True wealth
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! 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. 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. “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! 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! 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. “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously. 1 Chronicles 29:10-17
From the text, we read about King David’s acknowledgement that God is the source of everything. He gave God praise for He alone was the source of honor, strength, greatness, and wealth. What was revealing in David’s prayer was the realization that true riches or wealth are not found in what you could accumulate from this world. True wealth for him was to know that his life belongs to God. He recognized that belonging to God was the true source of joy. What he prayed about showed the great contrast to what most pray for. People tend to think that God’s blessings only comprise of material wealth, so when one is not blessed materially then God might have abandoned. If you claim you are a child of God, God gave you the best that you could have in this world. To have Him in your life as your Lord and Savior is more than enough than what He could bless you with His gifts. This is why David could rejoice not because he could invest in the work of God but because He had an intimate relationship with Him. This is also what he asked for people to experience. “...make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes” (v. 18). It is true that material possessions can bring happiness. But be reminded just like what David reminded himself that all these things that you possessed could be taken away. He also understood that he should not be attached to material things of this world for his life here on earth is temporary. “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” (v. 15). The one reason that you could have that will make you rejoice is the knowledge that you have Christ in your life. When you have Him in your life, you have Him the “Giver of good and perfect gift” (James 1:16).
Blessings,
