Today we jump to the end of 2 Samuel as we trace the biblical story of the temple—God’s house of worship. In past weeks we saw the Lord establishing David as king, and danced with David as he brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem—the great city of Zion! David wanted to build God a house, but instead God said, “No, I’ll build YOU a house. My house can wait.”
So, wait David did. His son, Solomon, would build the temple. In the meantime, a lot happened throughout 2 Samuel, including two notable sins and their consequent judments: the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, and, in today’s passage, the sin of numbering the people of Israel. The judgment for the latter was 3 days of pestilence and 70,000 dead.
To stay the hand of God, David offered sacrifices on the threshingfloor of Araunah. After Araunah offered to help with the cost of the sacrifice, David told him, “I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing.”
Author W. G. Blaikie said,
The thought needs only to be put in words to commend itself to every conscience. God’s service is neither a form nor a sham; it is a great reality. If we desire to show our honour for Him, it must be in a way suited to the occasion. The poorest mechanic that would offer a gift to his sovereign tries to make it the product of his best labour, the fruit of his highest skill. To pluck a weed from the roadside and present it to one’s sovereign would be no better than an insult. Yet how often is God served with that which costs men nothing! Men that will lavish hundreds and thousands to gratify their own fancy,–what miserable driblets they often give to the cause of God! The smallest of coins is good enough for His treasury. And as for other forms of serving God, what a tendency there is in our time to make everything easy and pleasant,–to forget the very meaning of self-denial! It is high time that that word of David were brought forth and put before every conscience, and made to rebuke ever so many professed worshippers of God, whose rule of worship is to serve God with what does cost them nothing. The very heathen reprove you. Little though there has been to stimulate their love, their sacrifices are often most costly–far from sacrifices that have cost them nothing. Oh, let us who call ourselves Christians beware lest we be found the meanest, paltriest, shabbiest of worshippers! Let souls that have been blessed as Christians have devise liberal things. Let your question and the answer be: “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord, now in the presence of His people.”
Powerful thoughts. As we head toward our own “Be Debt Free” Sunday on our 39th anniversary on May 3, seek the Lord on what He would have you to sacrifice.
-Pastor Ryan