Let’s read that interesting verse: “Furthermore King David said to all the assembly: ‘My son Solomon, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced; and the work is great, because the temple is not for man but for the LORD God” (NKJV). In this wonderful chapter we have David’s LAST WORDS to the people of God and to the Lord before his death. His heart is focused on the temple of God which is to be built and in this first verse he considers two things:

1) His son Solomon, who was chosen by God to succeed him on the throne and to be in charge of building the temple, was young and inexperienced. David had called attention to this fact earlier as we see in 1st Chronicles 22:5, “Now David said, ‘Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.’ So, David made abundant preparation before his death.” Solomon later expressed this very same thing, “Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I AM A LITTLE CHILD; I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO GO OUT OR COME IN” (1st Kings 3:7). Many believe Solomon was approximately 20 years old which made him quite young for one assuming the throne of such a great nation.

2) The work of building the temple would be great, for as we saw in 22:5 it “must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all the countries.” David loved the Lord with all his heart and his chief desire was to bring honor and glory to Him. This grand temple must be an expression of God’s greatness and thus David appeals to “all the assembly” to set their hearts to this work.

As we read on we see David reminding the people of his devotion to the building of God’s house by providing necessary materials for the temple (see verses 2-5).  After setting an example of giving, he then asked them, “Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?” The beautiful response of the people is given next, “Then the leaders of the fathers’ houses, leaders of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the officers over the king’s work, OFFERED WILLINGLY” (verse 6). Like David, their hearts were also focused on pleasing and honoring the Lord in this work! After listing their generous contributions (verses 7-8) we read, “Then the people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart they had offered willingly to the LORD; and King David also rejoiced greatly” (verse 9). What a lesson this is for us today! When our hearts are willing to give back to the Lord what He has graciously blessed us with, there will be GREAT JOY IN OUR HEARTS! This brings to mind the words of our Lord Jesus Who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). The Lord is surely pleased when we give from joyful hearts. The Apostle Paul wrote of this in 2nd Corinthians 9:7, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER.”

I would encourage you to read the rest of the chapter for it is filled with more encouraging lessons for us. In verses 10-17 David offers up a prayer of worship and thanksgiving, praising the Lord for His glorious attributes and thanking Him for allowing them to willingly offer their services to Him in the building of His temple. Then he closes his prayer by asking the Lord to keep their hearts fixed on Him, including his son Solomon (verses 18-19). In verses 21-24 the people “made sacrifices to the LORD” followed by their anointing Solomon as their king and willingly submitting themselves to him. In verse 25 we have the Lord’s response to this, “So the LORD exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.”  (390.3)  (DO)