David the king said to all the assembly, Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for Yahweh God.
Now David said, "Hey, Lord, it's all yours. You're the One that's given riches. You're the One that gives power. You're the One that gives abilities and everything else. It all belongs to You. And so actually all we've done is give You that which is really Yours anyhow."Now we need to see ourselves as just stewards over God's things. God set man upon the earth to sort of tend the garden. Man sought to rule over the garden. Man sought to rule over the earth. God just placed us here to take care of it. We've done a very poor job. Greed got in the way. I want more than what I need. I don't need more than that, but I want more than that. And so I'm always striving to get more than I really need myself. And thus, we get deeper into the resources of the earth. And rather than just keeping them and preserving them, we use them up for our own greed. And thus, we have destroyed so many of the ecological balances in nature because of our greed."Lord, it all belongs to You. We were just taking care of it. We have done a bad job. We're only giving You back, Lord, that which is really Yours to begin with." You'd never really give God anything. "Who am I that I'm able to do this for You, Lord? Who am I, Lord, that I could give to You?" To me, giving is one of the most tremendous privileges that God has allowed us. That I could give to God. Really, God doesn't need anything I have. But He allows me to give to Him anyhow. And He blesses me for giving to Him. Not because He needs it, but because I need the blessings. So He allows me the privilege of giving to Him. And then He pays me dividends. God is so good.