and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all (1 Chronicles 29:19).

David prayed that Solomon might have a perfect heart to keep God's Word, yet we know that as Solomon got older his devotion waned, influenced by his marriage to Canaanite women, which God had forbidden.

Was David's prayer simply a wish? Does God answer such prayers? I have prayed such prayers many times, namely, that God would make me perfectly obedient. But even after thirty years as a believer, God has not granted that request. 

Friends, may I contend that not all biblical petitions are made to be granted. Some prayers are offered up to God simply as an expression of the soul's desire. David ardently desired for his son Solomon to follow the LORD with all his heart. David recognized the sinful nature of man, from which neither he nor Solomon was immune. He prayed his heart-felt wish for his son. 

Like the man, who asked Jesus to heal his son, confronted with his unbelief, cried out, "Help me overcome my unbelief" (Mark 9:24), so we often cry out to God our confession of moral weakness and our desperate need for His mercy and grace. 

In the very next chapter Solomon asked God for wisdom and knowledge. God granted him this request (2 Chronicles 1:11). But this would not last the duration of his reign, for Solomon turned away from the LORD in his old age.

As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods,and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.... The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep theLord’s command (1 Kings 11:4,9-10).

Friends, would you blame God for Solomon's folly in marrying the Canaanite women and going after their gods? No. All we can acknowledge is that Solomon was wise because God gave him wisdom, and he acted the fool in marrying Canaanite women and going after their gods because of his own free will.

God is under no obligation to us to make us perfect in this life, yet we are under obligation to Him to obey His Word (Romans 8:12-13). In other words, He is not obligated to answer any prayer for help to obey His Word, but his non-answer does not, thereby, release us of our obligation to obey. In the same way, even though God chooses those that will be saved, it does not free us from the obligation to preach the Gospel. Likewise, though God knows our needs even before we ask them, this does not release us from our obligation to continually pray to Him. In others words, God's sovereignty does not negate human responsibility. 

David understood that all his prayers were only petitions and never demands of God. He understood God's sovereignty. When he prayed for the life of his first child with Bathsheba, he prayed earnestly enough and hoped for God's mercy, but when the child died, He accepted God's sovereign will and worshipped Him (2 Samuel 12:14-23).

Paul prayed earnestly three times for a "thorn" to be removed from his side, but God did not grant his request. Afterward, Paul praised God even through his hurt, as God helped him to understand that Christ could be glorified in his weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Even the Lord Jesus prayed three times that He might not have to experience God's wrath for sinful man:

Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22:42).

God was not willing. No one could argue that Jesus was completely obedient to the Father. No one could argue that Jesus fully sought God's will. Yet, here He prayed for a way out of His preordained fate. But as I noted before, not all petitions are made to be granted. This was simply an expression of Jesus' very understandable wish in view of a most horrible experience to come. What is noteworthy is that even in the expression of His wish, Jesus declared, "not my will, but yours be done." 

So, friends, let us pray ardently, even those petitions that may not be granted us, so that we may acknowledge our absolute dependence upon the Lord. When we pray, we declare our faith in Him. When we pray, we humble ourselves and confess our weakness. When we pray, we express the desires of our heart. And as we mature in prayer, our hearts desire leans more and more to what God desires, so that even in the hardest of times, we will pray, "Not my will but Yours be done."

Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of Yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10).

Solomon asked God to give him wisdom and knowledge to effectively rule the people of God. God was pleased with what Solomon asked for, and so gave him even what he did not ask for, namely, great riches, wealth and honor. When I think of this event, I am reminded of this verse in the Psalms:

Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

Solomon desired what God desired. In this he was very much like his dad, David, for this was God's testimony about David:

God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do’ (Acts 13:22; cf. 1 Samuel 13:14).

The ultimate goal of desiring what God desires is to delight in God above all else, for God's own glory is the goal of His desires. Now we can see why delighting in the Lord leads to His giving us the desires of our hearts. When we so delight in God, we will have no interest that is contrary to God's will. Just as God works all things to most magnify His glory, we will desire, ask, and pursue the very same end. If, then, our interests are God's interests, why would He hesitate to grant us our heart's every desire?

Friends, how, then, should we pray. We ought always to pray so that our requests are in line with God's will. In fact, the failure to do this is why our prayers are rejected by God:

When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:3).

