God’s Handwriting Upon David

God's Handwriting Upon David

(No. 2280)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, OCTOBER 30, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
7, 1890.

"All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His
hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern." 1 Chronicles 28:19.

THE Temple was not to be built according to the designs of David, or
Solomon, or any other man. It was to be built according to a pattern
which God, Himself, had formed. In the things of God we are not left to
follow our own judgments and devices–we are to look to the Law and to
the Testimony for our instructions. To God's Word we must always come
for our orders. What God has commanded is binding upon us in His
Church. What He has not commanded, we may safely leave undone.

You will notice that David here says that he received the designs and
the details of the Temple from God, who wrote them, not on tablets of
stone, but on His servant's heart by His own hand. Now, it was very
necessary that everything should be arranged and planned for the
Temple, and that it should be built according to a pattern, for it was
to be a type, an eminent type of Christ, and also a type of His Church,
which is a Temple for God's own indwelling. Now, no man knew what God
meant to teach by that Temple and, consequently, if the building had
been left to human judgment, it would not have been a true type–for
who can make a type if he knows not what it is to typify? Only God knew
what He intended to teach by this building, so the Temple, that it
might convey Divine teaching, must be arranged according to Divine
command!

Moreover, the Temple was for God's own dwelling. Should not the Most
High have a house after His own mind? If He was to be the Tenant,
should it not be built to suit Him? And who knows what God requires in
a habitation but God, Himself? The best that can be built is too poor
for Him. Stephen said, "Solomon built Him an house. However, the Most
High dwells not in temples made with hands." Yet, if even in type it
was to be the dwelling place of God, it must be built according to
God's own requirements.

Besides, the Temple was to be the Throne of the great King and if the
very principle on which that throne was built was the will-worship of
man's own judgment, there would have been a violation of the great
principle of obedience at the fountainhead! I take it that, in the
Church of God, I have no right to decree anything, nor John Wesley, nor
John Calvin, nor any greater than they. God, alone, is supreme. Christ
is the one Head of His Church and we must, in all that we do in the
building of His Church, consult with Him, or else we act upon lawless
principles and cast off the authority of the Church's true King and
Head and come under some other law. This would be, at the very center
of our holy service, setting an example of lawlessness and rebellion
against God! That must never be–His Temple must be built according to
a pattern of His own design–and His Church and all holy work must be
carried on according to His direction if we are to expect a blessing.

The point to which I call your attention is this, that God gave the
directions to David by impressing them upon his mind, upon his heart,
by His own hand. He did not so much draw a plan and hand it to David,
and say to him, "Build the Temple according to that design," but He
made him think carefully and prayerfully over the whole matter.
Perhaps, in the visions of the night, and often, as he turned the
subject over in his thoughts by day, God's Spirit came and revealed to
David what he needed to know as to how this house was to be built–"All
this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand
upon me, even all the works of this pattern."

I shall, tonight, first, call your attention to the amazing
instructions given to David. Then, coming home to ourselves, I shall
speak upon the spiritual intuition of the saints in the Truth of God,
which is very similar to this instruction given to David. And, before I
close, I shall have a word or two to say as to the duty of the
transmission of what we have received. If God has taught us, we are
bound to do what David did–commit the same to faithful men, that,
before we go forward, we may have started others in work for the Lord
and not ourselves retire, leaving God's work undone.

I. First, then, dear Friends, I call your attention to THE AMAZING
INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN TO DAVID.

David received his instructions by the writing of God upon his heart
with God's own hand! Note this. David did not receive them by
consultation with others. David did not send to Hiram, king of Tyre, to
ask his judgement. Nor did he call in a Bezaleel, or some other
skillful man, to give him advice. God Himself taught him! This reminds
me of what Paul said, "I consulted not with flesh and blood." "The
Gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the Revelation of
Jesus Christ." Depend upon it, if you learn anything aright, you will
have to learn it from God and, although consultation with others may
often be very serviceable upon some points, yet you must not take them
into consultation on the question whether you shall believe God's Word
or not! That is to have supreme authority and, albeit there are some
who are deeply taught in the things of God, who may, at times, be
helpful to you, you must not defer to what they say so as to miss the
instructions that the Lord, Himself, gives you. No man's voice is to be
Sovereign to you–only the voice of God, the Holy Spirit, speaking out
of this Book, which contains all things that you need for life and
godliness. May God the Holy Spirit give you Grace to fetch all your
instructions from it! David did not consult with others about building
the Temple and we are not to obtain our creed by consultation with
other men, but go to God, Himself, and to pray Him to write it upon our
hearts with His own hand.

