How Do You View God? By George Kenworthy
The Bible says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). One such prayer can be found in I Chronicles 29. It was offered up by King David near the end of his life. I Chronicles 29:1-20
Let me first give you the context in which David made that prayer. In Chapter 28, the aging king summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble in Jerusalem and before them he gave his son Solomon the charge to build the Temple of God. He turned over to Solomon all the details of the construction plan that the Holy Spirit had put in his mind, assuring him that the priests and the Levites, as well as the princes and all the people of Israel, will be wholly at his command.
In the first part of Chapter 29, David told the assembly that he had accumulated vast resources for the palace, and encouraged the people to give generously as well. As we'll see later on, they indeed did, and joyfully at that. Then, in verses 10-19, David gave this prayer of thanksgiving. It is the last recorded prayer of this great man of God, who was a type of the Lord Jesus. As we look at this prayer, we can begin to understand what was in his heart and how his action was affected by his conviction.
I. What God has given us
This is how his prayer begins: Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and
the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.David begins by acknowledging that to the eternal God belongs greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty. He declares that God is head over all. God has all dominion.
We all believe that, don't we? We all believe that God is head above all, that He is sovereign over all that He has created. But are we convinced? You see, the depth of our conviction significantly affects our appreciation of what God has given us.
David understands that God is not only the head above all, but He is the One who works in the heart of believers. In verses 18 and 19 he prays:
O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee: And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for the which I have made provision.
Less mature. David did not always know God this way. This lofty view of the Lord was a result of decades of personal experiences. Frankly, I find it comforting to know that even David had to grow into the convictions that he expresses in this great prayer.
Let's turn to I Chronicles 21, where we find a younger and quite a different David. The chapter begins with David wanting to number Israel. We can infer from verse 5 that it's because he wanted to know how many were in his army.
From the parallel account of this incident in II Samuel 24, we learn further that it was all a head trip for David. He wanted to prove to himself what a mighty king he was by virtue of the vast army he commanded. Even his assistant Joab warned him, "Don't do this thing, David, because you're going to anger God." But David went ahead and did it anyway.
In fairness to David, I think we all have to admit that we often go off on our head trips. In the church don't we count heads? Don't we want to be able to boast about the growth of our attendance? But as we see in verse 7, God is not pleased with this kind of vanity. It reads, "And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.
Three choices. Although David confessed and asked God to remove his sin, God was not placated. In verse 12 he had to pick one of three punishments:
Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.
David picked the last alternative, explaining in verse 13, "Let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies." Pointing to God's great mercies, David might have expected God to just slap him
on the wrist. But that's not what happens. While God was merciful to David in not hurting him, He sent a plague on Israel and seventy thousand men died. God is God.In the ensuing years, though, David began to appreciate anew that God is really head over all. By the time we come to I Chronicles 29, he had developed such appreciation for God that he was motivated to say, "Lord, I'm nobody. It's not me who is the hot shot. It isn't because of my strength that I've enjoyed all these military victories. God, I praise you, that you're head over all and that you have all might, and dominion and power."
II. What we want to give back
In verses 12-16 of I Chronicles 29, David's prayer continues: Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.
David is convinced that everything we have comes from God and belongs to God.
What do we do if we really believe that? The extent of our conviction, I think, can be seen in what we do with the things that God has given us in this life. What we do with our money, what we do with our home, what we do with our material possessions, and what we do with our children.
Right after the tragedy that resulted in seventy thousand Israelites being killed by a plague, David displayed quite an amazing attitude toward the things that God has given him. Let's turn again to I Chronicles 21. There, we read that in the wake of the plague, David pleads with God not to kill any more of the people for his personal sin. God agrees. David then sees an angel of the Lord with his sword drawn standing by the threshing floor of a man named Ornan. That angel of the Lord tells him to build an altar unto the Lord where they are standing.
David goes and asks Ornan if he can buy the threshing floor. Ornan says, "You can just take it. You are the king. Do whatever you want with it." Now notice David's response in verse 24, "Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord." David is not going to give to God that which costs him nothing.
We see this attitude of David's shining through again in I Chronicles 22. There, David is telling Solomon what he has set aside for the temple that is to be built. He says, "Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver..." We don't relate to talents so that doesn't mean a whole lot to us. But in our currency today, the gold and silver alone
is worth many trillion dollars!So far we can say, "But that's from the state's treasury. What about David himself?" Well, here in I Chronicles 29 we read in verse 4 that he is giving out of his own pocket "Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir (which is the finest gold), and seven thousand talents of refined silver..." In today's economy, it would be close to $100 billion. Do you think David is serious with God at this point?
In verse 5, David made a bold challenge. After having told the people what he himself has set aside for the temple, he asks, "And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" The people accept the challenge and give generously and willingly in response. Moreover, verse 9 tells us, "Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."
Giving the glory to God, David says in his prayer in verse 17:
I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
David and the people of his day were thoroughly convinced that everything they had belonged to God and was temporarily entrusted to their stewardship. Their conviction was translated into joyful and generous giving to the building of the temple.
Since Pentecost Jesus has been building His church, and through todayís scripture, He is asking: ìWho among you are willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord?î
How convinced are you that God is the head above all, and that He has given you everything that you now have. Do you find great joy in giving generously to your church, your missionaries and other ministries that faithfully send forth the gospel? As David says, God tests our heart and He is pleased when we handle what He has entrusted to us with uprightness. o
Rev. George Kenworthy is Senior Pastor at Wayzata Evangelical Free Church, 705 Highway 101 North, Plymouth, MN 55447.