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house of GOD: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship, every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment.

Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD GOD.

Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my GoD, the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for thingsof wood: onyx-stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my GoD, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my GOD, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house.

Even three thousand talents of gold of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses withal: The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?

Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers over the king's work offered willingly.

And gave for the service of the house of God, of gold, five thousand talents and ten thousand drams; and of silver, ten thousand talents; and of brass, eighteen

thousand

thousand talents: and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

And they with whom precious stones were found, gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jeheil the Gershonite.

Then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

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.

Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things. come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

O LORD our GoD, all this store that we have pre. pared to build thee an house for thine holy name, cometh of thine hand, and all is thine own.

I know also my GOD, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the upright.

ness

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 their 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 gladAnd 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 Solomon †.

Give the king Thy judgments, O Gon, 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 21,000,000l. 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 shali 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 carth.

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 souls 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 før him continually, and daily shall he be praised.

There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upen the top of the mountains, the fruit thereof shall shuke 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

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