Benjamin Hatch brings a message from 1 Chronicles 29 as part of our series, "House of God, House of Kings," a series in the Book of 1 Chronicles.
Redeemer Bible Church of Fort Bend
From Everlasting to Everlasting, You Are God (1 Chronicles 29)
If you have a Bible, turn with me now to 1 Chronicles chapter 29, on page 332 if you're using one of the seat-back Bibles. I think I've got enough time here to read the whole chapter before the Sermon. So, you read all 30 verses, 1 Chronicles chapter 29. 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." 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. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own gold and silver. And because of my devotion to the house of my God, I give it to the house of my God. Three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of over, and seven thousand talents of divine silver for overlaying the walls of the house, 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? Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their free will offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes and commanders of thousands and of hundreds and the officers over the king's work. They gave, for the service of the house of God, five thousand talents and ten thousand daraks of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord in the care of Jehiel the Gershenite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with the whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. For David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said, "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. With riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners as all our fathers were, our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. O Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon, my son, a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made the provision. Then David said to all the assembly, "Bless the Lord, your God, and all the assembly bless the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bow their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the King." And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, one thousand bulls, one thousand rams, and one thousand lambs with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel, and they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness. Dropped to verse 26, "Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor. And Solomon, his son, reigned in his place. And the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the Seer, and in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the chronicles of Gad the Seer, with the counts of all his rule and his might into the circumstances that came upon him, and upon Israel, and upon all the kingdoms of the countries." And all God's people said, "Let us pray." God thank you for this historically accurate record of the life of David that we have not considered these last months, compiled from records of his own time. Lord, thank you for the opportunity to consider these important exhortations this morning. May your spirit move in our midst and make application to each heart. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen. One of the most famous poems of the nineteenth century is Ozzamandias by Percy Shelley, which tells of a toppled ancient statue of a king found in the desert. And on this statue's pedestal are these words. My name is Ozzamandias, King of Kings. Look on my worksy, mighty, and despair, and yet the poem ends, "Nothing Beside Remains." Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, the lone and level sands stretch far away. It's a powerful picture of an important truth. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Empires end. The mightiest empires of biblical times, Assyria and Babylon and Persia and Rome. Where are they now? Where is Hitler's thousand-year Reich? Where is the Soviet Union? Empires don't last. Neither do the powerful people. We barely remember our presidents from a century ago. Titans of industry like Carnegie, Stanford, and Vanderbilt are known today mainly because they attach their names to universities that still exist. That's often how the wealthy try to ensure that their memory will live on after they die, right? They put their name on a building, or a company. But buildings are replaced, and companies are renamed, and then even the most powerful people are forgotten. And if the mightiest nations and people die and are forgotten, then friends, that will be our fate as well. Psalm 103 says, "As for man, his days are like grass. He flourishes like a flower of the field. The wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. Life is transitory and fleeting. That's why we read from Psalm 90 today, "Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Friends, we need to know that our time is limited. And today as we conclude this series in the book of First Chronicles, we encounter this truth with the death of King David. But before he dies, he gives this speech. And he dies not grasping at fleeting earthly glory, not trying to perpetuate his own name, but he dies directing his followers to worship the God, whom Psalm 90 tells us reigns from everlasting to everlasting. And so today as we consider David's death, we will see that we must number our days, and we will see how we redeem our time wisely in First Chronicles 29 as we consider three points. First, give because the king has given so much. Second, worship because of God's boundless glory and third rest because the Lord reigns. We begin with our first point, give