Observe, also, that David did not slavishly follow the former model. In
the wilderness Israel had a tent covered with skins as the meeting
place between Jehovah and the people. It was a simple structure, easily
moved. But now the tabernacle was to be swallowed up in the Temple and,
albeit that the general shape of the Temple reminds you strongly of the
tabernacle, yet David had a fresh Revelation and fresh guidance in what
he was to do. I like to see a man keep to the old things, but even in
doing so he may make a mistake, for there may be old things that can be
supplanted by newer and better things. Keep your eyes lifted up to God,
with whom nothing is old, and nothing is new! Wait at His footstool.
Submit your heart, like a tablet, for Him to write upon it all His
instructions. And then do as He has says!

According to the context, God gave to David instructions about the
details of the work. I commend the reading of this chapter to you–it
may at first seem to have little in it–but the more you study it, the
more will it teach you. Among other things, God revealed to David, "the
pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries
thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors
thereof, and of the place of the Mercy Seat." God will teach you, if
you will wait upon Him, the details of your work, the details of His
Gospel, the detailed explanation of your experience. "In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." As one said to me,
the other day, and I thought very wisely, "God directs His servants'
steps and also His servants' stops when they are not able to take any
steps, but feel bound to stand still." God directs them in not acting
as well as in acting! You may go to Him for detailed guidance and
especially in the matter of His service. If you would know what is His
mind, yield yourself to the teaching of the Holy Spirit and consult
this Book, for it will tell you everything about the porches, and the
houses, and the treasuries, and the upper chambers, and the inner
parlors, and the place of the Mercy Seat–and everything else you need
to know!

Further, the directions given were extremely minute. You noticed, in
our reading, that there was gold by weight for the lamp stands, and for
the lamps which stood upon them. Now, no man, unless he had made a
candelabrum or lamp-stand of the kind before, could tell how much gold
it would take! The most skillful tradesman here, though himself a
dealer in such things, would not readily know exactly the weight of
gold required! But if the one who needs the knowledge has never made
such things–if he has been a king used to the sword–how can he know
how much silver is needed for a candlestick, how much gold is needed
for a seven-branched lamp stand, and how much for the lamps to stand
thereon? It is a wonderful instance of what Inspiration can do, how the
Spirit of God could teach His servant David all the little ins and outs
of this wonderful making of the vessels for the House of the Lord–even
down to the basins–"for the golden basins he gave gold by weight for
every basin and, likewise, silver by weight for every basin of silver."
All was arranged exactly.

If we will follow the Word of God closely, under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, we shall find that it enters into the details of our
private life, into the details of our Church life, into the details of
our troubles, our needs, and our joys. God will direct you in
everything if you are willing to be directed. "Be you not as the horse,
or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held
in with bit and bridle," but be willing to be directed by God and you
shall not be without direction even in the smallest matter!

And, yet again, the innermost things were laid bare to David. Nobody
saw the cherubim–I speak broadly, for once in a year the High Priest
went into the Holy Place, but then he scarcely saw the cherubim, for,
with the smoke of the incense which went up around him before the Mercy
Seat, everything in that place must have become dim. They were almost
unseen objects, yet David had seen them in his mind's eye. He had had a
representation of them written on his heart by the hand of God, for so
we read, "and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim, that
spread out their wings, and covered the Ark of the Covenant of the
Lord." There was a pattern of this printed on the understanding and
heart of David. Oh, yes–the Lord will let you see everything that can
be seen–there is no limit in His Revelation to the man who is willing
to see. There are unspeakable words, yet Paul heard them, though he
could never repeat them, for it was not lawful for him to utter them.
There are secrets of the Lord, but they are "with them that fear Him,
and He will show them His Covenant." There are things that are within
the veil so far as most men are concerned, but to the man who is in
Christ, the veil is torn, and the veil which was on his own heart and
mind has been taken away by the Spirit of God and he can see the things
of God, and rejoice therein, even as David did!

