I have provided for the house of my God
Thu, 1 December, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
1 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 4 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, 5 and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?”
6 Then the leaders of fathers’ houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king’s work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
David wasn’t allowed to build the temple. He had it in mind to do so, but God stopped him from building it while giving him the promise that his son would build the temple. And so David made it his work to provide the materials that would be necessary for Solomon to undertake the project.
What do we learn from this?
God had richly blessed David and the people They had bountiful material possessions. But instead of hoarding them up for themselves, they recognized these were gifts from God. They generously gave back to God from what He had given them.
I know what I feel like when I pay my taxes. When I look at my paycheck and see how much the government has removed from my pay, I am not filled with joy. But notice the reaction of the people as they freely gave to God. The people rejoiced, and as we read on in the chapter we see David lead the people in a prayer of praise to God for this marvelous display of generosity.
God has dealt quite bountifully with us. Even the poorest of us today are far wealthier than the average person of the past. God has greatly blessed us. We should give back to God willingly a portion of what He has given us. This should not be a burden to us, but instead it should be something that fills us with joy, as God gives us the opportunity to tangibly give Him thanks for all that He has done.
Our giving to the church should not be like paying taxes to the government: a forced necessity. It should be an opportunity to praise God for all that He has done for us.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Why do we give to God? Because everything we have comes to us from Him. Every material possession comes to us from Him as He has given us the ability to earn the wages to purchase and acquire them. Our lives and our health are gifts from God. Our families and children are gifts from God as well. But most significantly, God the Father has sent Jesus Christ to earth to win salvation for all those who come to Him in faith. Our salvation is the biggest gift of all, and it too comes from God.
