1 Chronicles 29:1–30

Read the passage.

As Moses asked the Israelites for contributions to the construction of the tabernacle, so David does the same in preparing for the construction of the temple. In addition, however, he models for the people the generosity he asks of them by contributing a vast amount of his own wealth to the building fund. A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms, so even 1 talent of something was a large amount. David gave thousands of talents of gold and silver towards the construction and decoration of the temple. The rest of the leaders of Israel, even together, were able to give more than David, but not twice as much as he did.

Notice that everyone gave freely what they decided they ought to give. The people loved the Lord and gave abundantly so that He would have a house in their midst to dwell in. There was much rejoicing as they gave their offerings and sacrifices that day.

David leads the people to worship God with his prayer. He acknowledges that everything the people have given has come from the Lord in the first place. He asks that such spirits of generosity and holiness would be found in himself and his people for all their days, short though they are compared to the Lord.

There is an odd phrase here, saying they made Solomon the king “the second time”. (v. 22) It seems that some manuscripts don’t have these words, and it’s difficult to figure out what they refer to. One possibility is that Solomon was anointed as king in private, and this was the public coronation. Another is that Solomon was declared king by David before the people, and then this refers to another ceremony after David died. Yet another is that there are things left out of this history, especially concerning the usurpation of David’s son Adonijah, and there were actually two coronations. Or it was a mistake on some scribe’s part. It’s very hard to tell. While God’s Word is preserved for us, some of the details like this are a bit fuzzy around the edges. But God is faithful to keep His message to us clear, and this difficulty does not really matter to us, if it ever did.

Finally, the Chronicler reports the death of King David and cites his sources for this book. The Chronicles he mentions are what we refer to as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings, and possibly other works that are harder to identify as they may not be preserved.

Your Word shall endure forever and ever.