“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. 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. 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. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:10-13
As you sit in your chair on this side of Paradise…in this fallen world; what do you see? What are you leaving behind? Are there boxes in the basement, garage and closets filled with nick-knacks and paddy whacks that will end up in a garage sale and if nobody want that treasure it will then be shoved to the curb? I have a few back in the day things hanging on the wall that hold dear memories for me but my daughters and grandkids won’t understand their relevance to my legacy. I got a few boxes in my basement.
As we read these above verses, David falls on his knees and utters a beautiful prayer, an heartfelt expression of his worship of the Lord God. The first verses are expressions of praise. Praise leaves humanity out of the picture and focuses fully on the exaltation of the living God.
Unlike many of us, David was surrounded by limitless riches. Yet they never captured his heart. He fought other battles within, but never greed. David was not trapped like many in our culture, by materialism. He said, "Lord, everything we have is Yours; all these beautiful places where we gather for worship, the place where I live, the throne room; all of it is Yours, everything."
What an important investment it is to pass on to our children a proper scale of values, so that they know how to handle the good things of life, knowing that those good things are just a wisp; here today, into a box in a storage room and gone tomorrow. Such an investment also teaches them how to handle it when things aren't easy. David held everything loosely, another admirable trait.
What lessons can we learn from such a man? We learn hope, in spite of his humanity. We learn courage, even in the midst of his own fear. We learn encouragement and praise in the songs that grew out of his hours of despair. We learn forgiveness in his dark moments of sin. And we learn the value of serving the purpose of God in our own generation, even though all our dreams during seasons of waiting, may not be fulfilled.
David, a sometimes fallen, but also a good model, taught us by his life such significant truths through his writings. And, thank you, Heavenly Father, for being our Master; using us though we are weak and broken, forgiving us when we stray and fail, and loving us through all the people in David’s life; the Sauls and Goliaths and Jonathans and Abigails and Bathshebas and Absaloms and Joabs and Solomons of our lives. Thank you for showing us that we can be people like David; people of passion and destiny. May our legacy inspire others to seek You and desire to walk closely with You.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay