It Really Belongs To God

Introduction

1 Chronicles 29:10–21 NASB95

So David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly; and David said, “Blessed are You, O Lord God of Israel our father, forever and ever. “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all. “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name. “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. “For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours. “Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You. “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all, and to build the temple, for which I have made provision.” Then David said to all the assembly, “Now bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed low and did homage to the Lord and to the king. On the next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel.

It Really Belongs To God

Let’s first give some context

Large portions of this book (and it was originally one book) are devoted to the time of the Monarchy

But the audience of this book is post-exilic

They are re-telling the past with specific emphasis on David and Solomon with the desire to cause hope in the people

They were idealic kings

One of the major lessons in the book of Chronicles is that the presence of God is better than the presence of a king.

The condition and mindset of the people are important to note

Judah is a struggling nation, not what they used to be

They were overshadowed by powerful pagan nations

Their religion was more prominent and seemingly, more relevant (festivities, temples, worship)

What the writer chooses to include in these books are specific to the state of the hearts and mind of the people.

The people are reminded that the God that brought times of peace, prosperity, and hope during that time, can do it this time.

The God of the “good ole days” is the God of today

Don’t lose sight of God because of your situation

Leading up to our text David organises the people

The duties of the priests and temple/The musicians/the guards of the gate/the outside duties/army commanders/civil officers of the tribes/overseers/counselors

These people had individual calls to these areas of service, but when there was the call to give to the house of God. . .David called everyone

1 Chronicles 28:1 “Now David assembled at Jerusalem all the officials of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the commanders of the divisions that served the king, and the commanders of thousands, and the commanders of hundreds, and the overseers of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, with the officials and the mighty men, even all the valiant men.”

There Are Four (4) Keys to take your Giving and Stewardship to the next level

Key #1 - Desire

1 Chronicles 28:2 “Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brethren and my people; I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God. So I had made preparations to build it.”

[2 Sam 7:2]

It wasn’t about him building it but it being built - That’s why when God said you can’t do it David did not argue.

How do I develop desire?

Time

Thoughts

Key #2 - Dedication

1 Chronicles 28:9 ““As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

The word means complete. God wants your complete heart.

I don’t know why you do, what you do, but God does!

So that means your heart must be committed - DEDICATED

All of us need to have a “whole heart” posture

This call wasn’t just for Solomon

1 Chronicles 29:5 “of gold for the things of gold and of silver for the things of silver, that is, for all the work done by the craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?””

Consecrated = fill a space with something [analogy of the coffee cup]

Key #3 - Delight

1 Chronicles 28:9 ““As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.”

We know that they were delightful

1 Chronicles 29:9 “Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.”

What brings delight in these people?

The fact that God is great and God’s purpose is great. . .He doesn’t need help to accomplish it but He invites me to be a part of it

[Analogy: children helping in the toolshed]

This delight came form them giving 1.6 Trillion TTD in gold

Key #4 - Disposition

This is the thing that undergirds my activity and speech

It’s that thing from which everything flows

My attitude my mentality. This drives the car

None of the above means anything if I have the wrong disposition.

We see this as we look at the prayer

[Read and explain vs. 10-19]

1 Chronicles 29:14 ““But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.”

The same three (3) pointsa re seen in the prayer

1 Chronicles 29:17–18 ““Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things; so now with joy [DELIGHT] I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly [DESIRE] to You. “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve [DEDICATION] this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people, and direct their heart to You;”

I know someone who has a Desire, Dedication and Delight for you

His name is Jesus

Luke 19:10 ““For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”” DESIRE

Hebrews 12:2 “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” DELIGHT

Luke 22:42 “saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”” DEDICATION

What is your Disposition?

Is it so hard to give to someone who was so ready to give to me?