God Has Given us Everything, Blessed be His Name
Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.” [1]
In a previous message, I explored the reasons God commanded the offerings of firstfruits. Firstfruits, we discovered, were an offering of the best of the first harvest that was to be brought before the Lord. The giving of firstfruits was not an afterthought, but rather these gifts represented the finest gift the giver could offer. These offerings were to be provided in a thoughtful and deliberate manner. The offering of firstfruits required that God’s glory be considered first, instead of perceived need of the one making the offering.
There is another point that I did not stress, but that is nevertheless consistent with offering gifts for God’s glory and mankind’s good. That which was given was to be for the support of God’s appointed leaders, thus glorifying Him through providing for His appointed leaders. Other contributions were to be provided for building a place for worship. In fact, the worshippers of God were responsible to provide a place for worship, though God would direct them where they were to provide that House of Worship.
Through Moses, God said, You shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you [Deuteronomy 12:5-7].
In a similar manner, the people of God are responsible to worship in this day; and they should provide places for worship of the Living God. To be certain, we can worship in the great outdoors, in our homes, at our work places, but it is not unreasonable that we will provide places dedicated to the worship of the True and Living God. We are to provide these places without asking the world about us to pay for our worship. Christians are not to be beggars of the world, asking outsiders to underwrite our work of faith.
David was a man of prayer, and what prayers he offered up to the Lord his God! Our text today consists of a prayer presented by this man of God. The prayer was offered following David’s generous contribution designated for the building of the Temple. His generosity stimulated the leadership of the nation to be likewise generous. Witnessing the liberality of the leaders, the entire nation responded generously to provide the materials required to build the Temple. Generosity begets generosity. What is fascinating is that the donations were designated for building the Temple—a place of beauty with no practical purpose other than worship of the True and Living God.
God Himself is the Basis for Worship through Giving — Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
As we read this prayer, it can be summarised as a blessing of God defined by one word—all. No less than ten times David uses the word all. Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.
All that is belongs to God—He made all, He rules over all. Greatness and power and glory and victory and majesty describe God’s attributes. Compared to God, man has neither greatness nor power nor glory. There is neither victory nor majesty for man that exalts him above God. Though the temptation is ever present for us to promote ourselves, it is God who must be glorified, not man. One great reason we should glorify God is because of His goodness to us—goodness demonstrated through generosity.
Let me give voice to an unspoken truth—a house of worship is not a necessity. Christians do not “need” a house of worship in order to worship the Living God. As Solomon prayed at the dedication of the Temple, the Temple for which David provided so lavishly, he asked, will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built [2 Chronicles 6:18]? Clearly, God does not dwell in a house. Nevertheless, Solomon provided a justification for building a house dedicated to worship of the True and Living God when he wrote to Hiram, King of Tyre. The account is recorded in 2 Chronicles 2:4-6.
Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the Lord my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the Lord our God, as ordained forever for Israel. The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?
The purpose of the house is to honour God through acceptable worship, especially through making offerings before Him. A church building reflects our values; perhaps we need to reassess what we value. Christians, worshippers of the True and Living God, drive people of this world mad with their generosity, and especially with the choices they make as they practise their generosity. In the view of this world it is enough for churches to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, provide shelter to the homeless and generally be available to do good. Social meddlers are aghast at the thought that Christians would think that anything other than the personal agenda of the world would receive serious consideration. If Christians seek beauty in the act of worship, it is selfish and evil.
If Christians surrender their call from God to fulfil His direction, it would permit the social engineers of this fallen world to continue their various projects without moral or ethical review. This is undoubtedly a materialistic world. For instance, Karl Marx hated religion, calling it the “opiate of the masses.” Socialists, including an astounding number of our own leftward-leaning Canadian political savants and media elite, demonstrate a visceral hatred toward the Christian Faith. One reason they hate the Faith of Christ the Lord so much is that biblical Christianity does not support fomenting revolutions to materially better people’s lives. Christians keeping in step with God are not motivated by wealth. Wealth is convenient, but we realise that all that we hold is given to honour God and not simply make our lives comfortable.
Social engineers want to decide who should receive largess from our pockets, and our political elite determines who will benefit from our tax dollars, since “the people” apparently cannot be trusted to make such decisions. In addition to tsunami victims and victims of hurricanes promised billions of tax dollars, our political elite shovel vast sums of moneys to political cronies and tyrants, calling it foreign aid. Churches are expected to further this socio-political agenda through acquiescing quietly to governmental dicta.
