One of the wonderful things about David is that he was truly a role model, someone who put into action personally what he asked others to do corporately. He was the first to donate his own resources for God’s work, carefully communicating the right message about the intent of the temple and the purpose of this work before finally revealing what he himself was willing to contribute. But when it comes down to the point of him asking others to contribute, he asks a very interesting question. Instead of asking, “So how much can I put you down for?”, he asks, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?”
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When you’re engaged in great works for the kingdom, what is the most important thing? What do you want to make sure gets accomplished in order for it to be a success in God’s eyes? Is it enough to complete the thing? As David wraps up his final words on earth, his final message of how to undertake one of the greatest tasks in history for God, he repeats a single word five times in these verses to teach us what’s important over and above everything else: the heart.
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I find the verbs employed here to be fascinating. David doesn’t admonish Solomon to “believe” or “acknowledge” or “recognize”, but implores him to “know” and “serve” God. Even in the Old Testament model of salvation it was expected that once someone came to faith in God that a change in behavior from the heart was expected from that point forward. In fact, throughout this and the next chapter, David in various ways addresses everyone at every level in regards to the goal of not just knowing about God’s Word and ways, but putting them into practice.
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I know that there are those who will take this verse and make the case that every church should have a “professional” worship team who is as musically good as any earthly music group. I have no doubt that musical skill is part of the equation. But don’t you wonder what “singing to the Lord” means? I wonder how well we consider that things the world uses are most often corruptions of things intended for another use where God’s people are concerned? I wonder why we don’t see that we’re not supposed to adopt the standards of the world to the church, but to transform the ways of the world to a much higher standard.
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In an age when the largest religious movement purports to know the “purpose” of church and how it should operate, I never cease to be amazed at how many related teachings are found within the Word of God itself without the need for someone else’s paperback. Having read most of the Purpose Driven materials and related church growth movement’s proposals, it saddens to see so much emphasis on getting bodies into a building when God’s measure of success is the number of hearts and souls.
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(Note: I’m sorry if I’m feeling a little more melancholy today than usual.) Just as there is no doubt that David is one the most exemplary examples in all of Scripture, so he was far from perfect. He didn’t just make some serious errors in judgment, he actually engaged in sin to the detriment not just of himself personally, but everyone around him. It grieves me deeply every time there is yet another revelation of a Christian leader whose sin and error are exposed as has happened so often and so publicly in the modern age of the media. But I have to say that I have observed so very few whose repentance and fear of the consequences of their actions parallels David, where the concern is more for the flock than for one’s self and immediate relations.
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I find this to be a startling statement of faith. It would appear that they are prepared to accept whatever outcome materializes, even one that does not include victory for their side. But then it wasn’t like they were going into the battle with a numerical superiority or a technological edge. In fact, as an army of mainly foot soldiers, they were going out to meet a force of “32,000 chariots” :”(1 Chronicles 19:7)”: at the forefront of armies from both the nations of Ammon and Aram. But whether God granted victory to one side or the other, they were prepared to accept the outcome as nothing less than God’s will.
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