1 Chronicles 28:9,20

Raise your hand if you have any kids.

Children are a blessing aren’t they?

My wife and I are expecting our first child, a daughter, next year.

Because of that, I have spent a lot of time thinking about being a father

recently.

Specifically, how to be a good father.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I’ve been praying,

“Lord help me to do this well”

I want to be a good parent that trains up their children in the LORD.

Today we will be looking at King David

and his final charge to his son, Solomon in 1 Chronicles 28:9,20.

As many of you know, David was Israel’s greatest earthly king.

He was a man after God’s own heart.

Yet, even he was not a perfect father.

He experienced many burdens on account of his children.

His first son, the son of Bathsheba, died.

Another one of his son’s, Amnon, defiled his daughter Tamar.

And his other son, Absalom, murdered Amnon as revenge.

Then Absalom attempted to overthrow his father as king, only to die a tragic death.

David certainly had troubles with his children.

And eventually, God told David who is heir would be.

Solomon was chosen by God as the heir to his father’s kingdom.

Now we know Solomon as a very wise ruler.

But at this time in his life, he is still a young and inexperienced man.

And his father had great plans for him.

He not only will be the one to take over his father’s kingdom,

but he will be tasked with building the temple of the LORD.

These are the final words from a father to a son.

Usually, someone’s final words in the Bible are significant.

David had surely thought critically about what to say to his son.

He had seen many things go wrong in his reign,

and didn’t want Solomon’s fate to be the same as his brothers.

As I’ve studied this passage, I’ve been thinking:

“what are the main things I want my children to remember about God?”

Have you ever thought about that before?

If you were to give one final message,

one last piece of advice to your children,

what would it be?

Well David leaves Solomon with 3 final charges.

Let’s read what he says in 1 Chronicles 28:9,20

9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 20 Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the Lord is finished.

David charges Solomon to do 3 things.

First, Know God.

David says “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father.”

What does it mean to know God?

Is it simply believing that God is real or having the right theology?

Let’s look at it like this.

I’d like to invite my friend Jeremiah to stand up.

Can you all say “hello” to Jeremiah? They say hello.

Jeremiah, can you say hello to all our friends here? Jeremiah says hello.

Great, now you all know each other! Go ahead and sit down Jeremiah.

Now, Jeremiah is an awesome guy, one of my best friends.

I’m glad you all know him now.

But now look at this.

You all can say that you know Jeremiah.

But, the way that I know Jeremiah

is much different than the way you know Jeremiah.

You acknowledge that he exists,

you know what he looks like, but that’s about it.

On the other hand, I know Jeremiah more profoundly.

I know what he likes and dislikes.

I know some of his strengths and weaknesses.

I know his personality.

So if you were to ask who truly knows Jeremiah, you’d say me.

Because of our friendship with one another.

Now, that is what it is like to know God.

Knowing God is not simply acknowledging his existence,

but its knowing him profoundly through a relationship with him.

It is knowing what he is like, and what he does.

In this passage, David encourages Solomon to know the God of your father.

“God of your father” is an important phrase.

Because David, Solomon’s father, knew God intimately.

And he wants his son to know him like he knew him.

And how did David know God?

Well in a lot of ways,

just turn to the Psalms and you can see the many ways David knew God.

I’ll just give a few examples.

Example 1. Psalm 23, verse 1 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

David knew God as his shepherd.

God was his guidance and his provider.

He learned to trust in God to give him all he needed.

He never lacked anything because he knew God.

Example 2. Psalm 18, verse 2 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress.”

David knew God as his protection.

David was always pursued by his enemies,

but the Lord was his place to hide and find refuge.

He was never exposed to attack because he knew God.

Example 3. Psalm 69, verse 35, “For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah.”

David knew God as his Savior.

He trusted that God would ultimately bring salvation to him and his people.

No matter how oppressed he was, he knew God would save him.

Those are just a few examples of how David knew God.

But his point is clear to Solomon: know God how I know him.

Know him personally, have a relationship with him.

And that’s a charge to us too!

God is not far off, he’s in our hearts.

He wants to be known by us.

He sent Jesus as the revelation of himself,

so he can be known. Know God…

Second, David charges his son Solomon to also Serve God.

