Monday 2 January  

Psalm 50:10-12 – Everything thing in the world belongs to God. All animals, all birds, all creatures are His. He owns it all. 

Psalm 24:1 – Everything in the world and all living in it belong to God.  

1 Chronicles 29:13, 14 – David thanks and praises God in prayer recognising God’s abundant wealth and generosity in comparison to that of himself and his people; since everything comes from God, they are only giving back what He has given them. 

Haggai 2:8 Silver and gold are the Lord’s.  

A: The message from these verses is everything in creation, all resources, and all wealth belongs to God. This truth should mean to us that nothing we own actually belongs to us we are stewards of what God has entrusted us to possess. I think of bailment defined here describing a bailee who although has possession of goods doesn’t own them but possesses them for a purpose. S/he is under a duty to take reasonable care of those goods. