Hope From the Word

--Bill Luebkemann-- Passing the torch. That's next on Hope From The Word, with Pastor Bill Luebkemann.

Give me one pure and holy passion. Give me one magnificent obsession. Give me one glorious ambition for my life to know and follow hard after you.

--Host-- David passed the torch to his son Solomon, and he was to reign in David's place. That's what's before us today on Hope From The Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann.

Hope From The Word is an outreach of Calvary Chapel of Marlton. When we are young, change can be a treat. But as we grow older, change becomes a threat. But that wasn't the case for King David.

David's wise anticipation of change caused him to make every preparation for the one who would take his place. That's a good example for us to follow, wouldn't you say? We can learn a great deal from David. So let's do that right now. From first Chronicles 28, here's Pastor Bill.

--Bill Luebkemann-- First Chronicles 28. Last time we were in Chronicles, we were looking at David's sin as he numbered the fighting men. And the penalty for that, and then we were looking at the him making preparations.

For the building of the temple that his son would be building. After that, we were looking at all the different people, the Levites, the singers, the priests. The gatekeepers or doorkeepers, the divisions of the army. We were looking at a breakdown of this huge organizational flowchart.

That David had prepared and as he was turning over to Solomon, his son, the reins of the kingdom, he was giving him a well functioning governmental machine, if you will. Lots of people, everybody knew what their job was. David appointed all these people to the different positions.

And Solomon, this was like in move in. This was a kingdom that was in move in condition. Unlike some houses that are on the market nowadays. And towards the end of David's life here, we see him actually turning the rest of everything over to Solomon himself. That's pretty much what's happening in the last two chapters.

David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem. The officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the King, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the King and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.

We're not talking about the whole army here, but he called together the officials and the leaders. And these were the not only the army leaders, but the civil servants, if you will, the government workers, the officers over the tribes. They were those in each of the in each of the tribes of Israel, the the leaders of the tribes, so they were I guess they were kind of like leaders of families, if you will.

The commanders of in the King's service here, commanders of hundreds and commanders of thousands, so Brigadier Generals right on down to privates and corporals. All the those in charge were summoned here together. The officials in charge of all the property and livestock, so those that were not in the armed forces, if you will, but took care of civil governmental affairs.

Property and what have you, and the palace officials, those that took care of the palace. The mighty men was a specific group of fighting men, a small group of very important men and all the brave warriors. So, he called together these officials and this was a big deal, and it required some planning.

They didn't just say, “You know, come out tomorrow and we'll be here.” There no doubt there was some amount of planning involved in pulling this all together, getting the word out to everybody, getting everybody to show up here at the right time. And notice that whole entire paragraph is just one verse, verse one of chapter 28.

King David rose to his feet. Now, that's interesting that it says he rose to his feet. And I'm wondering if the reason it says that is maybe he was so old now, he didn't rise to his feet very often. He may have been bedridden, it may have been more difficult to stand on his feet.

King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers, and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.”

But God said to me, “You are not to build a house for my name because you are a warrior and have shed blood. Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, he chose my family, and from my father's sons, he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.”

Of all my sons, and the Lord has given me many, he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, “Solomon, your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws as is being done at this time.”

You'll remember that one of King David's other sons, Adonijah, was trying to make a power grab. He tried to stage a coup by getting together certain of the officials and leaders and getting them to pretend that he was king or to make him king. And I'm not sure if he promised them positions of prestige or power, or it may have been that he lied to them and said, “This is what my father wanted.”

But you'll see that David here is not making any mistake about who it is that's to succeed him, and about whose desire that is God's plan, God's purpose and God's desire. So David standing up and calling these people to attention, “Listen up. Listen to me, my brothers and my people,” and he tells them this story.

That he had it in his heart to build a house as a place of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and he made plans to do it. Why?

Remember, David was out there as a young man in the desert. Saul was chasing him around for many years. On many occasions, David could have killed Saul, but he didn't. He lived in caves and in the fields, and at one point he lived in another country for a while as he was being pursued by Saul.

