1 Chronicles 29:10-16

How does David’s prayer change the way the offering is understood?

Berean Standard Bible

10 Then David blessed the LORD in the sight of all the assembly and said: “May You be blessed, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in heaven and on earth belongs to You. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all. 12 Both riches and honor come from You, and You are the ruler over all. In Your hands are power and might to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now therefore, our God, we give You thanks, and we praise Your glorious name. 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and from Your own hand we have given to You. 15 For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 O LORD our God, from Your hand comes all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy Name, and all of it belongs to You.

What is the context?

David praises the Lord’s greatness, power, glory, and rule over all. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to God, including the wealth and strength people are able to offer.

He asks who he and the people are to give so generously and acknowledges that their gift comes from what God has already provided. The offering does not make God dependent on their resources.

David also describes human life as brief, like a shadow, and the people as strangers before God. Even a successful king and a wealthy assembly remain dependent and mortal.

How is this passage commonly understood?

Wesley emphasizes that both resources and willing hearts are gifts of God’s grace. His reflection on the people as temporary residents follows the prayer’s acknowledgment that they do not possess life or land absolutely. The shadow language expresses the brevity of earthly life within a prayer of trust, rather than requiring the conclusion that David has abandoned all hope in God.

What is our position?

We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.

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