4And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD, the God of Israel: 5Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, [1]Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud; 6and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.
7Then on that day did David [2]first ordain to give thanks unto the LORD, by the hand of Asaph and his brethren.
8O give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name;
Make known his doings among the peoples.
9Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;
a cake of raisins] Cp. Is. xvi. 7 (R.V.) where the same Heb. word is used.
4—6 (cp. vv. 37, 38). David's Arrangements for Ministration
before the Ark.
4. to celebrate] The literal meaning is to call to mind; cp. ver. 12 (remember). Cp. Pss. xxxviii., lxx. (titles).
5. Asaph] Cp. xv. 17, note.
and Obed-edom] It is possible that the names Obed-edom, and Jeiel and Asaph (in the latter part of the verse) have been inserted by the interpolator who wrote xv. 19—21 and wished to accommodate these verses to the altered text in ch. xv.
6. Benaiah and Jahaziel] Two priests for the two trumpets.
Benaiah] In xxvii. 5, 6 a Benaiah son of Jehoiada the priest (R.V.) is mentioned who may possibly be identified with the Benaiah who was one of the thirty heroes (xi. 24, 25). Cp. also xii. 27.
7—36. The Psalm of Praise.
The psalm which follows consists of Pss. cv. 1—15, xcvi. 1 b—13 a, cvi. 1, 47, 48. It has been compiled from the Psalms just mentioned and placed here as an utterance such as would be appropriate to the situation. For detailed criticism as to the original form and present text of these Psalms, the reader must be referred to the commentaries on the Psalter. Only such comment is here given as seems called for in their present setting.
8—22 (= Ps. cv. 1—15).
8, 9. These verses are perhaps based upon Is. xii. 4, 5.
