1 Chronicles 23-29
Blessing the God
Who Blesses Us

David trusts in God's hesed or the loyalty He has to those with whom He has entered into a covenant relationship. God will always keep His side of the bargain. He will never fail to watch out for those who are loyal to Him. He asks that his enemies be caught in their pride and words so they will know that God rules. He is confident that God will subdue his enemies, because of His hesed, for which David plans to praise Him. Note that God shows His hesed in protecting His servants.

It's our job to plan. God's job is to orchestrate the results.

*this phrase and “answer” in verse 1 are the same Hebrew word. Hmmmm...

 These verses introduce the rest of the book. All the intrigue of succession to David's throne recorded in 1Kings is omitted, and summed up in 23:1. The second verse gets expanded in this, and the next four chapters.

An orchestra of 4,000 was not big enough to keep Israel focused on God.

Thanking and praising God every morning, and every evening was mandated, to keep people focused on what God was doing in their lives.

David reiterates the Davidic Covenant to the leadership of the nation, and charges them, with God as a witness, to observe and seek out all the commands of God, so they can enjoy the promised land and pass it on their children.

Verse nine should be a better known and memorized verse. We should seek to perfect it in our lives. It has five parts: The main commands: know and serve; The manner in which one serves: perfect heart and willing mind; The reasons for such service: God knows and judges hearts and minds; The result of wholehearted service: seek and find God; The result of not serving wholeheartedly: forsake and be cast off, forever. Even though God specifically chose David, Solomon, (Israel, and Jerusalem), they did what was wrong, and suffered consequences. When the nation abandoned Him, those individuals were cast off. However, the generation hearing these words had hope, for God had brought them back into the land to continue His program of blessing (as promised in the Abrahamic and Deuteronomic Covenants).

Just like God gave Moses specific instructions for the Tabernacle, so God gave instructions to David for the Temple.

David gives about $6 Billion US of his own funds, on top of the $230 Billion that was dedicated from the spoil from battles. The leaders gave almost $10 Billion, not counting the precious stones and base metals. But they are only giving back to God a portion of what He had given them (see prayer below). There is great rejoicing, because people with a heart for God gave willingly to God, for His mandated purpose.

I still remember where I was standing in 1976 when I first read verses 10-12 and decided to memorize them (wish I remembered the verses that well). I had been reading Jim Elliott's “Shadow of the Almighty” and the quote “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” was rattling around in my brain as I read this prayer. It doubled the impact. Check out this link to see how Jim wrote the words in his journal. David blesses God in recognizing that God owns it all; He gives some to us as a test, so that we have the opportunity to demonstrate uprightness in giving it back. This applies to more than money, but to everything God has entrusted to us. God gives to us, so we can give back to Him. (Only the first half of this paradigm applies to spouses - Genesis 3:12.) See the series on “Faithfulness: How to Hear the Words 'Well, done, good and faithful servant'” (in the back of the TOYL book on Truthbase.net) for a Biblical perspective on getting and giving money, as well as being a good steward of all the other things God has entrusted to us.