The singers went before David had ordered the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren for singers, by lifting up the voice with joy, 1 Chronicles 15:16; the players on instruments followed after
Of which see 2 Samuel 16:15; 1 Chronicles 13:8. Among them were the damsels According to the usage; playing on timbrels And with their voices celebrating the praises of God. Bless ye God in the congregation This verse contains what they sang on this occasion, in concert with the band of music. From the fountain of Israel Or, as it is rendered in the margin, and by many others, Ye that are of, or from, the fountain of Israel, or Jacob; that is, all ye people of Israel, derived from the stock or family of Jacob; see Isaiah 48:1. But these words are by some joined to the former clause, thus: Bless the Lord for the fountain of Israel, that is, for that fountain which God hath opened to Israel, for the purging away of sin and uncleanness, as is expressed Zechariah 13:1, even the blood and Spirit of Christ, and all those spiritual blessings which God confers upon his people in the sanctuary, and by his ordinances. But the former sense seems most natural and easy.