WE GIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE A BIG GOD

WE GIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE A BIG GOD!

1 Chron 29:1-11

29:1 Furthermore 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.

2 Now 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 colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

3 Moreover, 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,

4 Even 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:

5 The 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?

6 Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered willingly,

7 And gave for the service of the house of God of gold five thousand talents and ten thousand drams, and of silver ten thousand talents, and of brass eighteen thousand talents, and one hundred thousand talents of iron.

8 And they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the LORD, by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite.

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.

The most difficult thing for a pastor to do is to ask people who are hurting financially to give. It is contrary to the human condition, fights against our feelings of sympathy, and creates a sense of guilt and avarice We are not giving so that the air conditioning might cool our summers and the furnace may warm our winters. We are giving to honor a very big God.

There are a few things in this portion that deserves special emphasis.

1. Solomon was young and tender. (v.1) David wanted to build the Lord’s house himself. Of all his exploits this was his one desire but God had refused. Solomon would do the building.

We relinquish leadership to the young grudgingly for we ourselves have just now reached what we think to be maturity and we have little hope for the young and tender. Yet we see just enough passion to hope that one day we may lay down our sword that they may take it up. Our mentors are all dead or dying and soon we die too.

2. The work is great. (v.1) It was a big job to build the house of the Lord and there was no room for self interest and petty competition.

3. The palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. (v.1) Understanding this has the power to change both what we do and why. What we call “worship” today sometimes defines religious entertainment instead of acknowledging the vast worth of God. True worship is God focused. True worship may be loud or quiet and may be done with percussion or strings. There is no wrong method, only a wrong focus for a wrong focus generates a wrong product. When the focus is wrong man is exalted and God is made small. This kind of worship is evaluated by the pleasure of the experience.

4. God is worthy of our personal investment. (v.3) David gave from his own pocket. According to Barnes’ notes on the Bible, the estimated value of David’s contribution was about $33 million dollars. Since this is a very old evaluation we can easily think it to be much more. He gave according to his evaluation of a very big God.

5. Joyful giving is contagious. (v.6) The sixth verse begins with the word “then.” When the people saw the enthusiastic giving of the king they too willingly gave. Verse 9 indicates that it spread rapidly and joyously as the people brought their jewelry and treasure.

6. Giving prompts praise not the other way around. (v.10) Today we give if the worship experience is pleasurable enough to prompt it. David shows us that giving in response to a very big God prompts spontaneous praise.

7. God is a very big God indeed. (v.11) The eleventh verse needs no comment from me.

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.

Mighty God, we worship you today not only because we enjoy it but because you deserve it. All our thoughts of you are superlatives. AMEN