Life of David – Epilogue – Scripture Supply

David, “A Man After God’s Own Heart”

Epilogue: “David, A Willing Offering”

1 Chron. 29:1-20 :

The preparation of the people for the temple

1 Kings 2:1-12:

The preparation of his son Solomon to lead the nation

Intro

It appears that David lived around 10 years after the civil wars of Absalom and Sheba, and during those years he seems to have been focused upon two events that he saw as essential for the future of the nation.

(Worship) The preparation of the people for the temple: Now the way I’ve worded this may come as a surprise, as clearly as 1 Chron 29 is concerned with bringing in the supplies necessary for the temple’s construction. But look at the words in verses 1-20 reveals (1-9 the heart of the people, David’s prayer to God), and you will see that this has more to do with the people’s hearts than merely bringing in supplies to build the temple.
The preparation of his son Solomon to lead the nation: This is seen in 1 Kings 2:1-12, where David says verses 2-4, “Prove yourself a man, keep the charge of the LORD your God, and then goes on to tell his son how that will be accomplished, saying, “Walk in His ways, to keep His statutes.”.

1 Chron. 29:1-20 The preparation of the people for the temple:

Now, prior to David’s exhortation to the nation, he had some time for his 16-year-old son, in which he gave Solomon three things to the temple prior to the giving of resources.

28:11-12 Gave plans: “David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things.”.

28:20 Gave encouragement: “David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God; my God; will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.”

28:21 Gave people: “Here are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of the house of God; and every willing craftsman will be with you for all manner of workmanship, for every kind of service; also the leaders and all the people will be completely at your command.”

Why is this important to mention? Well, it speaks to me that David spent a lot of time thinking over where God’s people were headed and how to best get them there. As you know, we have just come back from a pastors and leadership conference seeking the Lord and listening to what He wants for this fellowship. I suppose some folks just think we just do our own thing, but the truth of the matter is that the leadership regularly spends time seeking the Lord and listening to the people as to where the Lord would have us. It was so encouraging to hear from the Lord through the speakers that we are right where He wants us; now all that remains is for us to execute His vision.

Vs. 1 There are two very important declarations David declares as he spoke to all the assembly:

First he reminded them that God had chosen a young and inexperienced person for a great work. I wonder how that made his 16-year-old son feel? Hey saints, I want you to realize that God often does this kind of thing, choosing the young and inexperienced for great works. I rather think that God believes in apprenticeships and on-the-job training, as he seems to do this over and again in scripture. He takes great pleasure in the development of people. I have often said that from a pastor’s perspective there are two types of people: products and projects! Now the truth is all of us are projects, and God is into discipleship.

That is why Jesus exhorted us to go out and make disciples (learners of Jesus) and not just converts. We are so impatient when God begins to use a “project,” as they aren’t products like us. Hey saints, I’m into projects, and you know why? Because Jesus took a bunch of young and inexperienced people for the greatest work there has ever been, reaching the world with the gospel. He has got all those angels up there who I’m certain could do a better job than the projects, and He went ahead and chose you and me.

Second is this statement that leaps off the page at me: “The temple is not for man but for the LORD God.” In our day of commercialization, where we have been told that the “customer is always right and the most important person,” we are taken back as we find that the temple is not for man but for God. Over the years of pastoring, I have had people come up to me and say that they are “shopping for a church that will meet their needs.” Often if someone is not happy, like a customer in a department store, they come to me as “store manager” and tell me why they aren’t going to be shopping with us any more; sometimes they have even told me that they love the store but just don’t like the store manager (I always tell them I don’t either). These words of David fly in the face of the modern church goer who believes that the temple is for man. God is preparing us for the temple, and the temple is not about us; it is all about God! “Well then I’m going to go where they treat me as if it is all about ME!”

Oh dear Christian, we have fallen victim to this “consumer mentality” in God’s church, and it has left us chasing after pleasing people instead of people who live to please God! There is a world out there wanting to hear about Jesus, who alone can mend their broken hearts and ruined lives, and where is the body of Christ? Well, you will find far too many of us concerned that the church service wasn’t up to where we thought it should be. Am I making you mad yet? There are volumes of books and seminars that we pastor types can get to learn how to make sure our “front doors are larger than our back doors,” and the truth is there shouldn’t be any doors or walls.

