Scripture Daily

Context No. 1619 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 28:8-21: in context

8Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the LORD’s assembly, and in the audience of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. 9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10Take heed now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong, and do it.” 11Then David gave to Solomon his son the plans for the porch of the temple, for its houses, for its treasuries, for its upper rooms, for its inner rooms, for the place of the mercy seat; 12and the plans of all that he had by the Spirit, for the courts of the LORD’s house, for all the surrounding rooms, for the treasuries of God’s house, and for the treasuries of the dedicated things; 13also for the divisions of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the LORD’s house, and for all the vessels of service in the LORD’s house— 14of gold by weight for the gold for all vessels of every kind of service, for all the vessels of silver by weight, for all vessels of every kind of service; 15by weight also for the lamp stands of gold, and for its lamps, of gold, by weight for every lamp stand and for its lamps; and for the lamp stands of silver, by weight for every lamp stand and for its lamps, according to the use of every lamp stand; 16and the gold by weight for the tables of show bread, for every table; and silver for the tables of silver; 17and the forks, the basins, and the cups, of pure gold; and for the golden bowls by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls by weight for every bowl; 18and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight; and gold for the plans for the chariot, and the cherubim that spread out and cover the ark of the LORD’s covenant. 19“All this”, David said, “I have been made to understand in writing from the LORD’s hand, even all the works of this pattern.” 20David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the LORD’s house is finished. 21Behold, there are the divisions of the priests and the Levites for all the service of God’s house. Every willing man who has skill for any kind of service shall be with you in all kinds of work. Also the captains and all the people will be entirely at your command.”

David, near the end of his life, charges his son Solomon with the great task of building the temple. Know the God of your father, he says, and serve him with a whole heart; if you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off. Then he gives Solomon the plans for the temple and its service, and ends with a charge of encouragement: be strong and courageous, and do the work; do not be afraid or dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you; he will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work for the service of the LORD's house is finished.

The words that steady a person facing a daunting task are David's charge to Solomon: be strong and courageous, do the work, do not fear, for the LORD your God is with you; he will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work is finished. Solomon had been given an enormous, intimidating task, to build the temple of God, a work far beyond what any young king could feel adequate to. And David's encouragement does not rest on Solomon's ability but on God's presence and faithfulness: you can be strong and unafraid, not because you are equal to this, but because God is with you and will not forsake you until it is done. There is a promise here worth holding for any daunting work God has given us. Notice its shape: God will not fail you nor forsake you until all the work is finished. The promise is not merely that God will help at the start, or be with us for part of the way, but that he will not abandon the work until it is complete. God does not begin a work and leave it half-done; the God who calls us to a task stays with us through it, to the finish. This frees us from the paralysis of feeling inadequate to what we have been given. The question is not whether we are equal to the task, for we rarely are; it is whether God is with us, and his promise is that he is, and will not forsake the work until it is finished. Be strong and do it, David says, not because you are enough but because God is with you to the end. The daunting task is undertaken not on the strength of our adequacy but on the promise of God's faithful presence until all the work is done.

Facing a daunting task God has given me, do I let my sense of inadequacy paralyze me, or can I take David's charge, be strong and do the work, do not fear, for God is with me and will not fail or forsake me until all the work is finished?

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