To God Be the Glory: David's Prayer
1 Chronicles 29:10-20 (King James Version)
10Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
11Thine, 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.
12Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
13Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.
14But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.
15For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.
16O LORD our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.
17I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
18O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:
19And give unto Solomon my son a perfect heart, to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy statutes, and to do all these things, and to build the palace, for which I have made provision.
20And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king.
Illustration: As the Lord’s return draws near, godlessness is increasing. Standards that have stood for decades are falling all around us. Crime, lawlessness, and disrespect all seem to be growing.
If that isn’t bad enough, we are growing older, we are not able to do like we used to, we have sore muscles, brains that don’t work like they used to, energy levels that are lower than before and the constant threat of death or disability.
Not only that, our money doesn’t go as far as it used to, we have lost some of our pensions, we will have to work later into our lives than what we had planned, work has lost its joy.
If that isn’t bad enough, Church doesn’t seem to be attractive to the coming generation, our kids have taken our grandkids to some far off state and we can’t see them as much as we want, we used to depend on our parents and now they are depending on us.
There is so much around us that seems to be so negative except one thing; GOD! When we start feeling that way, refocus!
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2)
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17)
“Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen” (1 Timothy 6:16)
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3)
“For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3)
“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)
“For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37)
“The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will stand.’” (Isaiah 47:24)
“Yours, O 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, O 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.”(1 Chr 29:11-12)
He…
is before all things
created all things
upholds all things
is above all things
knows all things
accomplishes all things
rules over all things
is in control of all things.
In the time of King David, there was always the threat of war, disgruntled legislators, disobedient children, political powers that wanted to destroy the work of his hands, adversaries that thought they could do a better job, wives that were dissatisfied, and enemies at his table.
Yet in the midst of all this, King David found his joy and strength, not in himself but rather in His God and in the work God had called him to do. Our focus should be like David’s here, His focus was on God, the Lord and giver of life.
1. When his focus was proper he knew who should receive the credit for all that was done. Samuel wrote, "And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel." (2 Samuel 5:12)
I was reading a blog about “who should get the credit” and I wonder if any of you have some of these same ideas.
One person wrote;
“you know this phony god of yours has it good, it gets all the credit for everything good, and man gets all the credit for everything bad ... the best of both worlds”.
Another said; “I like to think that humans are responsible for good and bad deeds, not god or Satan as many would have you believe. As far as free will is concerned I like to think that we are masters of our destiny but who can say for sure?”
Yet another; “Humans have saved other human's based on the advancement of technology and Science. Not Faith and Goodwill”.
David understood something very important, whether it’s the doctor who has used his skill to perform a lifesaving operation or a farmer who plants a seed, “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” (1 Chr 29:12).
When we get our hearts and minds focused, it will not be hard to understand and give credit to the Lord for every good thing that comes into your relationships, your ministries and your personal life.
2. There is something else that we need to be mindful of;
14"But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this; for all things come from you, and from your hand we have given you.
Oh, how quick we are to take for granted the blessing that come from God. James tells us; 1:17, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
The problem that many of us have is the common thinking that everything must be earned and deserved: "Nobody does anything for you for nothing." Experience with this world tells us that we must deserve everything we get. It is a very difficult thing for us to come to the realization that we can never deserve God's blessings; we can only humbly accept and appreciate them, and be in awe of how good he is and how much he loves you.
You don’t deserve the Lord’s grace and forgiveness but you should praise God for His;
• power,
• purpose,
• plan,
• provision
• promises
And when you do so, He will elevate you with more of His enlightened blessings that are already yours in Christ.
Eph. 1:3; "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”.
3. He refused to think that he could take short cuts in doing the will of God.
David was a man after God’s own heart…… Paul wrote about this in Acts 13:22; , "...when He had removed him (Saul), He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will”.
Was David sinless in his life before the Lord? No, but the Scriptures are affirming David's desire to do the will of God with all his heart. Though he faltered at times, the disposition of his heart was to give faithful service to the LORD, as Paul said from the LORD, to "...do all My will."
We have in David perhaps the most complete picture the Bible gives of any character's faith and service before God. The Scriptures continually witness to his love for the Scriptures, desire to communicate with God, wisdom in serving the LORD, predisposition to do what is honorable (even under severe trial), and perpetual longing to praise the LORD.
David wrote, "When You said, ‘Seek My face,' my heart said to You, ‘Your face, LORD, I will seek.'" (Ps 27:8). Of God's choosing David, another psalmist penned, "He also chose David … to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands." (Ps 78:70-72).
Look with me at verse 17 of our text, “Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things. ..”
Friend, we need to be people who are after God's own heart. We need to imitate the fervent desire for what is right in the sight of God. This should be true of every faithful child of God. Even David in his prayer, prayed for that; 1 Chronicles 29:18 “O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you..
Ask the Lord to help you to avoid any short cut thinking or actions in your relationships, ministries or personal lifestyle.
The Holy Spirit helped David succeed because he knew how to pray in ways that taught people about how to have a more intimate relationship with God.
Samuel wrote, "David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, ‘Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, O 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, O 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. 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." (I Chronicles 29:10-14)
He said of God, Yours, O Lord, is
the greatness and
the power and the glory and
the majesty and
the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Oh, how we need to learn how to pray in the power,
in the perspective, in the pattern of David.
Conclusion; Remember the story of Peter walking on the water… he took his eyes off Jesus. Our country and maybe your lives or homes seem to be in miserable condition but just like David, we also need to refocus, using SPIRITUAL means to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. David prayed, "I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. O Lord, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever and keep their hearts loyal to you." (I Chronicles 29:17, 18).
