1 Chronicles 29:1

CONCLUSION OF THE REIGN OF DAVID;

DAVID GIVES HIS GREAT WEALTH FOR THE TEMPLE

"And David the king said unto all the assembly, Solomon my son whom God alone hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Jehovah God. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, stones for inlaid work, and of divers colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover also, because I have set my affection on the house of my God, seeing that I have a treasure of mine own of gold and silver, I give it unto the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, wherewith to overlay the walls of the house; of gold for the things of gold, and of silver for the things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers. Who then offereth willingly to consecrate himself this day unto Jehovah ?"

Due to the uncertainty that prevails with respect to the numbers given here, and to our equal uncertainty as to the exact value of the talent used in these calculations, we are not able to assign any exact value to the amount in dollars of David's magnificent gift; but there is no doubt that many millions of dollars should be assigned as the value of his gift. He gave it publicly in order to inspire others to do likewise.

The big point here is not the actual cash value of David's gift, but the principle propounded here in the last sentence.

"Who then offereth willingly to consecrate himself this day unto Jehovah" (1 Chronicles 29:5c). This is indeed a profound proposition. What David gave and urged others to give to the house of the worship of God was, in the last analysis, unto Jehovah. How much more is it true that what men freely give to the holy Church of Jesus Christ is actually the consecration of the giver unto God in Christ.

Honestly mistaken as David certainly was about some things, his sincere love of God was the central passion of his life; and, in that light, there can be no wonder that God accepted his loving gift of the temple and continued to use it throughout Israel's history.