A House for the LORD

(1 Chronicles 28-29)

David is near the end of his long and glorious reign as king of Israel. And he has gathered together a huge assembly with all the nation’s leaders, officers, commanders and officials. He stands up to speak to them, and begins by telling them the story of how he had had the desire to build a temple for the ark of the covenant of Lord. We know from earlier passages (2 Samuel 7, 1 Chronicles 17), that David had said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” And it was a good desire for David to have. He had a dream to do something big for God, to honor God’s holy presence, and to create a place of worship for God’s people.

But God told David that he would not be the one to build the temple, because he was a warrior who had shed much blood. Rather, his son Solomon would be the one to have the honor of building the temple of the Lord. And yet, God promises David that He will build him a house; a dynasty, a line of descendants that would always sit on the throne. In the earlier accounts (again, see the story 2 Samuel 7 and 1 Chronicles 17), God had candidly reminded David that He really did not need a home built by human hands, and that so far He had done just fine without one.

But even though David knew that the project of the temple wouldn’t be his to complete, he did everything he could to collect the resources and the people that this big project would require. And now, as David stands before his subjects and all the rulers of his people, he presents his son Solomon with the resources he’s gathered, and commissions his son to complete the task of building the Lord’s temple. He gives Solomon the building plans he’d drawn up (which God had given him), instructions for the work of the priests, and lots and lots of silver and gold.

And I love David’s words of encouragement to Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.” He also urges Solomon to serve and seek God wholeheartedly.

Then David turns to the whole assembly of people, and he commissions the leaders who are present to help and support Solomon in building the temple, and makes a petition asking if they are willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord that day. And all of the leaders, officers and commanders follow David’s example of generous giving, and donate their own gold, silver, bronze, iron and precious stones toward the work of the temple. It says the people rejoiced at the willingness of their leaders to give wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Then David prays a beautiful prayer of dedication to God, giving praise to the Lord for who He is and acknowledging that all they have and all they’ve given is from God’s gracious hand, and belongs to Him. (For the sake of brevity, I won’t quote the whole prayer here, but it is truly beautiful, and I would encourage you to read it in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19).

Then all the people praised the Lord together, bowing down, making sacrifices and celebrating with feasting and great joy in the presence of God. They also anoint and crown Solomon as their king, and pledge their loyalty to him.

This is one of those Biblical accounts that I wish I could’ve been there to experience. It must’ve been incredible to be there among the large assembly of the Lord’s people, all praising God, rejoicing in Him together, hearing such an encouraging and inspiring message from their beloved king, preparing to receive their next king, and looking forward in excitement and anticipation to the building of a glorious temple of worship for the manifest Presence of God to dwell in their midst.

And there are so many great lessons for us in the story of this epic worship party!

First, I love the focus on the honor and glory of God’s holy presence throughout the entire passage. It’s clear that David was intentional about giving credit and thanks to God, and that he led the people in reverent worship of Yahweh. I think it’s beautiful that David had such a desire to build a temple for the Lord and that he invested so much time, energy, and money into the project. It makes me stop and ask myself, how much do I value the Presence of God? And how much is my life invested into bringing others into His Presence to marvel at His greatness? Something I think we’ve really lost in our modern-day casual approach to church, is a sense of awe and reverence for the holiness of God’s presence. And it’s so important that we are intentional about creating space where God’s manifest presence is welcomed, and where we remember just how truly AWEsome He is.

Another thing that strikes me is that David wasn’t just investing in building a house for the Lord, he was investing in something that wasn’t even his given assignment. He was clearly told that the temple was to be Solomon’s project, not his. But that didn’t stop him from doing everything he could to contribute to it, and to set Solomon up for success. He could’ve easily said, “Okay. God said this would be Solomon’s thing, so I’ll just let him do it.” But instead, he said, “Okay, so it’s not specifically my project, but what can I do to help?” We need to always be looking for ways to contribute to the work others are doing for the Kingdom, and partnering with them in their ministries.

I admit that one of the things I have to constantly remind myself when it comes to ministry is that it’s not all about me!! It’s not wrong to want to do big things for Jesus, but it’s easy to fall into the pride of thinking, “Look what I did for God!” So I really appreciate the example of David’s humility in demonstrating that he knew it was about building God’s kingdom, not his own. It would always be known as “Solomon’s temple” but David was more than happy to invest in a project that wouldn’t have his name on it. Because he knew it wasn’t really about either David or Solomon. It was God’s house, for God’s glory alone. And when we remember that we are just one small part of a Kingdom mission and a Story that’s so much bigger than ourselves, we won’t care so much about our own accomplishments, and we will be invested in leaving a legacy for the next generation, and setting them up to be successful in loving and following Jesus, long after we are gone.

I also love the part of the story where God told David, “Um, excuse me, but if you haven’t noticed, I am not a God who needs anything from you. I am doing just fine without a man-made house.” (obviously my words, but that was the sense of his message to David in 2 Samuel 7:6-7, 1 Chronicles 17:5-6). And I love that rather than taking David up on his offer to build him a temple, He instead talks about how He’s going to bless David and his family. It wasn’t about what David could do for God, but about the covenant promise that God had for David. Yet another lesson in humility, it’s always good to be reminded that while God is all-sufficient and needs nothing from anyone, we are completely dependent on Him and His covenant promises. Everything we have is a gift from His loving and gracious hand...just as David reminds us in his eloquent prayer of thanksgiving and praise. I think sometimes we get so caught up in doing things for God, that we forget the importance of simply receiving the incredible gift of what He has done for us.

Which brings me to my final thought, which is the story from Solomon’s perspective. Solomon was given everything he needed to do the task he was assigned. All he had to do was “be strong and courageous and do the work.” Similarly, God has done the “heavy lifting” for us, so to speak. In Christ Jesus, we have been given every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. We have been given everything we need for life and godliness. We have been given the resources, the gifting and the supernatural power to do what God has called us to do. All we have to do is be obedient to what’s in front of us, and put to use what we’ve been given. We simply need to receive God’s amazing gifts, to be strong, be courageous and do the work we’ve been assigned to do.

So I challenge you remember all that you’ve been abundantly blessed with, remember that all you have and all you are comes from God, remember that you are a part of something so much bigger than yourself, and remember to give honor thanks and praise to our glorious and awesome God whose Presence is worth everything.