because the king has given so much. In chapter 29, David is old and frail, and he is addressing this gathering of all of Israel's military and political elites. And he is giving his final exhortations to the nation, concerning the royal succession and this project that has dominated the latter years of his reign, his preparations to build the temple. In the last chapter, we saw David's first two exhortations at this gathering. As he told the Israelites, trust and obey God, and as he told his son Solomon, fulfill the calling that God has put upon your life, build the temple. But now we see David's third exhortation in chapter 29, verse 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." David has made all these preparations for the temple, and now we find out why. It isn't so that David can secure a legacy for himself. He isn't just trying to put his name on a building. He wants to truly glorify God. And because that is the goal, the work must be done to the highest level. Because God does not accept half-hearted, mediocre, low-quality service. And if you have questions about that read Malachi chapter 1. God is a great God, and he deserves our best efforts when we serve him. So God's temple had to be made to the very highest quality to reflect God's greatness. But as David pondered this truth, he considered a problem, which is that his son Solomon is young and inexperienced. This great task seems entirely beyond him. And yet God has decreed that Solomon must be the one to build it. And so as David thinks about this, how his overmatched son was supposed to meet this great challenge, this is what he decided to do, verse 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, 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. 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. Three thousand talents of gold of the gold of over, and seven thousand talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. David didn't just tell Solomon, sink or swim. He didn't just throw him a 20 and pat him on the head and say good luck. David took concrete steps to help him get the job done and done right. Because David felt a spiritual obligation in this. If the temple must be built, and if it was beyond Solomon's capabilities, then David sees it as on him to make this task as manageable as possible. And so he gives. He gave from the national treasury. You know, as King David had won many wars, and he had amassed quite a pile of gold and precious stones, David gave it to the temple. But David also had his own personal wealth. And instead of hoarding to make his dynasty fabulously wealthy, here at the end of his life, David sees what really matters, which is the advancement of God's purposes. And so he gives another massive sum out of his own pocket. And in modern terms, his donation here would be at a minimum in the hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, to get the job done. Now, maybe as we read this, we think, well, why is David talking about how much he's given here? Is David trying to get the applause of men? Is he trying to be remembered as a great philanthropist? No, David's goal here is not self-aggrandizement. He is trying to set an example to inspire his followers. Look at verse five. He says, "Who then will offer willingly consecrating himself today to the Lord? David's point is not see how much I've given and clap for me. His point is to get his hearers to also give generously." And notice how he describes the act of giving here as a consecration. That term usually described Israel's priests, who were set apart for service. And in Hebrew, this term consecration is literally to fill the hands. Well David asks the Israelites to fill their hands with their own money to give for the temple because that is a vital service for the Lord. So what happens? Verse six. Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their free will offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 derricks of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, 100,000 talents of iron, and whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord. Israel's elites respond to David's example with their own immense generosity. And 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. Now what do we see in these verses? The king gives generously, inspiring God's people to respond with their own immense giving. And as a result, God is glorified, His purposes are advanced, His people are gladdened, and the temple is built. Now what should we take from this? Well, as David is the king who gives generously to build a temple for God, friends understand that David's greater descendant Jesus is a greater king who has given even more generously to build God a better temple. David gave a lot of money to build God's temple, to advance God's plan. Jesus has given something infinitely greater. Peter once says, "You were ransomed, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice. Philippians 2 says, "Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." God's son is truly God, fully participating in all of the divine attributes. And from eternity past, He enjoyed the bliss of heaven and was surrounded by unending praises, and yet He didn't clutch that glory. Instead Philippians 2 says, "He emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men." He came down from heaven and took on true humanity. God the son was born as the baby Jesus, and He grew up not as a rich man, not as a powerful man. Yes, He was born to the royal family of David, but at a time when that conferred no advantage or crown or wealth, He lived a humble life as a laborer and then a preacher, until the time came for Him to achieve that purpose for which He had been sent into the world. Romans 2, 8 and being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. The author of life submitted Himself to death, the most horrific agonizing, humiliating death, Roman crucifixion. And why did He do that? 