And thou, Solomon my son. — The king now turns to his heir, urging a whole-hearted service to his father’s God (1 Chronicles 28:9-10).
Know thou. — Regard thou, have care for (Psalms 1:6).
The God of thy father might mean the God of Israel (comp. 1 Chronicles 29:10). But 1 Chronicles 28:20, where David speaks of “my God,” suggests the simpler meaning, God of David, here. (Comp. Psalms 18:2; Psalms 18:6; Psalms 18:22; also Genesis 31:29; Genesis 31:42.)
With a perfect heart. — The word shâlçm means whole, sound, unimpaired; the Latin integer. Hence, what is urged is an undivided allegiance, such as is enjoined by the Decalogue. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 29:9; 1 Chronicles 29:19; 1 Kings 8:61.)
A willing mind. — For service is not real unless it be voluntary, and so glad as well as free.
For the Lord searcheth all hearts. — Search, i.e., seek (1 Chronicles 28:8 and below). For the thought, comp. Psalms 139:1-4; Psalms 139:23; 1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 94:9; Acts 1:24; Hebrews 4:13. The Searcher of hearts will at once see through an insincere and half-hearted obedience.
And understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. — And every fashioning (yççer, εἶδος, Bild) or cast of thoughts he discerneth (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21).
If thou seek him. — Deuteronomy 4:29. Seeking Jehovah in earnest always results in finding (Isaiah 55:6). Yet the Divine grace is not restricted even by this condition (Isaiah 65:1).
If thou forsake him. — Deliberately and of set purpose, as choosing to live by other laws than His.
He will cast thee off. — A strong word (hizniah), meaning strictly, to reject as noisome or foul-smelling. (Comp. Hosea 8:3; Hosea 8:5.) The verbal form hiphil is peculiar to Chronicles. (See 2 Chronicles 11:14; 2 Chronicles 29:19.)