And David could have easily fought a battle against Saul and won, and he could have been king sooner. But he was very, very committed and careful to want to see God make him the king in God's time. And David is a lesson in patience for those of us today that don't understand why God just doesn't answer our prayers right away.

You know, if he just answered these prayers, it would be so easy. I wouldn't have to keep praying them. And I could move on to something else. So why don't you just save God God just save these people I've been praying for and get me that new house, new boat, new job, new career, new whatever.

And just answer them all immediately. And here we have David, who was a lesson in patience, who waited for years and lived in the field for years, and here's a guy that knew the patience and knew how to wait on God and knew how to let God, you know, do God's thing as only God can do.

And here's a guy that knew the value of a house. I mean, he lived in a field, he lived in caves. He he knew what a value and how, when he got his own place to live, he felt guilty. That's why he wanted to build this house for God.

It's like, “I have a place to live, and the the Ark of the Covenant does not have the temple yet to live in.” Here's a guy that knew the value of a place of rest, knew what it was like to be able to lay down in your own bed at night, finally, after all these years of moving around.

And he wanted to have the same thing for the Ark of the Covenant, a place of rest for it. And God brought rest to the kingdom. But if you look at David and Solomon, Solomon was more of a king during a time of rest. David was more of a king, you know, during times of war.

Towards the end of his career, um, there was no more war. Solomon, though, his entire span of his whole his whole kingdom was a time of peace from beginning to end, but it was because of the hard work, the bloodshed and everything that David had done before him.

And David thought, “You know, that Ark of the Covenant is getting tired of being moved around.” You see on the internet how the Ethiopian Church says they have the Ark of the Covenant. There's some discussion about it, speculation and whatever, and they're going to reveal it, but then then somebody said, “No, we're not going to reveal it,” which, of course, to me means they don't they ain't got it. They're just talking about it.

Who knows where it is now? But he had it in his heart. The Ark of the Covenant has been packed up and moved around so many times. Let's get it a place of rest where it can finally have its own place of rest.

And it'll be as if a footstool for God. David recognizing here, I think, just how big God is. He cannot be contained. He was under no illusions that we're going to build a house here. God's going to go in there. We'll quick lock the door and we've trapped God in his house.

He was under no illusions that this temple would really hold all of God. It's just merely a footstool. The whole the whole earth is isn't even big enough for a footstool for God, let alone this temple. It was more of a symbolic place where the presence of God among his people in the form of that Ark of the Covenant could be finally at a place of rest.

It wouldn't need to be moved around so much anymore. And David had it in his heart to do this. He wanted to do this. It was the desire of his. You know, I've got my own place. Now, I really want to build a place for God. And so he went about making plans to do it.

You'll remember the prophet originally told him, “Sure, do everything that's in your heart.” And then God corrected the prophet and said, “Excuse me, but you didn't check with me on that one. So get yourself back over there and tell David, ‘No, it's going to be his son who can do it.’”

And when he says, “But God said to me,” well, this was by way of the prophet. I think it was Nathan, but I'm not positive of that. But God said to me, “You are not to build a house for my name because you are a warrior and have shed blood.” So David had shed a lot of blood.

Look, Solomon shed a few pieces of blood also, a few drops of blood, whatever, a few gallons. Solomon killed a few people early on in his career. People that had to be cleaned out, if you will. Had to clean out the kingdom of all the riff raff. Those that weren't following God, those that were troublemakers.

His own brother, Adonijah, who wanted to be king, had to be executed early on. But he didn't in any way shed as much blood as his father David did. And the Lord told David, “You're not going to be the one to do it because you've been a warrior.”

That doesn't say there's anything bad about being a warrior, by the way. It doesn't doesn't say you were naughty. You were naughty, you shouldn't have done that. He doesn't say that. Just says you had your task to do while you were alive and Solomon has his job to do while he's alive.

And your job was to be a warrior. David did a very good job of that and the Lord gave him victory. But now it was Solomon, who was to be that man of peace, who was going to build a house so that there could be a place of peace and a place of rest to put the Ark of the Covenant in.

Yet, David says in verse four, “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah, he chose my family, and from my father's sons, he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.”

