1 And they brought in the ark of God and set it in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered whole burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before God. 2 And David finished offering up the whole burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, and he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 And he shared out to every man of Israel, from man to woman, one baker’s loaf and a cake for each man.
4 And he appointed some of the Levites before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to serve and to sound aloud, and to give thanks and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the leader, and second to him Zechariah; then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jeiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel with instruments — harps and lyres; and Asaph sounding aloud with cymbals; 6 and Benaiah and Uzziel the priests with the trumpets, continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.
David’s Song of Thanks
7 On that day, then, David first put the praising of the Lord into the hands of Asaph and his brothers:
8 “Give thanks to the Lord, call on him by his name,
make known among the peoples the things he has done.
9 Sing to him, sing praises to him,
tell everyone his wonderful works, which the Lord has done.
10 Praise his holy name;
the heart that seeks what pleases him will be glad.
11 Seek the Lord and be strong,
seek his face always.
12 Remember his wonderful works, which he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
13 you seed of Israel, his servants,
you sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
14 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
15 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
16 which he made with Abraham,
and his oath to Isaac.
17 He set it up for Jacob as a decree,
for Israel as a covenant forever,
18 saying,
‘To you I will give the land of Canaan,
the measured line of your inheritance,’
19 when they were few in number,
when they were small, and lived as strangers in it,
20 and they went from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another people.
21 He let no one overpower them,
and he rebuked kings for their sake:
22 ‘Do not touch my anointed ones,
and do my prophets no harm.’
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
tell of his rescue from day to day.
25 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but our God made the heavens.
27 Glory and praise are before his face;
strength and boasting are in his place.
28 Give to the Lord, you families of the nations,
give to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Give to the Lord the glory of his name;
take up gifts and bring them before his face,
and bow down to the Lord in his holy courts.
30 Let all the earth fear before him;
let the earth be set firm and never shaken.
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’
32 The sea will roar, and all that fills it,
and the trees of the field, and everything in it.
33 Then the trees of the forest will be glad before the Lord,
for he has come to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for it is good,
for his mercy is forever.
35 And say:
‘Save us, God of our rescue,
and rescue us out of the nations,
that we may praise your holy name
and boast in your praises.’
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from age to age.”
And all the people will say,“Amen.”And they praised the Lord.
Before the Ark, and at the High Place in Gibeon
37 And they left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to serve before the ark continually, the duty of each day, day by day; 38 and Obed-edom and his brothers, sixty-eight of them; and Obed-edom son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, as gatekeepers.
39 And they left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tent of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon, 40 to offer whole burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of whole burnt offerings, continually, morning and evening, and to do everything written in the law of the Lord, all that he commanded the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses the servant of God. 41 And with him were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest, chosen by name, to praise the Lord, “for his mercy is forever”; 42 and with them were trumpets and cymbals to sound aloud, and instruments for the songs of God; and the sons of Jeduthun were at the gate.
43 And all the people went away, each to his own house; and David went back to bless his house.