One of These is Not Like the Others

But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand. We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope (1 Chronicles 29:14-15).

The television show Sesame Street has this song, “one of these is not like the others”. Our verses for today, remind me of that song. They appear out of place in this chapter. It’s a wonderful chapter in which David passes the baton of king to his son Solomon.

David’s dream has been to build a temple for God, but God has not allowed it. His son will build it. Recognizing that Solomon is young and inexperienced David makes a sizable donation of resources for the temple. In response, the leaders of Israel follow his example by making their own donations. The people are filled with joy and give praise to God.

During this celebration, David prays. It’s a prayer worth paying attention to. Many of you will be familiar with the ending of the Lord’s prayer, “for yours in the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.” You will not find it in either Matthew or Luke’s version of the prayer. It appears to have been added later as a condensed version of this prayer of David.

Much of the prayer is a celebration of God and of his kingdom and glory. After all of that, we find our text, “But who am I? Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.” On its own, this seems rather odd and out of place. But in its context, it calls us to a similar spirituality.

The theme of the chapter is the temple of God. This is the place in which God will dwell among his people. It is carried through the rest of the Old Testament into the New. As we know, the physical temple was not a permanent dwelling place for God. But that was the hope and dream of David. That desire would come to fulfillment in Jesus Christ and is also pictured at the end of the Bible as God coming down to earth to dwell among his people forever.

In this passage, David articulates that without God dwelling among his people they are nothing, they have no hope. Everything they have is a gift from God. As David hands over the baton of kingship to Solomon he is deeply aware of how precarious a position Israel holds in the world. Without God, they are nothing.

As he sees the people giving for the temple, he sees a people who are committed to God. His prayer, as he passes the baton, is that God will keep those hearts committed to him. He recognizes just how easily people can turn away from God. He prays particularly for Solomon, that God will keep his heart loyal.

It seems to me that this is always a prayer that we need to be making. We need to pray for the leaders of the church, that God will keep them hearts and minds loyal to him. And that God will keep all our hearts committed to him. Let’s pray that for each other as this pandemic meanders on.

Its so easy to look at all the things we have and say of them, “These are mine.” David reminds us in this passage, in this prayer, that the things we have, truly belong to God. We can only use them with joy when we recognize that. Otherwise, we hold on to them too tightly because we are after that they will get away from us.

When we view them as gifts of God, we can use them for the blessing of others because we know that God has plenty more. We can joyfully share them because we know that God is with us always.