"Who Am I ?"
1 Chronicles 29:14-18 (NIV)
“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. 15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 Lord, the God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.
King David was truly a great man. When I think of David I can't help but think of a song that was on a set of albums (big 33 speed vinyl discs) called the Old and New Testaments by the Statler Brothers that my mother used to play often while she cleaned when I was a boy. I'll share it with you here out of nostalgia:
A man who done it all; a fairly good description I think. Giant slayer, warrior, king, poet and designer of the temple of God. He was loved by God, adored by the his nation feared by others. David had the great distinction of having said of him by God Himself that he was a man after His own heart. What I find amazing about David is that after all of this, after all the accomplishments, after this notable and illustrious life--when he was old and at the end of it, he still had so much humility.
The words of David's prayer recorded for us in this last chapter of the 1st book of Chronicles are beautiful and worthy of our emulating. In spite of all that he did, David only had praise and acknowledgement to God to God. He blessed the Name of the Lord who is from everlasting to everlasting. He ascribed greatness and power and glory and majesty and splendor to the Lord, owner of everything under heaven, exalted as head and ruler over all. He attributed divine control to exalt and give strength and power to any He chose and praised His glorious Name, giving thanks for the favor He had shown both David and the kingdom of Israel.
Then the wonderful words of humility that should be on all our lips were spoken, "But who am I?" In everything, we are nothing. There is nothing that we are except what He makes us. There is nothing that we do except that He gives the ability for. We can take not a drop of credit for anything. This can be forgotten at times as our pride sneaks in and wants recognition even when doing service for our Lord and His Kingdom. We think we sacrifice, we think we give of our time, our talents, our treasures but let us not forget that all these come from the Lord who supplies all things. I have a dear Christian sister in Michigan who, when she prays at meals and at any time of giving says, "Lord, all that I have is yours and I give you thanks!" David said, "Everything comes from you, and we have given only what comes from your hand." What great attitudes for giving that express humility and total dependence on God even for the privilege to give.
David and the nation gave abundantly for the building of the temple but acknowledged it as nothing from themselves but what had come from the Lord in the first place and they were thrilled to return it for His glory. He also recognizes that God searches hearts and knows every motive. He and the people had given with integrity and honest willingness. That is so important as a part of our giving. I know there are a lot of people who use the wonderful message of Grace to hold a strong position that we do not have to tithe because we are no longer under the law but under Grace. I agree that we don't have to tithe but that is too often used as an excuse to not give at all or if they do give, to give like what they have is theirs and that God should be thankful that they offer a little towards the Kingdom work. This is terribly sad and despite all their arguing about being under Grace, the true motive of their hearts is evident to God and more often to others in the Body of Christ than they think or realize.
While ministering on a trip to Monrovia, West Africa, my wife and I along with two other friends who went with us, witnessed the heart of giving that melted us and quite frankly made us a little...no A LOT ashamed of most of the attitude towards giving that you find in North American churches and believers. When it was time to give, baskets were placed at the front of the church and people began to sing and worship in ways that one could not believe or explain unless you have witnessed it. I tell you, they know how to worship. It is a celebration with dancing and instruments and clapping and lines of people dancing up and down the aisles, out the doors, around the building and in the seats. All the while these people, who were some of the poorest people we have ever seen brought their gifts to the Lord. People living in tin shacks with no floors, running water, electricity or sewer systems; brought their gifts out of their poverty and gave it rejoicingly. And not only that,, they often felt so blessed and felt so much love for God, that they circled around and gave more...and then more! It was an incredible thing to see. Then as the Word of God was given, there were many times that people would just get so blessed and overwhelmed with God that they would spontaneously come up to put more in the baskets. Our team has shed many tears reflecting and being impacted by our brothers and sisters in Africa and their beautiful spirits. You see, they never had discussion or debate about whether as new covenant believers are we required to tithe or not. And they never question if they have to give...in their minds and in their hearts, they GET TO GIVE! Oh what a beautiful thing that was. In fact we were so impressed by it, we changed the way the giving portion of our church services were done once we came home. While some people believe that you should never mention giving for fear that you will offend people and place containers at the back of the church for people to give or not give, but I am of the opinion that a pastor does a congregation a disservice if they never teach a biblical view of stewardship and worship through giving. Anyway, when we returned from Africa, we decided that we would no longer "take" or even "receive" offerings but that we would set aside time when we would get to bring our gifts to the Lord. It became a time of celebration time often with special music. It was a positive change in our attitude of giving in our church for many. I'm sure there were still some who gave because they felt obligated or because they were worried about what others thought but that is between them and God. He knows the heart and the motivation of all. What most of us found in this was the joy and willingness that the people of David's kingdom found and that we learned so well from our overseas friends. We have them to thank for modeling that spirit to us so well and we have King David to thank for modeling a spirit of humility for us in this prayer as no matter what may be credited to him, his question was, "Who am I"?
Grace to you,
Pastor Tony
Freedom Church, USA
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