1 Chron. 28:1-29:51And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem. 2Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building: 3But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood. 4Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel for ever: for he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel: 5And of all my sons, (for the Lord hath given me many sons,) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 6And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. 8Now therefore in the sight of all Israel the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God: that ye may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you for ever. 9And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. 10Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it. 11Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, 12And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the Lord, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: 13Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the Lord. 14He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all instruments of all manner of service; silver also for all instruments of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: 15Even the weight for the candlesticks of gold, and for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight, both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to the use of every candlestick. 16And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: 17Also pure gold for the fleshhooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the golden basons he gave gold by weight for every bason; and likewise silver by weight for every bason of silver: 18And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims, that spread out their wings, and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 19All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. 20And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 21And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they shall be with thee for all the service of the house of God: and there shall be with thee for all manner of workmanship every willing skilful man, for any manner of service: also the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment. 1Furthermore David the king said unto all the congregation, Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. 2Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. 3Moreover, 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, 4Even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses withal: 5The gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? (1 Chronicles 28:1‑29:5).
DAVID then assembled all the princes of Israel together, and the captains, and spoke to them of the house he had wanted to build for the Lord. He told them the Lord had not allowed him to do so because he had been a man of war, but that He had chosen Solomon his son to sit upon the throne of the Lord over Israel, and that he would build Him a house of rest. David acknowledged that it was all of grace that he himself had been chosen from among all his brothers, and that it was also sovereign grace that had chosen Solomon from among all his sons.
David then exhorted all the people, and especially Solomon, to walk in obedience to the Lord. He said to Solomon: "Know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts." What a serious thing this is to consider. We may deceive others, but we can never deceive the Lord. We may be misunderstood by others, but never by the Lord. He knows what we do and why we do it, and if we desire to please Him, He can overrule all the false accusations of others. Let us learn to count upon the Lord and leave all with Him.
We learn here that just as the Lord gave Moses the pattern for the tabernacle, so He gave to David, by the Spirit, the pattern for the temple. David then gave it to Solomon his son, and encouraged him to be strong and build the house, and all its furniture. David not only gave Solomon the style and pattern, but the actual weight of gold and silver required for each of the vessels. We know that all these things have their typical meaning, and so nothing
was left to human prudence. This would show us that when we speak of divine things we must not allow our own minds to work, for the Spirit of God who gave David all the pattern for the house of the Lord, has written down the truth for us. Let us keep closely to the written Word, for it says in 1 Corinthians 2: 13, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." In speaking of the things of God we need to watch carefully the very words of Scripture.
David spoke of how his son was still young and tender, and of how great the work was to build a house for the Lord. He mentioned again the abundant provision he had made for it, and of how he had set his heart upon this service for the Lord. Truly "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," Matt. 12:34,34O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Matthew 12:34) and if our hearts are set upon the things of the Lord we will be speaking about Him to others. The fact that so little is said about heavenly things, and so much about earthly things shows all too clearly where our hearts are. May the Lord give us more of a vision of the coming glory that awaits us, for His coming must be near. Then we shall leave earthly things behind, to be in the full enjoyment of what is ours above.
After telling of his heart's desire for the house of the Lord, David asked an important question. He asked, "And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" It is beautiful to see the ready response here from the leaders of Israel, but the question still rings in our ears today. Are we willing? Am I willing?
Messages of the Love of God 3/23/1958