1 Chronicles 22:6-16 Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.… David's charge to his son Solomon will furnish us with the conditions of all successful work done in the Name of Christ and for the extension of his kingdom. We may remark, preliminarily, that our leisure time cannot be better spent than in Christian work. Solomon was to have time for internal administration. His father had defeated and subdued all the national enemies. In the midst of protracted "peace and quietness" (ver. 9) he would have an ample interval in which to build a house for the Lord. The time which the labour of others, or our own toil, has secured to us we spend most admirably when we give it to the direct service of the Divine Master. The conditions of successful work for him are - I. SECURING DIVINE DIRECTION. "Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding" (ver. 12). David clearly felt, as this "only" indicates, that everything would utterly fail if God did not grant his Divine succour. That failing, everything must prove to be a failure. II. ENSURING PERSONAL FITNESS. (Vers. 7-9.) David was rendered personally unfit for the work by his much fighting. It was not fitting that a man of war should build the temple of the God of love. The two things did not go well together. It was far more becoming that Solomon, the "man of rest," should execute this work. Our guilty past may have been pardoned, our occupation may not be absolutely wrong, our surroundings may not be censurable, our position may not be blameworthy, and yet there may be something about one of these which makes it unsuitable for us and desirable for some one else to do the work which is required to be done. III. MAINTAINING PERSONAL INTEGRITY. (Vers. 11-13.) "Prosper thou, and build the house... that thou mayest keep the Law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed," etc. God distinctly promised to be Solomon's Father, and to establish his throne (ver. 10); but this prosperity must depend on loyalty and the keeping of the Law. Without the maintenance of our moral and spiritual integrity we cannot expect to be prospered in any work we do for God. IV. MAKING ALL DUE PREPARATION. Solomon would have found himself overtasked and unable to do as he did if David had not "in his trouble prepared for the house" (vers. 14-16). The aged king may be said to have laid the foundation of the building by all the pains he took to collect material and make everything ready for his son to begin the work. We never strike a better stroke in the service of God than when we are engaged in the work of preparation. Moses in Horeb, Paul in Arabia, the Master himself in the quiet home in Galilee and the still more quiet resting-place of the mountain-fold and the seaside of after days, we ourselves in the chamber of communion and at the study desk, are "working for God," for we are doing that which is positively essential to true, abiding issues in the field of Christian labour. V. ACTING IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REVEALED WILL OF CHRIST, "Build the house of the Lord... as he hath said of thee (ver. 11). VI. CHERISHING THE CONFIDENCE WHICH IS CLOSELY ALLIED TO STRENGTH. Be strong, and of good courage" (ver. 13). There is a confidence which is presumption, and which will be dishonoured; but there is a confidence which is in the truth and in God, and which is a large element of success. Where the diffident are defeated, the assured and courageous win. Let the Christian workman fee! that behind him are Divine promises which "cannot be broken," and he will advance boldly and strike successfully. VII. MAKING THE WAY PLAIN FOR OUR SUCCESSORS. (Vers. 6-16.) Nothing is more hateful than the spirit of "apres moi le deluge." No worthy Christian workman will be content unless, like David, as he considers who and what are to come after him, he feels a devout thankfulness that he has made a plain path for his successors, in which they may walk in peace, honour, and usefulness. We may place by itself as a condition of success which is involved in some of the foregoing, but yet which deserves to be mentioned separately, cultivating and exhibiting the spirit of devotion. Thrice in this paternal counsel does David invoke the presence and blessing of Almighty God (nets. 11, 12, 16). It is in the spirit of conscious dependence on God and earnest uplooking to him for his Divine help (Psalm 30:10) that the workman of the Lord will render successful service to his Master and mankind. - C. Parallel Verses KJV: Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel. |
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