v 25 – He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.
We skip 2 Chronicles 26-28, chapters that cover the reigns of two good kings (Uzziah and Jotham) and one particularly bad one, Ahaz. (In our sequential readings of these periods of rule, it’s easy to understand them as more-or-less equal segments of time when, in fact, they range from one year to over fifty!) Chapter 29 brings us to Hezekiah, a man that the Kings account describes thus: “There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him” (2 Kings 18:5).
Hezekiah’s reforms are profound because they address structures, starting with the Temple, its priests and Levites. Their first task is to clean up and purify the temple, removing the unclean relics of alien religion that had accumulated during the sixteen years of Ahaz’ rule (cf. 2 Kings 16). Like Jehoiada, Hezekiah is anxious that David’s pattern is maintained – note the many references to him:
- v 2 – “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.”
- v 25 – “He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David”
- v 26 – “the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments”
- v 30 – “Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer.”
There is no mention of a Shekinah glory filling the Temple, but simply a rejoicing (v 36) at what “God had brought about for his people.” Is this not the beginning of true worship?
