gave it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The people rejoiced for that they offered willingly - i. e., the munificence of the princes and officers 1 Chronicles 29:6 caused general joy among the people.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ch 29:10-25. His Thanksgiving.

10-19. Wherefore David blessed the Lord—This beautiful thanksgiving prayer was the effusion overflowing with gratitude and delight at seeing the warm and widespread interest that was now taken in forwarding the favorite project of his life. Its piety is displayed in the fervor of devotional feeling—in the ascription of all worldly wealth and greatness to God as the giver, in tracing the general readiness in contributing to the influence of His grace, in praying for the continuance of this happy disposition among the people, and in solemnly and earnestly commending the young king and his kingdom to the care and blessing of God.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation,.... To whose goodness he ascribed both the ability and willingness of him, and his people, to offer after such a manner; he knew it was God that wrought in them both to will and to do, and therefore gave him the glory of it:

and David said, blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever; the phrase, "our father", does not belong to the God of Israel, their father by covenant and adoption, but to Israel, or Jacob, the ancestor of the Jewish nation; who is made mention of on this occasion, he being the first that spoke of building an house for God, as some Jewish writers, Jarchi and Kimchi, observe, see Genesis 28:22.

Geneva Study Bible

Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of {g} Israel our father, for ever and ever.

(g) Who revealed yourself to our father Jacob.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 10-20. - The majesty and comprehensiveness of this passage - a national liturgy of itself-are in direct proportion to the brevity of it. It includes adoration, acknowledgment of the inherent nature of human dependence, self-humiliation, and confession, dedication of all the offerings, and prayer both for the whole people in general, and for Solomon in particular, in view of his future position and responsibilities. Its utter repudiation of all idea of meritoriousness is very striking. The traces are visible of what may be called snatches of memory on the part of David from various religious odes of his own authorship, as well as from those of others still on record, as, for instance, especially in vers. 14-17, compared with passages in Psalm 24; Psalm 50; Psalm 89, ; Psalm 39; Psalm 90; Psalm 102; Psalm 144; Psalm 7; Psalm 17; and 139. But the unity of this service is abundantly conspicuous, and every sentence seems weighed and measured for the occasion. The scene, reaching its climax in what is recorded in ver. 20, must have been one of the utmost religious grandeur and impressiveness. It is true that the very last clause, which couples the reverence done on the part of the assembled multitude to the king, with that done to Jehovah himself, strikes us as an unfortunate conjunction. It does not, indeed, need upon its merits any vindication, considering the tenor of all which has preceded; but it may be felt an extenuation of the form in which the expression occurs, if we suppose (as we justly may) that the people viewed their act in the light of part of their religious service at that particular time. In 1 Kings 1:31 the same words express the reverence paid to David, though in numerous other passages they mark that offered to God (Exodus 4:31; 2 Chronicles 29:20; Nehemiah 8:6). 1 Chronicles 29:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

David's thanksgiving prayer. - David gives fitting expression to his joy on the success of the deepest wish of his heart, in a prayer with which he closes the last parliament of his reign. Since according to the divine decree, not he, the man of war, but his son, the peace-king Solomon, was to build a temple to the Lord, David had taken it upon himself to prepare as far as possible for the carrying out of the work. He had also found the princes and chiefs of the people willing to further it, and to assist his son Solomon in it. In this the pious and grey-haired servant of the Lord saw a special proof of the divine favour, for which he must thank God the Lord before the whole congregation. He praises Jahve, "the God of Israel our father," 1 Chronicles 29:10, or, as it is in 1 Chronicles 29:18, "the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, our fathers." Jahve had clearly revealed himself to David and his people as the God of Israel and of the patriarchs, by fulfilling in so glorious a manner to the people of Israel, by David, the promises made to the patriarchs. God the Lord had not only by David made His people great and powerful, and secured to them the peaceful possession of the good land, by humbling all their enemies round about, but He had also awakened in the heart of the people such love to and trust in their God, that the assembled dignitaries of the kingdom showed themselves perfectly willing to assist in furthering the building of the house of God. In this God had revealed His greatness, power, glory, etc., as David (in 1 Chronicles 29:11, 1 Chronicles 29:12) acknowledges with praise: "Thine, Jahve, is the greatness," etc. הנּצח, according to the Aramaic usage, gloria, splendour, honour. כל כּי, yea all, still dependent on לך at the commencement of the sentence, so that we do not need to supply לך after כּי. "Thine is the dominion, and the raising of oneself to be head over all." In His ממלכה God reveals His greatness, might, glory, etc. ממנשּׂא is not a participle requiring אתּה, "thou art," to be supplied (Berth.), but an appellative, an Aramaic infinitive, - the raising oneself (Ew. 160, e).