thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is no [1]abiding. 16O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. 17I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness 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. 18O LORD, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and [2]prepare their heart unto thee: 19and 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. 20And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king. 21And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the LORD, and offered burnt
and his people not as strangers to God, but as strangers dwelling before God. In ancient states foreigners were sometimes allowed to reside in the capital under the immediate protection of the king or of the heads of the state; cp. 1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4, xxvii. 3; 2 Sam. xv. 19; cp. also the position of the aliens at Athens. David appeals to God on the ground that Israel is immediately under God's protection. Cp. Ps. xxxix. 12.
no abiding] Or, as mg., hope; i.e. no continuance, no hopeful expectation, apart from the favour of Jehovah.
18. in the imagination] Render, as the imagination. Imagination here means not the faculty, but the result of the exercise of the faculty, a mental image or impression.
prepare] Better, as mg., establish. David prays that the people may continue in their present mind.
19. a perfect heart] See xxviii. 9, note.
the palace] See ver. 1, note.
20-22. The Great Rejoicing.
20. worshipped] i.e. prostrated themselves.
21. And they sacrificed] Cp. xvi. 1-3.
