1 Chronicles · chapter 22 of 29
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1 Chronicles 22 tells how David prepares for the building of the temple, though he will not be the one to build it. He gathers workmen, iron, bronze and cedar, and calls his son Solomon to charge him with the work, explaining that God did not allow him to build it because he had shed much blood. David urges Solomon to be strong and keep the law, and orders the leaders of Israel to help him.
After God marks the place of the altar in chapter 21, David begins to prepare the house God asked his son to build. It is a key section of the book: David, now old, does not see his work completed, but leaves it prepared. Readers who had come back from exile and were rebuilding the temple could see in David an example of serving God without expecting the credit.
David declares that here will be the house of the Lord God and the altar of burnt offering for Israel. He gathers the foreigners who were in Israel and sets some of them as stonecutters to dress stones for the temple. He prepares iron in abundance for the nails of the doors and the clamps, bronze in such quantity that it cannot be weighed and cedar logs without number, which the Sidonians and Tyrians bring him. David thinks Solomon is young and inexperienced, and that the house must be exceedingly great, for fame and glory in all lands, so he leaves the materials prepared before he dies.
He calls his son Solomon and charges him to build a house for the Lord. He tells him that he wanted to do it himself, but the Lord told him no, because he had shed much blood and waged great wars. The Lord announced a son who will be a man of rest, to whom he will give rest from his enemies. His name will be Solomon, and in his days the Lord will give peace and quiet to Israel. He will build the house, and the Lord will be his father and he his son, and he will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.
David prays that the Lord be with Solomon and give him wisdom and understanding, so that he keeps the law. He tells him to be strong and not to fear. He hands him enormous amounts of gold and silver, bronze and iron, timber and stone, and reminds him that he has many workmen. Finally, David commands all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon, reminding them that the Lord is with them and has given them rest, and that they must seek the Lord with all their heart and build the sanctuary so that the ark and the holy vessels may be brought into the house built for his name.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David declares that this place, the threshing floor of Ornan, will be the house of the Lord God and the altar of burnt offering for Israel. From the experience of judgment and forgiveness comes the place of worship. God's mercy marks the site where the temple will rise.
The Lord promises David a son who will be a man of rest, to whom he will give rest from all his enemies. His name, Solomon, has to do with peace. The temple will be the work of a peaceful reign, not of a warrior.
David prays that the Lord be with Solomon, and that he succeed in building the house. The father's prayer goes with the charge. Without God's presence, neither the materials nor Solomon's wisdom would be enough.
Solomon will prosper if he takes care to keep the statutes and rules the Lord gave Moses, and he must be strong and courageous, without fear or dismay. The promise of success is bound to obedience, and courage rests on God's presence.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That there would be the house of the Lord God and the altar of burnt offering for Israel. — 1 Chronicles 22:1
Answer: Because Solomon was young and inexperienced, and the house had to be exceedingly great and glorious. — 1 Chronicles 22:5
Answer: Because he had shed much blood and waged great wars. — 1 Chronicles 22:8
Answer: Peace: the Lord promises to give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. — 1 Chronicles 22:9
Answer: That he be with him, and give him wisdom and understanding to keep the law. — 1 Chronicles 22:11-12
Answer: To help his son Solomon, and set themselves to seek the Lord and build the sanctuary. — 1 Chronicles 22:17-19
David could not build the temple, but he did not stop serving. He prepared everything so that another could do it. In the church there are tasks that some begin and others finish: teaching, discipling, building a community. In a small group, think about who prepared the way for you and for whom you can prepare the way today.
It also teaches us to accept a no from God without bitterness. David heard that it would not be him, and instead of resenting it, he devoted himself to helping his son. It is a good lesson for those who serve without seeing all the results: the value of service does not depend on credit but on faithfulness.
1 Chronicles 22 leaves the work of the temple entrusted to Solomon and the people mobilized to help him. In the next chapter David, now old, makes his son king and reorganizes the service of the Levites for the temple that will be built.
It refers to the many wars David fought. The text does not say it was sin to fight those wars; it indicates that, having been a man of war, he was not the person to build God's house of peace. God assigned that work to Solomon, whose name is related to peace.
Because the house had to reflect the glory of the God it served. David said it must be famous and glorious in all lands. He did not do it from human pride, but so that worship in God's house would be worthy of the Lord and bear witness before the nations.
The text speaks of a hundred thousand talents of gold and a million talents of silver, enormous amounts that some scholars understand as a way of saying the provision was immense. In any case, the point is that David left abundant provision, the fruit of his effort and faithfulness.