1 Chronicles 28-29: What Wealth is For

We close First Chronicles with David’s charge to Solomon, a detailed handoff of the temple plans, a surge of joyful generosity, and a prayer that centers integrity and God’s sovereignty. The story becomes a mirror for our motives, our courage, and our view of wealth.

• David commissions Solomon to serve with a willing spirit
• Temple blueprints and priestly divisions given in detail
• Be strong and brave because God will not abandon the work
• Leaders and people give generously with joy
• David praises God as the source of wealth and honor
• Integrity and pure motives matter more than totals
• Solomon anointed king and Zadok confirmed as priest
• David’s reign summarized and legacy affirmed
• Promise highlighted: seek God and He lets you find Him

Chapters

• 0:34 Welcome And Chronicle Wrap
• 2:12 David’s Charge To Solomon
• 4:53 The Temple Blueprints And Duties
• 6:49 A Call To Courage And Unity
• 7:09 Radical Generosity And Praise
• 9:34 Solomon Anointed And David’s Legacy
• 11:55 Wisdom For Today: Seek And Give

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:23

Hey, welcome back to the Out Loud Bible Project Podcast. I'm so thankful to have you join me here today as we continue to read through the book of First Chronicles. Actually, we get to wrap up the book of First Chronicles. Honestly, it didn't take all that long. It helped that we were able to skim through some of the names and lists and repetition at the beginning and toward the end of the book. But some really good stories, little nuggets buried in here, man. That's what I love about the Old Testament. Like, you can't write any of it off. You got to get in there and uh and always ask ourselves, like, okay, what does this teach us about God? Right? That's what the Bible's here for. We gotta use it to learn more about God and learn more about ourselves. And when we see a difference between what we learn about him and what we learn about ourselves, then we gotta go to him and ask him to close the gap between what we should be and what we are. That's his work. And we just gotta say yes and we gotta repent and take responsibility on our part and then just watch what he does. And we see a great example of one human's wrestling with wanting to be like God and humbling himself and not always getting it right, but then coming back and repenting and keeping pursuing the heart of God. We see that in the character of David. In 1 Chronicles, we've seen a lot of pockets into his life. If you really want to go in depth, check out 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. But uh 1 Chronicles here is hitting some of the highlights of his work as king, most notably setting up his son Solomon to be able to build a temple for the Lord. For the first time in Israel's history, God was going to have a building built for him. Not that he needed it or necessarily wanted it, but he allowed not David to do it, but Solomon to do it. David's going to tell that part of the story again here in 1 Chronicles 28, and we'll wrap up with 29, and we'll call it a wrap on 1 Chronicles, but let's get into it right here in the New English translation. David assembled in Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, including the commanders of the tribes, the commanders of the army divisions that served the king, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, the officials who were in charge of all the property and livestock of the king and his sons, the eunuchs and the warriors, including the most skilled of them. Those were all listed last episode, if you want to go back and I don't know, read it or listen to it again, that's up to you. But King David rose to his feet and said, Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I wanted to build a temple where the Ark of the Lord's covenant could be placed as a footstool for our God. I've made the preparations for building it, but God said to me you must not build a temple to honor me, for you're a warrior and have spilled blood. The Lord God of Israel chose me out of my father's entire family to become king over Israel and have a permanent dynasty. Indeed he chose Judah as leader and my father's family within Judah, and then he picked me, out from among my father's sons and made me king over all Israel. From all the many sons the Lord has given me he chose Solomon, my son, to rule on his behalf over Israel. He said to me, Solomon your son is the one who will build my temple and my courts, for I have chosen him to become my son, and I will become his father. I will establish his kingdom permanently if he remains committed to obeying my commands and regulations as you're doing this day. So now, in the sight of all Israel, the Lord's assembly, and in the hearing of our God I say this, carefully observe all the commands of the Lord your God so that you may possess this good land, and may leave it as a permanent inheritance for your children after you. And you, Solomon, my son, obey the God of your father, and serve him with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit. For the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one's thoughts. If you seek him, he will let you find him. But if you abandon him, he will reject you permanently. Realize now that the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as his sanctuary. Be strong and do it. David gave to his son Solomon the blueprints for the temple porch, its buildings, its treasuries, its upper areas, its inner rooms, and the room for atonement. He gave him the blueprints of all he envisioned for the courts of the Lord's temple, all the surrounding rooms, the storehouses of God's temple, and the storehouses for the holy items. He gave him the regulations for the divisions of priests and Levites, for all the assigned responsibilities within the Lord's temple, and for all the items used in the service of the Lord's temple. He gave him the prescribed weight for all the gold items to be used in various types of service in the Lord's temple, for all the silver items to be used in various types of service, for the gold lampstands and their gold lamps, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps, for the silver lampstands, including the weight of each lampstand and its lamps, according to the prescribed use of each lampstand, for the gold used in the display tables, including the amounts to be used in each table, for the silver to be used in the silver tables, for the pure gold used for the meat forks, bowls, and jars, for the small gold bowls, including the weight for each bowl, for the small silver bowls, including the weight for each bowl, and for the refined gold of the incense altar. He gave him the blueprints for the seat of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and provide shelter for the Ark of the Lord's covenant. David said, All this I put in writing as the Lord directed me, and gave me insight regarding the details of the blueprints. David said to his son Solomon, Be strong and brave. Do it. Don't be afraid, and don't panic, for the Lord God, my God is with you. He will not leave you or abandon you before all the work for the service of the Lord's temple is finished. Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God's temple, all the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service. The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions. King David said to the entire assembly, My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is just an inexperienced young man, and the task is great, for this palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. So I have made every effort to provide what's needed for the temple of my God, including the gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, as well as a large amount of onyx, settings of antimony and other stones, all kinds of precious stones and alabaster. Now to show my commitment to the temple of my God, I donate my personal treasure of gold and silver to the temple of my God, in addition to all that I've already supplied for his holy temple. This includes three thousand talents of gold from Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the buildings, for gold and for silver items and for all the work of the craftsmen. Who else wants to contribute to the Lord today? Well the leader of the families, the leaders of the Israelite tribes, the commanders of units of a thousand and a hundred, and the supervisors of the king's work contributed willingly. They donated for the service of God's temple five thousand talents and ten thousand dericks of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and a hundred thousand talents of iron. All who possessed precious stones donated them to the treasury of the Lord's temple, which was under the supervision of Jehel the Gershenite. The people were delighted with their donations, for they contributed to the Lord with a willing attitude. King David was also very happy. David praised the Lord before the entire assembly. O Lord God of our Father Israel, you deserve praise forevermore. O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth. You, Lord, have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. You are the source of wealth and honor. You rule over all. You possess strength and might to magnify and give strength to all. Now, O God, we give you thanks and praise your majestic name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be in a position to contribute this much? Indeed, everything comes from you, and we've simply given back to you what's yours. For we're resident foreigners and temporary settlers in your presence, as all our ancestors were. Our days are like a shadow on the earth, without security. O Lord our God, all this wealth which we've collected to build a temple for you to honor your holy name comes from you. It all belongs to you. I know, my God, that you examine thoughts and are pleased with integrity. So with pure motives I contribute all this, and now I look with joy as your people who have gathered here contribute to you. O Lord God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, always maintain these motives of your people and keep them devoted to you. Make my son Solomon willing to obey your commands, rules, and regulations, and to complete building the palace for which I've made preparations. David told the entire assembly, Praise the Lord your God. So the entire assembly praised the Lord God of their ancestors. They bowed down and stretched out flat on the ground before the Lord and the king. The next day they made sacrifices and offered burnt sacrifices to the Lord, one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs, along with their accompanying drink offerings and many other sacrifices for all Israel. They held a feast before the Lord that day and celebrated. Then they designated Solomon, David's son, as king a second time. Before the Lord they anointed him as ruler and Zadok as priest. Solomon sat on the Lord's throne as king in place of his father David. He was successful, and all Israel was loyal to him. All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David's sons, pledged their allegiance to King Solomon. The Lord greatly magnified Solomon before all Israel and bestowed on him greater majesty than any king of Israel before him. David, son of Jesse, reigned over all Israel. He reigned over Israel forty years. He reigned in Hebron seven years and in Jerusalem thirty three years. He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him. King David's accomplishments from start to finish are recorded in the annals of Samuel the Prophet, the annals of Nathan the Prophet, and the Annals of Gad the Prophet. Recorded there are all the facts about his reign and accomplishments, and an account of the events that involved him, Israel, and all the neighboring kingdoms. That's a pretty cool wrap-up to this book of Chronicles, isn't it? Just as this book was written for the Israelites generations after, who were coming back and trying to rediscover their identity in the Lord as his people, let's take this as wisdom for ourselves and learn the heart of God. I'm looking at chapter twenty eight, verse nine, when David is commissioning his son, hey, serve the Lord with a submissive attitude and a willing spirit. That's not just true for Solomon. That is a good command and a call for us today. Why? He goes on. For the Lord examines all minds and understands every motive of one's thoughts. I love this promise. If you seek him, he will let you find him. Isn't that great? If you seek him, he'll let you find him. He's not there hiding. Seek him. He knows your hearts, he knows your motivations, he's fair, he knows why you do what you do. He knows the motivations of your heart. That's probably why God was so pleased with the generous offerings of his people to help contribute to the building of the temple. He knew that their hearts genuinely wanted to glorify the Lord through frankly a proper understanding of what wealth is. It was all God's in the first place. That's true of you today. Any wealth you have, any resources you have, like David said, it all comes from the Lord, it all belongs to him. God is pleased with integrity. And so let's make sure we give back to him with joy. Anything you have belongs to him. And its only purpose is to bring him glory. Why are we hanging on to it ourselves? What are we afraid of? What do we value more? That's a tough thinking out loud thought for the day. But let's wrestle with that for a little bit, and I'll see you next time.