David says, “serve him with a whole heart and a willing mind.”

Now there’s two ways to do a task.

Lets look at an example of a common task.

Making a meal!

Essentially there are 2 ways to make a meal.

One way to make a meal is to find the fastest cheapest way possible.

In America we have little stuffed bread rolls called “Hot pockets”.

If someone wants to make a hot pocket,

all they have to do it put it in a microwave or oven for 2 minutes

and it comes out hot and ready to eat.

Simple, easy, but very delicious or healthy!

The other way you could make a meal is by putting time into it,

buying fresh ingredients

and spending the time carefully cooking it to perfection.

This usually takes more work, but its more fulfilling, delicious and healthy!

When David tells his son Solomon to serve God will a

“whole heart and a willing mind”

he is charging him to serve him the best he can.

To serve him with all his thoughts and emotions.

Now this is important.

The opposite of a whole heart is a divided heart or an impure heart.

A temptation for Solomon will be to serve other things than God.

He will be tempted to serve man or to serve money.

Or to serve the kingdoms that are more powerful than his.

But David says no, serve God with a pure, undivided heart.

A heart free from idolatry.

Jesus gives us great wisdom about this in Mark 3:22-25.

Go ahead and turn there, lets read it.

Mark 3:22-25, “And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”

The scribes were claiming that Jesus casted out demons by Satan’s power.

So Jesus shares this parable to prove that

it’s not possible for him to be doing these miracles by the power of Satan.

Because his works are demolishing the house of Satan.

A house cannot stand if its divided against itself.

And that’s the same idea for Solomon serving God with a whole heart.

If he tries to serve both God and man or both God and money,

his kingdom will crumble.

His two gods will be at war with one another.

He will not be able to stand.

And this is very true for us!

Be very careful to not let your desire for money

to rival your desire to serve God.

Or your desire to serve man, rival your desire to serve God.

If you do that, your faith cannot stand,

your ministry will not prosper.

Instead, resist the temptation to idolatry.

Serve God with your whole heart and a willing mind.

So David has charged his son to Know God, Serve God and finally,

he charges him to Seek God.

“if you seek him he will be found by you, but if you forsake him he will cast you off forever”

I want to start by talking about the last part of that sentence,

“if you forsake him he will cast you off forever.”

Forsaking God is the opposite of seeking him.

Forsaking God is the conscious decision to pursue something else as god

over God himself.

If we keep reading the story of Solomon’s life,

we will see that his is exactly what happened to him.

Solomon, though he was wise,

and though he was rich,

stopped seeking God and started seeking other gods.

He was led astray by his many wives.

Solomon did not persevere in following the LORD,

instead he sought other things.

But David encouraged him to seek God.

He told Solomon, “he will be found by you.”

God is not hard to find.

Instead, he guarantees that if you seek him he will be found.

Jesus repeats this promise in Matthew 7:7,

“Seek and you will find!”

Jesus also says in John 6:37,

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I

will never cast out.”

Jesus says that he will not turn any away who seek him!

We have the promise from Scripture that if we set out to seek God,

we will not be left empty.

Yet, we all will be tempted to seek things other than God.

There are many earthly things that are more attractive to our flesh than God.

We’ve talked about a few of them already here today.

How can we persevere in our faith and seek him at all times?

Likewise, how can we truly know and serve God when we are tempted to seek,

know and serve other things?

Well lets look at verse 20 in our passage, this is what David says to Solomon:

“Be strong and courageous and do it! Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my god, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.””

Does that sound familiar?

Yes!

That’s the same reminder God gave to both Moses and to Joshua.

God will be with you!

You are not stepping out into this task alone.

God is near to you,

he himself is helping you Know him, Serve him, and seek him more!

Now, Solomon is being charged to do a specific task- to build the temple.

I don’t think any of us are being called to build a temple.

But these lessons still apply to the ministry that God has given us.

Perhaps God is calling you to a specific task.

God’s word charges you to move forward,

trusting in God’s presence.

And you yourselves can do that,

by knowing God, Serving God and Seeking God.

Just as Solomon received this charge from his father David,

receive this charge from your heavenly Father.

Know him, serve him, seek him. Amen.