1 Chronicles 21:24 And king David said to Ornan, No; but I will truly buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is your for the LORD… It is a scene of historical and of sacred interest. Upon the threshing-floor of the old Jebusite chieftain, the son of Jesse, by his repentance and prayer, secured the cessation of the pestilence which was desolating the land. The Divine command enjoins that on this spot where the plague was stayed, an altar shall be reared to Jehovah in acknowledgment of sparing mercy. The site is the property of Ornan, who with his four sons is threshing wheat. When David approaches, the Jebusite bows before him with reverence. The representatives of "the old order" and "the new" meet together. The scene is truly Oriental. The king asks for the site; the chief offers it as a gift; the king refuses to accept it upon such terms; and an agreement is entered into that the site shall become David's in exchange for six hundred shekels of gold. Thus is acquired the land upon which an altar is built, and which is to become hereafter the site of the splendid temple of Solomon. David's conduct and language convey a general principle of universal validity, viz. that it does not become man to offer, and that God will not accept, a gift or sacrifice which costs the giver nothing. I. OUR GOD HAS A RIGHT AND CLAIM TO ALL THAT WE CALL OURS. We call it ours, but our possession is derived from and is subordinate to his creative bounty, his providential goodness. What have we that we did not receive from him? Our property, and our powers of body and of mind, we have from him and owe to him. That we cannot enrich him by our giving, this is certain. But we can please him and can advantage ourselves by giving to his people and to his cause. II. GIFTS AND SACRIFICES THAT COST US NOTHING ARE CONTEMNED AND REJECTED BY GOD. David felt this, and expressed it in noble and memorable language, when he said, "I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost." Every sincerely religious mind must sympathize with the spirit here displayed. We are reminded that the widow's mite was approved and accepted by our Lord Jesus. It is not the magnitude of the gift, but the proportion of the gift to the giver's means, and, above all, the spirit of self-denial displayed in the act of giving, which meets with the approbation of the Searcher of hearts. III. THERE IS PLEASURE AND PROFIT IN SELF-SACRIFICE FOR THE CAUSE OF GOD, The King of Israel found this to be so in his own experience, and the experience of all who in this have followed his example coincides with David's. Our Lord has said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." - T. Parallel Verses KJV: And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the LORD, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. |
    |