Built there an altar. — The parallel place in Chronicles states that the tabernacle “and the altar of burnt offering were at that season in the high place at Gibeon,” and that David was afraid to go before it “because of the sword of the angel,” i.e., the pestilence. It also mentions that when David “offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the LORD,” “He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.” David then fixed upon this as “the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel” (1 Chronicles 22:1).
Thus, with David’s repentance and reconciliation to God after his second great sin closes this narrative and this book. David’s reign and life were now substantially ended — a witness to all time of the power of Divine Grace over human infirmity and sin, of God’s faithfulness and mercy to those that trust in Him, and of the triumph of an earnest and humble faith notwithstanding some very great and grievous falls.