Sorry I took a couple of days off. My computer didn't get packed, but I am temporarily homeless, which is a bit stressful as you might imagine. They packed up our house on Wednesday, and we drove to my parents' house on Thursday. We will be here until Sunday after church. Then we will drive to our new house. Our moving van won't be there until next Thursday, however. Go ahead and say it . . . "Waaahh!" I'm a big baby, I know.
The chapters we are reviewing today, I believe, show us David's finest hour. He is passing the baton to his son after a successful reign as king of Israel. He is understandably proud of his ability to make provision for the building of the temple, and David's own generosity inspires his people to give abundantly as well.
1 Chronicles 28:4-5 and 1 Chronicles 29:14-17 demonstrate David's amazement that God would choose him. "Who am I, and who are my people . . .?" At first when I read the listing of all that David donated to the temple, I wondered if he was bragging and saying, "Look at what I did!" But he acknowledges that everything he gave came directly from God. I definitely want that to be my life philosophy. Absolutely nothing I have is a result of my own efforts. Everything in my life came from God's hand, and all of it belongs to Him.
Why do I hold so tightly to it then? As I watched all my worldly possessions being loaded onto a semi, it was overwhelming. Do I really need all that stuff? And I thought I had already cleaned out a boat load of junk too. I am so totally spoiled. Am I honoring God? Sometimes I don't know, especially when I spend too much time trying to maintain material wealth. Would I have responded as the leaders did in 1 Chronicles 28:6? Would I have given willingly? Would I have been included in verse 8? Would I have given all my precious stones to the treasury of the LORD's temple?
Verse 19 of Chapter 28 is very reassuring to me. God is so a detail man! I love it! I think it is terrific that God shared all those details with David. During our drive this week, I heard Psalm 25:14 quoted as the verse of the day, "The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them." I just looked it up in the Message version on www.biblegateway.com "God-friendship is for God-worshipers; they are the ones He confides in." Isn't that awesome? I'm hiding that Word in my heart!
Don't skip over David's prayer in Chapter 29. It is so totally fabulous!
Did you cry at the death of David? I believe his family and friends did, and Psalm 116:15 tells us that the death of the LORD's saints is precious in His sight.
1 Chronicles 29:29 lists David's mentors: Samuel, Nathan, and Gad. They were the prophets who served during his reign. They were his spiritual advisors. Will you tell me who has been a spiritual mentor for you? I could list several, but the ones who stand out the most are Loretta Arthaud (my mom), Brother Billy Rammage (my pastor when I was young), and Nick Howard (my BSU director from college). These people helped disciple me, and like David did for Solomon, they helped me to be strong and courageous. They reminded me not to be afraid or discouraged, and they helped me to believe that God would not fail me or forsake me until my work for Him on earth is done.
We will read some of David's psalms before we delve into the reign of Solomon. See you soon!
v 9 "the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him he will reject you forever." 10 "Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you...Be strong and do the work."
ReplyDeleteJust as the Lord made Himself known and wants to be served in the OT so does He now. Consider now...not tomorrow or next week, do it now! The Lord wants us to be busy...but busy with His work only.
Quick question, why is it that when "him" or "he" is used in the Bible to refer to the Lord it is not capitalized?
I was wondering why would it be important to tell us all the items that was given to the temple by David and the people. How does that really matter? But I think now that maybe it was testimony to us that earthly possessions aren't that important and that eveything we have is a gift from God. We are also suppose to not hold anything back from the Lord, but be willing to sacrifice it all for Him, including material items.
ReplyDeleteMelinda,
ReplyDeleteThe Bible does not capitalize pronouns because there is no distinguishing mark for capitalization in the original Greek and Hebrew texts. In my research on your question, I found that most Bible scholars discourage writers from capitalizing he and him when referring to God. Very interesting.
Melissa, great question and comment. God gives, and God takes away. We should hold all material possessions very loosely. As I slept on the floor in my new house last night, I was thankful for a warm, dry place to sleep. So many people in this world do not have that. We do not need much in this life to be able to minister to God's people. In fact, sometimes owning too much stuff hinders our service to God because we end up serving our stuff instead. We must keep in mind that it all belongs to Him, and He is most glorified when we offer it back to Him.
ReplyDeleteWhen I hear of all the things that went into the temple, I think how beautiful it must have been. To have been a part of building the temple and then to see the finished work would have been so awesome. I absolutely love to visit beautiful old churches (or even new ones) and see the craftsmanship that goes into making God's house. I always have to wonder if the people who did the building loved and served God, thus making the work special to them, or if it was just another job to them.
ReplyDeleteKatherine, I think of the magnificent Catholic cathedrals I have visited. They are certainly awe inspiring! Whenever we enter any house of worship we should take time to reverence God rather than getting caught up in rituals.
ReplyDeleteI know the men who built our church building were not all believers, but the people of our church who had contact with them tried their best to be a good witness to them.