I Chronicles 22:1

Then David said,.... Within himself, or to some principal persons about him: this is the house of the Lord God; the place where the temple was to be built, hinted at in Deu 12:5 and elsewhere; the meaning is, here, or in "this" place, shall be the house of God, so Noldius (o), for as yet there were none; but it was now made known to David that here it should be built, and so the words in Ch2 3:1 should be rendered: then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, which was shown to David his father, which he prepared in the place of David, that which he bought in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite: and this is the altar for the burnt offering for Israel; not which he had built here; but this is the place where one should be built for the people of Israel to bring their offerings to, and to be here offered for them by the priests: this he said by a divine impulse upon his mind, or which he concluded from the acceptance of his sacrifice here, signified by fire that came down from heaven and consumed it; and this being in the threshingfloor of the Jebusites, might prefigure the church of God to be built up among the Gentiles. (o) Ebr. Concord. Part. p. 352. No. 1257.

Here is, I. The place fixed for the building of the temple (Ch1 22:1): Then David said, by inspiration of God, and as a declaration of his mind, This is the house of the Lord God. If a temple must be built for God, it is fit that it be left to him to choose the ground, for all the earth is his; and this is the ground he makes choice of - ground that pertained to a Jebusite, and perhaps there was not a spot of ground besides, in or about Jerusalem, that did so - a happy presage of the setting up of the gospel temple among the Gentiles. See Act 15:16, Act 15:17. The ground was a threshing-floor; for the church of the living God is his floor, his threshing, and the corn of his floor, Isa 21:10. Christ's fan is in his hand, thoroughly to purge his floor. This is to be the house because this is the altar. The temple was built for the sake of the altar. There were altars long before there were temples. II. Preparation made for that building. David must not build it, but he would do all he could towards it: He prepared abundantly before his death, Ch1 22:5. This intimates that the consideration of his age and growing infirmities, which showed him his death approaching, quickened him, towards his latter end, to be very diligent in making this preparation. What our hands find to do for God, and our souls, and our generation, let us do it with all our might before our death, because, after death, there is no device nor working. Now we are here told, 1. What induced him to make such preparation. Two things he considered: - (1.) That Solomon was young and tender, and not likely to apply with any great vigour to this business at first; so that, unless he found the wheels set a-going, he would be in danger of losing a great deal of time at first, the rather because, being young, he w…