Now, we are told in the text, and I must come back to the very words of
it, "The Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me." David
not only knew the details, but he understood them. He had a clear
insight into what God meant by the instructions given. Now, dear
Friends, the hardest thing in the world is to give a man understanding!
It is our duty, in our preaching and teaching, to make things very
clear to the understanding, but if people have not any understanding,
we cannot give it to them. But God can. When the understanding, itself,
is darkened, and ceases to be an understanding, God can so renew it
that it shall be all clear and bright, and it shall be able to
comprehend the things of God. "The Lord made me understand." Oh, what a
privilege! Not merely, "made me hear," but, "made me understand." And
how did the Lord do it? "In writing," says David, "by His hand upon
me." The writing was written on David's own mind–he had not to go
upstairs to fetch it! He had not to say, "I cannot always carry it
about with me," but he did always carry it about with him wherever he
went, for God had written upon David, himself.

And it was written there by the hand of God. Now, I am coming to my
chief point. "The Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon
me." God writes His Law in the Bible, but we do not understand it. God
writes it on our heart and then we do understand it! There it lies in
the letter and we may be dull of understanding and not comprehend it.
But if it comes here in the spirit of it, our heart is no longer dull,
but being quickened of God, it receives the things of the Spirit of
God! The carnal mind cannot know spiritual things! But God gives us a
spiritual mind and then we begin to understand spiritual things. "The
Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me." We learn much
from the gifts of God's hand, but not so much as from the hand itself.
Sometimes God lays His hand upon His child very heavily. You can forget
His gifts, but you cannot forget the pressure of that hand! At times He
will press His hand upon us till He seems to crush us to the very
heart–till we stagger and anguish breaks our spirit! There is no
writing like that which God writes with a steel pen right into the
soul! And sometimes He makes very heavy down-strokes, and very sharp,
cutting up-strokes when He writes upon the fleshy tablets of the heart,
His mind and will, as He wrote upon the heart of David all the details
about the building of the Temple at Jerusalem!

II. That brings me, then, to my second point, which is this, THE
SPIRITUAL INTUITION OF THE SAINTS IN THE TRUTH OF GOD.

I remark, first, that God still writes upon the heart of men. He
prefers fleshy tablets and His own Spirit to any paper and ink. Paul
wrote to the Corinthians, "You are our Epistle written in our hearts,
known and read of all men: forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to
be the Epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but
with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in
fleshy tablets of the heart." God makes a new heart to write upon and
when He has made a new heart, then He takes His pen and writes, there,
the Law of His House. Have you ever had God's Word written on your
hearts? I know that some of you have, but I am afraid that some of you
have not, because I know

how easy it is to hear a sermon, to read the Bible, and say, "Oh, that
is wonderful!"–and then go out into the world and act contrary to what
you heard from the preacher, or found written in the Word of God.

Now, let me show you in a little in detail how God writes the great
Truths of His Word on our hearts. We come to this blessed Book and we
find that man is fallen, that man is ruined by sin. Did you ever feel
that it was so with you? Can you remember a time when you knew that you
were fallen, when you could see your heart to be corrupt, and felt
yourself to be lost, ruined and undone? Ah, then the Lord made you
understand in writing by His hand upon you! This Book tells us that
without Christ we can do nothing. We are dead. We are without strength.
Did you ever find it so? Why, when you began to seek the Lord, some of
you, you found that your boasted strength had all evaporated! You could
not feel aright, nor think aright, nor act alright and, though you
tried hard, yet you were like Samson when his hair was shorn–you were
too feeble to accomplish any good thing.

