MPV Commentary

David said that this was to be the home of the Lord God. He had come to understand this through miraculous signs, including a fire from heaven and other indications, which led him to believe it was God's will for the national place of worship to be located there. As a result, David immediately began making preparations for building the temple on that site.

David instructed the leaders to gather together the foreigners who lived in Israel. This included descendants of the original Canaanite inhabitants (2 Chronicles 8:7-10), from whom tribute was exacted in the form of forced labor, as well as war captives (2 Chronicles 2:7) who were being reserved for this great project.