Scripture Daily

Context No. 1974 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 18:1-8: in context

1After this, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and took Gath and its towns out of the hand of the Philistines. 2He defeated Moab; and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. 3David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah, toward Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates. 4David took from him one thousand chariots, seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen; and David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but reserved of them enough for one hundred chariots. 5When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians. 6Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. 7David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8From Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took very much bronze, with which Solomon made the bronze sea, the pillars, and the vessels of bronze.

David wins a series of victories, subduing the Philistines, Moab, the kings of Zobah and Syria; the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. And the spoils of these victories, the gold shields, the great quantity of bronze, David does not simply keep for himself. He dedicates them to the LORD; the bronze he took would later be used by Solomon for the sacred vessels of the temple, the bronze sea and the pillars. The fruits of his success are given over to God's purposes.

Notice what David does with the spoils of his victories: he dedicates them to the LORD. The gold and bronze he won, he did not hoard for his own glory or pleasure; he gave them over to God, and much of it went to the building of God's house. The fruits of his success were dedicated to God's purposes, not kept for himself. This reflects a way of holding our successes and gains that is worth learning. When we succeed, when we gain, when our efforts bear fruit, the instinct is to keep the gains for ourselves, to enjoy them, to build up our own store. David shows another way: to dedicate the fruits of our success to God, to give back to him from what we have gained, to use our victories and gains for his purposes rather than only our own. This is not merely a matter of giving away everything, but of holding our successes as belonging finally to God, and dedicating a portion, and the best, to him. Honor the LORD with your wealth, the proverb says, and with the firstfruits of all your increase. David won victories, and gave the spoils to God; and the principle for us is to dedicate the fruits of our success, our gains, our achievements, to God, remembering that our victories are finally his gift, the LORD giving success wherever we go, and that the fitting response to gain is to dedicate it to the God who gave it. There is a freedom and a rightness in this. To hold our successes as ours alone, hoarded and kept, is to forget the Giver and to make our gains an end in themselves. To dedicate the fruits of our success to God, to give back from what we have gained, to use our victories for his purposes, is to acknowledge that our success is his gift and to hold our gains rightly. David dedicated the spoils of his victories to the LORD; and the fruits of our own success are likewise ours to dedicate to God, who gave them, rather than to hoard for ourselves alone.

When I succeed, when my efforts bear fruit and I gain, do I keep the gains for myself alone, hoarding them and making them an end in themselves, or can I follow David, who dedicated the spoils of his victories to the LORD, giving back from what I have gained and dedicating the fruits of my success to God, who gave them?

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