Then you learned a doctrine in this way–I may have preached it to your
ears, but God laid it on your heart. You knew that it was so, for the
Lord had taught it to you by His Spirit and now nobody can ever beat it
out of you! Then there came a time when you read in the Scriptures that
Christ is the Savior of His people and that whoever looks to Him shall
live. You believed that to be true as you heard it preached and read it
in the Book–and you did look–you looked to Christ. You gazed upon Him
as He hung upon the accursed tree for you. Now, tell me, did you not,
when you looked, find immediate and glorious salvation? Did not the
burden roll from your shoulders? Did not the disease depart from your
heart? Can you not say tonight–

"Happy day happy day When Jesus washed my sins away"? And then the
Doctrine of the Atoning Sacrifice, the Doctrine that the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin–that, also, you were made
to understand in writing by the hand of the Lord upon you–and no power
on earth or in Hell can take that Doctrine from you! Since then, you
have learned other doctrines, possibly the Five Points of Calvinism, or
the 50 points of any other system, but you never learned them from
merely reading them in the Scriptures! You never really knew them till
the pen of God began to move up and down upon your inward nature and
your heart received the impression the Lord intended to convey to it!

It may be that there are more Truths of God to be written on your
heart, but we shall not know them all until we get Home to our Father's
House. Meanwhile, let us keep on reading more of God's Word and making
more of its Truths our own! But, depend upon it, this is the main
thing–to get, by real personal experience, what we perceive to be
written by the Revelation of God. "The Lord made me understand in
writing by His hand upon me." May the Lord make it to be so with every
minister of Christ here, and every Sunday school teacher and every
Christian worker of every kind! May we know what is written in the Book
by what is written on our heart!

Now I believe that the Lord does this with regard to our great
Pattern–"even all the works of this pattern." We have one great
Pattern whom we are all to imitate. You know who it is to whom we sing
very often–

"Be You my Pattern; make me bear More of Your gracious image here!" May
the Lord Himself write upon us according to that glorious Pattern! Who
but the Holy Spirit can work in us the humility of Christ, the courage
of Christ, the self-denial of Christ and full obedience to the Father's
will such as He rendered? Who can give us all this but the Christ to
whom we sing–

"Cold mountains, and the midnight air Witnessed the fervor of Your
prayer The desert Your temptation knew, Your conflict and Your victory,
too"? Let none of us think that we cannot be like Christ! Let nobody
say, "The Pattern is too difficult for us to copy." No, no, my Brothers
and Sisters! Let us weep our eyes out that we fall so short of it, but
let us strive after it according to His striving, who works in us
mightily, and never be content till we are, indeed, like He. What did
the Psalmist say? "I shall be satisfied when I awake with Your
likeness." We shall never be satisfied till then! Therefore let us sit
in the Light of Christ till He is photographed upon us, and we go forth
as living portraits of the Divine Pattern.

I want, for a minute or so, to show you how the Lord can reveal to you,
His servants who love and fear Him, everything you need to know about
the great work of salvation. In the Word of God we have a model of
salvation and you

who want to teach others had better conform all your teaching to this
model. The Lord can teach you and will teach you all things that you
need to know about His Church and the Temple of His salvation. Read the
11th verse of this chapter again–"David gave to Solomon, his son, the
pattern of the porch." O you young men who are going to be ministers,
mind that you get a good clear view of the pattern of the porch! Tell
the sinner to come to Christ just as he is! Do not begin setting up
some fine porch of feelings or preparations. Set up the pattern of the
porch, the wicket gate, with the light shining through it, and these
words written over it, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Preach
a full Christ to empty sinners and tell them that all the fitness He
requires of them is that they should feel their need of Him! And tell
them that He even gives them that–they are not to look within
themselves for it! If they do not feel their need, they must come to
Him to get the feeling of their need, for from the very beginning it is
all of Grace, and all of Christ! So, my Brothers, get a clear view of
"the pattern of the porch."

"And of the houses thereof," the places where the priests and Levites
dwelt. Get a clear view of the houses that Christ gives His people to
dwell in, how they should dwell in Him, how they should abide in Him
and go no more out forever. I cannot enlarge on this, but you can think
it out for yourselves, and explain it to your hearers and scholars.
Think of those mansions of present joy and future bliss which they
shall have who come in by the true and living Way, even by Christ
Jesus, who is the only Way of entrance into the Temple of Salvation!

"And of the treasuries thereof." When you preach Christ, pray to have
written upon your heart, as well as in this Book, something about the
treasuries of God's House. Oh, the infinite riches of the Covenant of
Grace! Oh, the all-sufficiency of Christ Jesus, our Lord! Oh, the
fullness of power that is to be found in the Holy Spirit! Oh, the heaps
of blessedness which are stored away for Believers in the Person of
their Divine Lord and Master! Get in your own heart a good clear view
of the treasuries of the Temple of Salvation–and then go and preach
about them to others!