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 says, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich." Jesus left the glories of heaven above to die on the cross for our sake, because we were in the most destitute and wretched position. Friends, we are sinners. We are traitors in God's universe, rebels against His rule, and we have all lived only for ourselves, opposed to His decrees and commands. We were hopelessly guilty and the Bible speaks about that guilt as an insurmountable death. But Jesus stood in our place and took our guilt upon Himself. He died in our place for our sin to free us from the penalty and power of sin. And not just to clear our ledger, Paul says, "More than that Jesus died to make us rich." Now, don't worry, this is not the prosperity gospel. Jesus did not die to make us materially rich in this life, but to make us spiritually rich. Ephesians 1 says, "He has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." And to Him is election unto eternal life and adoption into His family and redemption, the forgiveness of all of our sins and the indwelling Holy Spirit and the inheritance beyond all inheritance is that that spirit secures which Jesus has guaranteed for us by His resurrection. Friends, Jesus is the King who truly has given all. He sacrificed the glories of heaven and His own sinless life to die and bear the wrath of the Father. And why did He do this? To build a new and better temple. Ephesians 2.19 says, "You were no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple to the Lord." Jesus is building His new temple, it is the universal church comprised of all believers everywhere. That's the new temple. It's not a building made with stone and mortar, it is the church being built one conversion at a time. And friend, if you have never come to Christ you need to turn to Jesus and be saved and become a part of His people and be added to His great building plan for the ages. How do you do that? Jesus is in Mark 1, 15, repent and believe the gospel. Friends, we have been in rebellion against God. We need to surrender our opposition to Him. We need to lay down our arms and turn away from our old life of self and sin and trust and follow Jesus because His death and resurrection are the only way that we can be forgiven and brought into a right relationship with the Father. So Jesus is the King who gave even more generously to build a better temple. But what is our response to what Jesus has done? He gave Himself for us. We should give ourselves to Him. Give your sin to Him. Give your allegiance to Him. Friends, that's conversion. That's salvation. But there's a second application here for believers. Just as David's generosity inspired his people to give financially to build a temple, Jesus greater generosity should inspire us to further give financially to advance the universal church. You know, Paul makes his statement about Jesus dying and becoming poor to make us rich in 2 Corinthians 8. The context there is that Paul is urging the Corinthian church to give generously to help strengthen poor and persecuted Christians in Judea. The universal church needed built up, hurting believers needed to be helped, weakened churches needed to be strengthened. And so just as our King gave generously to build his temple, Paul told the Corinthians you also give generously to build it up too. Now in this same way over recent months we have urged that you give generously to help our brother Allen in Africa who builds up pastors who in turn build up churches throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And by God's grace we raised a very large sum to support that work to help the gospel go forth globally, praise God for that generosity. And as you heard this morning, as those funds were raised by God's grace giving for our local churches needs also increased. Again, praise God for that. We are so thankful for this outpouring of financial support. Friends this will help us do more. It will help us do more to help Allen. We'd love to be able to take on other missionaries to a substantial level as well and expand our own ministry operations. And so the needs continue. And so as Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, excel still further because God's great temple building work continues both here and elsewhere. But when we talk about giving friends, we should remember the great principle in the New Testament that we heard earlier in 2 Corinthians 9, 7. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. Today we're not under the Old Testament tithe, a mandatory percentage that we must contribute. No Christians today given the same sort of way we see in this chapter, a free will offering, a cheerful act, and yet as we see in this chapter, that doesn't mean that we give little. The example we see here is that our giving should be sacrificial because the sums raised here were immense befitting the greatness of God. That's how David and the Israelites gave to the temple. That's how we should give today. And so as we consider what Jesus is doing in the world, friends, let us continue to give cheerfully and sacrificially to the work. So let me make one more application here, friends. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul also uses the language of temple, not just to speak about the universal church, but the local church. 1 Corinthians 3, 16. Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple. Friends not only are we to build up the universal church, we're also to build up the local church. Not only by giving money, later in 1 Corinthians, speaking about the spiritual gifts Paul has given to each believer, Paul says this, strive to excel in building up the church. Friends, we are not just to give money, we are to give an even more precious commodity. Our time, life is fleeting, time is the scarcest commodity we have. And yet we should invest the time that God gives us into the up building of our fellow believers in the local church by using our spiritual gifts. And as we do, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3, that's like building on the foundation of Christ with gold, silver and precious stones. As we invest our time and energy to serve the church, it's like we are contributing to the construction of God's temple just as David and the Israelites did by giving gold and silver and precious stones. So we see many applications here, friends, to sum this first point up, have you given yourself to Jesus? Have you trusted Him for salvation? And if so, what are you giving of yourself and furtherance of His great building plan for the ages? In every week we pray that God would forgive us if our personal finances don't reflect the great salvation we have in Christ. When we pray then, does that prick your conscience? For you it's not money, but time and energy, friends, are you invested in the local church? Are you using your gifts here? Are you investing in other people? When you serve, are you doing something substantial or minimal? Or maybe you're here and you don't give it all, but you just take. Friends consider the generosity of Christ and may His generosity inspire us to be generous with all that we have. But we come now to our second point, which is worship, because of who God is. David is deeply moved by this fabulous response of the Israelites, and he erupts in praise. Look at verse 10, "Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly." When we hear the word bless, we usually think about God blessing us, the giving us His favor. But here David blesses God. Now that does not mean that David gave God some kind of a benefit. Back in chapter 17, David thought he could benefit God, and God rebuked him for his arrogance. Man cannot benefit the God who needs nothing. So when David blesses God here, that doesn't mean that he's doing something nice for God. It means that he is verbally confessing God's greatness. He confesses that God is blessed, and that's what we see now as he prays, verse 10. And David said, "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever." David honors God with specificity. You know, we live in an age of religious pluralism, where people think, "Oh, all religions are the same." They all point to God. We see this on those co-exist bumper stickers everywhere, right? These churches buy into this idea, too. That's why in 2019, the Methodist Church down the street had an interfaith service featuring Catholic clergy, Hindu dancers reading from the Baha'i scriptures, the Book of Mormon, and the Quran. But friends, religious pluralism is false. There is only one God, and we shouldn't be ashamed of that truth. We should proclaim it as David does here. He is specific in this prayer. He calls upon God by name. He prays to Yahweh, and he calls Yahweh the Father of Israel, recalling God's covenant promises to his people. He glories in the fact that there is only one God, and that is his God. At friends, we should pray like this today, too. We should pray with specificity. We should acclaim our triune God. We should pray in Jesus' name, and we shouldn't shy away from it. We should glory in belonging to the one true God, as David does. But David then honors God for his greatness. Look at these amazing verses in beginning in number 11. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. With riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Man, David's come a long way from his arrogance in chapter 17 when he thought he could benefit this God. And notice that he confesses here that the kingdom belongs to God. That's an interesting statement from a king, isn't it? He might well have thought, "Oh, the kingdom's mine. It belongs to my heirs," but he says it belongs to God. Because it was God who said in chapter 17, "I will raise up your offspring after you. One of your own sons, I will confirm him in my kingdom forever." God put David's dynasty on the throne. And God said that David's kingdom was actually his kingdom. The kingdom belongs to God. But God's kingdom is not just the realm of Israel as David confesses here. You are exalted as head above all. You rule over all. God's kingdom is not confined to one location or one people. In fact, God said in Exodus 19, "All the earth is mine," and not the earth only, but David says here, "All that is in the heavens and the earth is yours." God reigns not just over the visible order, but the invisible too. Daniel 4.35 says, "He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" Colossians once says, "By him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities. All things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together that in everything he might be preeminent." Friends angels are powerful, demons are powerful, Satan is powerful, but the Lord reigns. He reigns over all. And in view of this truth, David confesses that to God alone belongs greatness. His word usually describes the magnitude of who God is, his power, his omnipotent force, his ability to do all that he desires without restriction, and the glory. Now this is not the usual Hebrew term translated glory in the Old Testament. This word speaks of beauty and splendor and renown. In short, God has an awe-inspiring grandeur, and he says, "The victory." The Hebrew word here sometimes speaks of success, which is why the ESV has translated it this way, but more often it speaks of enduring, and from everlasting to everlasting, he is God. He never changes. And finally, David praises God for the majesty, the awe-inspiring presence of God's own person. David acknowledges God as this superlative, glorious, all-powerful, unchanging, mighty king who rules over all. And friends, when we hear this, we need to believe that this is who God really is. You know friends, we're sinners. And so we naturally gravitate to a view of God that is less than this, that sees him as smaller and less than what he truly is. You know, this week a church member asked me about an interaction they had with a professing Christian who had said, "God took risks in creating and in sending Jesus and so forth." That's a popular idea in some circles today. God isn't really in control. He doesn't know or guide the future. He's traveling through time with us, guessing and risking and hoping and learning. But in this view, it's just like us, only a little smarter and older. This last one's view is called "open theism." But how does that square with David's prayer? God is unchanging and limitless in power and ruling overall. Open theism and other such approaches that would deny God's total knowledge and limitless power and sovereignty over history reduce God. People like this reductive God because we're uncomfortable with the idea that God is in total control over everything. Because we tend to think that if God was really in control over everything, well, then everything should work out a lot more like I want it to. And we find it easier to conclude that God is not who the Bible says he is than to accept the God who in his sovereignty decides that things might go differently than we would want. That's a very long way of saying we don't like the truth about God because of our pride. We want to be in charge and we don't like the God is. But friends, God reigns. Another false view popular in some circles today is the idea that God created because he is lonely. That he created out of some need within himself. That we exist to bring happiness to God's sad existence. Friends, that is a lie from the pit. God is all sufficient and filled with endless joy dwelling in the perpetual fellowship of the Trinity. God has no needs. He certainly doesn't need us. The Paul says in Acts 17, 25, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. Friends, God lacks for nothing. Davidson's God owns everything. So we can't supplement God in any way because all we have is his. So we need to dismiss these false ideas of a small, dependent God as the pagan blasphemy that they are. The Bible tells us God is great. He is sovereign. He rules overall. And as David reflects on this, he is humbled as we should be, verse 13. He says, "And now we thank you our God and praise your glorious name. But who am I and what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you and of your own have we given you? For we are strangers before you and so journers, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own." David's first purpose in this prayer is to thank God because God has chosen to use David and the Israelites to advance his purposes in this world. God didn't have to do that. God spoke everything into being. If God wanted a temple, he could just make it appear. But God chose to use David and the Israelites to build it. And David sees that's a privilege. Earlier we said Jesus gave generously and we should respond by generously giving our time and treasure and service to him. It is an amazing privilege to be the people that God has chosen to advance his eternal purposes in this world. And yet how easily do we forget that that's a privilege? How quickly does grumbling and whining come to our lips? Why should I have to serve or give or evangelize? Don't we pay a pastor to do that, don't we have elders and deacons? Why is the church calendar so busy again? Why does God want all this holiness for me? Why can't he just leave me alone? But friends those attitudes reflect an incorrect understanding of what it means to serve God. Serving God is not a miserable chore heaped on our backs wrongly. It is high privilege. The God who doesn't need anything has chosen you to advance his good purposes. Grumbling about that's a terrible response. But David chose us the right response here as he praises God for this opportunity. Friends God doesn't need us but he gives us the opportunity to love and serve our spouses if we have them, to raise our children if we have them, to work and reflect well upon him as we do, to build up other saints here, to proclaim the gospel to the lost. It is a grace from God that we can do these things. And as David ponders this, he recognizes his own unworthiness. And David's words here might remind us of Psalm 8 when I look at your heavens and the work of your fingers, the moon, the stars which you set in place. What is man that you're mindful of him? In comparison to God's glory and all that God has made, friends, we're like nothing. We are small, relatively useless and thoroughly corrupted