It is tragically apparent that a majority of “aid” taken from our pockets seldom benefits those suffering as result of natural disasters or those suffering under dictators. Private charities, including our own Sharing Way and Canadian Baptist Ministries, prove far more generous toward the obvious needs of hurting people. Feeding the hungry and clothing the naked are priorities for Christians, but there are other values, including feeding the soul, that would be utterly neglected except for the generosity of Christians.
At issue is not an either/or situation, but rather a both/and situation. We are to be concerned for the needy about us, but we dare not neglect feeing the soul. Part of that caring for the spiritual aspects of daily life in the modern world is providing a place for God’s people to gather for worship, and for underwriting preaching and teaching the Word. Both caring for the body and ministering to the soul are responsibilities assigned to the people of God, and the latter has a superior claim on the energies of the people of God! These priorities arise from our knowledge of God, and arise especially from the knowledge of His character. Thus, we are impelled to serve His cause in His way.
Generosity Reveals Understanding — And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.
In ancient letters a crucial point would be signalled by the introductory phrase “and now.” The custom was carried over into speeches and, as here, into prayers.[2] David uses that phrase in verse thirteen. With these words, he signals that he is approaching the heart of his prayer, which occurs from verse fourteen through verse seventeen. Generosity exposes the gratitude of our heart, and David is expressing his joy at being permitted to worship the Lord God, and he is expressing the joy of the people at being blessed, as they are by the Lord their God.
I suspect that we often fail to fully understand what we are doing when we bring our gifts before the Lord. We imagine that we are supporting the church in her labours; but really, we become co-workers together with our Lord. We think that we are paying pastoral salaries; but really, we are advancing of the Kingdom of God. We think that we are paying church bills; but all the while we are worshipping God. When we are generous toward the cause of Christ, when we worship through giving, we demonstrate that we have rejected materialism and embraced the divine view of life.
In popular jargon, “materialism refers to an excessive love of “material things.” Philosophically, however, “materialism” means that the only reality is matter—it means that there is no reality beyond the material world—all is defined by the material elements. When we are generous toward the things that glorify God, we are demonstrating that we value God and that we honour Him above all else. Through generosity toward the house of God, we are saying that His glory matters. To materialists, the thought that anyone would value spiritual reality above material reality is absurd, if not perverse.
I repeat: generosity begets generosity. This principle is repeated throughout the Word of God. In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8, the Apostle Paul establishes that God supplies our need in response to our generosity as we worship. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. God takes note of all that is done to honour Him, and He responds to permit even great opportunity for His glory and for our good.
I do not want you to imagine that this is some sort of divine “get rich quick” scheme—it is not. We do not give because we seek material goods, but rather we give because we want to glorify our Saviour. However, blessing attends generosity, because those who honour God are themselves honoured. God is not promising to enrich us materially, though He may bless us with material goods. However, God will enrich us with the knowledge that we have honoured Him, with the blessings that attend advancing His cause, with the joy that comes from caring for the needs of fellow Christians. Above all, we will have glorified God, and we will be blessed just as the Word of God states.
You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you [2 Corinthians 9:11-14].
These statements by the Apostle are akin to those given by the Wise Man in Proverbs 11:23-28.
The desire of the righteous ends only in good;
the expectation of the wicked in wrath.
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another withholds what he should give,
and only suffers want.
Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,
and one who waters will himself be watered.
The people curse him who holds back grain,
but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it.
Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favour,
but evil comes to him who searches for it.
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall,
but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
All these statements are related to the expectation that the righteous person will be generous and to the fact that God takes cognizance of the generous spirit.
This leads me to draw attention to a point that arises from the text. During his prayer, David confesses that all comes from God, just as we saw earlier. This raises the question of how can we give to the One who gives all things. C. S. Lewis verbalised this problem when he wrote, “It is like a small child going to its father and saying, ‘Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good in the transaction.’”[3]
Paul perceptively asks, what do you have that you did not receive [1 Corinthians 4:7]. We really cannot give God anything, so isn’t it really foolish to teach giving to God in worship? To emphasise this point, David says in verse sixteen all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.
