And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets.
Hezekiah reopened a temple that had been shut and neglected. This verse records the moment the music of worship returned — not invented fresh, but restored by the commandment of David, Gad and Nathan, and behind them the LORD Himself.
The revival did not produce new ideas about worship. It recovered old ones, and the name of David runs through the whole chapter.
Hezekiah came to the throne when the house of God had been closed and neglected and the holy vessels destroyed (2 Chr. 28:24). With energy and wisdom Hezekiah in his love for God's house began the task of restoration... Note how David's influence pervaded the revival. We read of "the commandment of David" (Verse 25) and "the instruments of David" (Verses 26-27). The Levites were commanded to sing praise to Jehovah with "the words (Psalms) of David and of Asaph the seer" (Verse 30). Hezekiah's work of restoration resulted in worship (Verse 30), and it also set the service of the house of Jehovah in order.
The same writer turns this into a warning:
In assemblies and in the lives of individual believers there can be closed doors to the Spirit's voice. Rubbish can accumulate easily after that. Sin, worldliness and fleshly activities can take over and dominate. These things must be judged and put away, so that true worship and godly order can prevail in the house of God. Judgment before blessing is a divine principle from Genesis to Revelation.
David did not design temple worship as a gifted organiser. The whole structure came to him the way the tabernacle pattern came to Moses.
The whole religious order was reconstructed. Everything depends on the authority and regulations of David, even down to the age at which the Levites served, just as it once rested on the regulations of Moses. God gave him the whole pattern of the temple and its vessels by inspiration, just as He had given Moses the pattern of the tabernacle and everything belonging to it. He also introduced singing and various musical instruments. These are even called "the musical instruments of God." Before this, neither the instruments nor the singing had formed any part of the public service.
Another writer adds what this rules out:
David received these details (they were in him, in his mind) through the Spirit. Nothing depended upon his gift of organization or upon his natural intelligence. Everything came directly from God. "All this said David, in writing, by Jehovah's hand upon me" (v. 19).
Gad and Nathan are named alongside David. The verse calls Gad the king's seer, and then says the commandment came from the LORD through His prophets. Gad had walked with David since his days as a fugitive.
He was with David when he fled from Saul, and gave him counsel. 1 Sam. 22:5... He was with him at the end of his reign, and the painful duty of announcing God's judgements on David for numbering the people fell to him. He is called David's 'seer,' which would seem to imply that he had been with him all along.
The instruments had a meaning. One writer asks how far they carry over into Christian worship today.
This music speaks of the joy of the Lord, which is to be a very real accompaniment to worship. In the Church of God today there are those who are anxious to make use of musical instruments in worship also... But this instrumental music is only a symbol of the joy of believers in worshiping God "in spirit and in truth" (Jn. 4:23), just as all the sacrifices of Israel pictured the one great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.
One writer looks for the reason behind the reason.
The temple service was certainly restored because Hezekiah was good. But I think there is a deeper truth to grasp. The Lord made Hezekiah a good king because He was going to give a little sample of His grace and power, which He will display in full in His own time.
- Commandment, not custom. The chain runs David → Gad and Nathan → the LORD. The king's order was God's order, given through His prophets.
- Inspired, not invented. David received the temple arrangements by the Spirit, as Moses received the tabernacle. The singing and instruments were new to the public service, but not new to God.
- Recovery, not innovation. Hezekiah's revival went back to what God first commanded: open the doors, clear the rubbish, then worship in the appointed way.
- Joy, not machinery. The cymbals, harps and lyres stand for the gladness that belongs with worship. What they picture now is the joy of worship "in spirit and in truth."
- Sample, not summit. The restored service was a small taste of a grace and power God intends to display in full.
And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets.
Hezekiah has reopened the temple, and here the musicians take their places with instruments that came from an earlier generation. The verse raises two questions every revival must answer: where does the pattern come from, and who may sound the note?
Nothing here was invented on the day. One writer shows how David's name runs right through the chapter.
Hezekiah came to the throne when the house of God had been closed and neglected and the holy vessels destroyed. He loved God's house, so with energy and wisdom he began the work of restoration. He had the doors opened. He ordered that all the piled-up rubbish, the evidence of neglect, be cleared out of the holy area of God's house at once. Once that was done, everything needed for the worship of God was set up again. Notice how David's influence ran through the whole revival. We read of "the commandment of David" (verse 25), "the instruments of David" (verses 26-27), and the Levites were commanded to sing praise to Jehovah with "the words (Psalms) of David and of Asaph the seer" (verse 30).
The same writer turns this into a warning for today.
In assemblies and in the lives of individual believers there can be closed doors to the Spirit's voice. Rubbish piles up easily after that. Sin, worldliness and the activity of the flesh can take over and dominate. These things must be judged and put away, so that true worship and godly order can prevail in the house of God. Judgment before blessing is a divine principle from Genesis to Revelation.
Israel had no such instruments in the wilderness. One writer explains where they came from.
They offered praise with instruments made by David. David alone planned everything to do with the future temple, including the music of the worship. Nothing like it existed under the tabernacle in the wilderness. David invented the instruments themselves when Solomon came to the throne in glory — a picture of the coming reign of Christ on earth. Today praise is tied to His heavenly glory, and so it is completely spiritual in character.
The verse keeps the two groups apart. Writing on the same arrangement when the temple was rebuilt years later, one writer explains why the trumpets belonged to the priests alone.
