The Lord the Defense of His People

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Simple Trust in the Lord

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Blessed Unity of the People of God

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

Praising the Lord in His House at Night

A Song of Ascents.

²⁹ And it happened, ^(A)as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the City of David, that Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David whirling and playing music; and she despised him in her heart.

The Ark Placed in the Tabernacle^(B)

16 So ^(C)they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. ² And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, ^(D)he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. ³ Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins.

⁴ And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to ^(E)commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: ⁵ Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then ^(F)Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom: Jeiel with stringed instruments and harps, but Asaph made music with cymbals; ⁶ Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests regularly blew the trumpets before the ark of the covenant of God.

David’s Song of Thanksgiving^(G)

⁷ On that day ^(H)David ^(I)first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord:

Regular Worship Maintained

³⁷ So he left ^(A)Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work ^(B)required; ³⁸ and ^(C)Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers; ³⁹ and Zadok the priest and his brethren the priests, ^(D)before the tabernacle of the Lord ^(E)at the ^[a]high place that was at Gibeon, ⁴⁰ to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly ^(F)morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in the Law of the Lord which He commanded Israel; ⁴¹ and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, ^(G)because His mercy endures forever; ⁴² and with them Heman and Jeduthun, to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God. Now the sons of Jeduthun were gatekeepers.

Musicians in the House of the Lord

³¹ Now these are ^(A)the men whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ^(B)ark came to rest. ³² They were ministering with music before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they served in their office according to their order.

³³ And these are the ones who ^[a]ministered with their sons: Of the sons of the ^(C)Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, ³⁴ the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of ^[b]Eliel, the son of ^[c]Toah, ³⁵ the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, ³⁶ the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of ^(D)Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, ³⁸ the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. ³⁹ And his brother ^(E)Asaph, who stood at his right hand, was Asaph the son of Berachiah, the son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ the son of ^(F)Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah, ⁴² the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei, ⁴³ the son of Jahath, the son of Gershon, the son of Levi.

⁴⁴ Their brethren, the sons of Merari, on the left hand, were ^[d]Ethan the son of ^[e]Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shamer, ⁴⁷ the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

⁴⁸ And their brethren, the Levites, were appointed to every ^(G)kind of service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

The Family of Aaron

^49 (H)But Aaron and his sons offered sacrifices ^(I)on the altar of burnt offering and ^(J)on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

^20 (A)Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, ^(B)uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the ^(C)base fellows ^[a]shamelessly uncovers himself!”

²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^(D)who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the ^(E)people of the Lord, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the Lord. ²² And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.”

²³ Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children ^(F)to the day of her death.

David’s Kindness to Mephibosheth

9 Now David said, “Is there still anyone who is left of the house of Saul, that I may ^(A)show him ^[a]kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

² And there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was ^(B)Ziba. So when they had called him to David, the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

He said, “At your service!”

³ Then the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, to whom I may show ^(C)the kindness of God?”

And Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan who is ^(D)lame in his feet.”

⁴ So the king said to him, “Where is he?”

And Ziba said to the king, “Indeed he is in the house of ^(E)Machir the son of Ammiel, in Lo Debar.”

⁵ Then King David sent and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, from Lo Debar.

⁶ Now when ^(F)Mephibosheth^[b] the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, had come to David, he fell on his face and prostrated himself. Then David said, “Mephibosheth?”

And he answered, “Here is your servant!”

⁷ So David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”

⁸ Then he bowed himself, and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon such ^(G)a dead dog as I?”

⁹ And the king called to Ziba, Saul’s servant, and said to him, ^(H)“I have given to your master’s son all that belonged to Saul and to all his house. ¹⁰ You therefore, and your sons and your servants, shall work the land for him, and you shall bring in the harvest, that your master’s son may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth your master’s son ^(I)shall eat bread at my table always.” Now Ziba had ^(J)fifteen sons and twenty servants.

¹¹ Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king has commanded his servant, so will your servant do.”

“As for Mephibosheth,” said the king, “he shall eat at ^[c]my table like one of the king’s sons.” ¹² Mephibosheth had a young son ^(K)whose name was Micha. And all who dwelt in the house of Ziba were servants of Mephibosheth. ¹³ So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem, ^(L)for he ate continually at the king’s table. And he ^(M)was lame in both his feet.