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ness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people which are present here to offer willingly unto thee.

O LORD GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: and give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace for the which I have made provision.

And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD GOD of heir fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and did homage to the king.

And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD and offered burnt-offerings unto the LORD on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel: And did eat and drink before the LORD on that day with great glad And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the LORD to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest.

ness.

Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.

And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David submitted themselves unto Solomon the king.

And the LORD magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.

ANNOTA

ANNOTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS.

At the time Adonijah attempted to seize the throne, David was confined to his bed with excessive weakness; but it seems he recovered sufficient strength to be present at a solemn assembly which was called together in order to establish Solomon's pretensions. How admirable were the humility and piety of David on this occasion, and how earnest his desire to promote the glory of GOD! To remove all jealousy from the minds of his other sons, and prevent dissentions amongst his subjects, David publicly declared, that God himself had appointed Solomon to sit upon the throne of the KINGDOM of the LORD over Israel.

The princes, convinced that all which David said and did at this time was agreeable to the Divine will, gladly followed his royal example*, in devoting part of their riches to the glory of GoD; and after having offered their sacrifices, they feasted on them with great joy before the LORD. The sentiments of David's heart on this joyful occasion, may be learnt from that excellent thanksgiving, which he then uttered. It is supposed that after he had blessed the people, he offered up the following prayer for Solomont.

Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son.

He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment.

The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the hills, by righteousness.

The value of the gold (besides the seven thousand talents of silver) which David gave out of his own private estate, amounted to the sum of 21,000,0001. of our money, which might easily be amassed by repeated voyages to Ophir and Tarshish.

+ Psalm, lxxii.

He

He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor:

They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations.

He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:"as showers that water the earth.

In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.

They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him:

and his enemies shall lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him.

For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth: the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy.

He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence : and precious shall their blood be in his sight."

And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba; prayer also shall be made for him continually, and daily shall he be praised.

There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains, the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.

His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed.

Blessed be the LORD GOD, the GOD of Israel, who only doth wondrous things.

And

And Blessed be His glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with glory; Amen, and amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

It appears, from the beginning of this psalm, that David's intention was to pray for blessings on his son Solomon; but before he could proceed to express all that he wished concerning the glory of Solomon's reign, he was. inspired by the Holy Spirit to describe, in a prophetic manner, that of the Messiah's kingdom. This prophecy was calculated to furnish instruction to Solomon, by setting before him such rules as might serve for a guide to him in the character of vicegerent of that great Being, whose temporal kingdom he was appointed to govern: and it will appear, from the course of this history, that Solomon was happy in proportion to his observation of these rules, and wretched and inglorious when he deviated from them.

SECTION XXXI.

DAVID GIVETH A CHARGE TO SOLOMON HIS SON, AND DIETH.

1 Kings, Chap. ii. 1 Chron. Chap. xxix.

Now the days of David drew nigh, that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying, I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man.

And keep the charge of the LORD thy GOD, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: that the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning

concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth, with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover, thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the host of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled be cause of Absalom thy brother.

And behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse, in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.

him;

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

And the time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour. And Solomon his son reigned in his stead.

ANNOTA

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