You'll remember how Samuel was led to David's father, and one by one, went through every one of the sons. Saw David's oldest brother. “Wow, what a handsome dude he is. Tall, sharp, good looking. Man, he'll make a great king.” And God said, “You're looking at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart.”

And then he saw the next son down. You know, “Oh, he's clearly the one.” And then God said, “You are not listening to what I'm telling you.” And then he saw the next son, “This is got to be it.” And God said, “Hello, is anybody paying attention to me?” No, I'm making that up.

He didn't quite say it that way. But he chose Judah as a tribe, and he chose the family that David was a part of, and right on down to his father's house and his father's sons, and he was pleased to make David, the lowliest of them of all his brothers, the shepherd boy that was out in the field.

His father hardly even admitted that he had another son. “Don't you have another son?” “Well, you know, well, I guess so.” “I didn't really want to count him. He's not that important. He's the youngest, hasn't amounted to much yet.” His father wasn't paying attention to what David was doing out there with the sheep in the field. He was doing a doggone good job of taking care of them.

And David said here, “He chose me.” You know, when they when they went to conquer Jericho and one guy, forget his name, but he took the booty back to his tent. And then God didn't give them a victory the next time. And there was sin in the camp.

And they brought up the tribes one by one and they found out the tribe that the sin was in. Then they brought up the families one by one, and they worked their way down to this particular guy, who then admitted that he had the booty. You kind of get the same idea that God did the same kind of thing here, only the only it wasn't to find a sinner, it was to find a king.

We're working it's going to be the tribe of Judah. It's going to be this house, and it's going to be this family. It's going to go through these sons and it's going to be this son. And now David says, “Of all my sons, and the Lord has given me many,” so he's giving credit to God for his offspring here.

“He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom for the Lord over Israel.” Look, Adonijah was trying to usurp his authority and take the throne. So, I think David had to be unequivocal here. What he said that God has chosen his son.

“Of all the sons, and the Lord has given me many, He,” who's “He?” That's the Lord, what he just said. “He, the Lord, has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.” So, read between the lines there. What he's saying is, it's, “Hey guys, it's not Adonijah, it's not anybody else, it's Solomon.”

And then, just to be sure you get it, David repeats himself in verse six. “He said to me, ‘Solomon, your son, is the one who will build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.’” What's that mean? Nobody else in the kingdom is God's son? No, it doesn't mean that.

It just means in a special way as the king of the nation, Solomon has been chosen and he's the one who's going to build the house. And God promises, “I'm going to establish his kingdom forever, if, if, and it's a big if. It should be in capital letters maybe. If he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws as is being done at this time.”

So there's a compliment here to David. David's kind of complimenting himself since he's quoting the Lord here, saying, “If you're if my son is as unswerving as as I have been, as is being done right now,” well, David was doing a fine job of carrying out the laws of God.

Look, he had one super major colossal blunder in his life, and he paid dearly for it. But overall, he was a man after God's own heart. And he he left this planet as much a servant of the Lord as he started as a young man there.

And he said, “My son, if my son will follow the same way, he will be unswerving.” And you have to just believe that David must have talked to Solomon many times about this. He probably did everything he could to train him up and teach him and, you know, “You know, Solomon, make sure you read the read the Bible, read the Word of God.”

Whatever whatever books they had available at this point, not too many of them. “Read the Word of God, know the Word of God, meditate on it day and night, follow after him, trust in him, rely on him.” You can bet Solomon got an earful as he was growing up.

Unfortunately, he didn't get enough because he went quite astray at the end of his life. So now I charge you. David is speaking here to his son. So now I charge you in the sight of all Israel and of all the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God so that you may possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.

I guess maybe this is this I was thinking this is directed at Solomon, but this may have been directed at everybody there in the group. Him charging all of these leaders. “I charge you all in the sight of all Israel, in the assembly of the Lord and the hearing of our God, I'm charging every one of you.

Be careful to follow all the commands of the Lord your God.” Don't just know the commands. Don't just read about them, talk about them, pontificate on them. Don't just get degrees where you study them and know all about them, but you need to be careful to follow all the commands.