Only the priests were allowed to blow the sacred trumpets. It needs someone in the holy place, in the presence of God, in communion with His mind, to discern when to sound the notes of testimony and praise. In the same way, only the sons of Asaph — Levites, "according to the king's order" — must use the sacred cymbals.
Why record a restoration in a temple that would soon burn? One writer sees a pledge in it.
This chapter may be called the account of the re-consecration of the temple and of the priests and Levites; the trumpets and the instruments of David were there. What can these be but pledges from God of what is still to come? The temple then standing was soon to be burnt by the Chaldeans, and the tribe of Judah scattered, as Israel was. The temple service was certainly restored because Hezekiah was good. But I think a deeper truth is to be grasped: Hezekiah was made a good king because the Lord was going to give a little sample of His grace and power, to be shown in full in His time.
Some read verses like this as a warrant for instruments in Christian worship today. One writer answers that directly.
This music speaks of the joy of the Lord, which should truly accompany worship. In the Church of God today there are those who are eager to use musical instruments in worship too... But this instrumental music is only a symbol of the joy of believers in worshipping God "in spirit and in truth", just as all the sacrifices of Israel were pictures of the one great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. How wrong it would be for us today to sacrifice animals to God!
Another writer says what has taken their place.
The instruments of the old order had no life. But a new creation in Christ has provided living instruments, with the life-filled melodies of redemption rising up in the heart... they are both the priests of God and the instruments of God through the redemption work of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Clear first. Hezekiah's order was doors opened, rubbish removed, then worship restored — judgment before blessing.
- Copy, don't create. David's commandment, David's instruments, David's psalms. The revival added nothing new; it brought back what was already given.
- Stand in place. Levites held David's instruments, priests alone the trumpets. To sound the note of praise you must be in communion with God's mind.
- Sample, not summit. God restored a temple that would soon burn. It was a small preview of grace He will display in full later.
- Living instruments. The old instruments pictured joy. The writers here say the real instruments today are redeemed people, praising in spirit and truth.
And Hezekiah commanded to offer up the burnt-offering on the altar. And at the moment the burnt-offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.
Hezekiah reopened the temple his father had shut, cleaned it out, and brought the nation back to the altar. The moment the burnt offering began, the music began with it — which raises the question of why praise waits for a sacrifice, and what song this is.
The verse does not describe two events but one. One writer explains why the song waits for the offering.
When God is honoured by the sacrifice of Christ (which the burnt offering pictures), the saints have reason to respond with the song of the Lord. There is far more joy in the burnt offering side of Christ's sacrifice than in the sin offering side. We may be deeply thankful that Christ's sacrifice has forgiven our sins. But our hearts only truly open up with joy when we realise that this sacrifice has glorified God.
This was not the sin offering. What it pictured is what started the singing.
The burnt offering shows how perfect His spotless person was, and how devoted His heart was in offering Himself up to God of His own free will. And as soon as we see this, the song of the Lord begins and continues. The result is a heart that bows in worship. What is there to hinder joy and worship, when I see that He loved me and gave Himself for me? He has met all my sins perfectly — not some of them, but all of them.
The song came at the end of a clean-up. One writer says we should copy the order.
Hezekiah came to the throne when the house of God stood closed and neglected and its holy vessels destroyed. He loved God's house, so with energy and wisdom he began the work of restoring it. He had the doors opened. He ordered that all the rubbish piled up there, the evidence of neglect, be taken at once out of the holy place of God's house. Once that was done, everything needed for the worship of God was in place again… In assemblies and in the lives of individual believers there can be closed doors to the Spirit's voice. Rubbish piles up easily after that. Sin, worldliness and the activities of the flesh can take over and dominate. These things must be judged and put away, so that true worship and godly order may prevail in the house of God. Judgment before blessing is a divine principle from Genesis to Revelation.
The verse calls it the song of the Lord. One writer asks what song that is.
They were to sing. Sing what? The song of redemption? No! You cannot serve until you can sing that song. You have no right to be a servant until you are in the liberty of grace. God would lead us to the highest point, and what is that? Fellowship with God… Now you can go on to fellowship with God in that side of the death of Jesus where He devotes Himself to death for the glory of God.
The verse names trumpets and the instruments David appointed. One writer explains what that music stands for.
This music speaks of the joy of the Lord, and that joy should be a very real part of worship. In the Church of God today some are eager to use musical instruments in worship as well. They reason that Israel used instruments in its worship, so New Testament saints ought to use them too. But this instrumental music is only a symbol of the joy of believers as they worship God "in spirit and truth"… When the Lord Jesus set up the Lord's supper with His disciples, we read of no musical instruments, but they did sing a hymn.
The music lasted only as long as the offering. One writer weighs the picture against the reality.
The burnt offering was a picture of our Lord offering Himself without spot to God. It came to an end, and when it ended the song ended too. But the reality it pictured is the atoning death of our Lord, and its power will never end. So the singing will never end. It must be eternal, for ever and ever, never dying down.
- Cleansing — Hezekiah opened the doors and cleared out the rubbish before any music began; judgment comes before blessing.
- Sacrifice — the burnt offering pictures a spotless Person giving Himself up to God; that is the foundation of the day.
- Song — praise begins where the sacrifice honours God, not just where it forgives our sins.
- Fellowship — this is the Lord's own song, sung by people already at liberty, now sharing God's delight in His Son.
- Endless — the offering ended and the singing stopped with it; what it pictured never loses its power, so that song never ends.
And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, all [the time] until the burnt-offering was finished.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.