Lexicon :: Strong's H4687 - miṣvâ

Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the LORD’s temple with cymbals, harps, and lyres according to the command of David, Gad the king’s seer, and the prophet Nathan. For the command was from the LORD through his prophets.

So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the hand of the king and his officials, and according to the king’s command, saying, “Israelites, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel so that he may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.

He was diligent in every deed that he began in the service of God’s temple, in the instruction and the commands, in order to seek his God, and he prospered.

Then the king stood at his post and made a covenant in the LORD’s presence to follow the LORD and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book.

So the service was established; the priests stood at their posts and the Levites in their divisions according to the king’s command.

This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the LORD’s commands and statutes for Israel:[fn]

Now, our God, what can we say in light of[fn] this? For we have abandoned the commands

“Therefore, let’s make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the law.

I said,

LORD, the God of the heavens, the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands,

You came down on Mount Sinai,

and spoke to them from heaven.

You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions,

and good statutes and commands.

join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath[fn] to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

There was, in fact, a command of the king regarding them, and an ordinance regulating the singers’ daily tasks.

The heads of the Levites ​— ​Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel, along with their relatives opposite them ​— ​gave praise and thanks, division by division, as David the man of God had prescribed.

and had prepared a large room for him where they had previously stored the grain offerings, the frankincense, the articles, and the tenths of grain, new wine, and fresh oil prescribed for the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, along with the contributions for the priests.

The members of the royal staff at the King’s Gate asked Mordecai, “Why are you disobeying the king’s command? ”

I have not departed from the commands from his lips;

I have treasured[fn] the words from his mouth

more than my daily food.

The precepts of the LORD are right,

making the heart glad;

the command of the LORD is radiant,

making the eyes light up.

so that they might put their confidence in God

and not forget God’s works,

but keep his commands.

“if they dishonor my statutes

and do not keep my commands,

Hallelujah![fn]

Happy is the person who fears the LORD,

taking great delight in his commands.

Then I would not be ashamed

when I think about all your commands.