“Furthermore
King David said to all the assembly: ‘My son Solomon, whom alone God has
chosen, is young and
inexperienced; and the work is great,
because the temple[a] is not for man but for the Lord God.’” 1Chron.29:1
I
was reading 1Chronicles 29 this morning and was struck by the parallel that
could be drawn between the transfer of power from King David to Solomon, and
the extraordinary election of Donald Trump as President of the USA.
It’s
not a perfect metaphor of course, and there are places that really don’t apply
at all, but it really stood out to me this morning as a directive for God’s
people to pray, if nothing else.
Solomon and
The Building of the Temple
In
V1, King David is speaking to “all the assembly” about his son Solomon, about
whom he says he “alone God has chosen.” It’s been widely reported about this
election that evangelical Christians made a huge difference, helping Trump to
win because they came out en force—through prayer and voting—believing that
Trump was the one God has chosen for the job, even with all of his many flaws.
King
David describes his son as “young and inexperienced” in that verse. While
Donald J. Trump—at 70-years-old—isn’t exactly young, he IS young and definitely
inexperienced when it comes to being the President of the United States, and
the leader of the free world.
Verse
one continues with David saying, “the work is great, because the temple is not
for man but for the Lord God.” As Christians, we know that because of Jesus’
work on the Cross, God does not limit Himself to the walls of a temple, but
that each Believer’s body is now a temple for the indwelling of God’s Holy
Spirit.
America
was formed by people who believed that God was directing them, and they
acknowledged this at every step in the crafting of this country’s foundations
and Constitution. Even within America’s ‘Declaration of Independence,’ the dependence upon God the Creator is spelled
out. This is also depicted in the more recent text of our National Motto: “In
God We Trust.”
Because
of America’s dedication to God, the last part of V1 comes into play, that this
country is indeed not for man’s glory but that of “the Lord God.” Also, the
position of this country’s Commander-in-Chief IS great, and really a monumental
task.
The
Remarkable Contributions
“Now for
the house of my God I have prepared with all my might: gold for things to be made of gold,
silver for things of silver,
bronze for things of bronze,
iron for things of iron,
wood for things of wood,
onyx stones, stones to
be set, glistening stones of various colors, all kinds of precious stones, and
marble slabs in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection on
the house of my God, I have given to the house of my God, over and above all
that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and
silver: three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven
thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses; the
gold for things of gold
and the silver for things of silver,
and for all kinds of work to be
done by the hands of craftsmen. Who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the Lord?” 1 Chron. 29:2-5
In
the following verses, 2-5, King David lists all the gold, silver, wood and
precious stones that he has accumulated for the work of building God’s Temple,
and then later on in this chapter it mentions how others gave for the work. In
this, one can draw a loose parallel to the surprising way Americans supporting
Trump gave to the cause, and his campaign was able to raise enough money—including
that of his own—to help him win the office.
“Then the
leaders of the fathers’ houses, leaders
of the tribes of Israel, the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the
officers over the king’s work, offered willingly.” 1 Chron. 29:6
In
V6, it mentions how the leaders, captains, officers—and in the previous verses,
the craftsmen—“offered willingly” to help Solomon build the Temple. The last
few days we’ve heard of how President-elect Trump is putting together his
cabinet, and the many good people who have stepped up to help.
“Then the
people rejoiced, for they had offered willingly, because with a loyal heart
they had offered willingly to the Lord;
and King David also rejoiced greatly.” 1 Chron. 29:9
In V9 I see a parallel between these people who had “offered
willingly” and with a “loyal heart offered willingly to the Lord” and those who
came together and prayed for this election. It truly was inspirational the way
God’s people from all denominations, religious backgrounds, and ethnicity
joined in prayer and intercession—some even fasting—for God’s results in this 2016
election.
Praise and
Dedication to God
In V10-17 King David offers praise and thanksgiving to the
Lord, acknowledging that He reigns over all, and that all of this wealth, land
position is His in the first place and that “we are aliens and
pilgrims before You, as were all our
fathers; our days on earth are as
a shadow, and without hope” if not for God.
As mentioned before, America’s forefathers did the same and
dedicated this land to Him, acknowledging their dependence on their Creator.
America belongs to God.
A Current Prayer
Directive from the Ancient
“O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
our fathers, keep this forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of
Your people, and fix their heart toward You. And give my son Solomon a
loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes,
to do all these things, and
to build the temple for
which I have made provision.” 1 Chron. 29:18-19
King David prays that this dedication and reliance on God
would be kept “forever in the intent of the thoughts of the heart of Your
people” and that the Lord would “fix their heart toward” Him. This is still an
excellent prayer directive for all of us to pray over ourselves and the people
of this country.
And then David prays for his son Solomon, a prayer that seems
applicable and important to pray now over President-elect Trump; that God would
give Donald Trump a “loyal heart to keep [God’s] commandments and [His] testimonies
and [His] statutes.” Remembering how the Church rose up (with the exception of
some) to pray and prophesy over him, and the incredible miracle of Trump’s
victory over the seemingly insurmountable Clinton machine. May our new
President-elect ponder all these things and hold them close in his heart,
staying humble before the Lord.
We know from later chapters of the Bible that King Solomon
was definitely not perfect—a bit of a playboy even—but he was the man that God had chosen for the building of The Temple and
the leading of the nation of Israel.
Solomon
Anointed as King, and the New President Taking Office
In the following verses, the transfer of power is made from
King David to Solomon, and the people thanked the Lord and rejoiced, as God’s
hand was truly on King Solomon and his reign, with great blessing and favor.
“And they
made sacrifices to the Lord and
offered burnt offerings to the Lord on
the next day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their
drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. So they ate
and drank before the Lord with
great gladness on that day. And they made Solomon the son of David king the
second time, and anointed him before
the Lord to be the leader, and Zadok to be priest. Then Solomon sat
on the throne of the Lord as
king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. All
the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, submitted
themselves to King Solomon. So the Lord exalted
Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not
been on any king before him in Israel.” 1 Chron. 29:21-25
We must certainly be praying for this transition from
candidate Trump to President Trump, and for his presidency thereafter. Trump
truly has a huge task before him of leading this nation, and of bringing this
now very divided country together as one.
It does seem like an almost impossible mission, but so did
the idea that Donald J Trump would ever actually win this election in the first
place!
And we know that “with God, nothing shall be impossible.”
