MAJESTY!

MAJESTY!

1 Chron 29:9-14

9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord : and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.

10 Wherefore David blessed the Lord  before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord  God of Israel our father, for ever and ever.

11 Thine, O Lord , is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord , and thou art exalted as head above all.

12 Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.

13 Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

14 But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.

          The occasion was the collection of money and materials for the construction of God’s house. The people were about to build a temple so that God might have a place to dwell amongst them or, more rightly, the people might have a convenient place to meet with an invisible God in a tangible way. It must be a building suitable for the God of the universe. It must reflect all the things that God is. It must be majestic! Today we would use the tired and well-worn word “awesome!”

          David was a poet, a psalmist, and a romantic. As he thought of God he could hardly list all of the glorious attributes; but he tried. He speaks of God’s greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty. The word majesty is the Hebrew word howd, which means beauty and glory. There is little majesty in our world today. Everything is form and function without much thought of ornament. The building David would build for God must incorporate beauty, glory, and extravagance.

          The people gave willingly! They were excited to give and thought of their gift not as a loss but as an investment. An investment has the expectation of return benefits. They were looking forward to worshipping in this new building. Then David reminded them that they were not enriching God in any way by their gifts.

We never truly give God anything! Can something made give anything to the Maker? This was King David’s point when he said: “of thine own have we given thee.” We take what belongs to God, give it to Him as a gift, and because of this we feel generous.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. The heavens cannot contain Thee! How can we give anything to Thee? We worship you today because thou art worthy! AMEN