PARENTS AND CHILDREN
Opening Prayer
Thank You for being a good Father, my God.
Read 1 Chronicles 22:1–19
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
22 Then David said, “The house of the Lord God is to be here, and also the altar of burnt offering for Israel.”
Preparations for the Temple
2 So David gave orders to assemble the foreigners residing in Israel, and from among them he appointed stonecutters to prepare dressed stone for building the house of God. 3 He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed. 4 He also provided more cedar logs than could be counted, for the Sidonians and Tyrians had brought large numbers of them to David.
5 David said, “My son Solomon is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord should be of great magnificence and fame and splendor in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it.” So David made extensive preparations before his death.
6 Then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon: “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God. 8 But this word of the Lord came to me: ‘You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9 But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon,[a] and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. 10 He is the one who will build a house for my Name. He will be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’
11 “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would. 12 May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. 13 Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.
14 “I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the Lord a hundred thousand talents[b] of gold, a million talents[c] of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them. 15 You have many workers: stonecutters, masons and carpenters, as well as those skilled in every kind of work 16 in gold and silver, bronze and iron—craftsmen beyond number. Now begin the work, and the Lord be with you.”
17 Then David ordered all the leaders of Israel to help his son Solomon. 18 He said to them, “Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not granted you rest on every side? For he has given the inhabitants of the land into my hands, and the land is subject to the Lord and to his people. 19 Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the sacred articles belonging to God into the temple that will be built for the Name of the Lord.”
Footnotes:
a 1 Chronicles 22:9 Solomon sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for peace.
b 1 Chronicles 22:14 That is, about 3,750 tons or about 3,400 metric tons
c 1 Chronicles 22:14 That is, about 37,500 tons or about 34,000 metric tons
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Reflect for a while on those you consider to be the best fathers and mothers. How do these individuals reflect the image of God?This chapter gives us a vivid insight into the character of David. His drive and energy are striking. Most of all, he is passionate to see the purposes of God fulfilled. Here is the man who wrote in Psalm 69:9, “Zeal for your house consumes me.” This is no less true now that he knows he will not see the promise of the Temple fulfilled in his lifetime.
The king is also intense in his desire that his beloved son should be fully equipped. Construction details abound, but notice that David brings the same focus to his instructions about Solomon’s attitude as he does to the specifications for the nails and fittings. Again we see the integration of the practical and the spiritual.
David is one model of fatherhood (some of us may find it a bit heavy!). Solomon, the “man of peace and rest,” is a very different character from his awesome father. God indeed may use all kinds of people in his service so long as, in the words of verse 19, they “devote heart and soul to seeking the Lord.”
Apply
Can you find ten attributes here which David wishes for his son? Do they help to show us how we might be faithful sons and daughters to our father God?
Closing prayer
Heavenly Father, show me what it means to walk in the spirit of sonship (Rom. 8:15).
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