May the mumbling commence!
It is vital how we pass the faith torch to the next
generation. This thought must have been
at the heart of the Chronicler as he recorded the transition of leadership from
King David to his son King Solomon. We
will take a look at some passages from the end of First Chronicles and the
beginning of Second Chronicles. Read a
passage from First Chronicles chapter twenty-eight:
"And Solomon, my son, get
to know the God of your ancestors. Worship
and serve him with your whole heart and with a willing mind.
For the Lord
sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him.
But if you
forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously.
The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as
his sanctuary. Be strong, and do
the work." (Verses 9-10)
These are words David spoke to Solomon. Wow! Solomon
has his work cut out for him. Just look
at the to-do list! Get to know the
Lord. That alone is beyond a life’s work. Worship and serve the Lord with all you
have. Seek God… and you will find
Him. This is not a game or a test. This is living well, so take what God desires
seriously.
Be strong and do the work… Oh, and by the way, you have also been chosen
to build a Temple for the Lord… a sanctuary for God. (And, in case you forgot, you must also
justly govern a nation of people who are nearly too numerous to count.) It’s no wonder that Solomon asked the Lord
for wisdom!
Then David, a great psalmist
in his own right, provided Solomon with a wonderful example of words for the worship
of the Lord. Read from First Chronicles
chapter twenty-nine:
Then David praised the Lord
in the presence of the whole assembly: "O Lord,
the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power,
the glory, the victory, and the majesty.
Everything in the heavens and on earth
is yours, O Lord, and this is your
kingdom. We adore you as
the one who is over all things.
Riches and honor
come from you alone, for you
rule over everything. Power and might are in your
hand, and it is at your
discretion that people are made great
and given strength.
O our God, we
thank you and praise your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give
anything to you? Everything we have has come
from you, and we give you
only what you have already given us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers
in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a
shadow, gone so soon without a trace.
O Lord our God, even these materials that
we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name come from you! It all
belongs to you! I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice
when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives,
and I have
watched your people offer their gifts willingly
and joyously.
O Lord, the God of our ancestors Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that
their love for you never changes. Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, decrees, and
principles, and to build this Temple, for which I have made all these
preparations."
Then David said to the whole assembly, "Give praise to the Lord
your God!" And the entire assembly praised the Lord, the
God of their ancestors, and they bowed
low and knelt before the Lord and
the king. (Verses 10-20)
All that we have and all that we are we owe to the
Lord. God is eternal. We are but visitors and strangers in this
land (“illegal” aliens, shall we say).
That is why we give all we have to the Lord. Nothing else will do. God expects all that we have to give. Empty the tank in praise of the Lord. Bow low and be humbled.
Now we will turn and see a small sample of Solomon’s
response (in the context of a letter to King Hiram for building materials for
the Temple of the Lord). Read from
Second Chronicles chapter two:
"This will be a magnificent Temple because our God
is an awesome God, greater than any other. But who can
really build him a worthy home? Not even the highest heavens can contain him! So who am I to consider building a Temple for him,
except as a
place to burn sacrifices to him?” (Verses 5-6)
Do you hear the echoes of David’s prayer? I do.
The faith torch has been successfully given to the next generation.
Praise God!
That’s what we are called to do.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace
Out
No comments:
Post a Comment