Jesus in 1 & 2 Chronicles
December 22, 2022
More than half the book of 1 Chronicles is about David’s life. Near the end we read one of his great kingdom prayers:
“Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.” -1 Chronicles 29:10-11
Do these words sound familiar to you? You will recall that when the disciples asked the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray, He gave them a model prayer. He took them right back here to David's prayer. “Thy kingdom come” was in David’s heart. These brief and simple words gather up the aspiration and hopes of centuries.
This is one of the greatest prayers in the Scriptures and certainly in the Old Testament. It is all–comprehensive, majestic, and filled with adoration, praise, and thanksgiving. It repudiates all human merit and declares human dependence upon God. It reveals self–humiliation, confession, and dedication of self. It admits that all belongs to God.
David recognized that the kingdom is God’s. The Lord Jesus laid hold of this to teach His disciples about the reign of heaven over earth.
God isn’t ruling the earth today. If He were, we wouldn’t have heartbreak, tears, disappointments, or wars. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can establish the kingdom. “Thine is the kingdom.” This is the kingdom we should pray for.
It is my personal feeling that the so–called Lord's Prayer is not for public praying or use in the Sunday morning service. I believe it is good for private devotion. “Thine is the kingdom” ought to be the prayer of every believer.
David asks in verse 14, Who am I that we should give anything to You, God? Everything we have has come from You, and we only give You back what is Yours already! It’s true—you can't give God anything because it belongs to Him in the first place. But He can bless you when you give, and He will bless you. The reason some of us are so poor and narrow–minded is because we are not generous with God. God can only bless us when we open our hearts to Him.