READ: 1 Chronicles 27-28
Verses
chosen for meditation: 1 Chronicles 28:2-3
2 Then King David rose
to his feet and said: “Hear me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart
to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the
footstool of our God, and I made preparations for building. 3
But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man
of war and have shed blood.’
REFLECT
David,
soon to die, gathered the assembly of his key people, to speak about the
building of the Temple. Previously, he had personally spoken to Solomon about
it. Now he was addressing this publicly, calling for corporate responsibility
and commitment towards this project.
We
already know of David’s desire to build the temple, but God commissioned
Solomon to do it instead, because David had much blood on his hands as a man of
war, albeit by the instructions of God. What’s telling was that David did not
hide this reason from his whole assembly, revealing the exact way God said it,
without mixing in other things to put himself in a certain light or justify his
exclusion with other reasons.
What David did is something very underrated. He was merely
speaking the full truth, something seemingly easy to do, yet it’s something which
seems rare nowadays. Not saying that most people are liars today, but many do
embellish, disguise with more details or choose not to reveal details, tweak a
little, add their own slant. This happens for many reasons: protecting image, influence
people to take sides, sway public perception, justifying results, seeking
honour, etc.
RELATE
There are some contexts where we may need to employ
a range of the above for good purposes, so I’m not suggesting a rigid no-holds-barred
truth revealing stance. Not all reasons stated above for our lack of frankness are
bad. Take for instance, protecting of image. We may withhold details to protect
the honour of another, which may be important for the harmony of the bigger
group. We can also hide details to protect our own (inaccurate) image, when
revealing them, despite the shame, leads to the betterment of a community. We
see here how protecting of image can end up as either a good or bad reason.
Things are never that simple. It should be simpler, but it became complicated because
we live in a fallen world motivated by sin.
In the context of David’s address, it’s important to
consider what he was trying to do, then can we appreciate more his actions. David
was doing what he could to enable the success of the Temple building. We can
admire David’s frankness here, because it might not be easy to reveal why he
was not chosen to build the Temple. By revealing the exact words of God, he was
basically telling people of his unworthiness. Doing this also paves the way for
Solomon, so that people know why they should listen to Solomon, minimising
hiccups to the building project.
David could have said “though my spirit is willing,
my flesh is weak, so these plans I have for God, I now hand over to my son
Solomon.” This might bring less shame to himself, but people would not have
understood God’s standards, God’s ways and may not subscribe fully to Solomon’s
leading. David cared more for the honour of God. He refused to allow any distractions
of personal honour to hinder this project.
How many of us are willing to lower ourselves, if it
means raising the honour of God? Jesus says in John 7:18 that “The one who
speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the
glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” From this
truth, I learn discernment, as Jesus gave a means test to see if a speaker of
the word contains falsehood or not. The barometer is whether one is motivated
to bring out the glory of God by speaking the full truth, or seeking to raise personal
honour by tweaking truths, motivated by a fallen heart. We learn then that the
mark of a holy person is not one with an unblemished record, but one who has a
good sense of his/her moral failure and is not afraid to speak about it to show
how great God is in loving and redeeming people like themselves. I must bear
this in mind to guard my heart in any speaking assignment, and strive for the
same in daily conversations.
We can honour God by being frank in situations where
it leads to the betterment of others, organisation, and community. This can be
revealing moral failings so that others learn from it, or take comfort that
they are not alone. It can be an honest reporting of the health of our
projects, so that better-informed corporate decisions can be made for improvement,
even if fear of perceived incapability creeps in. It can be in the way we
present data, so people can have a complete picture to make informed choices, rather
than manipulating how it’s presented to get what we want. This is apparent in
media and news all around us. When data is presented, people trust it, because
we tend to equate data to facts and truth. But the way the data is presented
can sway people either way and many learn to utilise this deceptive art for their own goals. It is hard to fight against deception, so many end up being
part of the deception. Let’s strive to go against the grain, set apart for His
good purposes.
REST
Father, may we honour you even in the most mundane
of actions. May others not only get curious by our convictions to the truth,
but to see how these convictions are motivated by a relationship with a good God,
so that they eventually see your glory. Amen.
Chris
Chong
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