1 Chronicles 28:9, 10, 20, 21 And you, Solomon my son, know you the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind… From the princes of the congregation David turns to Solomon his son. Every line is full of instruction. "Know thou the God of thy father." We may conclude Solomon already knew something, and perhaps much, of God. But this refers to a further and deeper knowledge of him, as his father David had experienced. It is this deeper knowledge of God that is spoken of in the New Testament. St. Paul, though he knew Christ well, still says, "That I may know him." However much we know there is always more to be known. It is this knowledge of him that our Lord refers to when he says (John 7:17), "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine." There is a knowledge of Christ as the Saviour from sin; there is a still further knowledge which springs from obedience in all things to his will. But David continues, "And serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind." Mark here, service and the character of it depend on the knowledge of God, and this knowledge a deepening one. This is ever the Divine order. All the graces of the Christian character act and react on each other. True knowledge ever begets service, and faithful service deepens real knowledge. But there are always two conditions attached to real knowledge and true service, viz. "A perfect heart and a willing mind." A perfect, or as the word means, an "undivided" heart, is one that is whole-hearted. Not "a heart within a heart" which God hates. Not a heart that will follow and serve the Lord when it is convenient but not when it is inconvenient. Not "in season" only, but also "out of season." Next to this is a "willing mind," or a mind that desires only that which will please God. A mind that will say always and in everything, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" A heart devoted and a will given up - this is what David means, and this is what God asks for. David enforces this by the statement of God's omniscience. Solomon might deceive men by having the outer life fair, while inwardly the other might be lacking, but he could not deceive God; and to him Solomon and every man will have eventually to render account. David further enforces these words by a solemn warning: "If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. Take heed now." It reminds us of Paul's solemn words to Timothy: "Take heed to thyself, and to the doctrine; continue in them: for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." The soul must be watched and kept, and then the doctrine will be sound. If we seek the Lord he will ever be found; but if we turn our backs on him, then we shall experience that spiritual darkness and misery within that will be practically, though to one saved in the Lord may never be judicially, a casting off from God. Though a true believer may never fall from God, he may fall from the grace of God; and this, though not judicial, is yet practical and experimental exclusion from God. David enjoins Solomon to "take heed" because he is "chosen." It is the dignity conferred that demands the responsibility and gives the power to rule. Is it not so with men put into high places over our land? Before men get into office, what do they not say? and how do they not act? But when they are in office the dignity controls and directs, and gives wisdom and judgment. So is it in the Divine ]tie. God's grace chooses a man, makes him one of his children, puts upon him the highest dignity, and thus he possesses a motive power for holiness which nothing else can give him. David's final words to Solomon at the close of this chapter are equally solemn and suggestive. "Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed." What a string of holy exhortations! On what are they built? On God's presence with his people; "for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord." God's presence is the believer's joy; it is also his strength and power for work. The expression "my God" reminds us again of Paul: "My God shall supply all your need." It was the personal and experimental acquaintance with God's unchanging love and faithfulness, and that alone, which gave to David and Paul such confidence, and made them speak thus. But Solomon might have said, as many others often say, "These are precious promises and encouragements, and I am but 'young and tender,' and the work is so great; how shall I get the means, and who will help me, and how shall I know they will be ready and willing?" These and a thousand other questions rise up in the soul when God sets a clear path before us, or a plain duty. How often we stand, we hesitate! We are already taking one step back. God comes in again to strengthen our faltering faith. "The priests and Levites shall be with thee,... and there shall be with thee every willing and skilful man,... the princes and all the people will be wholly at thy commandment." What a promise - "All things are yours"! So it is always. Having the Lord with us, we shall have everything else: "life and death, things present and things to come," yea, "all things are ours." How completely every question of the soul is met from the unchanging faithfulness and love of our God! - W. Parallel Verses KJV: And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. |
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