1 Chronicles 29:10 - Meaning and Application

Here David makes a solemn address to God after the princes gave so freely for the temple (1 Chronicles 29:10). David blessed the Lord, not only in private, but before the whole assembly. This fits what we read just before, that David rejoiced with great joy, because a devout man will turn his joy into thanksgiving.

David was now old and knew he was near the end of his life. It is fitting for older believers, and for those near death, to have their hearts full of praise and thanks. That can quiet complaints about weakness and make death seem less dark. Many of David’s later psalms are psalms of praise, and that makes sense. The closer we come to the life of endless praise, the more we should speak and live in that way now.

In this prayer, David first honors God and gives him glory as the God of Israel, blessed forever. Jesus’ prayer ends with a doxology, a closing word of praise, much like this, “for yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory.” This is true praise, given with reverence and warm devotion. David recognizes God’s endless greatness, power, and glory, not just that God has these things, but that they belong to him by nature. God is the source and center of everything bright and blessed.

God’s greatness is immeasurable. No one can fully understand it, and all others are small beside him. His power is almighty and cannot be resisted. All created power comes from him and depends on him. His glory is his own goal and the goal of all creation. Even the highest praise we can offer is far less than what he deserves. His victory, his triumph over all opposition, is certain and complete. His majesty is real, personal, and awe-inspiring.

David also praises God as the rightful owner of all things. Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to him, because he made it and rules over it. The kingdom is his, and all kings are his subjects. He is the head over all and is to be honored above all. Nothing is outside his control or beyond his claim.

David then points to God’s work in human lives. Riches and honor among people come from God. He wanted the princes to remember this, so they would not think they had earned God’s favor by their gifts. They had received their wealth and status from God already, and what they gave back was only a small part of what he had given them. Whatever greatness people have, it is God’s hand that gives it. Whatever strength we have, it also comes from him, the God of Israel, our father (Psalm 68:35).

David next thanks God for giving them the grace, the help from God that enables good choices and good actions, to give so willingly for the temple (1 Chronicles 29:13, 14). The more we do for God, the more we owe him for honoring us by using us in his service. We also owe him for giving us the grace to serve him in any way at all. A servant does not deserve thanks for doing his duty (Luke 17:9), but he has every reason to thank God for the ability to do it.

It is a great example of God’s grace when people are willing to do God’s work. God works in us both the desire and the action, and his people are made willing in the day of his power (Psalm 110:3). We must give God all the glory for any good done by us or by others. Our own good works should not make us proud, and the good works of others should not lead us to flatter them. Instead, both should lead us to praise God. It is a great honor and joy to serve him faithfully.

David then speaks very humbly about himself and his people, as well as about their gifts. Even though they were princes, he wonders that God would notice them and do so much for them (1 Chronicles 29:14). He asks, “Who am I, and what is my people?” David and Israel were, in one sense, the most honored people in the world, yet he counts himself unworthy of God’s attention and kindness. Even while he stands before a great assembly, appointing his successor and making a generous gift for God’s house, he is low in his own eyes.

He says, “Who am I, O Lord?” because, before God, we are strangers and travelers, poor and weak creatures (1 Chronicles 29:15). Angels are at home in heaven. Saints on earth are only passing through here. Our days on earth are like a shadow. David’s life had been fuller and more useful than most, since he was a great, good, and fruitful man, and now an old man as well. Yet he joins himself with all who must admit that life on earth is like a shadow. That means life is empty, brief, and fading, and it will end in either perfect light or perfect darkness.

The next words explain this further: there is no lasting stay here, no settled hope. We cannot expect great things from this life, and we cannot expect it to last long. David mentions this to keep us from boasting about our service to God. Our service is limited to a short and fragile life, so we cannot claim merit from it.

David also says, “Of your own have we given you” (1 Chronicles 29:14), and again, “It comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you” (1 Chronicles 29:16). We receive everything from God as a free gift, so we are bound to use it for him. What we bring to him is only like rent or interest from what is already his. In the same way, we should recognize God in all spiritual things, and refer every good thought, good purpose, and good work to his grace, from whom we receive it. Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

Finally, David appeals to God about his own sincerity in all that he has done (1 Chronicles 29:17). It is a great comfort to a good person to know that God tests the heart and delights in what is upright. Even if others misunderstand or despise it, God knows and approves the way of the righteous.

David found comfort in knowing that God saw the joy with which he gave his own gifts, and the people gave theirs. He was not proud of his own good work, and he was not jealous of the good works of others.

He then prays for the people and for Solomon, asking that both would continue as they had begun. In this prayer, he calls on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who had made a covenant with them and, for their sake, with us too. He is saying, in effect, “Lord, give us grace to keep our part of the covenant, so we do not lose its blessings.” Or, to put it another way, they had been kept faithful by God’s grace guiding their lives, and David asks that the same grace, which was enough for them, would be enough for us as well.

For the people, he prays that God would keep in their hearts the good thoughts he had already placed there, so they would not become worse than they were now. He asks that they would not lose the convictions they felt at that moment, or grow cold in their love for God’s house. He wants them always to think about these things as they now seemed to do. Much depends on what fills the deepest part of our minds, what we aim for, and what we enjoy thinking about. If any good has taken hold of our hearts, or the hearts of our friends, it is wise to trust that good to God’s care in prayer: “Lord, keep it there, and keep it there forever.” David has prepared materials for the temple, but he asks God to prepare the people’s hearts for so great a privilege. “Establish their hearts,” as the margin puts it. “Strengthen their resolutions. They are in a good frame of mind, keep them that way when I am gone, them and theirs forever.”

For Solomon, David prays, “Give him a perfect heart” (1 Chronicles 29:19). David had already charged Solomon to serve God with a perfect heart (1 Chronicles 28:9), and now he asks God to give him such a heart. He does not pray, “Lord, make him rich, great, or learned,” but, “Lord, make him an honest man,” because that is better than all the rest. He asks for a heart that is fully set on obeying God, and especially on building the palace, so that Solomon would do that work with a single purpose. Yet building the house would not prove that he had a perfect heart unless he also cared about keeping God’s commandments. Helping to build churches will not save us if we live in disobedience to God’s law.

The great assembly also joined David in honoring God. After he finished praying, he called on them to show their agreement: “Now bless the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 29:20). They did so by bowing their heads, which was a sign of worship. When one person speaks for the whole congregation, only those who truly join in, not just with their heads but with their hearts, receive the benefit.

They also showed respect to the king, seeing him as the tool God had used to do much good for them. In honoring David, they were also honoring God. The next day they offered many sacrifices to God (1 Chronicles 29:21), both burnt offerings, which were completely burned, and peace offerings, of which the worshiper kept a large portion. In this way, they showed generous thanks to God for the good state of their public affairs, even though David was about to die like everyone else.

Then they feasted and rejoiced before God (1 Chronicles 29:22). They celebrated their joy in God and their fellowship with him by eating their peace offerings in a holy way before the Lord. What had been offered to God became their feast, which showed them that they would not be made poorer by their generous gifts for the temple. They themselves would enjoy the comfort of their giving.

They also made Solomon king a second time. He had already been anointed quickly because of Adonijah’s rebellion, so it was fitting to repeat the ceremony for the people’s greater satisfaction. They anointed him to the Lord. Civil leaders should see themselves as set apart for God, serving as his ministers, and they should rule with that in mind and in fear of God. Zadok was also anointed as priest in place of Abiathar, who had recently lost his office. Happy are you, O Israel, under such a prince and such a priest.