NOTES for Ch1 28:1-21

The Lord placed the house of David at the head of Israel, and from among David’s sons He chose Solomon. We do not know why the choice fell in this way; the Lord’s designs are inaccessible to us and often do not coincide with the decisions we might make. But from now on, the mysterious destinies of Israel, and later of all nations, are bound to the descendants of David.

In the presence of the people, David gives Solomon the plan of the temple, and with it all his plans and hopes, which David himself was not destined to see fulfilled. Now the unfinished labors fall to his heir. Yes, David himself is not destined to build the temple. But his entire life was an approach to the temple’s construction, and not only because David prepared money and building materials for it. He was already building the temple when his heart was open to the Lord, when he sought to live and rule justly, when he composed psalms and performed feats while remembering the One who gave him victories.

What was done by generations that did not achieve the desired success is not lost. Thanks to their predecessors, those who follow them achieve more than they could have without them. Solomon built the temple precisely because he did not begin it from nothing.