Read 1 Chronicles 29
Gifts for Building the Temple
29 Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: 4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officialsin charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
David’s Prayer
10 David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,
“Praise be to you, Lord,
the God of our father Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.
12 Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, statutes and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”
20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the Lord your God.” So they all praised the Lord, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the Lord and the king.
Solomon Acknowledged as King
21 The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord and presented burnt offerings to him: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams and a thousand male lambs, together with their drink offerings, and other sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. 22 They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day.
Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest. 23 So Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king in place of his father David. He prospered and all Israel obeyed him. 24 All the officers and warriors, as well as all of King David’s sons, pledged their submission to King Solomon.
25 The Lord highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal splendor such as no king over Israel ever had before.
The Death of David
26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king.
29 As for the events of King David’s reign, from beginning to end, they are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet and the records of Gad the seer, 30 together with the details of his reign and power, and the circumstances that surrounded him and Israel and the kingdoms of all the other lands.
Go Deeper
We have reached the end of 1 Chronicles! We have read genealogies to David, David’s anointing as king of Israel, and David’s reign in Israel. The Lord established a covenant with David promising him a house, or a dynasty from which the future Messiah would come, an eternal kingdom, and a throne that would have ultimate authority. David is Israel’s most celebrated king and there is a strong sense of unity around him. This book recaps some of David’s triumphs and greatest moments throughout his life.
Now, we are at the end of David’s reign. David is passing the torch down to his son Solomon, who would rule over Israel. David wanted to build a temple for the Lord so that the Ark of the Covenant could have a permanent home, but this is not what God had in mind. His ways are not our ways. The Lord tells David that he will have a son that would build a house in His name. He then commissions Solomon to build the temple, just as the Lord instructed, and tells him simply to “be strong, and do it.” David reminds Solomon that the Lord is with him, even though he is young and inexperienced. The Lord won’t leave him or abandon him in this process. David gave Solomon the blueprints for the temple with very specific details regarding how it was supposed to be made.
The work of building the temple was great, and there was a great need for resources to complete it as well. This chapter goes over the contributions the people of Israel gave for building the temple. It tells us that people gave willingly for the service of God’s house. Their eagerness in giving reflects 2 Corinthians 9:7, which tells us to “give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” They had given to the Lord wholeheartedly and rejoiced greatly over it. David commissioned the Israelites to consecrate themselves to the Lord, and to wholly dedicate themselves to Him.
David then blessed the Lord in a prayer in front of the entire assembly. He said, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all (v. 10-11). David gave all the praise and glory to the Lord. He saw the greatness, power, and majesty of God. He recognized that everything we have is from Him, and we are to steward the resources that He has entrusted to us to build His Kingdom (James 1:17).
David’s dying instructions and some of his last words to Solomon are similar to those of Moses, Joshua, and Samuel. He calls Solomon to serve the Lord, fear Him, be obedient to His Word, and remain faithful to Him. He prayed Solomon would have an undivided heart to keep the Lord’s commands. We will read more about the reign of Solomon and the kings of Judah in 2 Chronicles. The chapter ends with a summary of David’s life and his reign in Israel. He is an image of future hope for Israel. Although David is a great king, he is not the king. One day there would be a messianic king that would rebuild the temple and invite all nations into the Kingdom of God (Isaiah 11). This is a reminder that the story is not over for Israel!
Questions
- What is your heart towards giving? Do you give with eagerness and cheerfulness, or reluctantly?
- What are some characteristics of God that David mentions in his prayer?
- What lessons have you learned from the life of David throughout this book? How will you apply these lessons to your life?
Keep Digging
After reading the entirety of 1 Chronicles, we know King David plays a pivotal role in the Old Testament. To dive deeper into the importance of David (with references to 1 & 2 Samuel, as well) check out this helpful blog post from The Bible Project: “David: What’s the Big Deal?”
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2 thoughts on “1 Chronicles 29”
As usual my mind is blown, God is amazing at all the intricacy. I kinda knew how things wove together but when the Bible Project laid it out all woven and interwoven, light switch moment. We have jobs to do now just like David did. Our job is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength AND TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES!! In this tumultuous world we are living in, I, myself, am having a hard time with some of the controversy that are put in my face. BUT GOD loves everyone, and wants ALL to know Him. We (I) are not their judge, we (I) are just love them and show them who, why God loves them everlasting. LOVE GOGGLES are required for me. I will stand up and not shop in certain place, I can honor God with how and where I spend my money, but to love with the Love of God the people is within my capabilities.
God thank You for directing me through Your Holy Spirit in my day to day life that will exalt You. Thank You that I can see others through Your Love goggles and know that You Love them with an everlasting Love too. God give me wisdom and discernment with controversy’s that I encounter this day. Thank You for Your HESED love that never ends or fails towards me. Thank You for understanding more and more Your love for me and for others in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!
David, one who went from tending sheep to being an anointed king over Israel, leaves the people with a charge in his final words. Following his example, the people opened their hearts and gave generously of their resources, then wholeheartedly praised the Lord. They acknowledged with adoration God’s greatness, power, glory, victory and majesty. They were in awe as they bowed low and knelt before the Lord. What a fitting conclusion to David’s life as he draws the attention of the Israelites to remaining close to God and following his precepts. For every believer genuine worship of our Savior should be the crux of our lives.