1 Chronicles 29:3-4
Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple
King David fought many battles and reaped the spoils of it. Coupled with the ribute paid by many defeated nations, he amassed a lot of riches. However the bible states that it was all stored for the creation of the temple of God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.
The context of the passage here is of an old David addressing an assembly of people as he seeks of their support to assist his son Solomon in the construction of the temple of God.
David had amassed alot of stuff to build the temple, but still he offered to give out of his own resources, because he recognised the truth that all the riches that he possessed was not his to begin with. He was just a steward of the provisions which God had provided to him.
I know it's hard, but it is true wisdom and liberty when we recognise this truth. The hundreds, thousands, millions of dollars which we have to finance our lives are not permanently ours. It's only awarded to us to be stewards of, so the harder we hang onto money, the further from the truth of the matter we are.
May we not be a slave to wealth, because our wealth is but an interest free loan to our lives.
M.
"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 aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you." (1 Chronicles 29: 14-16)
