1 Chronicles 16:4
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
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EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)
(4-42) THE INSTITUTION OF A MINISTRY FOR THE ARK. THE ODE SUNG ON THE DAY OF INSTITUTION.

This entire section is peculiar to the Chronicle. 1Chronicles 16:43 is almost identical with 2Samuel 6:19-20. Compared, then, with the older text, this relation of the chronicler’s looks like a parenthesis interpolated from another source into the history, as narrated in 2Samuel 6:12-20.

(4) And he appointed certain of the Levites.—Literally, put, placed (Genesis 3:12).

To minister.—Literally, ministeringi.e., as ministers. The object of the appointment is defined by the words which follow: “both to remind, and to thank, and to praise Jehovah, the God of Israel.” Each verb expresses a distinct kind of duty in the service of song.

To record is the technical term for chanting the psalms which accompanied the sacrificial burning of the Azkārāh, that is, the part of the meat offering that was presented on the altar (Leviticus 2:2). (Comp. the use of the cognate verb in the titles of Psalms 38, 70)

To thank was to perform psalms of invocation, and confession of benefits received.

To praise was to sing and play hymns of hallelujah such as Psalms 146-150.

These Levites were to minister thus before the Ark in the sacred tent of Mount Zion.

1 Chronicles 16:4. To record, and to thank and praise the Lord, &c. — To rehearse and declare unto the people the wonderful works God had done for Israel, and to give him thanks for them, and to extol his almighty goodness and his glorious perfections. All our rejoicings should express themselves in thanksgivings to him from whom all our comforts are received.

16:1-6 Though God's word and ordinances may be clouded and eclipsed for a time, they shall shine out of obscurity. This was but a tent, a humble dwelling, yet this was the tabernacle which David, in his psalms, often speaks of with so much affection. David showed himself generous to his subjects, as he had found God gracious to him. Those whose hearts are enlarged with holy joy, should show it by being open-handed.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.4-6. he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord—No sooner was the ark deposited in its tent than the Levites, who were to officiate in the choirs before it, entered upon their duties. A select number of the musicians were chosen for the service from the list (1Ch 15:19-21) of those who had taken a prominent part in the recent procession. The same arrangement was to be observed in their duties, now that the ark again was stationary; Asaph, with his associates, composing the first or principal company, played with cymbals; Zechariah and his colleagues, with whom were conjoined Jeiel and Obed-edom, forming the second company, used harps and similar instruments. No text from Poole on this verse.

And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord,.... By singing the praises of God:

and to record; or bring to remembrance; to commemorate in a song the great and good things God had done for Israel as a people:

and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel; for all his benefits, and the blessings of his goodness bestowed on them.

And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to {b} record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:

(b) That is, God's benefits to his people.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
4–6 (cp. 1 Chronicles 16:37-38). David’s Arrangements for Ministration before the Ark

4. to record] R.V. to celebrate. The literal meaning is to call to mind; cp. 1 Chronicles 16:12 (remember). Cp. Psalms 38, 70 (titles).

Verses 4-7. - These verses contain a statement of the arrangement David made of a more permanent nature, but to date from this commencement, for the service of thanksgiving by the Levites. Verse 4. - To minister; i.e. to officiate, as we should say, in the service before the ark. The verse seems to describe what should be the essence of that service. It was threefold - to record, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel. The word here used for "record" is the Hiph. of זָכַר (to remember), and is remarked upon by Gesenius as a title strictly appropriate to the character of the two psalms Psalms 38 and Psalms 70, on the head of which it stands, as meaning, "to make others remember" (see also such passages as Exodus 20:24; 2 Samuel 8:16; 2 Samuel 18:18; 2 Samuel 20:24; Isaiah 43:26; Isaiah 63:7). The minds of the people were to be refreshed in this service and in their very psalm of praise (so note in this sense vers. 8, 9, 12, 21, etc.), by being reminded or told, so far as the youngest of them might be concerned, of God's marvellous and merciful deeds for their forefathers of many, many a generation. Then they were to give intelligent and hearty thanks. And, lastly, they were to offer to approach that purest form of worship which consists in adoring praise. One might imagine with what zest they would have accepted, with what fervour they would have added lip and instrument of music to it - that one verse which needed the revolution yet of nearly another three thousand years, that it might flow from the devotion or' Addison.

"When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise."
1 Chronicles 16:4When the solemnity of the transfer of the ark, the sacrificial meal, and the dismissal of the people with a blessing, and a distribution of food, were ended, David set in order the service of the Levites in the holy tent on Zion. He appointed before the ark, from among the Levites, servants to praise and celebrate God, i.e., singers and players to sing psalms as a part of the regular worship. להזכּיר, literally, "in order to bring into remembrance," is not to praise in general, but is to be interpreted according to the להזכּיר in the superscription of Psalm 38 and Psalm 70:1-5, by which these psalms are designated as the appointed prayers at the presentation of the Azcarah of the meat-offering (Leviticus 2:2). הזכּיר accordingly is a denom. from אזכּרה, to present the Azcarah (cf. Del. on Psalm 38:1), and is in our verse to be understood of the recital of these prayer-songs with musical accompaniment. הודות, to confess, refers to the psalms in which invocation and acknowledgment of the name of the Lord predominates, and הלּל to those in which praise (Hallelujah) is the prominent feature. In 1 Chronicles 16:5 and 1 Chronicles 16:6 there follow the names of the Levites appointed for this purpose, who have all been already mentioned in 1 Chronicles 15:19-21 as accompanying the ark in its transmission; but all who are there spoken of are not included in our list here. Of the chief singers only Asaph is mentioned, Heman and Ethan being omitted; of the singers and players of the second rank, only nine; six of the eight nebel-players (1 Chronicles 15:20. יעיאל is a transcriber's error for יעזיאל, 1 Chronicles 15:18), and only three of the six kinnor-players; while instead of seven trumpet-blowing priests only two are named, viz., Benaiah, one of those seven, and Jehaziel, whose name does not occur in 1 Chronicles 15:24.
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