by sin. In fact, David goes further. He says, "We are strangers before you and sojourners as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding." It's interesting words, especially because if you've been with us for the series you know that God said the time was right to build the temple now because now is when Israel was no longer sojourning in the wilderness or fighting for the land. They seem to have some kind of permanence at last. And yet David says here, "We're still sojourners, just like our fathers were." Why does David say that? Because David understands that despite the apparent stability and permanence that Israel now enjoyed, human life is still fragile. Earthly stability does not endure. It's like a shadow quickly shifting and then it's gone. So not only are we tiny, weak and corrupt, we also don't endure. And did God use us to execute his eternal purposes? It's amazing. And yet how can we possibly serve this God who has all things, whatever we contribute it's already his. We can't really add anything. But that's David's point. All this money given to the temple, it was all God's money anyway. He let the Israelites hold on to it for a while but it was truly his. And God equips his people with his resources to spread the glory of his name. But all the breath that we use to praise God comes from him and the lives that we spend in service to him come from him and the money we give comes is really already his, it comes from him. Friends, God stands behind every little bit of service that's ever offered to him. And why does he do it this way? So that no one can boast in his presence. And he had no one can say, "I added anything." It's all from God and for God and to God. Every aspect of everything points to him. And David says in this way, God can also test the affections of his people. He watches to see how we use what he entrusts to us, how we think about what we have. And this reveals our perspective about life. Look at verse 17, he says, "I know my God that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. And now I have seen your people who are present here offering freely and joyously to you." David says, "I know you evaluate what we do with what you give us." And he says here, "I have offered to you freely and I think my people have to with a good motive." He's saying, "God, I think your purpose has been accomplished. You wanted to use us. We have served. You wanted our service to reflect affection for you. It seems to be." And that's a wonderful thing, but it brings us to David's last petition. Look at verse 18, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts towards you. Grant the Solomon, my son, a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes performing all and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision." David's thankful in this moment, but he knows the human heart. He knows the power and temptation of sin. He knows the fickleness of the human experience, and he knows that this present mindset of generous service is not guaranteed to last. And so he asks God to do what only God can do, to keep his people in this right frame of mind, to keep them desiring to obey and serve and give. And David prays like this because he knows that God always stands behind any positive human response towards him. That's true in salvation. It's true in every aspect of the Christian life. Friends, we don't save ourselves, and we don't keep ourselves saved. Philippians 1, 6 says, "He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus." It's God who starts us on the road to faith. It's God who brings us home. It's never that we and ourselves do wonderful things for God apart from his direction. The Galatians thought like that. What did Paul say? Galatians 3. "Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh? A spiritual growth and obedience are never a result of our own efforts. They're always the work of God by his Spirit. We can't grow ourselves. We need God to grow us." That's why Hebrews 13 says, "May the God of peace equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight." If we are to please God, God has to equip us and empower us to do it. We might not be consciously aware of it. That doesn't mean it isn't the case. If we ever serve God, that's because God has been at work in our lives. As David ponders just how great God is and how he rules over everything, he sees this is how it has to be. God's people do good works using their God-given lives, resources, and energy to do it because God stands behind those works at every step so that in the end all the glory is his because he facilitated every part of the work from beginning to end. And as David perceives that God is involved on this granular level in every positive spiritual development in the lives of his people, he sees he needs to pray. He must beg God to keep permitting and empowering his people to desire these good works. He must beg God to continue working through his son Solomon. And friends, this is the right prayer we need to pray for ourselves and our families and our church too, that God would set our hearts on obedience, that God would grant, that our mind should always seek his glory, that he would work through us and make our efforts effective. Now, we said last week, this recognition that God stands behind our spiritual growth is not an excuse for inaction. We can't say, "I'm going to sit on the couch and twiddle my thumbs until God sanctifies me." No friends, that's not how it works. God works in us as we take steps of faith and obedience. But if we want our efforts to produce any