And be careful. Don't just, you know, tripping over yourself and doing some things right and some things wrong. Be diligent. Be careful. Look after these things. You're not going to know what they are unless you study them and you're aware of them.

And be careful to follow. It doesn't say some of the commands, the ones you like, most of them. You know, if you get half of them right, God will be happy. He says, “Be careful. Have a purpose here in your life to follow all the commands of the Lord your God. Follow them all.”

Why? “So that you can possess this good land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever.” So you can possess it. So you can have this entire good land. So you can have peace and prosperity throughout it, and so that you can pass it on to your descendants that they would have the same good fortune.

Verse eight was directed at the people because verse nine here directed at Solomon. “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”

“Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” Here he is speaking to Solomon, and calling Solomon in verse nine to acknowledge the God of your father. Does anybody have a different translation that uses a different word other than acknowledge?

No. Okay, that's what I was looking for. I knew there was a better word. So, “And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father.” I think this part of the verse speaks to faith. Acknowledge him, know him. In other words, have a relationship with him. And then serve him.

You remember with Mary and Martha, one chose to sit at his feet and know Jesus. One chose to run around and serve and serve and serve. And it was the knowing that was the most important part. And you see that he says that here first. “Know or acknowledge the God of your father, know who he is, have a relationship with him.”

I hope Solomon had a relationship with him at this point, but he was being encouraged. Sometimes people tell me, “You know, you I repeat things too much.” They ask me how to do something on a computer. I tell them how to do it three or four times. They say, “You repeat yourself too much.”

Then I come back the next day and they did it wrong. And I realized I really didn't repeat myself enough. I should have repeated myself more times. Solomon has been told by his father for years now to know the God of your father, to acknowledge him, to have a relationship with him, to walk with him and in his light and in his commands.

And to serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. So know him has to come before your serving him. You can't just serve him if you don't know him, because if you don't know him, you won't know how to serve him.

You won't know what he wants. You have to know him so that you can serve him, and that's the same today. And he says to do it with wholehearted devotion. Not just part of your heart. “Well, all right. If I really have to, I'll do that, but I really don't want to.”

“So, what are you doing today?” “Well, God's calling me to do this. I really doesn't don't want to do it, but I have to. I'm I'm carrying my cross, you know? Just doing it because I because I have to carry my cross.” You hear people talk like that. Look, he says, “Do it with wholehearted devotion.”

When God calls you to do something, do it cause, you know, you want to do it because you're serving the God of the universe, the your maker and creator. Man, the God of the universe has allowed me to participate with him by doing thus and such, whatever it is that day that you're doing.

And do it wholeheartedly. Get into it. Serve him all the way. I think that's what David is saying to Solomon here. Serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind. You know, devotion speaks to the heart and a willing mind. Well, that speaks to the mind. So, you know, the heart and the mind kind of go together.

You need to have them both. The devotion of the heart and the willingness and understanding of the mind. Why? For the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. So he knows if you're doing it grumpily or if you're doing it wholeheartedly. He knows what kind of relationship you have with him.

You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you can't fool God ever, any of the time. He knows every heart. The Lord searches every heart.

--Host-- You've been listening to Hope From The Word. We're currently in Pastor Bill Luebkemann's study of First Chronicles. If you'd like to hear this message again, you have several options. Visit our website at CCmarlton.org, download the Hope FM app to your smartphone or tablet, or look for us wherever you find podcasts.

If you've been thinking about visiting Calvary Chapel of Marlton where Bill serves as pastor, we'd love to have you. Our service times are on Sunday mornings at 10. We also meet midweek on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. You can also live stream from home when you visit our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton.

For more information, go to CCmarlton.org. We hope to see you soon. Before the day is done, we'd like to connect with you. Share a praise report, prayer request, or what you're learning from this series. You can easily email us at our website CCmarlton.org, or just call us at 856-983-1662.

There's more to come from Bill's study of First Chronicles, and we'll have that for you next time on Hope From The Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel of Marlton.

To know and follow hard after you. To know and follow hard after you. To be your disciple in your truth. To be your disciple. This world is empty, pale and poor, compared to knowing you, my Lord. Lead me on and I will run after you. Lead me on and I will run after you.