There is no place for congratulating ourselves about our giving. In fact, David is careful to say that the people of Israel shared the patriarchs’ position as aliens in the land: we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. In a previous message, I reminded worshippers that Israel could not even claim the land they lived on (http://www.pris.bc.ca/firstbaptistdc/sermonsept25-2005.html). Leviticus 25:23 reminds Israel of their status as “landowners.” In that passage, God bluntly states, the land is mine. God continues by reminding the people that they were strangers and sojourners with Him. His words are echoed millennia later in Hebrews 11:13-16.
These all [Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah] died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
The words are applicable to us as Christians since they are provided for those who seek to honour the Lord Jesus. We perhaps live on a plot of land—that is where our house is, but we do not really own it. Yes, we paid a sum of money to have our name on a title deed, but we are only leaseholders for a brief time. When David confesses that he and his people were strangers and sojourners, he also confesses the transitory nature of human life. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. Take special note of that concluding thought: there is no abiding. That certainly puts matters in perspective!
There is a natural emptiness. The more we hold, the emptier we become, if we fail to realise that we are but administrators of God’s grace. All this abundance that we say we give to God, was never ours in the first place. To say otherwise is to betray the meanness and pride of our fallen hearts. All that we hold is given by God; it is entrusted to us for a brief moment. The only way we can hold what we have is to return it to God.
Perhaps it is appropriate to note the relationship between what we are observing here in David’s dedication prayer and the words of our Lord recorded in Matthew 6:19-21. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. God challenges us to consider what we treasure and where our true treasure actually lies.
Worship through Giving Prepares us for Future Blessings — I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.
Doctor Allen provides insight into this vital point with the following observation. “In the end the only offering being made was not a material one, for its substance belonged to God anyway. No, the real offerings were spiritual, a right motivation to honour God in sincerity and a devoted willingness to give. These are the offerings which the kind and the people gladly bring to God.”[4]
That truth is emphasised through the final statement recorded in verse seventeen. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. It is far more vital to consider your attitude in giving than it is to think of the size of the gift. Someone has presciently noted that it is not the size of the gift that matters before God, but it is rather the size of the heart. If you hate the preacher, if you cannot rejoice in worship, do not give!
David rejoices at the response of the people to the opportunity to worship through bringing their gifts. More than merely taking note of the generosity of the people, David makes a plea of God that is vital to our understanding of one of the great principles of giving during this age of grace. Take special note of verse eighteen: keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. David acknowledges that the people bring what God has placed in their hearts. This is a principle of giving detailed in the New Testament.
The Apostle Paul provides detailed instruction concerning the act of worship through giving in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15. I previously explored the issues of giving as taught by the Apostle with a series of messages, some of which have been posted on the web site of the church (e.g. http://www.pris.bc.ca/firstbaptistdc/sermonmay27-2001.html; http://www.pris.bc.ca/firstbaptistdc/sermonjuly292001.html).
Among the principles to guide our giving during this Age of Grace are several that are exemplified in our text. Christians should give of their own free will, and not under compulsion or reluctantly [2 Corinthians 8:3; 9:7]. I sometimes speak of this as the principle of freedom. It states that what we give must be voluntary, and not coerced.
The principle of freedom is offset by another principle that I identify as the principle of willingness [2 Corinthians 8:12]. If there is no desire to give, one should refrain from giving. Though we should be grateful to God, and though we should long to worship Him, if there is no desire to give, it is indicative of a problem in the heart. Address the problem honestly, and then you will have a desire to worship and to give.
Giving should be proportionate [2 Corinthians 8:12, 13]. The greater one’s ability to give, the greater the responsibility to give. If you are taking notes, this would be established as the principle of proportionality. This does not absolve anyone of failure to give, but it does establish levels of responsibility for those who will worship the Lord.
Christians should give thoughtfully [2 Corinthians 9:7]; they should consider what God would have them give and determine before Him what they will do to honour Him. This establishes the principle of forethought. It imposes on us responsibility to prayerfully weigh the will of God and permit Him to guide us in what we will give in worship.
There is also the principle of regular giving. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul admonishes, on the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside. This is stated in the context of providing for the worship of God through the regular giving of our gifts.