Peter wrote of this in 1 Peter 2:3-5 that we are to “come to Him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious; you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

David in verses 1-9 lists three things that we must have as we prepare ourselves to come into His temple:

Vs. 2 Preparation: “Now for the house of my God I have prepared with all my might.” I find two very interesting observations concerning this first step:

First is the statement, “with all my might.” This phrase suggests that this was no haphazard approach, no casual consideration, but rather David gave his very best attention and consideration to this endeavor. David thought, “I’m going to meet with God and He with me.” Can you imagine going to meet with the Lord and there was music that was playing, and you didn’t know the words too, or the color of the carpet wasn’t much to your liking, so you turned and walked out? The most important person in the meeting Christian, isn’t us; it’s Him, and when we come to meet with Him, it is far more important to be more concerned with the environment of our hearts being right with God than the trappings of the meeting place!

The second observation is what David prepared with all his might as he lists 9 things. I’m not going to go into the specifics of those nine things, but I’d like to make two statements about them. First, it is obvious they are all valuable; simply put, David offered that which had intrinsic value to him. His preparations with all his might were with nine things that were precious. Instead of coming to God’s house with anticipation of getting David prepared with all his might in anticipation of giving, again David didn’t view himself as a consumer but rather God was the consumer. Next notice that six times in verse 2, the idea is that which was given with all his might have a specific purpose or use.

This implies that David saw that what he was giving was not only valuable but that it never belonged to him in the first place. In all of this, we have the idea being conveyed that the temple was to be a place where people would prepare with all their might to gather to give that which had been given to them things of great value to be used for the purpose that they were created for in the first place.

Vs. 3-8 Adoration: “I have set my affection on the house of my God.” In the first list of items, David was speaking of the temple treasures, but here he is mentioning his own reserves. Again, notice that David refers to this as the “house of my God.” It is God who is personal and relational to David, not the house. Hey saints, the greatest aspect about gathering together is not the house that belongs to God or the worship service but that our God will be meeting us, hanging around us, speaking to our hearts of His goodness and greatness. Notice that David mentions three things concerning worship here:

“I have given”: Personal. David came to the temple with a heart that wanted a personal encounter with God, and to do so he came giving, not expecting to get. There is a saying that says, “Your getting will be in direct proportion to your giving.” No wonder so many churchgoers say they don’t get anything out of church as they are there to get, not to give to God.

“Over and above”: Sacrificial, David came and didn’t give the bare requirements; no, he came giving over and above. Paul said in Romans 12:1 that we are to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” I’m afraid that far too many times we come out of our time with the Lord empty-handed because when we came to Him, there was no sense that we were here as a living sacrifice.

“My own special treasure”: Special, David brought before the Lord that which he most valued; he held nothing back; he didn’t worry that there wouldn’t be enough left for himself. Hey saints, it is only when we come to Him with our “own special treasure” that we can receive from Him all of that which He desires to give us. It appears to me when we think of what church is supposed to be that it ought to be a place where we “hang out and then go out.”

Vs. 9 Exaltation: “Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the LORD; and King David also rejoiced greatly.” Twice in this verse we are told that the “people rejoiced and that David greatly rejoiced.” It seems as though the worship of God came about because, with a “loyal heart, they had offered willingly to the Lord”. My point is that the consumer mentality is an obstruction to personal satisfaction. Hey saints, when we come into God’s house and make everything about us, it’s no wonder we come out dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Ah, but when we offer willingly to the Lord with a loyal heart, then we will come out rejoicing greatly.

Of further interest to me is that David’s devotion led the nation to the same heart as he says in verse 5, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?” The word “consecrate” literally means “to fill his hand,” and by it, the idea of giving of oneself is placed on the same level as devotion. And from the leaders of the families to those over the army to the “who so evers” of verse 8 came and offered willingly and rejoiced greatly. There is always a correlation in our worship between “offering willingly” and “rejoicing greatly,” and the reason often for a lack of “rejoicing greatly” is because we don’t “offer willingly.” How willingly?

Well, we are told that they gave from the spoils of battle 3,750 tons of gold and 37,500 tons of silver, and David from his own bank account gave 110 tons of gold and 260 tons of silver. The leaders of the people are the ones that stepped up and offered “willingly.” We see the principle in place that those that led the people were givers, demonstrating that they trusted God and realized that what they had was not theirs but belonged to God. David wanted the people to see that they weren’t offering what was theirs but what was God’s to begin with. Oh, to thank God for the privilege of giving what was first given to us—that’s the heart I want to cultivate.

