So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren ,.... Whom he, that is, David, had appointed for the service of it: to minister before the ark continually ; in singing the praises of God: as every day's work required ; at the time of the morning and evening sacrifice, as Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it. read more
These verses give the now new-ordained distribution of priests and Levites, to minister and to attend to the service of praise before the ark. And the first of them may be considered to mark an important step in advance in the crystallizing of the world's ecclesiastical institutions. Asaph and his brethren of song are left there before the ark of the covenant… to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required . A permanent local ministry and choir are thus established,... read more
This passage is interposed by the writer of Chronicles between two sentences of the parallel passage in Samuel. It contains a detailed account of the service which David instituted at this time, a service out of which grew the more elaborate service of the temple. The language of much of the passage is remarkably archaic, and there can be no reasonable doubt that it is in the main an extract from a record of the time of David.1 Chronicles 16:5The occurrence of the name “Jeiel” twice in this... read more
1 Chronicles 16:37. He left there before the ark Asaph and his brethren He appointed them their work and station there. Indeed, no incense was burned there, nor sacrifices offered, because the altars were not there; but David’s prayers were directed as incense, and the lifting up of his hands as an evening sacrifice. So early did spiritual worship take the place of ceremonial. read more
Plans for a permanent house (16:37-17:27)On being brought to Jerusalem, the ark had been placed in a tent that David prepared for it (see v. 1). David appointed temple servants to remain with the ark to guide the worship, apparently under the direction of the senior priest, Abiathar. The other chief priest, Zadok, was in charge of the worship at the tabernacle, which was still at Gibeon (37-43).One reason why David did not shift the tabernacle from Gibeon was that he was planning to build a... read more
before the ark. This was now in Zion (2 Samuel 6:12-17 ). But the altars and vessels were in the Tabernacle at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:3-6 ). Asaph and his brethren. These were left in Zion "before the Ark", while the priests ministered "before the Tabernacle" (see 1 Chronicles 16:39 below), until Divine worship should be reconstructed in the Temple. read more
A PERMANENT WORSHIP SET UP IN JERUSALEM"So he left there, before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, Asaph and his brethren to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required; and Obed-edom, with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be doorkeepers.""These verses reveal that a permanent ministry and choir were established in Jerusalem for the purpose of carrying forward the worship of God continually on a regular schedule, an... read more
37-42. So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, &c.—The sequel of the chapter describes the appointment of the sacred musicians and their respective duties. read more
D. David and the Ark chs. 13-16"In the Chronicler’s eyes David’s reign consisted of two great religious phases, his movement of the ark to Jerusalem (chs. 13-16) and his preparations for the building of the temple (chs. 17-19 or at least 17-22, 28, 29). The intent of the parallelism seems to be to mark the ends of these two phases with praise and prayer that both glorified Yahweh and spelled out his relationship to his people in theological terms appropriate to the Chronicler and his... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Chronicles 16:37-43
The worship of God is not only to be the work of a solemn day now and then, brought in to grace a triumph; but it ought to be the work of every day. David therefore settles it here for a constancy, puts it into a method, which he obliged those that officiated to observe in their respective posts. In the tabernacle of Moses, and afterwards in the temple of Solomon, the ark and the altar were together; but, ever since Eli's time, they had been separated, and still continued so till the temple... read more