1 Chronicles 28:9

(9) And thou, Solomon my son.—The king now turns to his heir, urging a whole-hearted service to his father’s God (1 Chronicles 28:9-10).

Know thou.—Regard thou, have care for (Psalms 1:6).

The God of thy father might mean the God of Israel (comp. 1 Chronicles 29:10). But 1 Chronicles 28:20, where David speaks of “my God,” suggests the simpler meaning, God of David, here. (Comp. Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 18:22; also Genesis 31:29; Genesis 31:42.)

With a perfect heart.—The word shâlçm means whole, sound, unimpaired; the Latin integer. Hence, what is urged is an undivided allegiance, such as is enjoined by the Decalogue. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 29:9; 1 Chronicles 29:19; 1 Kings 8:61.)

A willing mind.—For service is not real unless it be voluntary, and so glad as well as free.

For the Lord searcheth all hearts.—Search, i.e., seek (1 Chronicles 28:8 and below). For the thought, comp. Psalms 139:1-4; Psalms 139:23; 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 94:9; Acts 1:24; Hebrews 4:13. The Searcher of hearts will at once see through an insincere and half-hearted obedience.

And understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.—And every fashioning (yççer, εἶδος, Bild) or cast of thoughts he discerneth (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21).

If thou seek him.—Deuteronomy 4:29. Seeking Jehovah in earnest always results in finding (Isaiah 55:6). Yet the Divine grace is not restricted even by this condition (Isaiah 65:1).

If thou forsake him.—Deliberately and of set purpose, as choosing to live by other laws than His.

He will cast thee off.—A strong word (hizniah), meaning strictly, to reject as noisome or foul-smelling. (Comp. Hosea 8:3; Hosea 8:5.) The verbal form hiphil is peculiar to Chronicles. (See 2 Chronicles 11:14; 2 Chronicles 29:19.)