Hey saints, Jesus taught, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21) There is an interesting point here, as David didn’t command that the people give instead modeled the heart of a giver and then simply gave them the opportunity to do likewise. There was no temple thermometer on the wall people gave without restraint and compulsion. God doesn’t need our money; He wants our hearts, and it’s when we give selflessly to Him as an act of worship that we are revealing who controls our lives. It is far too easy, like the “rich young ruler,” for us to become possessed by what we possess, so why not set yourself free and give as an act of worship?

Vs. 10-20 Here are David’s official last words to the nation and Solomon, his son and new king. In verses 1-11, David proclaims the greatness of God: “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” Next David turns his amazement to what God worked in the hearts of the people as they donated so much for the building of the temple, verses 14-16. “Hey, wait a minute, now I gave this and that; why are we giving thanks to God?”

We are so prone to thinking that all we have—time, talent, and treasure—has come for our creation and not God’s. The ability to give and the heart to give equally come for God, as Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” Saints, perhaps the greatest manifestation of the greatness of God is what He is able to do in and through human hearts. You see, when he spoke the world into existence, he created something from nothing—an impressive act. Ah, but when he creates a clean heart from a dirty one and then uses that new heart to touch another dirty heart, it shows how truly great He is.

Praise to God merged into prayer for Solomon and the people that they would keep God’s commandments. It only takes becoming inconsistent for our heart to go back the way it had been. David in verses 14-16 walks the nation down memory lane looking at how God took a small family of shepherds and the youngest son of the family and created a kingdom that in only 40 years became the greatest in the world. How was such a thing possible? Well, the Lord didn’t need the prosperity or strength of the nation, but what He did look for were those people who would consistently avail themselves of His greatness, those who would not see just their own limitations but see God’s limitless greatness and goodness.

David then prays for the people and for his son (Vs. 18–19) not to ever forget this: “O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your people, and fix their heart toward You. And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes, to do all these things, and to build the temple for which I have made provision.” Finally, in verse 20, we have the coronation of Solomon recorded, also recorded in 1 Kings chapter one, but with a completely different perspective. Both record the conflict that was behind the selection of Solomon, but 1 Kings gives the details while 1 Chron. only records the outcome.

Notice in David’s prayer that he prayed that the heart of the nation would move closer to the Lord after they were willing to let go of the temporal things. Verse 22 tells us that “So they ate and drank before the LORD with great gladness on that day.” They were lighter in the wallets, but they hadn’t done so begrudgingly that there was a huge party because they gave with a heart that held nothing back, giving God there all. I wonder if our lack is due to our lack of giving. Hey folks, we need to break free of this “consumer mentality” and get back to the fact that everything about our lives as Christians is supposed to be about Jesus.

1 Kings 2:1-12 The preparation of his son Solomon to lead the nation

The first time Solomon was proclaimed king was right after his brother Adonijah tried to steal the throne in 1 Kings 1:39, and now David is doing it right. And when it all comes down to it, no matter if you are a shepherd boy, giant killing, or worship leading king, there will be another who reigns in your stead. The greater question is: who is reigning in your stead now in this life, who is on the throne of your heart?

Vs. 1-4 David knew that his time had come, and so now he wants to anoint his 16-year-old son to be king. In the first four words David tells him the keys to “proving yourself a man” are by “keeping the charge of the LORD your God,” which is “to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses.” Simply put, proving ourselves a man is directly tied to being a person of the Word! Living a consistent, obedient life to the Word of God is the key to a prosperous life. The first thing he tells his boy is to be a man of the “word.” Paul said something familiar when he spoke to Timothy: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Tim 2:15).

In verses 5-9, David lists certain individuals that were to be singled out for special considerations; two of those are to be judged, and one rewarded Barzillai (verse 7). David needs to deal with some unfinished business concerning two men, Joshua and Shimei. Remember here that Solomon is 16 years of age here, and his dad realizes that these men, if unrepented, are a threat to the nation.

David was 30 years old when he began his reign as king. The number 30 always seems to be associated with training and preparation and 40 with the years of service before the Lord. Hey saints, we are either being prepared for service or engaged in service for our Lord, but you realize that this leaves out all together the idea of the commercial Christian who is shopping for services within the walls of their home church. Instead of the attitude that says, “I don’t like this, I don’t like that,” as it relates to the events going on around the church, we ought to be looking at our hearts in the mirror of the Word, saying, “I don’t like this and I don’t like that; oh God, please, by your spirit, change my heart!” “Even the greatest of people will be put to bed with a shovel,” says an old Russian proverb, but those who belong to God will be raised in glory. From here on out, all kings will be measured against the bar of David, and only one “the Son of David” will ever exceed him.