1Ch 29:10-19 | KingComments | STEP | When David sees all this voluntarism, it brings him to a hymn of praise to the LORD. He calls Him “God of Israel our father”. With this he emphasizes God as the God of promises, the God Who does what He has promised, and Israel as the people He has blessed. The praise for what has been given can only be sung when we realize that everything we give belongs to God and comes from Him. In his praise David does not tell God what he and the princes have given, but what God has given. He attributes to God unlimited greatness 1. in time: “forever and ever” ( ), 2. in space: “in the heavens and the earth” ( ) and 3. in authority: exalted “as head over all” ( ). All belongs to the LORD, He has all power, and all things come from Him. When people are great and strong, it is through Him. It enables them to create great works. In everything He enables, His glorious Name becomes visible. Whenever and wherever that Name is visible and perceived, there can be nothing but praise to Him.

‏ 1 Chronicles 29:10-19

David Praises the LORD

When David sees all this voluntarism, it brings him to a hymn of praise to the LORD. He calls Him “God of Israel our father”. With this he emphasizes God as the God of promises, the God Who does what He has promised, and Israel as the people He has blessed. The praise for what has been given can only be sung when we realize that everything we give belongs to God and comes from Him.

In his praise David does not tell God what he and the princes have given, but what God has given. He attributes to God unlimited greatness

1. in time: “forever and ever” (1Chr 29:10),

2. in space: “in the heavens and the earth” (1Chr 29:11a) and

3. in authority: exalted “as head over all” (1Chr 29:11b).

All belongs to the LORD, He has all power, and all things come from Him.

When people are great and strong, it is through Him. It enables them to create great works. In everything He enables, His glorious Name becomes visible. Whenever and wherever that Name is visible and perceived, there can be nothing but praise to Him.

Everything Is From and for the LORD

Opposite the majesty of the LORD David humbles himself. He pronounces it: “Who am I?” His life has been a chain of misery. Saul who wanted to get rid of him, his adultery with Bathsheba, his murder of Uriah, his sons’ revolt against him and their rivalry among themselves. He also knows the people over whom he has been king when he says: “Who are my people?” In the light of all this, he is overwhelmed by the work of God’s grace in his heart and in the heart of his people.

What we give, we may give back, overwhelmed by His blessings. The reason to the hymn of praise is the awareness of the smallness of oneself against the greatness and majesty of God, His goodness and blessings. In this case, it is not about smallness due to one’s own badness. The heart of David is humble. He is merely a conduit. We have nothing that we have not received (1Cor 4:7a). Everything are borrowed goods. We give it to Him because it belongs to Him.

This applies not only to our possessions, but also to our willingness to serve and worship Him. What we give and the mind in which we give, both come from Him, they are worked by Him in our heart. There is nothing we can boast of. All glory is from Him and through Him and to Him.

It is a beautiful sight: this old saint, so used and honored by God, sees himself at the end of his life as totally null and humble. There is no glory with David for everything he has done and accomplished. How many people boast of all their achievements precisely at the end of their lives.

David compares the brevity of life with “a shadow”. We have other comparisons in God’s Word regarding the brevity of life:

1. James speaks about life as just “a vapor” (Jam 4:14).

2. Peter compares life to “the flower of grass” (1Pet 1:24).

3. Job says of his days: “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6).

4. David also says that the LORD made his “days [as] handbreadths” and that “every man at his best is a mere breath” (Psa 39:5).

It is important that we realize that there is no strength in us. All strength is with God and we are totally dependent on Him. Also what we give, we can only give because He gave us first. This means that everything that is useful to God’s house must be of Divine origin. We may have good ideas for the functioning of the church, but the question is where these ideas come from.

We must therefore always apply the test of the Word of God to know whether a particular contribution or change we desire comes from God and has His approval. This will keep us from introducing things that put man and his experience central, rather than the Lord Jesus and His honor.

The truth that everything we have comes from God is the basis for the teaching of stewardship. We must always and in all things remember that everything belongs to Him (Psa 24:1) and that this means that what we have is temporarily entrusted to us and that we have received it to use for Him. We are His slaves (Lk 17:10).

The Lord gives us things to make us know the joy that comes from giving to Him. God Himself needs nothing (Psa 50:10-12). When we give, we do what He does, for He is the great Giver. He has given everything in that supreme gift, His Son, the Lord Jesus. God has given Him out of love for the world (Jn 3:16). Shall we not say from the bottom of our heart: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2Cor 9:15)?

Prayer for the People and for Solomon

David knows that with God, whom he calls “my God”, it is about the heart (1Chr 29:17). From his personal relationship with God, he knows that God sees “the integrity” of his heart. He expresses to God his joy because of the voluntariness of the people. This is an important indication for us to thank the Lord especially for what He does in others. At the same time we must pray, as David does, that such a mind will always remain in the other person's heart (1Chr 29:18). It will also be necessary to pray for ourselves. It is important to pray that the heart is turned toward the Lord Jesus, as David does for the people.

It is always about the heart. David also prays for his son that the LORD will give him “a perfect heart” to do what He says (1Chr 29:19). He does not pray for his son that God will make him rich, or learned, or great. His prayer is that his heart will forever be completely dedicated to the LORD.

This will be expressed in

1. obedience to God’s commandments and then in

2. the performance of the task assigned to him.

Here we see an important order. First obedience is mentioned and then the works. Obedience is a mind. If the right mind is present, there can also be worked well. Let us pray this prayer of David for his son also for our children.