In fact, this is one of our chief weaknesses. When we pray, we don't know what to pray for, and we often pray for things that do not align with God's will. As a result, we might expect that we often raise the ire of God, but we also have this assurance, namely, that the Holy Spirit will only carry the prayers to God that are in keeping with God's will:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God (Romans 8:26-27).

This help is not available to everyone. It is only for believers, within whom the Holy Spirit lives.

Friends, one of the chief purposes of prayer is not for us to get things from God or to make our needs known to God. I believe a chief purpose of prayer is that we might learn to align our wills with God's will. The character of our prayers, the nature of our requests, the focus of our petition reveal the attitude and interest of our hearts. 

if we only pray for things to go well for us and those closest to us, what does this say about our attitude and interests? The very things we pray about reveal that our chief interest is often not God's glory but our own wellbeing. When we ask God to bless our plans and events, what does this reveal about our motivation? If our plans and events were produced with God's glory in mind and God's purposes in view, would we even need to ask God to bless it? Oftentimes, we ask for God's blessings as an afterthought to the things that we planned for without first consulting Him. 

Friends, in the absense of any prayer, we simply urge people to pray. There is reason in this; however, we must not remain there. We must also teach people the purpose of prayer and help them to pray better. In failing to do this, we may be promoting a kind of idolatry, where God is only worshipped for His benefits and not for Who He is. 

Solomon received some great benefits from God, namely, wisdom, riches, wealth, and honor. He also had peace in his kingdom throughout his life. Yet, near the end of his days, he allowed himself to be captivated by those benefits, so that he lost sight of what should have been his chief desire, namely, the LORD Himself. It is not without reason that the first lesson of the Westminster Catechism is this:

Question: What is the chief end of man? 
Answer: To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever!

Notice, the answer is not "To glorify God and enjoy His benefits." The chief end of man is to enjoy Him forever. Every benefit in creation, in salvation and in providence is to this end, that we might wholly delight in God alone. Let us, therefore, supremely delight in God alone. Let every good remind us of God's goodness, from which every good comes. Let every hardship make us long for His consolation, for only in Him is there enduring rest. Let every cherished relationship cause us to cherish the eternal bonds that we have in and through Christ, for only in Christ is their true fulfillment in any relationship. 

As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind;for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever (1 Chronicles 28:9).

And give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all (1 Chronicles 29:19).

David counsels his son Solomon to know God and to serve Him with all his heart. He says that, as he does so, God will let Solomon find Him. He also prays that God might enable Solomon to obey God's commands. Clearly, David understood that this was of chief importance for his son Solomon as he was about to take his father's throne.

I marvel at David's humility and devotion to the LORD in his last days, even as he passed on the mantle of leadership to his son:

But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You. For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours (1 Chronicles 29:14-16).

Friends, as I reflect on David's final words, I am also reminded that all that I have is the Lord's, and any good that is in me is because of Him. Do I take pleasure in a happy home, stable finances, a supportive church, and a loyal organization? Yes. But these are all peripheral to my chief interest, which is that the Lord, my God and my Savior, would be pleased with me and glorified in me. 

Everyone has their own reasons, even justifications, for the decisions that they make. But ultimately, all of us will have to stand before God. I don't know about others, but even in my right decisions I am never fully confident, for I know my own depravity, and who knows whether my right actions are not tainted by wrong motives? I try to make every decision on the litmus of God's Word, so that I may not be swayed by heresay, political interests, or a tainted conscience.

For example, recently one person made a serious charge against another, a charge that the other unequivocally denies. Both of these people are respected in their own right. Who is to be believed? One person says they believe the accuser. The other says they believe the accused. Now, before I comment on this, I recognize that there is a cultural bias and pressure to side with one over another. But culture must not make or break our moral choices.

But what does the Bible say? Under the Old Covenant, every accusation required at least two or three witnesses to convict:

A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed (Deuteronomy 19:15).

Now, one might say that this is an Old Testament principle only, but then we find it reaffirmed in the New Testament:

Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19).

This tells me that in the absence of these two witnesses, it would be presumptuous to side with the accuser over the accused. Perhaps this was the original basis for the legal dictum: "Innocent until proven guilty." Even Jesus challenged the Pharisees of His day, "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?" (John 8:46). 