And what next? "And of the upper chambers thereof." Have you ever been
in those upper chambers where you get a view of the Glory yet to be
revealed? Then you have been near to Heaven, and near to your God!
Perhaps you have not attained to that height yet. If not, may the Lord
write on your heart the plan of the upper chambers!

"And of the inner parlors thereof." I thought, as I read this over, and
tried to look deeply into it, that I knew a little about the inner
parlors thereof. Oh, there are sweet fellowships, there are communings
which nobody knows but the man who has dwelt where Jesus is and who
continues to abide in Him! He shall ask what he will, and it shall be
given him. And he shall continually joy in God through Jesus Christ.
Get a good view of the inner parlors thereof. May the pattern of them
be written on your own heart–and then go and tell others about them!

And here is one thing more–" And of the place of the Mercy Seat." You
often sing–

"There is a place where Jesus sheds The oil of gladness o'er our heads!
A place, than all beside more sweet, It is the blood-stained Mercy
Seat." May you have written on your heart the pattern "of the place of
the Mercy Seat!" It was inside the veil, you know, above the Ark of the
Covenant, and under the wings of the cherubim, the place where God met
with Moses and Aaron, and shone forth in the light of the Shekinah,
making glad their willing eyes. God grant that you may know, by daily
experience, the power of prayer at the place of the Mercy Seat! Then go
and tell poor sinners about it! And tell poor saints about it, too,
according as the Spirit of God has written it with His own hand upon
your heart!

III. But now the time has almost gone, so I must briefly finish with my
third point, that is, THE DUTY OF THE

TRANSMISSION TO OTHERS OF ANYTHING THAT GOD WRITES ON YOUR HEARTS. Tell
others what God

has told you. Our Lord said to His disciples, "What you hear in the
ear, that preach you upon the housetops." He says the same to us. "To
whom shall I go?" you ask. Well, take David as your example.

First, David told Solomon all about it. "Ah," you say, "My boy is no
Solomon." That is all the more reason why you should teach him! Perhaps
David might have been excused from teaching Solomon, as he was already
so wise, but the fact that he did instruct him teaches us that the
wisest child needs to be taught the things of God! If your boy is not a
Solomon, you will need to teach him twice over, or many times, if
necessary. Teach, him 19 times over and, if necessary, teach him 20
times over. If anybody asks, "Why do you teach him 20 times?" say that
it is because you found that 19 times did not bring him salvation and
you mean to keep on till he is saved. Tell Solomon about it. Say to
him, "My son,

come here and listen to what your father has tasted and handled of the
good Word of the Lord. Hear what your father has experienced of Divine
Grace."

Well, perhaps you say, "Yes, I will talk to my boys about the Savior.
Shall I speak to anyone else?" Next, dear Friend, talk about Christ to
chosen companions. I count it a high privilege if I can get a little
personal conversation with a choice young man, one who has great
ability, and one whom we have reason to believe God has called to do a
great work for Him. David knew that God had chosen Solomon to build the
Temple and, therefore, he was very particular to give him the details
that he had received from the Lord. Perhaps a Christian woman here
says, "You would not have me talk to a young minister, would you?"
Well, my dear Sister, you know what we read about Priscilla and her
husband, Aquila. They were not very great people, they were simply
tent-makers, but they talked to Apollos in such a way that he was, for
the rest of his life, indebted to that humble man and woman! Some of
those whom God has used, and will yet use still more, will tell you
that they owe a great deal to humble people who have talked to them
about Christ. The godly women who sat spinning and darning stockings in
the sunshine at Bedford talked with one another about the things of
God, and John Bunyan stopped and listened to what they said–and he
profited all the rest of his days by their holy talk! If you have the
opportunity and come across any choice young minds, be sure to tell
them what God has told you about His great plan of salvation!

Then, lastly, David gathered all the people together and told them
about the Temple. In the next chapter we read, "Furthermore, David the
king said unto all the congregation, Solomon, my son, whom alone God
has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the
palace is not for man, but for the Lord God." They soon began to give
the gold, and the silver, and the brass, and the wood, and the precious
stones for the Temple. See that you tell to all you can what God has
told you! I am afraid that some here have not yet found out their
life-work. We get into the habit of wanting so much "talent" in
preachers. May "talent" be thrown into the bottomless pit! It has done
more harm to the Church of God than it ever did good! If plain
Christian men would begin to talk about Christ wherever they have
opportunity, it would usher in a golden age!

Perhaps there has come in here a troubled sinner wanting to find a
Savior. Try to speak to him. "Oh," you say, "he might be offended!" So
he might, but that would not kill you. Tell him about Jesus Christ–and
if he gets to Heaven through what you tell him–he will forgive you for
not having given him a handsome card with your name on it to introduce
yourself! If you get a soul to Heaven, the rudeness of an impromptu
address will never occur to that soul! God help us to be up and doing,
telling out what He has written in our hearts! And unto His name shall
be the praise!

Perhaps you have never had anything written on your heart, my dear
Hearer. Then lay your heart before the Lord, tonight, with this simple
prayer, "Lord, write on it!" And if He writes on it that one word,
"Jesus," it will be all that you can need! God bless you, everyone, for
Jesus Christ's sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON 1 CHRONICLES 28.

Verse 1. And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of
the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the
king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over
the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of
the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men,
and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem. David, in his old age,
and soon to die, summoned a great representative assembly of the
notables of his kingdom.

2. David the king stood up upon his feet. He was ill and obliged to
keep to his bed, but he left his couch for this solemn occasion. He did
not even remain seated, although extremely weak. He stood up upon his
feet.

2. And said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people. Those who read
carefully will notice the sweetness of David's style, now that he is
about to die. It was after the great sin of his life and after he and
his subjects had suffered because of his numbering the people, that he
calls the men before him, "my brethren." He had sometimes spoken of
them as his servants, but now he adopts a very humble style and,
putting himself on a level with them, he says to them, "Hear me, my
brethren, and my people."

2, 3. As for me, I had in my heart to build an house of rest for the
Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and
had made ready for the building: but God said unto me, You shall not
build an house for My name because you have been a man of war, and have
shed blood. Admire the frankness of David in telling the people what
God had said to him. There is no other biography in the world like the
Bible, for it tells the faults and follies of those whose history it
records. David was a man after God's own heart, yet, as he had been
used as a sword for the defense of God's people, and the destruction of
their enemies, he could not be permitted to build the Temple. He
frankly tells the people all that God had said–it would not reflect
any honor upon himself–but it was true and, therefore, he kept nothing
back. One falls in love with David for the frankness of his utterance.
When a king and an aged man–and just about to die–he tells the people
all this story.

4. However the LORD God of Israel chose me before all the house of my
father to be king over Israel forever: for He has chosen Judah to be
the ruler; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among
the sons of my father He liked me to make me king over all Israel. He
delights to dwell upon the election of God. It was not by the right of
ancestry that he was chosen king–it was by the will and good pleasure
of God! Judah was one of the younger tribes, and yet it was made the
royal tribe. In Judah, the house of Jesse was of no great
importance–yet God chose it as the royal family–and in the household
of Jesse, David was the youngest, yet the Lord "liked" him, and chose
him to be king over all Israel!

5. And of all my sons, (for the LORD has given me many sons), he has
chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD
over Israel. David seems to harp upon this sweet string of the Divine
choice. I wonder that so many good people are afraid of this blessed
Doctrine! They fight shy of it! They seem to run away at the very sound
of the word, "election." Yet is it the very joy of saints. God has
chosen them and ordained them to be His servants!

6-8. And He said unto me, Solomon your son, he shall build My house and
My courts: for I have chose him to be My son, and I will be his father.
Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is constant to do
my commandments and my judgments, as at this day. Now, therefore, in
the sight of all Israel the congregation of the LORD, and in the
audience of our God, keep and seek for all the Commandments of the LORD
your God: that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an
inheritance for your children after you forever. Thus he talked with
the great number of the nobility and chief men of his kingdom who were
gathered round him.

9. And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father. God is
very dear to us, but perhaps under no aspect is He more tenderly near
us than as the God of our father–"My son, know you the God of your
father."

