Now, my son, the Lord be with thee, &c. Or "shall be with thee" (r), as some; and if it be as a prayer, it was no doubt a prayer of faith; the Targum is,"may the Word of the Lord be thine help:"

and prosper thee; may success attend thee:

and build the house of the Lord thy God, as he hath said of thee; foretold he should, and therefore would assist him to do it, which was an encouragement to go about it.

(r) "erit", Pagninus, Montanus; "futurus est", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

After David had so committed to his son Solomon the building of the temple, as task reserved and destined for him by the divine counsel, he wishes him, in 1 Chronicles 22:11, the help of the Lord to carry out the work. והצלחתּ, ut prospere agas et felici successu utaris (J. M. Mich.), cf. Joshua 1:8. על דּבּר of a command from on high; cf. עלי .f, 1 Chronicles 22:8. Above all, however, he wishes (1 Chronicles 22:12) him right understanding and insight from God (וּבינה שׂכל, so connected in 2 Chronicles 2:11 also), and that God may establish him over Israel, i.e., furnish him with might and wisdom to rule over the people Israel; cf. 2 Samuel 7:11. ולשׁמור, "to observe" equals and mayest thou observe the law of Jahve; not thou must keep (Berth.), for ולשׁמור is to be regarded as a continuation of the verb. finit.; cf. Ew. 351, c, S. 840.

Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and {e} prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.

(e) He shows that there can be no prosperity, but when the Lord is with us.

22:6-16 David gives Solomon the reason why he should build the temple. Because God named him. Nothing is more powerful to engage us in any service for God, than to know that we are appointed thereto. Because he would have leisure and opportunity to do it. He should have peace and quietness. Where God gives rest, he expects work. Because God had promised to establish his kingdom. God's gracious promises should quicken and strengthen our religious service. David delivered to Solomon an account of the vast preparations he had made for this building; not from pride and vain-glory, but to encourage Solomon to engage cheerfully in the great work. He must not think, by building the temple, to purchase a dispensation to sin; on the contrary, his doing that would not be accepted, if he did not take heed to fulfil the statutes of the Lord. In our spiritual work, as well as in our spiritual warfare, we have need of courage and resolution.