IT'S ALL YOURS LORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from You; You are the ruler of all things. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name.”

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the final chapter of 1 Chronicles opens, we find David and many of Israel’s chief leaders, giving their items of value to the Lord and the construction of His temple. Whether gold or silver or bronze or iron or many other items of great worth, the leaders of Israel freely, willingly, and cheerfully gave what they had, returning material blessings to the One who provided them, to the One who rightfully deserves everything.

Through their actions, the Israelites modeled for us the act of selfless sacrifice and a yearning to give all to the Lord just as He gave us all through Christ Jesus.

But does the Lord only deserve all of our material things?

As we see David enter into a prayer with the people of Israel, we find that the answer is no. For the Lord Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth and all things within them, deserves all things for everything belongs to Him, Look at David’s words which underscore what we should be giving to the Lord outside of our money, talent, and time:

David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; You are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from You; You are the ruler of all things. In Your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give You thanks, and praise Your glorious name.”

I think this is a prayer we all should write down and keep with us, reciting each and every day. For if we do, I think we will always see that the Lord deserves or possesses all of the following:

1. All our praise.

Who does for us what the Lord does? He provides and protects, sustains and maintains, heals and saves, and loves us like no other. He and He alone is worthy of all of our praise.

2. All the greatness.

The words of Moses in Deuteronomy, Chapter 3, serve to sum up how we should see the Lord in our lives:

Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works You do? (v24)

Indeed, no one can perform the deeds and mighty works that the Lord does because no one rivals His greatness.

3. All the glory.

The psalmist proclaims in the 113th Psalm:

The Lord is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens. (v4)

If all glory is the consummate display of recognition given for amazing achievements and accomplishments, then we can see that no one is more worthy of our glory that the Lord Almighty.

4. All the power

Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had this to say about the Lord who is the King of kings:

“Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can withstand You.” 2 Chronicles 19:6b

Many have tried to come against the Lord. All have failed. No one can withstand Him but the good news is that He is willing to empower those who choose to follow and obey Him. And we need that because none of us has the strength to deal with the matters of life on our own. Thanks be to the Lord that He is for us and ever ready to use His power to help us, ever faithful to those who remain faithful to Him.

5. All the majesty and splendor.

When it comes to magnificence and grandeur, nothing is more so than the Lord. The psalmist summed it up this way:

Praise the Lord, my soul. Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty. (Psalm 104:1)

The next time you marvel over creation remember the One who fashioned and formed it with His very hands.

6. All the wealth

I love these words from Paul and pray we repeat them as we consider the unfathomable riches we find in the Lord:

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Romans 11:33

We should stand in awe of our Lord, for all that He is and all that He possesses. For as the classic Christian children’s song states, “He’s got the whole world in His hands”. If wealth is defined by territory as it so often is in the world past and present, then you can’t get much richer than possessing all of it as the Lord does.

7. All the honor

If we honor people for notable work, showing our appreciation for their efforts, then who would be more worthy of all our honor than the Lord who has done all, is presently doing, and will always do all things perfectly. In fact, if we’ve achieved anything ourselves, we should deflect the honor to Him because we would have never succeeded if He hadn’t blessed us with the opportunity to do so and the gifts and talents to accomplish what we did. All that we do should be done in a way that brings honor to the One who deserves all of it.

8. All the authority

This is simple. No one rules of reigns over the Lord. Everyone and everything is subordinate to His authority. Period.

Friends, what a privilege it is to live and love and learn under the guidance and tutelage of the Lord who created us. For we and everything in heaven and earth belong to Him and He longs for all of us to one day be with Him forever. That’s the good news we find in Jesus Christ, that the Lord who is all powerful and all majestic desires for mere human beings like us to have the opportunity to dwell with Him forever. This isn’t a Lord who oppresses His people but rather a Lord who loves and cares for those who belong to Him, those who he considers to be His children.

Thanks be to God for the words of David as they remind us that all things belong to the Lord.

Our only proper response to this is to give thanks and praise the Lord each and every day, now and forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com