-- it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one voice to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah For he is good, for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever; that then the house, the house of Jehovah, was filled with a cloud,
Solomon's temple is finished, and the ark is in its place. Singers and trumpeters sound together for the first time, and God answers by filling the house with a cloud. Two questions follow. Why did praise, not sacrifice, bring out the glory? And what does singing in unison ask of God's people today?
One writer ties Israel's first songs to a reign of peace.
Solomon's was the time of rest. No enemy was left for him to conquer. He had no more preparing to do through trouble and toil. He sits down full of honour and peace. And his was the time of joy also. Then, for the first time, songs broke out from the middle of the congregation of Israel. Moses long ago had appointed sacrifices, but no songs had been heard in the tabernacle. David had appointed the singers, given them their charge, and settled them in their courses. But all this joy was prepared for Solomon. In the house that he had built, the priests, the trumpeters, and the singers — Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and brothers — first awakened the praises of Jehovah in Israel.
The same writer notices what the glory put a stop to.
The priests could not stand to do their usual service, for the glory had displaced them. No sacrifices could then be bound to the horns of the altar. Nothing was there but the fruit of praise and joy. Only thanksgiving and the voice of melody were heard. And in this Jehovah rested.
The instruments were not decoration. One writer shows what went into them, and where the sound was aimed.
Israel, God's chosen people for earth, needed a way to express their thanksgiving, praise and worship to God. So they quarried minerals from the hills, took wood from the forests, and strings from animals they killed. King David ordered these made into cymbals, cornets, trumpets, psalteries, and harps. They were for the Levite singers and the 120 priests with trumpets, so they could join "as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord." … But this cannot be stressed too strongly — the music of praise was TO GOD, and not for the mere entertainment OF MEN!
That oneness came from following a set order of service. One writer marks the change: the church does not copy the method, because oneness now has a different source.
In the ancient ritual of praise, unity came from always doing the act in a set way. Today the unity comes from the Spirit of God, who fills every mind with the same truth and gives it life. … We have not so much as a word about the formation of a choir to ensure efficient singing. … Not a section or a selection of believers: every one in the assembly is a fully qualified singer, through the work of Christ for him and the work of the Spirit in him.
The words they sang were not written for that day alone. A psalm opens with the same line. (Where these writers say "mercy," the ESV reads "steadfast love.")
This Psalm opens with what may be called the refrain of Israel's national song — at least from the time of Solomon's temple (see 2 Chr. 5:13). The song which proclaims that "His mercy endures for ever" is surely a song for eternity.
The force of "for ever" is measured against the nation's own record.
This Psalm takes up mercy as enduring for ever, not merely the sense of the present greatness of it — but when they saw how God's truth had held firm in spite of their sin, they see the incomparable patience of God — His own character celebrated in them, as of "mercy for ever."
One writer reads the cloud as God's answer, and as a picture of Israel's joy in an age still to come.
The trumpeters and singers were "as one." Their harmony was beautiful as the stringed instruments joined in too. So the whole gathering thanked and praised the Lord together, saying, "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever" (v. 13). All this is a picture of the spontaneous great joy that will fill the hearts of Israel at the dawning of the millennial age. The Lord then expressed His own approval by filling the temple with the cloud of His glory.
One writer reads the scene as a pattern for God's people now.
So now, if we want the house of God filled with the glory of God, we must keep the lessons taught here. These things are foundation principles. A crucified, risen, and glorified Christ. A Christ holding His own proper place of authority, in gathering and rule. The hearts of His people as one in giving thanksgiving, praise, and blessing. Then the glory of the presence of the Lord will be known among us.
- One rest. Songs began only after the fighting and the building ended. Solomon's peace made praise possible.
- One sound. Trumpeters and singers merged into a single voice. The music aimed at God, never at the entertainment of men.
- One Spirit. Israel's oneness came from a set ritual. Today it comes from the Spirit, who fills every mind with the same truth and makes every believer a qualified singer.
- One refrain. "His mercy endures for ever" became Israel's national song from Solomon's temple on — and it is a song for eternity.
- One answer. God met the united praise with His glory. He so filled the house that the priests could not serve, and only song remained.
and the priests could not stand to do their service because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God.
Solomon has just finished the temple, and the singers and trumpeters lift one sound of thanks. God answers by filling the house with a cloud — so why did praise bring Him down, and why did His coming stop the priests from working?
The timing matters. The cloud came down while the people were singing. One writer marks this as the first of two such moments in Chronicles.
The first (2 Chron. 5:11-14) comes before Solomon's prayer. The trumpeters, singers, and all the rest join with one voice, saying or singing, "For He is good, for His mercy endures for ever." Then a cloud filled the house. The cloud appears as an answer to their shout of praise. Jehovah steps down from the heaven of heavens, His dwelling place, to His throne on earth. He comes to receive the praise of His people, and reveals His presence by a cloud.
In the Bible, a cloud is how God shows His presence and hides His power at the same time.
They were the heavenly veil of the presence of God — His chariot, and the hiding place of His power. It pleased God to show His presence to Israel in a cloud... At the dedication of the temple "the cloud" filled the house. The priests could not minister because of it: "for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of Jehovah." 1 Kings 8:10-11... This visible symbol of God's glory is often called the SHECHINAH. The word is from the Aramaic shakan, "to rest."
The glory did not just visit. One writer pictures it spreading through the house like someone at home.
When it came to occupy the house which Solomon built for it, it took its throne there with full delight. "Arise into Your resting-place," said Solomon. "This is My rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it," answered the Lord. It was the good pleasure, the desire of the glory, to fill the place. And so when it does come down... it spreads itself out, if I may put it that way. It stretches out as though it felt at home. It fills the holy place and the most holy place, and its train flows out into the courts, so that neither Moses nor the priests could stand to minister.
The priests could not stand to minister. One writer reads this as both God's approval of the house and a stop put to man's work.
Having placed the ark in the holiest of all, the priests came out, and at once the cloud of God's glory filled the house of the Lord. So God was showing His presence, approving the temple as His dwelling place among Israel. At that time the priests could not minister in the temple. The glory of the Lord was paramount, and man's work must then cease.
How could God live among a failing people? One writer points to the fire that fell on the sacrifices.
God dwelt in the midst of the whole of Israel. He did so on the ground of redemption, as we see again when the fire came down in answer to Solomon's prayer and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifices. It was redemption through the value of all that Christ was in His sacrificial work. It had not been possible on any other ground. But because it rested on the foundation of all the sweet savour of Christ in His death, He could dwell among them, despite what the people were in practice.
Under law, no one could stand there. One writer sets that against what believers have now.
Like Moses at the setting up of the tabernacle, the priests cannot stay where God's glory dwells. Man under law cannot bear the brightness of God's glory. It is very different now under grace. We can gaze into the glory in the face of Jesus, and His presence will be our dwelling place for ever.
The glory that filled the house did not stay for ever. One writer follows it to the day it went.
Ezekiel gives us the sorrowful history of the glory departing, when Jehovah felt bound in righteousness to leave His house. Ezek. 9:3; Ezek. 10:4, 18; Ezek. 11:23 describe the stages of its departure, as if God was most reluctant to give up His people.
- Praise draws Him. The cloud answered the singing of the people. God came down to receive their praise.
- Presence fills. The glory spread through the house and out into the courts. It settled in as its own resting place.
- Sacrifice grounds it. God lived among a failing people on the ground of redemption. The worth of Christ's sacrifice, not their record, made it possible.
- Man steps back. Where the glory is paramount, man's work stops. The presence the priests had made ready for shut them out.
- Grace goes further. What shut the priests out now welcomes believers in. We can gaze into that glory in the face of Jesus.