HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 751
1 CHR ONICL ES 29
page 381
gave him a plan for the Lord’s “chariot”—the
gold cherubim* whose wings were stretched
out over the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant.
19 “Every part of this plan,” David told Solomon,
“was given to me in writing from the hand of
the Lord.*”
20 Then David continued, “Be strong and
courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or
discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with
you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will
see to it that all the work related to the Temple
of the Lord is finished correctly. 21 The various
divisions of priests and Levites will serve in the
Temple of God. Others with skills of every kind
will volunteer, and the officials and the entire
nation are at your command.”
Gifts for Building the Temple
Then King David turned to the entire
assembly and said, “My son Solomon,
whom God has clearly chosen as the next king
of Israel, is still young and inexperienced. The
work ahead of him is enormous, for the Temple
he will build is not for mere mortals—it is for the
Lord God himself! 2 Using every resource at my
command, I have gathered as much as I could
for building the Temple of my God. Now there is
enough gold, silver, bronze, iron, and wood, as
well as great quantities of onyx, other precious
stones, costly jewels, and all kinds of fine stone
and marble.
3 “And now, because of my devotion to the
Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own
private treasures of gold and silver to help in the
construction. This is in addition to the building
materials I have already collected for his holy
Temple. 4 I am donating more than 112 tons of
gold* from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver*
to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings 5 and for the other gold and silver work to
be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will
follow my example and give offerings to the
Lord today?”
6 Then the family leaders, the leaders of the
tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of
the army,* and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly. 7 For the construction
of the Temple of God, they gave about 188 tons
of gold,* 10,000 gold coins,* 375 tons of silver,*
675 tons of bronze,* and 3,750 tons of iron.*
8 They also contributed numerous precious
stones, which were deposited in the treasury of
29
28:18 Hebrew for the gold cherub chariot. 28:19 Or was
written under the direction of the Lord. 29:4a Hebrew 3,000
talents [102 metric tons] of gold. 29:4b Hebrew 7,000 talents
[238 metric tons] of silver. 29:6 Hebrew the commanders
of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 29:7a Hebrew
5,000 talents [170 metric tons] of gold. 29:7b Hebrew
10,000 darics [a Persian coin] of gold, about 185 pounds
or 84 kilograms in weight. 29:7c Hebrew 10,000 talents
[340 metric tons] of silver. 29:7d Hebrew 18,000 talents
[612 metric tons] of bronze. 29:7e Hebrew 100,000 talents
[3,400 metric tons] of iron. 29:10 Israel is the name that God
gave to Jacob.
the house of the Lord under the care of Jehiel,
a descendant of Gershon. 9 The people rejoiced
over the offerings, for they had given freely and
wholeheartedly to the Lord, and King David
was filled with joy.
David’s Prayer of Praise
10 Then David praised the Lord in the presence
of the whole assembly:
“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel,*
may you be praised forever and ever! 11 Yours,
O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory,
the victory, and the majesty. Everything in
the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord,
and this is your kingdom. We adore you as
the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and
honor come from you alone, for you rule
over everything. Power and might are in your
hand, and at your discretion people are made
great and given strength.
13 “O our God, we thank you and praise
your glorious name! 14 But who am I, and
who are my people, that we could give
anything to you? Everything we have has
come from you, and we give you only what
you first gave us! 15 We are here for only a
moment, visitors and strangers in the land
as our ancestors were before us. Our days
on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so
soon without a trace.
16 “O Lord our God, even this material
we have gathered to build a Temple to
honor your holy name comes from you! It
• Failure
1 C HR ON I C LES 28:20
Failure is usually the result of what is
inside us rather than what is outside us.
Fear of failure, feelings of inadequacy,
worry, uncertainty, a feeling of not
being prepared—these are some of the
primary contributors to our faintness
of heart. When we let our fears get the
upper hand, we make it much more
difficult to achieve our goals and we
miss opportunities to be part of the great
work God is doing. What’s the answer?
How can we find freedom from our
fear of failure? By constantly reminding
ourselves that God is with us and for us,
wanting to accomplish his will through
us, which will always be successful in his
eyes. Then, when failure does come (and
it will come because we are human), we
know that God will not keep us there but
will help us grow from our failures to even
greater successes.