1 Chronicles 22:1-19: a reflection

1Then David said, “This is the house of the LORD God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.” 2David gave orders to gather together the foreigners who were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to cut dressed stones to build God’s house. 3David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates and for the couplings, and bronze in abundance without weight, 4and cedar trees without number, for the Sidonians and the people of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David. 5David said, “Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore make preparation for it.” So David prepared abundantly before his death. 6Then he called for Solomon his son, and commanded him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. 7David said to Solomon his son, “As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. 8But the LORD’s word came to me, saying, ‘You have shed blood abundantly and have made great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. 9Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of peace. I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days. 10He shall build a house for my name; and he will be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.’ 11Now, my son, may the LORD be with you and prosper you, and build the house of the LORD your God, as he has spoken concerning you. 12May the LORD give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel, so that you may keep the law of the LORD your God. 13Then you will prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which the LORD gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid and don’t be dismayed. 14Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the LORD’s house one hundred thousand talents of gold, one million talents of silver, and bronze and iron without weight; for it is in abundance. I have also prepared timber and stone; and you may add to them. 15There are also workmen with you in abundance—cutters and workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of men who are skillful in every kind of work; 16of the gold, the silver, the bronze, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and may the LORD be with you.” 17David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, 18“Isn’t the LORD your God with you? Hasn’t he given you rest on every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD and before his people. 19Now set your heart and your soul to follow the LORD your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the LORD’s covenant and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the LORD’s name.”

David longed to build the temple, but God told him he would not; his son Solomon would build it instead. And yet David does not sulk or withdraw. Instead, he throws himself into preparing for the work he himself would not complete: gathering stone and iron and bronze and cedar in abundance, providing materials and workers, so that Solomon would have all he needed. I will make preparation for it, David says, and he prepares abundantly before his death, for a work another would finish.

Notice David's response to being told the work was not his to complete: he prepares for it anyway. He does not say, if I cannot build it, I will do nothing; he labors to prepare for the temple his son would build, gathering all that would be needed. He gave himself wholeheartedly to a work he would not see finished, laboring for a purpose that would be completed after his death, by another. His was a generous, self-forgetful labor, for a work beyond his own lifetime.

That is a challenge to how we regard the works we labor at. We can be tempted to care only for what we ourselves will see completed, to labor only for what will bear fruit in our own time and to our own credit. But David prepared abundantly for a work he would never see finished, content to lay the groundwork for another to complete. Be willing, like David, to labor for works you may not see finished, to prepare for what others will complete after you, to plant what others will harvest. Do not care only for what you will see completed in your own time; give yourself to works whose fruit will come later, perhaps to others' credit, as David prepared for the temple Solomon would build. A willingness to labor for what you will not see finished, for the good of those who come after, is a generous and God-honoring thing; labor so, as David did.

Lord, David longed to build the temple, but you told him his son would build it instead; and rather than sulking, he threw himself into preparing abundantly for the work he himself would not complete, gathering all Solomon would need, laboring for a purpose beyond his own lifetime. Let that challenge how I regard the works I labor at. I can be tempted to care only for what I myself will see completed, to labor only for what will bear fruit in my own time and to my own credit. But David prepared abundantly for a work he would never see finished, content to lay the groundwork for another to complete. Help me be willing, like David, to labor for works I may not see finished, to prepare for what others will complete after me, to plant what others will harvest. Keep me from caring only for what I will see completed in my own time; help me give myself to works whose fruit will come later, perhaps to others' credit, as David prepared for the temple Solomon would build. A willingness to labor for what I will not see finished, for the good of those who come after, is a generous and God-honoring thing; help me labor so, as David did. Make me willing to prepare for what others will finish, Lord.