Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
1 Chronicles 29:9
The author of 1 Chronicles chose to tell David’s story to emphasize that the greatest achievement of his rule was the peaceful transition of power to Solomon who was immediately tasked and equipped by God and with David’s own charge to build the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. David had drawn up plans and meticulously gathered the supplies for this temple and its furnishing during his reign. He had already created legions of workers, gatekeepers, and treasury officials to make sure it happened. And the people of Israel also freely gave to support this work. The result was a generosity that brought joy. David had generously saved up, and the result of these offering converted to contemporary standards has the offering value hovering at just under 900 million dollars. That’s right... nearly a billion dollars was ready to be utilized to build and operate this new temple.
Giving for the promotion of the kingdom of God and the worship of His great name should come naturally, spontaneously, and generously to the people who truly love the Lord. And it should be the cause of great joy, never a “requirement”, and never with the mundane drudgery of “paying the bills”. Giving is a joyous expression of our heart’s true worship! If we can’t give up money, maybe we love it more?!
These people rejoiced because their hearts gave willingly with a liberating, worshipful, joyous freedom. Imagine that the offering time in a church service sounds more like a hometown football crowd when their team scores a touchdown! That’s the way real joy in giving to God ought to feel. In fact, it is better than that because these gifts, when given with a heart of honest worship, for the spread of the gospel and advance of the kingdom, bring a joy that resonates into eternity.
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