161 And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God . 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings , he blessed the people in the name of the Lord . 3 He distributed to everyone of Israel , both man and woman , to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake . 4 He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord , even to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel : 5 Asaph the chief , and second to him Zechariah , then Jeiel , Shemiramoth , Jehiel , Mattithiah , Eliab , Benaiah , Obed-edom and Jeiel , with musical instruments , harps , lyres ; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals , 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God .
7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord . 8 Oh give thanks to the Lord , call upon His name ; Make known His deeds among the peoples . 9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders . 10 Glory in His holy name ; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad . 11 Seek the Lord and His strength ; Seek His face continually . 12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done , His marvels and the judgments from His mouth , 13 O seed of Israel His servant , Sons of Jacob , His chosen ones ! 14 He is the Lord our God ; His judgments are in all the earth . 15 Remember His covenant forever , The word which He commanded to a thousand generations , 16 The covenant which He made with Abraham , And His oath to Isaac . 17 He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute , To Israel as an everlasting covenant , 18 Saying , " To you I will give the land of Canaan , As the portion of your inheritance ." 19 When they were only a few in number , Very few , and strangers in it, 20 And they wandered about from nation to nation , And from one kingdom to another people , 21 He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes , saying, 22 "Do not touch My anointed ones , And do My prophets no harm ." 23 Sing to the Lord , all the earth ; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day . 24 Tell of His glory among the nations , His wonderful deeds among all the peoples . 25 For great is the Lord , and greatly to be praised ; He also is to be feared above all gods . 26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols , But the Lord made the heavens . 27 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and joy are in His place . 28 Ascribe to the Lord , O families of the peoples , Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength . 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name ; Bring an offering , and come before Him; Worship the Lord in holy array . 30 Tremble before e Him, all the earth ; Indeed , the world is firmly established , it will not be moved . 31 Let the heavens be glad , and let the earth rejoice ; And let them say among the nations , " The Lord reigns ." 32 Let the sea roar , and all it contains ; Let the field exult , and all that is in it. 33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before e the Lord ; For He is coming to judge the earth . 34 O give thanks to the Lord , for He is good ; For His lovingkindness is everlasting . 35 Then say , "Save us, O God of our salvation , And gather us and deliver us from the nations , To give thanks to Your holy name , And glory in Your praise ." 36 Blessed be the Lord , the God of Israel , From everlasting even to everlasting . Then all the people said , "Amen ," and praised the Lord .
37 So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark continually , as every day's work required ; 38 and Obed-edom with his 68 e relatives ; Obed-edom , also the son of Jeduthun , and Hosah as gatekeepers . 39 He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon , 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening , even according to all that is written in the law of the Lord , which He commanded Israel . 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun , and the rest who were chosen , who were designated by name , to give thanks to the Lord , because His lovingkindness is everlasting . 42 And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God , and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate . 43 Then all the people departed each to his house , and David returned to bless his household .
171 And it came about, when David dwelt in his house , that David said to Nathan the prophet , "Behold , I am dwelling in a house of cedar , but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains ." 2 Then Nathan said to David , "Do all that is in your heart , for God is with you." 3 It came about the same night that the word of God came to Nathan , saying , 4 "Go and tell David My servant , 'Thus says the Lord , " You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day , but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6 "In all places where I have walked with all Israel , have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel , whom I commanded to shepherd My people , saying , 'Why have you not built for Me a house of cedar ?' "' 7 "Now , therefore, thus shall you say to My servant David , 'Thus says the Lord of hosts , "I took you from the pasture , from following the sheep , to be leader over My people Israel . 8 "I have been with you wherever e you have gone , and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a name like the name of the great ones who are in the earth . 9 "I will appoint a place for My people Israel , and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and not be moved again ; and the wicked e will not waste them anymore as formerly , 10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel . And I will subdue all your enemies . Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 "When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers , that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons ; and I will establish his kingdom . 12 "He shall build for Me a house , and I will establish his throne forever e . 13 " I will be his father and he shall be My son ; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 "But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever e , and his throne shall be established forever e .""' 15 According to all these words and according to all this vision , so Nathan spoke to David .
16 Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord and said , " Who am I, O Lord God , and what is my house that You have brought me this far ? 17 "This was a small thing in Your eyes , O God ; but You have spoken of Your servant's house for a great while to come , and have regarded me according to the standard of a man of high degree , O Lord God . 18 "What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant ? For You know Your servant . 19 "O Lord , for Your servant's sake , and according to Your own heart , You have wrought all this greatness , to make known all these great things . 20 "O Lord , there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears . 21 "And what one nation in the earth is like Your people Israel , whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people , to make You a name by great and terrible things , in driving out nations from before Your people , whom You redeemed out of Egypt ? 22 " For Your people Israel You made Your own people forever e , and You, O Lord , became their God . 23 "Now , O Lord , let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever e , and do as You have spoken . 24 "Let Your name be established and magnified forever e , saying , 'The Lord of hosts is the God of Israel , even a God to Israel ; and the house of David Your servant is established before You.' 25 "For You, O my God , have revealed e to Your servant that You will build for him a house ; therefore e Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26 "Now , O Lord , You are God , and have promised this good thing to Your servant . 27 "And now it has pleased You to bless the house of Your servant , that it may continue forever before You; for You, O Lord , have blessed , and it is blessed forever ."
