David Prepares for Temple Building

 

1 Chronicles 22:1-5

 

April 7, 2023

 

Then David said, “Here shall be the house of the Lord God and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”

David Prepares for Temple Building

 David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God.  David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David.  For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So, David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

From disappointment to preparation, what a swing in a person's emotion, that is what King David encountered.  The prophet Nathan told David, "Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you."   The next day coming back with; You’re not the man to build my house, it will be your son Solomon.  I’m not sure about David, but what about you and me, how have we dealt with our dreams of doing great things in God's kingdom?  Maybe we should look at what David did, he began to accumulate materials in massive quantities so that his very young son would have what was needed to do such a tremendous undertaking.  He also told his leadership team that Solomon would need their help building a temple for their God.  

Now it gets very personal for me, in that we who are followers of Christ, have the Holy Spirit living in us, and we are members of God’s Church, and we are His temple.  Do we have the heart of a C.T. Studd, who was a British missionary, a contributor to The Fundamentals, and a cricketer?  One of his quotes that has stuck with me for years; “Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell, I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of Hell” I have found myself in both camps, but an ambassador for Christ will be about His Master business.  

I also wanted to share two more quotes, that got my attention from C.T., “True religion is like smallpox. If you get it, you give it to others and it spreads.”  And this powerful truth, “I realized that my life was to be one of simple childlike faith and that my part was to trust in Him and He would work in me to do His good pleasure.  From that time my life was different.”

The question, each of us must deal with is how to move from disappointment to preparation.  

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice