He Considers Our Heart
I love the way God shows us little pictures of His loving character throughout Scripture. Here's one I am reading about today. It's recorded in 2 Chronicles 6.
King Solomon had just finished the great Temple in Jerusalem. At the dedication ceremony he says:
My father David had it in his heart to build a Temple for the Name of the LORD, the God of Israel. But the LORD said to my father David,
'You did well to have it in your heart to build a Temple for My Name.
Nevertheless, you are not the one to build the Temple, but your son, your own flesh and blood, he is the one who will build the Temple for My Name.'
I love the way God gave us this picture.
We know David had a great passion to build the Temple. He carefully made the plans, gathered the gold and silver for the various ornaments, designed them, even designated the musical instruments to be used in worship, how the columns and halls were to be decorated, the design of the curtains, the colors to use and every other detail he could note.
Building the Temple was his highest goal, the ultimate act of his kingship. We have no record that he ever prayed about it - that he ever checked with God to see if his passion for building the Temple was within God's will.
He just followed his heart and pursued his dream of honoring the God he loved.
And God liked that. God didn't criticize him -- didn't say, "Why didn't you ask Me if you could build me a Temple -- I would have saved you all that time and trouble! You were very foolish!"
God didn't ridicule him or humiliate him. (In fact we never see Jesus doing that with any of the people He came in contact with - never cruel or scornful - He treated all with dignity and respect.)
God honored David's heart-felt intention! "You did well to have it in your heart," He said.
I love that about our God - don't you? He considers our heart.
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