David's Last Days
Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 29
Most of us are just ordinary people, but even as insignificant as we are in this world, we will leave behind a legacy, either a good one or a bad one.
We may be remembered only by friends and family, but to some of those we may be important to them.
So, we should ask ourselves what kind of legacy will we leave behind?
As long as we are alive, we can improve our legacy!
After we have been in the family of God for many years, we hope our past life will be forgotten just as the Lord has forgotten it.
So, again, what contribution have we made since our salvation?
We know that the Lord called all His brothers and His sisters into the Church, to begin working for His glory.
This is a much greater task than what David encouraged his son Solomon to do.
Our job is to take the Gospel to the entire world so, did we contribute to this work, we can ask ourselves?
The Lord called His entire Church, individually and collectively, to take part in this ministry!
This may not mean much to the world but it will certainly mean much in the realm of Heaven!
The Lord God our Creator builds much greater temples than the one Solomon built!
Every Temple built by the Lord is for the Lord because it is for the worship of the Living God!
This worship extends outside to the telling of the world "How Great Is Our God"!
Many people have forgotten the purpose of our gathering together.
We gather for the worship of our Creator and our Savior and all other things are secondary to this!
We should love the opportunity and the privilege to gather in the name of the Lord, and to be a part of the continuation of His ministry!
David told Solomon:
*****1Ch 29:3 Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,
Our greatest goal should be to undertake a work for the glory of our Savior!
I admit my failure to do so but I am still working on it, to get better at it.
Many are called to specific things for the Lord, but all of us are called to be obedient to the Word of God that teaches us how to be a witness for the Lord.
Many will say, well the I have not heard the Holy Spirit speak to me but the Holy Spirit speaks loudly and boldly to us in the Word of God!
We may not have great riches to give to the House of God, but God would rather have Living Sacrifices than great riches!
Riches maybe of gold and silver but we are God's jewels!
Rom_12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
David set his affection to the house of his God and his God is Jehovah, who came down from Heaven and took upon Himself the Body of Jesus Christ just so He could save a useless beggar like me!
On David's death bed, he was still encouraging the nation of Israel to get closer to the Lord.
We can never get too close to the Lord!
It was time for Israel to build a house where the Lord God of all this world would come down to visit with His people!
It was a great sum of riches that King David had accumulated for this work yet, it would not be enough so, all the leaders of the twelve tribes were to share their own riches.
They would have no riches if were not for King David!
We should understand that until King David, Israel had no riches.
It was by the economy of King David that these men had accumulated their riches.
They were not to forget the blessings that God had shared with them.
We seem to forget that it is by the blessing of the Lord that we are blessed with what we have, and He only expects us to give back ten percent of those blessings.
David wanted these elders to realize that giving to the construction of the Temple would be the greatest work these leaders would ever undertake!
1Ch 22:14 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; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.
David had given all his treasures to the building of the Temple.
If we figure the weight of a talent was around ninety-five pounds, a hundred thousand talents would weigh four thousand seven hundred and fifty tons of gold.
A talent of gold was double the weight of silver so a talent of silver was about forty-five pounds.
The silver that David gave had a weight of twenty-two thousand and five hundred tons.
We can only imagine what the values of just these two valuable metals would be worth today.
After hearing this, the chiefs of the tribes and the princes of the tribes and the captains of military in those tribes with the rulers of the king's work, gave willingly.
*****1Ch 29:6 Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,
David challenged the national leaders to personally dedicate themselves to the Lord.
We need to challenge our own national leaders today to personally dedicate themselves to the Lord.
We need to do the same in America today!
We must stand up for Jesus and there will be a great turmoil, but until we do this, we certainly cannot claim to be Christian nation.
Remember it was Obama who said he would make sure that America would not be a Christian nation ever again, and it is he who is pulling the strings today, but he does not know the power of God or the Lord Jesus Christ and this battle is His and not ours but we must have a part in it.
If we cannot make a personal re-dedication to the Lord, we do not deserve Him!
We must be willing to consecrate our relationship with the Lord!
So much wealth was given to build the Temple that a treasurer had to be appointed to watch over it.
We should understand that the work of the Lord is enormous, and we as God's children must give and give willingly to this work of reaching lost souls.
Far too much of God's resources are used for elaborate buildings and many other things, other than reaching souls for Christ.
The Church has two jobs.
Reaching souls for Christ, and making disciples so they can reach souls for Christ.
Many so-called churches have forgotten the mission the Lord Jesus has given us to do!
Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
The people of Israel rejoiced that there would be a "House of Prayer" built in Jerusalem.
*****1Ch 29:9 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.
It takes a perfect heart to serve the Lord and God is working on us every day to clean our hearts up to be good servants.
People must be reached with the "Gospel of salvation"!
The people of this world are suffering and only the Lord can help them!
The people of the world need the Word of God to become a part of them.
There has never been another such man as King David, who has a legacy of giving to the Lord as he did, except the Lord Jesus Christ who gave up the riches of Heaven to come to this earth to die on a wooden cross to save the people of this earth from a place called Hell!
On a day near his death, King David stood before a massive crowd of national leaders overflowed with joy with the generosity of those who were seeking a relationship with the Lord.
King David realized just how blessed Israel was to have Jehovah as her God.
The House of Prayer that was to be built for the Lord was also to be for the presentation of God's Word and God's worship.
