1 Chronicles 25-29; Psalm 127

I never realized until reading tonight that Solomon became king before his father David died.  I don’t know if that is important in any way…it shows wisdom on David’s part to go ahead and secure the leadership.  All of his last words were instructions to the people regarding the building of the temple.  He gave all his treasure for it; his heart was fully involved.  I wonder if a part of him was sad that he wouldn’t be the one to build it?

Yet he was the one to plan it, and he passed on all the plans to Solomon to complete.

These verses grabbed my eye:

⁹ “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”

I could dwell on those words for a long time…they are foreshadows of Jesus’ words that if we ask, seek and knock, the door will be opened to us.

And then, take a look at David’s prayer for his son Solomon:

¹⁹ And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.”

I think many of us can echo David’s prayer for our own children…that He would give them wholehearted devotion.  In fact, we can pray that prayer for ourselves….that We would have wholehearted devotion to the Lord!

David gave above and beyond what most of us could even think of giving…and he did it with a pure heart, understanding that every single thing he had came from the Lord.

Oh, that I would have the same attitude!  I take so much for granted….air conditioning.  Three meals a day plus snacks.  Reliable electricity.  More than enough clothing.  The freedom to homeschool.

I’ve been reading a Newberry honor book before my daughter reads it, and I am so humbled.  A Single Shard is a fictional story about an orphan boy who lived in the twelfth century in Korea.  This little boy lived under a bridge.  He ate food that others threw out with the trash.  The sad part is that there are little boys all over the world today who really do live under bridges and eat the trash that the wealthy throw away.

What will the Lord say to me?  And to you?  What have I done to feed and take care of those little boys?

Lord, please show me the way.  And give me courage to “be strong and do the work,” whatever that may be.