The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day seven)  

“Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” vs 5b

What exactly was David calling his people to commit to? It was more than a tithe. It was a commitment of one’s whole self to the Lord. Tithing was a byproduct of the commitment, but what he is really asking is for them to set themselves apart and be wholly committed to be holy. New Testament language would call this sanctification. It is a lifelong process of devoting oneself to the Lord and growing closer to Him. It is not a one time gift or decision. David wants this to be a lifelong commitment. He knows the health of the country and the success of his son are directly correlated to each individual’s personal consecration. If every person does their part, the whole will succeed.

The same goes for the church today. We ask,”Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” We are stronger when you grow. We are stronger together.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day six)  

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,  and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? Jeremiah 17:9

David did. This is why he prays, “Lord,…see to it that their love for you never changes.”

God is infinitely worthy of all our worship, our energy, our time, our devotion because he is infinitely holy and good and beautiful and majestic. When we capture even the smallest fraction of this reality we are consumed by him, and worship becomes as effortless as breathing. BUT our hearts are desperately wicked; we quickly forget the glory of God’s holiness and become enamored by the lackluster corrosion of our own brokenness.

Wickedness is blindness. It’s forgetfulness. Wickedness is a warped mind thinking God is mundane or nothing at all.  Wickedness is exchanging being enchanted by him, to being mesmerized by dead and dying things.

Without God’s help our hearts are always pulled by the gravity of our own wickedness. This is what Jesus meant by the truth will set you free.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day five)  

“Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the LORD with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.”  Previously, Davis has used this assembly meeting to challenge and commission Solomon to the work of building the temple. Now he addresses the leaders and other peoples of the assembly. I wonder if they were intimidated by “how much” David was contributing to the project.  Probably no one had that kind of wealth. I wonder if they had any reservations about their new leader who David describes as young and inexperienced.  I wouldn’t put that on a resume.

David then leads them to the secret of giving-  giving from the heart. When giving is made from the heart, instead perceiving obstacles and hardships, eyes are opened to the reality and opportunities of the Lord’s character and His work. The scripture says the people rejoiced  I wonder if that joy replaced any fear or uncertainty.

May we give and serve our Glorious God with our whole hearts!  May God bring us that kind of joy as we give and serve Him!

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day four)

So that we can put the value of the offering given for the Temple in perspective…the gold given by King David and the Jewish leaders, in today’s economy, would be $207,000,000.  The silver would be valued at $1,989,000.  This is a total of nearly 209 million dollars…just the gold and the silver!  Quite an offering!

David recognized though that all of the resource came from God to begin with.  He had provided the offering.  Verse 16 says, “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.”  Verse 18 follows with the purpose of the offering…it was to direct their heart to God.  (verse 18)

Good times and prosperity, hard times and need, joy, sadness, comfort or discouragement…all of our experiences are designed to lead us to God.  The privilege of giving was to direct the worship of the people towards God.  Is giving to God’s work a joy or a burden to you?  Do the difficult things in life turn you to God?  Giving is an act of the heart, not the wallet!

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day three)

“With all my ability I have provided for the house of my God…”

To live in the state of mind in which you can’t tell whether you or God has possession of a treasured item because you and God are so unified in the intent of how that item will be used – it seems like that would be such a pure way of life. Some people in the Bible appear to have come very close to that state of mind: the poor widow who placed all she had into the temple treasury; Zacchaeus the tax collector; Mary, the woman who anointed Jesus. We see here that same kind of spirit in David, who, for all his mercurial and ruinous patterns of living, was never one to covet wealth. Living with abandon comes with its pitfalls. One of the upsides, though, is generosity.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 29:1-11 (day two) …for the temple is not for man, but for the Lord God. vs. 1b                                                                                       Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” vs. 5b

David has had a desire to build this temple for years. He has amassed large amounts of money and materials to accomplish his vision. Now as he hands the plans over to his son to complete the task his charge to the people shows the true condition of his heart. A building project like this could easily become a monument to a man, to the person who conceived or oversaw the construction. David is clear that this grand vision was for the glory of the Lord alone. He also rightly discerned that something on this scale requires many skilled hands dedicated to the task who also believe in the dream. How often to we sit on the sidelines when something great is taking shape? Do we sit and watch as others cast a vision for what the future could look like? Perhaps, we think, we will wait and see where this goes before we cast in our lot. How about consecrating ourselves to the work of the Lord and getting about the business of building the body of Christ? Sounds like something we can all get behind.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 28:11-21 (day seven)  

“do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you…” 1 Chronicles 28:20

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;” Psalm 23:4

David might not have gotten to build a “home” for the Lord, but David learned through his life experiences that the Spirit of the Lord is not confined to a box. God is with us. He is living and active at all times. He is there in the darkest valleys. He is there when we fight our giants. He is there when enemies are at our doorstep. He is there to clean our hearts when we make mistakes. God is always with us.

The lesson for Solomon: Don’t become so consumed with a building that you neglect the Spirit that is present with you in the moment. May we not do the same today. God is with us.

Re:Verse passage – 1 Chronicles 28:11-21 (day six)  

The Tabernacle had a singular purpose, movement. It provided a way for a sinful and rebellious people to find peace with God, and move with him as his people. This came by way of regular atoning sacrifices made on behalf of individuals and the people. The sacrifices provided the means for the people to move towards God, in  a literal sense, both physically and spiritually.

The temple would serve the same purpose in Jerusalem, atonement, worship, movement towards and with God.

This was God’s plan. It has always been his plan, to make a way for us to draw near to God. The tabernacle and the temple would point to an even grander plan, a more perfect and eternal way-Jesus!

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one moves towards the Father except through me.”-Jesus