Our Lord deserves to be worshiped!
Worship must include adoration.
Worship must include thanksgiving.
Worship must include confession.
Worship must include supplication.
Worship must include witnessing.
Worship must include intercession.
Worship must include petition, a deliverance from evil.
Now we do not need a building to appear before the Lord, but if you are a child of God you will want to join with the many others who truly want to worship the Lord!
Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
Heb 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The Lord God Jehovah is the God of all true believers and there are no other gods, but those of the mind of the non-believers!
*****1Ch 29:10 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.
1Ch 29:11 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.
Keeping in mind that the word Israel means "the people of God", then Jehovah is certainly the God of all His people and He is our Father for ever and ever.
That word "blessed" means that our Lord is the Living picture of Holiness!
He is the Father of all true believers in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ!
He will be our Father forever and ever with a life that has no ending!
Another thing we see is, just like most of us here today, the closer we get to going home the more we like to talk about it.
It is our Lord God who controls all things because all things belong to Him!
He possesses all power and all greatness.
He possesses all glory, all majesty, and all splendors.
He possesses all that is in Heaven and on Earth.
He possesses all greatness.
He is truly exalted above all!
There are many of these things He will share with us if we love Him!
*****1Ch 29:12 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.
1Ch 29:13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
We must clearly understand that any wealth and any honor that comes to us in this world, came by the hands Jehovah God!
Our Lord God is the source of all things good that comes to us in this world!
One of the reasons, the main reason, is so we can give back to the Church for the work of reaching out to lost souls.
Those who have been blessed with such riches should glorify the Lord for those things!
Those who have obtained honor in this world should use it in proclaiming the truth of God!
Those who have been given the strength to overcome life's obstacles should teach those of little strength how to do the same!
We must all be thankful for the things God has shared with us.
We may not understand why some seem to be better off than others, but we must understand that the Lord is Omnipotent and He always knows what is best for each of us! Amen.
King David acknowledged that his kingdom actually belonged to the Lord.
We need to acknowledge that the United States of America also belongs to the Lord.
Everything upon this earth belongs to the Lord because He created it all!
So many laughs at these things today, but they will one day see the truth of the Word of God!
King David then thanked the Lord for enabling the people to be able to give.
One of the reasons that our government wants us all to not have money is so we will not have to give to our God!
They are so foolish; the Lord does not need our resources!
He allows us to give for His work in order to earn rewards and we earn greater rewards from giving when it hurts us financially.
Isa_55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa_55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
If the swamp in Washington DC and in many states, capitols could understand this, they could do something beneficial for our nation rather than trying to destroy our nation.
Satan is in full control in America because the Church has been so weak!
This is why the Lord tells us this world is not worth saving and He will make all things new.
Heb_11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Why did King David give so generously? Because God was testing the hearts of His people!
1Ch 29:16 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.
1Ch 29:17 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.
Everything we have belongs to God and God will test us time to time to see if our hearts are still in the right place!
God gives wealth as a test to see if that person will return that wealth to Him if He ask for it back.
David knew that God test the hearts of His people from time to time.
We should understand that without a "test", we will never have a "testimony"!
Without making a "mess" with our lives, we will never understand God's "message"!
God does not try to hide the terrible things in the life of King David even when He knows much of this world will exploit our mistakes to use against us.
With all the things we have read about King David we could say that David was never really a child of God but we must know that not one of us are perfect.
Not one of us can stand before the Lord and say we are worthy of His love, because we know we are not.
Those that do are self-righteous and will never get to Heaven!
So again what kind of legacy will we leave behind?
When we are in our very last days, what will we tell our children and grandchildren and many of us are blessed with great grandchildren.
In a world that is going to pots, family is still the greatest blessing the Lord gives to us!
We all need to take a pad and pen and record the time each day we spend in prayer for one week.
Most of us would see that we do not spend a lot of time talking to our Heavenly Father.
I am so guilty Lord, help me to do better!
Solomon became the third King of Israel and he sat upon the throne of his father David but watch how our Scripture words this.
1Ch 29:23 Then Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him.
Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord instead of his father David.
That throne in Jerusalem is reserved for the Lord Jesus Christ and many impostors have tried to rule from that throne and the worst of all those impostors will soon attempt to sit upon that throne and the Lord Jesus Himself will boot him off!
Solomon was coronated a second time and the people celebrated with boundless joy.
Knowing all these things about King David, we should ask ourselves, how loyal are we to the Lord?
How committed are we to serving the Lord?
What kind of lives are we living?
We are all still sinners but we must realize that sin damages our legacy and also shames the name of the Lord.
The traits that we need to serve the Lord are loyalty, allegiance, commitment, dedication, and obedience!
As we go through our day, we must continually magnify the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For the most part David had lived a good life.
*****1Ch 29:28 And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honour: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
All the things about King David were recorded.
The Book of Samuel was recorded and we have his records.
The Book of Nathan the prophet of which the Holy Spirit deemed not necessary to be included in the Bible.
The Book of Gad the seer which the Holy Spirit decided was not necessary to be included in the Bible.
This does not mean those records do not exist, it only means that the Holy Spirit did not see it necessary to include those records in the Word of God though He did include bits and pieces.
David clearly understood that the Lord was the only living and true God and that it was He who had appointed him to be King of Israel.
If only our leaders would realize this today!
We could make America great again!
Amen
