(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(1 Chronicles 29:1-30) Then King David said to the entire assembly, “My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is still young and inexperienced, and the work is great; for the temple is not for mankind, but for the Lord God. 2 Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance. 3 In addition, in my delight in the house of my God, the treasure I have of gold and silver, I give to the house of my God, over and above all that I have already provided for the holy temple, 4 namely, three thousand talents of gold, from the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the buildings; 5 gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”
6 Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, with the supervisors of the king’s work, offered willingly; 7 and for the service of the house of God they gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord wholeheartedly, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
10 So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given to You. 15 For we are strangers before You, and temporary residents, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and everything is Yours. 17 Since I know, my God, that You put the heart to the test and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. 18 Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts to You; 19 and give my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”
20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed down and paid homage to the Lord and the king.
21 On the next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness.
And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest. 23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of his father David; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 And all the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon. 25 The Lord highly honored Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been bestowed on any king before him in Israel.
26 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.
28 Then he died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from the first to the last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the seer, 30 with all of his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came upon him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
6 Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and hundreds, with the supervisors of the king’s work, offered willingly; 7 and for the service of the house of God they gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of brass, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Whoever possessed precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, in care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord wholeheartedly, and King David also rejoiced greatly.
10 So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. 13 Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given to You. 15 For we are strangers before You, and temporary residents, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and everything is Yours. 17 Since I know, my God, that You put the heart to the test and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. 18 Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intentions of the hearts of Your people, and direct their hearts to You; 19 and give my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.”
20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed down and paid homage to the Lord and the king.
21 On the next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord, a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 So they ate and drank that day before the Lord with great gladness.
And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest. 23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of his father David; and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. 24 And all the officials, the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David pledged allegiance to King Solomon. 25 The Lord highly honored Solomon in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him royal majesty which had not been bestowed on any king before him in Israel.
26 Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27 The period which he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty-three years.
28 Then he died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place. 29 Now the acts of King David, from the first to the last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the seer, 30 with all of his reign, his power, and the circumstances which came upon him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Any work that is for the Lord is "great", and it really only should and can be done if the people doing the work are consecrated - set apart as holy - meaning, they are God fearing and Bible-believing Christians. Our churches need to be a little more diligent as to who they allow to serve, because as we serve God and others we are representatives of the church, The Church, and most importantly God, Himself.
Our salvation, our gifts, our time, our resources, our finances, our positions... everything we have is from God, and it benefits us to realize that everything we have belongs to God and is for God. As we "give" everything to God, we can be confident that He is the perfect steward and manager of everything.
The entire purpose of doing anything is to thank, praise and glorify the Lord. So just as David prayed, ask God to keep us steadfast through tests and trials. And ask God to not just direct our hearts, but our integrity and willingness to remain obedient and generous to the Lord. God will honor this and through Him, great work will be accomplished.
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