Of course, when gifts are given, there must be accountability. In fact, transparency is demanded of those administering the gifts of God’s people. We might label this the principle of transparency. In 1 Corinthians 16:3, Paul acknowledges that the collection the Corinthians were receiving was to be sent by those accredited by the congregation. The instructions provided in 2 Corinthians 8:16-24 are provided to give assurance to the people providing the gifts. A gift given for one purpose is to be used for that purpose, and there must be full disclosure when it is received and when it is distributed. Nothing less than transparency will suffice in handling gifts for God’s work.
Did you think that I have been pleading for your money? You are wrong if that is what you think. As the Apostle Paul says, I also attest that I seek not what is yours but you [2 Corinthians 12:14]. I am not seeking a gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit [Philippians 4:17]. The God we serve is not a beggar, and He will not be beholden to any individual. Rather, He is prepared to bless and to use the person that acts with courage and in faith to follow where He leads.
As we give, we worship. The provision of a building dedicated to worship is an act of worship. Support of those whom God has appointed to teach and to preach is an act of worship. Rich blessings are promised to those who commit themselves to worship God, to honour Him through acknowledging that they have nothing except what He has entrusted to them. As one who speaks for God, I seek your benefit and His glory.
As a people of God, our values are to transcend the material. It is a sign of distance from God to be solely concerned for the acquisition of goods. To live with out eyes focused only on what can be seen is wicked. Our values do embrace caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked; but our values also lead us to worship God in the beauty of holiness. Because we seek to worship God, we will always endeavour to provide a place dedicated to worship—a place dedicated to His service and to His glory.
I know there are many poor about us, and perhaps even some of us would plead poverty. Jesus did say, you always have the poor with you [Mark 14:7]. However, the “poor” in Jesus’ day were destitute. The “poor” in our nation live in houses with two or more rooms per person. The “poor” in our nation own cars, a refrigerator, a stove, washers and dryers and microwave. The “poor” in our nation have colour televisions, cable or satellite reception, a VCR or DVD player and a stereo. The “poor” obtain medical care.[5]
To become preoccupied with material things leads us to insist that we must live by the budget and to die by the budget, measuring our godliness by the bank balance. If it is wicked to spend what we do not have, is it not wicked also to neglect providing for worship—providing a house and supporting God’s leaders?
If materialism defines who we are, then childless families—even aborting our children—so that we can have more “things” is good. If materialism defines us as a people, so long as we have big houses filled with “things” the condition of the church building will be of no importance. If materialism defines us as a people, then why bother stretching ourselves to reach beyond ourselves with the Gospel of Christ? In that case, let’s simply build a great bank account and say that we have done the will of God.
Oh, that God would open our hearts to embrace the blessing pronounced in Ephesians 3:20, 21. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
I pastor a generous church; God has blessed me in this. The people of this church have been generous, showing themselves generous on many occasions. When I came to this congregation, denominational leaders told me of the difficulties that had wracked the church, and the Area Minister especially noted that giving would be insufficient moneys for support. He pledged assistance from the denomination if we required it. It was never needed, because the people had a will to give. The people have honoured God.
I say that because I believe even greater blessing will attend this congregation in the days before us. I believe that it has yet to be seen what blessings God will pour out because we have honoured Him in the past. I only echo David in praying that God will keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of His people as we have explored in this message today. I only pray that those whom God has raised up to lead will keep themselves committed to obedience to Him and that they will always maintain the desire to follow Him wherever He shall lead.
Perhaps you have heard the message this morning and you are confused. How can anyone want to give away money? How can anyone willingly provide money to build a church building, to provide pastoral support, to honour God in such a fashion? You cannot honour God if you do not know Him as Master over your life. You cannot worship a God whom you will not acknowledge. Therefore, if you find yourself wondering, I ask whether you know the salvation God promises in Christ the Lord?
The forgiveness of sin is offered in Jesus as Lord of your life. This is the Word of God to all who are willing to receive it. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].
And that is our invitation to you. To receive Christ as Lord, to openly confess Him through baptism, to unite in the fellowship of this congregation, come now as we worship. Join us in honouring the Lord Christ, beginning with offering our own lives to Him to use as He wills. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Leslie C. Allen, The Communicator’s Commentary: 1, 2 Chronicles (Word, Waco, TX 1987) 191
[3] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (MacMillan, New York, NY 1952) 110-11
[4] Allen, op. cit., 192
[5] I am indebted to Dennis Prager for these thoughts [Dennis Prager, The rejection of materialism (Part XXI), http://www.townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/printdp20050823.shtml]