181 Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath and its towns from the hand of the Philistines . 2 He defeated Moab , and the Moabites became servants to David , bringing tribute . 3 David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah as far as Hamath , as he went to establish his rule to the Euphrates River . 4 David took from him 1,000 chariots and 7,000 e horsemen and 20,000 e foot soldiers e , and David hamstrung all the chariot horses , but reserved enough of them for 100 chariots . 5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah , David killed 22,000 e e men of the Arameans . 6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus ; and the Arameans became servants to David , bringing tribute . And the Lord helped David wherever e he went . 7 David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem . 8 Also from Tibhath and from Cun , cities of Hadadezer , David took a very large amount of bronze , with which Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the bronze utensils .
9 Now when Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer king of Zobah , 10 he sent Hadoram his son to King David to greet e him and to bless him, because e he had fought against Hadadezer and had defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Tou . And Hadoram brought all kinds of articles of gold and silver and bronze . 11 King David also dedicated these to the Lord with the silver and the gold which he had carried away from all the nations : from Edom , Moab , the sons of Ammon , the Philistines , and from Amalek . 12 Moreover Abishai the son of Zeruiah defeated 18,000 e e Edomites in the Valley of Salt . 13 Then he put garrisons in Edom , and all the Edomites became servants to David . And the Lord helped David wherever e he went .
14 So David reigned over all Israel ; and he administered justice and righteousness for all his people . 15 Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army , and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder ; 16 and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Abimelech the son of Abiathar were priests , and Shavsha was secretary ; 17 and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites , and the sons of David were chiefs at the king's side .
28 Then Jesus cried out in the temple , teaching and saying , " You both know Me and know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself , but He who sent Me is true , whom you do not know . 29 " I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me." 30 So they were seeking to seize Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come . 31 But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying , " When the Christ comes , He will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will He?"
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to seize Him. 33 Therefore Jesus said , " For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. 34 " You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am , you cannot e come ." 35 The Jews then said to one another , " Where does this man intend to go that we will not find Him? He is not intending to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks , and teach the Greeks , is He? 36 "What is this statement that He said , ' You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am , you cannot e come '?"
37 Now on the last day , the great day of the feast , Jesus stood and cried out, saying , " If anyone is thirsty , let him come to Me and drink . 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said , 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water .' " 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit , whom those who believed in Him were to receive ; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified .
40 Some of the people therefore , when they heard these words , were saying , "This certainly is the Prophet ." 41 Others were saying , "This is the Christ ." Still others were saying , " Surely the Christ is not going to come from Galilee , is He? 42 "Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David , and from Bethlehem , the village where David was?" 43 So a division occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees , and they said to them, "Why e did you not bring Him?" 46 The officers answered , " Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks ." 47 The Pharisees then answered them, " You have not also been led astray , have you? 48 " No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 "But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed ." 50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before , being one of them) said to them, 51 " Our Law does not judge a man unless e it first hears from him and knows what he is doing , does it?" 52 They answered him, " You are not also from Galilee , are you? Search , and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee ."
53 [Everyone went to his home .
(Read John 7:25-30)
Christ proclaimed aloud, that they were in error in their thoughts about his origin. He was sent of God, who showed himself true to his promises. This declaration, that they knew not God, with his claim to peculiar knowledge, provoked the hearers; and they sought to take him, but God can tie men's hands, though he does not turn their hearts.
(Read John 7:31-36)
The discourses of Jesus convinced many that he was the Messiah; but they had not courage to own it. It is comfort to those who are in the world, but not of it, and therefore are hated by it and weary of it, that they shall not be in it always, that they shall not be in it long. Our days being evil, it is well they are few. The days of life and of grace do not last long; and sinners, when in misery, will be glad of the help they now despise. Men dispute about such sayings, but the event will explain them.
(Read John 7:37-39)
On the last day of the feast of tabernacles, the Jews drew water and poured it out before the Lord. It is supposed that Christ alluded to this. If any man desires to be truly and for ever happy, let him apply to Christ, and be ruled by him. This thirst means strong desires after spiritual blessings, which nothing else can satisfy; so the sanctifying and comforting influences of the Holy Spirit, were intended by the waters which Jesus called on them to come to Him and drink. The comfort flows plentifully and constantly as a river; strong as a stream to bear down the opposition of doubts and fears. There is a fulness in Christ, of grace for grace. The Spirit dwelling and working in believers, is as a fountain of living, running water, out of which plentiful streams flow, cooling and cleansing as water. The miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit we do not expect, but for his more common and more valuable influences we may apply. These streams have flowed from our glorified Redeemer, down to this age, and to the remote corners of the earth. May we be anxious to make them known to others.
(Read John 7:40-53)
The malice of Christ's enemies is always against reason, and sometimes the staying of it cannot be accounted for. Never any man spake with that wisdom, and power, and grace, that convincing clearness, and that sweetness, wherewith Christ spake. Alas, that many, who are for a time restrained, and who speak highly of the word of Jesus, speedily lose their convictions, and go on in their sins! People are foolishly swayed by outward motives in matters of eternal moment, are willing even to be damned for fashion's sake. As the wisdom of God often chooses things which men despise, so the folly of men commonly despises those whom God has chosen. The Lord brings forward his weak and timid disciples, and sometimes uses them to defeat the designs of his enemies.