result, if we want our evangelism Sunday next week to accomplish anything, if we want our evangelism to our friends and family members to amount to anything, if we want all our collective labors in this church to amount to everything, then not only must we do, we must pray because God stands behind all that happens and it is God who directs and works and decides and brings about the outcome. So we need to pray as David prayed. But there's one last application I want to make here, look at verse 20. Then David said to all the assembly, "Bless the Lord your God," and they offered sacrifices to the Lord out on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, and there's this massive sacrifice that's described here. Verse that is Israel worships God. It's not a sad dour time. The end of verse 21 says, "They ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness." Worshipping and serving God should not produce sadness in us or grumbling. It should produce joy as we see that God uses us to further His purposes. I think David's prayer here teaches us a lot. It should convince us of the greatness and supremacy of God over everything. It should dispel false theologies that would pretend that God is dependent on us. This should teach us to pray with great fervency for God to work in us and through us and to set our affections more on Him. But lastly, let this passage compel us to praise God, both in prayer as David does here, but also before the watching world. 1 Peter 2 9 says, "You are a people for His own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." God intends that we should proclaim His excellencies. So Hebrews 13 calls the sacrifice of praise. We should tell the watching world who God is and all that He has done for us. He doesn't need us to do that, but He chooses to use us to spread His name throughout the world. So let us pray that He would make us serious about that work and equip us to do it well, that He would achieve His good purposes in it. And let us praise Him that He has chosen us to be the people to use or to accomplish these important purposes. But let's conclude now with our last point, and it's a very brief point, rest because the Lord reigns, verse 22, "And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and they anointed him as prince for the Lord and Zaidok as priest. Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of David his father, and he prospered, and all Israel obeyed him. All the leaders and the mighty men and also the sons of King David pledged their allegiance to King Solomon, and the Lord made Solomon very great in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel. Now the transition is complete. God's promises come to pass. His throne has passed to His Son. The dynasty has begun. But as the rule passes to Solomon, it passes from David. Look at verse 26, "Thus David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years at Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches and honor, and Solomon his son reigned in his place." David dies. And as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death, he feared no evil because he knew God and he trusted God and he was ready to live in God's house forever. But what I want you to see here at the very end is this transition of leadership. One king departs and another king ascends, and it happens because life is transitory and fleeting as our governments and nations. Not today we face impending governmental transition as we have upcoming elections. I know that many of us may be consumed by the news cycle. Anxiety is run high. What will the future hold? But friends, I want to promise you this. Whatever happens, things will change because life is change. Things may get better. Things may get worse. The nation may prosper. The nation may collapse because that's what nations do. That's the flow of history. But while life is brief and transitory, and while governments are brief and transitory, and while nations are brief and transitory, God reigns forever. And while politicians and kings come and go, God's kingdom endures. And so today, if you know Jesus, you can rest well no matter what happens because whatever happens tomorrow or in November or next year from everlasting to everlasting, God is God. You can trust Him and hope in Him. He isn't going to change. He isn't going to break His campaign promises. He isn't going to let you down. He's going to make good on every word to us. And even when we face the valley of the shadow of death, as David did, we don't need to fear if we've trusted Christ because He's with us and He will never leave us or forsake us. And so I want to end this morning by asking you today, what are you trusting in? What are you serving and spending your energy on? Political action? Friends, life is fleeting. Make your life count. Soon, we will each stand before Jesus for judgment. Will you be ready? Have you turned from your sin to trust Jesus? If not, friend, you want a collision course with the coming wrath of God. Turn to Jesus and live. But if you know Him, He is a sure and steady anchor for your soul. If He is the king of kings, great David's greater son, who gave all the free us from sin's power to make us His people and dwell with us forever. May that truth motivate our worship. May it cause us to praise Him and make us generous with all that we have to advance His cause and let us find rest in it. For in Jesus we have the surest foundation. Our King will never die. His rule will never end, and His are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty forever and ever.