- Lesson 3 in the BaptistWay Press Connect360 unit “Solomon: No Ordinary Kind of Wisdom” focuses on 1 Chronicles 29:1-19.
David offered to God a public prayer of praise. He praised God because of God’s attributes. He praised God because of God’s eternality, his glory, his power and his majesty. Although David was king, he recognized there was a greater King than himself. David understood it was not his kingdom but the kingdom of God that ultimately matters most. He recognized the source of his blessings. He is thankful he and the people of Israel were blessed to be a part of building the Temple. It is an act of mercy and grace that God allows us to be a part of what he is doing. God could have chosen others, but he chose us. We need to approach the responsibility with a sense of humility. We need to recognize the goodness and the greatness of God by recognizing our frailty, weakness and hopelessness without him.
David prayed for himself and then he interceded for Israel and Solomon. We see that David’s prayer is heartfelt. He prayed about his own heart. He does not focus on the actions of his giving but the heart of his giving. It was pure, and it was done willingly. David shifted from praying for himself to praying for the people. He wants their hearts to be pure as well. We see this idea of purity of heart when David writes in Psalm 24:4. The person who will stand in the Temple of the Lord must have both clean hands and a pure heart. David asked the Lord to give a divine echocardiogram to Israel, and if it indicates a problem, he asked God to do open-heart surgery.
Praying for a pure heart
He concluded this portion of the prayer by praying for his son. He asked the same thing for his son that he prayed for the people of Israel—a clean and pure heart; a heart that desires to keep all of God’s commandments, statutes and ordinances. It was not enough to just keep the deeds, but he wanted Solomon to have the desire to keep the deeds. A person can abide by the commandments but not have the desire to. David understood this was the only way to get the blessings of God. He also prayed for Solomon’s dedication to building the Temple. David started him off well by giving to him the plan, the provisions and the people. Solomon has everything he needs physically; all he needs now is the perseverance to complete the task. This perseverance has to be given by God.
God is not only concerned about what we give but how we give. It is important to check our motives and the intent of the heart. Even though our motives may be pure in our eye, that does not mean they are pure in God’s sight. Others may look at our actions, but God looks at our attitude. People will look at our hands, but God looks at our heart. When we examine our heart and realize it is not pure, we need to be real with God and ask God to fix our hearts. The kingdom of God demands we seek him with our whole heart.
Compiled by Stan Granberry, marketing coordinator for BaptistWay Press.
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