9. And serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the
LORD searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the
thoughts: if you seek Him, He will be found of you; but if you forsake
Him, He will cast you offforever. What a Covenant this was under which
Solomon stood! Alas, he was not as true to God as he should have been
and though we hope he was not cast away forever, yet under his rule
Israel began to decay and he pierced himself through with many sorrows
in his latter days.

10. Take heed now; for the Lord has chosen you to build an house for
the sanctuary: be strong, and do it. It is fine to hear this old man,
in his weakness, stirring up the young man! We generally expect to see
the youths full of zeal and the old men somewhat slow, but Divine Grace
can turn the tables against nature! Here the old man, feeble as to his
body, is vigorous as to his spirit.

11. David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the
houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper
chambers thereof, and of the inner parlors thereof, and of the place of
the Mercy Seat. He had it all ready in his mind and, before he died, he
passed over the plans of that wonderful piece of architecture to his
son Solomon.

12. 13. And the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts
of the House of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the
treasuries of the House of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated
things: also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for
all the work of the service of the House of the LORD, and for all the
vessels of service in the House of the LORD. Everything was laid down,
cataloged, and arranged so that Solomon had only to follow the plans
given to him by his father and all would be right. Think of the love of
David to his God. Though he might not build the Temple, he would draw
the plans for it–and though he might not live to see it completed, yet
he would, in his own mind, arrange all the courses of the priests and
the Levites, and every detail, even to the placing of the vessels of
service in the courts of the Lord's House.

14, 15. He gave of gold by weight for things of gold, for all
instruments of all manner of service; silver, also, for all instruments
of silver by weight, for all instruments of every kind of service: even
the weight for the candlesticks of gold. Or, the candelabra.

15, And for their lamps of gold, by weight for every candlestick, and
for the lamps thereof: and for the candlesticks of silver by weight,
both for the candlestick, and also for the lamps thereof, according to
the use of every candlestick. They were not for the burning of candles,
but for oil lamps. There was a lamp stand, with seven lamps upon the
stand, and there were 10 of these in the Temple. There was only one in
the tabernacle, but there were 10 in the Temple. David arranged
everything. Those seven-branched golden candlesticks stood like pastors
of the Church, and the little silver candlesticks were carried about
like evangelists, who go from place to place that the whole House of
God may be served with light! Everything was by weight. God knows what
He would have in His House and He measures out to each one according to
its need.

16, 17. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of showbread, for
every table; and likewise silver for the tables of silver: also pure
gold for the flesh hooks, and the bowls, and the cups: and for the
golden basins he gave gold by weight for every basin; and likewise
silver by weight for every basin of silver. I like to think of David
planning all these little things, first receiving instruction from God,
then waiting upon God for further direction, and thinking not only
about the great golden candelabra, but about the silver candlesticks,
and the flesh hooks, and the bowls, and the cups, and the basins. They
who love God love everything that has to do with Him–they have a holy
concern, even, for the smaller matters pertaining to the House of the
Lord.

18-20. And for the altar of incense refined gold by weight; and gold
for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubim, that spread out their
wings, and covered the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD. All this, said
David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even
all the works of this pattern. And David said to Solomon his son, Be
strong and of good courage, and do it. Do not talk about it! Do not sit
down and dream over the plans and think how admirable they are, and
then roll them up–but, "Be strong and of good courage, and do it."

20. Fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be
with you. What a pretty touch that is! "The LORD God, even my God, will
be with you."

20. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until you have finished all
the work for the service of the House of the LORD. Therefore, be of
good courage, you that are working for God, for He will not fail you,
nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service
of the House of the Lord.

21. And, behold, the courses of the priests and the Levites, even they
shall be with you for all the service of the House of God: and there
shall be with you for all manner of workmanship every willing skillful
man, for any manner of service. God always finds men for His work. We
sometimes see a lot of cowards run away and we say to ourselves, "What
will happen now?" Why, God will find better men than they are! And when
there seems to be a scarcity of really valiant men in Israel, God has
them in training! And that awkward squad out there will yet become a
band of brave men for the service of the House of God!

21. Also the princes and all the people will be wholly at your
commandment. Thus the grand old man finished up his life by starting
another to carry on the work which he was obliged to leave.