3 Ways David Illustrates Returning Favors Received

3 Ways David Shows How to Give Back What You’ve Been Given

When was the last time you asked someone to go to church and they said yes?

Isn’t this a pretty amazing moment? You can’t wait for them to visit your church, hear the sermon and the music, and meet all the wonderful people you see every Sunday. You just know they’re going to love it.

Everything was going well, or at least it was, until the Pastor started to speak. Money is the subject. Seriously? Why can’t they talk about money on a different day, like when my friend, coworker, or family member comes to our church for the first time?

The Sunday after the money talk is the best time to go to a church for the first time.

You can learn a lot about a church by what it says about how you should deal with money. It could tell you if they want your money, want you to get more money, want to avoid money altogether, or want you to do something with your money for God’s glory. I’d like to talk about the last one—what you should do with your money—in this article. Or, to put it more directly, what you should do with your money based on how you feel about God.

Giving, Getting, and Being Given

When I talk to our church about money (here’s a recent example), I usually talk about bad church approaches to good money stewardship, whether or not we own or manage our own money, or the tension between managing our faith and managing our money. All of these are good ways to think about how you feel about money, but I’d like to give you one more. One that I haven’t taught much about yet, but which has influenced how I spend my money more than anything else. I hope it helps you too.

It’s what I call the “giving, given, giver” method.

From King David’s gift to the temple of God in 1 Chronicles 29, I got these three ideas about how we should treat money. King David does all three of these things and talks about how important they are as he does something huge for God: he builds and gives a building to God. That is certainly a lot of pressure!

“What do you get the guy who has everything?” is a common question when trying to find a gift for someone who buys a lot of things for themselves.

Well, we could ask David, “What do you give the God who made everything?”

David accepted the challenge and decided to ask the leaders of his country to honor God with their money by joining him in building a temple for their God. Here are three big ideas that we’ll look at as we read what David had to say about how his relationship with God affected how he treated his resources.

  1. Putting “Giving Freely” to “Rejoice Greatly” into action.
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In reality, most of us don’t give money until we realize that everything we have comes from God and we want to honor Him with everything we have. David and the other leaders probably had these two ideas in mind when they decided to give a lot of money to build a temple to God. After David made plans and got the people together, it was time to get the things needed to make God’s temple amazing. Here’s what he said to the most powerful families in the country:

1 Chronicles 29:5b-9

Now, who is ready to give their lives to the Lord today?” Then, the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the people in charge of the king’s work all gave willingly. They gave five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and a hundred thousand talents of iron for the building of the temple of God. Everyone who had valuable stones gave them to Jehiel the Gershonite, who was in charge of the temple of the Lord’s treasure. The people were glad that their leaders were willing to help, because they had given freely and with all their hearts to the Lord. David, the king, was also very happy.

Giving freely and being very happy go hand in hand.

The amounts in this story are important, not because of the exact amounts, but because of how willing and happy people were to give big amounts back to God. Earlier in this story, David not only gave from the royal treasury, which was where most of the money for building projects came from, but also from his own money. He was happy to do this, and the heads of the families were also happy. Yes, they were asked to do it, but it was their decision to answer in this way. As king, David could have told them how much to give or told them to give, but he didn’t. Instead, their kindness and willingness to help made people happy about how they responded.

If you already give at your church, the next step is to choose something specific to give to. Do your research, pray about it, and talk to the Pastors to find out how your “free giving” can help someone else “rejoice greatly.” I’m guessing you can help with or meet a specific need, no matter how much money you give. Talk to a few people about it and let them know you want to help, even though it might feel awkward. Don’t brag or try to take all the credit, but let them know you’re willing and happy to help. They’ll be happy because of your kindness. If you haven’t given before, you can start here by giving to a specific cause. Most of the time, it’s easier and more rewarding to start giving when you give to a cause you care about.

  1. Think “given” before you “give.”
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David was able to give freely and be very happy because he knew that God also gave freely, and he was very happy about that. At this time of great kindness on the part of the heads of the families, David praised and worshiped God:

1 Chronicles 9:10-13

David praised the Lord in front of everyone in the crowd, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, forever and ever.

Lord, everything in heaven and earth belongs to you, including greatness, power, glory, majesty, and splendor.
Lord, the kingdom is yours, and you are the head of everything.

You are the ruler of everything; you are the source of wealth and honor.
You have the strength and power to lift everyone up and give them strength.

Now, our God, we thank you and praise the name of your greatness.

Even though the people in front of him were the ones giving, David was determined to praise and thank God first. Why? Because he knew that God was the source of everything: the money, the people’s kindness, their willingness to help, and their happiness. God was there before everything, and He is all-powerful and great. He owns everything in Heaven and on Earth, including the money that was just given. So, the first thanks should have gone to God, and the people came in a very far second.

Most people who give want this to happen when someone tries to thank them. I can almost guarantee that all of the big givers in your church want to give God the credit and say that it is because of Him that they are able to give.

This doesn’t mean that giving “less” money makes people happy less. What it does mean is that when someone with a lot of money realizes that God gave them everything, and they decide to honor God by giving a lot of it back, it causes a lot of joy. The same way that someone who has been forgiven a lot can be very thankful, someone who has received a lot can be very happy when they give a lot.

Next Step: If you give to your church, pray and thank God before you give. No matter how much you give, take a moment to thank God that you can give at all. You can only give because God has given you so much. Even if you don’t give yet, pray about it and thank God anyway. Ask God to change your heart so that you want to give to your church.

  1. Thanking the “Giver” more than the “Gift”
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Last but not least, David saw where he fit into the big picture.

God had not only given David and the people everything, but he had also shown them that he was aware of them. God chose David to be the leader of his people, and God spoke to David. The people were chosen to show the world what God is like and to do things for Him. David and everyone else were very humbled by the fact that God chose them out of all the people in the world.

1 Chron. 29.14–20 “But who am I and who are my people that we can give so much? You are in charge of everything, and we have only given you things that are in your hands.

We are strangers to you, just like all of our ancestors were. Our time on earth is like a shadow, and there is no hope. Lord, our God, all of this wealth that we are using to build a temple for your Holy Name comes from you and belongs to you. I know, God, that you look at the heart and like people who are honest. All of these things I’ve given out of my own free will and with good intentions. Now I’m happy because I’ve seen how willingly your people here have given to you. Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep these desires and thoughts in the hearts of your people forever, and keep them loyal to you.

David then told everyone in the crowd, “Praise the Lord, your God.” So, everyone praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They bowed down and fell on their faces in front of the Lord and the king.

Even though we may not think of David and the people as “nobody’s,” David did. He was a king, and many people think he was the best that God’s people have ever had. We read about David and talk about him. We also tell stories about how great he was. Still, David admits that he is just a “shadow” and a “foreigner” without God’s approval.

Step 2: Few people are humble, and even fewer like to be put in their place. It’s better for us to humble ourselves than for the world or God to do it for us. This week, do two things. First, realize how small and short your life is in the big picture. People probably won’t remember you, your name, or what you’ve done. Ouch! And while you’re recognizing that, praise God and think about how amazing it is that He knows you personally through Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, you are no longer a stranger or foreigner to God (Ephesians 2:19). Instead, you are a citizen of God’s kingdom.

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