By 7 a.m. this morning, I was feeling pretty chipper because I’d received a couple blessings already, and I received them … only because I asked. That’s what David did in the beginning of this chapter. He asked. He asked the Israelites to donate treasures for the building of the Temple, and by golly, they did it. Have you ever been on the asking end of a want? It’s hard to ask sometimes! I think David was in a moment here and didn’t find it too difficult to pose the question, but if you’ve ever had to work your way up to asking for something big, you know exactly how hard it can be. I’m not talking about the difficulty here, though. I’m just talking about the act of asking itself. For instance, one of my morning’s blessings came about because I sent a message to someone I didn’t know very well asking for a pretty big favor. I didn’t fret a lot about sending the message, but it did take me three days to figure out how I wanted to phrase my proposition. Now, my favor was a little whack-a-doo, so on top of not knowing how to word the message, I also considered not sending it all because while it was sort of important to me, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for finding happiness in life. Anyway, the point is, I received the blessing simply because I asked, and asking – like King David did – is often a missionary’s biggest fear and hugest blessing. I was thinking about all the treasures that were donated for the building of the Temple and what it all would be used for. We, with our eyes, will see the grandeur of the Temple itself, but through Ezra’s writing, we also can see from where these treasures arrived and how they will sustain all of Israel. Yes, the Temple will require tons of gold and silver and timber, but most definitely, there will be things left over. (We also know this because past chapters tell us there were storehouses and treasure houses.) And the overspill will keep the whole show rolling. It will feed the priests and gatekeepers. It will help pay for Temple maintenance. It may even help meet needs of the community. Who knows! It’s huge! And it happened because David asked.
Also, it was a beautiful plan and magnificent foundation, which may be one reason why Ezra chose to elaborate on David’s story in this book of what we generally see as a list of “census data.” I was wondering, though, why King David? Ezra gave a nod to King Saul’s family a few chapters back, but then he goes straight into the story of King David. Well, the last paragraph of this chapter may answer this question. Remember how in all the lists of King David’s “court” he always listed a historian or a secretary. In other words, writing and recording history were important to King David. The last paragraph gave me some happy feelz as I read, “All the events … are written in … “ Man, I want to read those records! I’m sure they are why Ezra’s accounts focus so much on King David’s life … because they were available.
So, the transition of King David to King Solomon wraps up the Book of 1 Chronicles. You made it! And I hope that your experience with this book is propelling your excitement for reading the second book!
Writing prompt: the ask
I don’t think I made my thoughts very clear above. It happens! (Every day!) But my point was that King David asked the Israelites to donate treasures, and they did. Had he not asked, they probably never would have known it was a good thing to do. Sometimes, the only way things get accomplished is if someone asks. Write about a time when you were the person who had to ask, and write about the outcome.
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