Now, if there are two or three witnesses, the biblical procedure is also clear, for just after Paul indicated the necessity of these witnesses, he writes,

Those who continue in sin, rebuke in the presence of all, so that the rest also will be fearful of sinning (1 Timothy 5:20).

This is consistent with Jesus' teaching:

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (Matthew 118:15-17).

As it is, those who take sides on a whim or intuition may be like the fool who bets everything on what they are convinced of is a "sure thing." I have no such absolute confidence in my discernment. And I have been burned for lesser things. 

Understand friends, even Solomon, the wisest man in the world, could not discern the foolishness of following the women he loved over obeying the Word of God. As a result he divided the kingdom and set the stage for its ultimate destruction. 

What are we to learn from these things? Even against our feelings and confidence in judgment, let us stay true to God's Word. As for me, this is where I choose to always stand, so help me God. 

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O LORD, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. “O LORD our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! (1 Chronicles 29:11, 12, 14-16 NLT)

This morning I pause to reflect on this grand acknowledgment by David before all the people of Israel. David declares that everything, the temple, the kingdom, the earth, the heavens, wealth, honor, greatness, strength, and every "offering" all belong to the LORD. I love the verse, "Everything we have comes from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!" 

The awesome power of God is contrasted with the temporary nature of human beings: "We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers... Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace."

This perspective is a prelude to the emphasis in the New Testament, where we are clearly admonished and encouraged to pursue earthly life with an eternal perspective and for eternity:

Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. (Philippians 3:17-21 NLT)

We, as believers in Christ Jesus our Savior and Lord, are "citizens of heaven." Unbelievers "think only about this life here on earth." We must not think and live like unbelievers but think and live as citizens of heaven! I know that most name-only "Christians" today will not hear what I am saying because they do not have "ears to hear." But to you, whom God has given His Holy Spirit to discern the truth, to you that have a faith that is real and not simply a cultural accomodation to assuage an unsatisfied consciousness of the divine, to you that have not completely wrapped yourself in the comfortable compromise of man-made religious traditions and rituals, to you that feel at the core of your being that there is something wrong with the kind of Christianity peddled in most pulpits today, join my search for clarity in devotion, repentance of what we may have been blind to understand till now, and surrender to truly believe and follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without shame or awkwardness and with the bold conviction that our hope in Him overshadows any difficulty, loss, shame, or suffering in this life. Consider the powerful charge that Paul gave the Colossian church:

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. (Colossians 3:1, 3, 4 NLT)

³ Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: ⁴ three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver...Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the LORD today?” ⁶ Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. ⁷ They gave toward the work on the temple of God 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. ⁸ Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. ⁹ The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (1 Chronicles 29:3-9)

I was surprised that Chronicles shows David giving Solomon the plans for the temple.  While it does say that God gave the plans directly to David, they still came from God, but I guess I had thought that God gave Solomon the plans directly.

Also, the Gospel's are written from 4 different perspectives to help show the various walks of life that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.  Since Chronicles are written from such a slanted perspective, who were they written by/for?  Even Chronicles refer's to the rest of David's story in the book of Samuel...so why write an abridged/slanted version?  Was it a "cliff's notes" version for the general public while the Jews were in exile to help bring them back to God?  Do we know who wrote Chronicles or when they were written?

Yujin responds... I recommend my introduction to 1 Chronicles, which is also in the Bible Summaries section. Here's a link to it:

http://www.dailyqt.org/index.asp?selection=summaries&biblereadingID=139

And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

 I hear David's loving voice this morning to encourage his son, Solomon, to love the Lord with all his heart, all his mind and all his strength. Believers in the OT had to seek the Lord to find Him but we, living in NT era, did not even seek the Lord but have obtained righteousness by faith because God himself sought after us who had seemed to be totally lost. When I was talking to my muslim patient, I was reminded again that Allah of Islam is merciful but is so if we turn away from our wickedness just like any other religion. On the contrary, my God sought me and showed how much He loved me first. How can we not serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind when we know that kind of love? Are our desires and thoughts solely dedicated to Him today when He searches our hearts? I hope and pray that God's Word touches your hearts again and again today. God bless you all!

1 Chronicles 28:20 - "David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. "

What great advice from Parent to child, as a parent always looking for the right lessons to teach these few sentences say so much!

Advice for us all to carry with us, a great verse to accompany our motto of "Never Give Up."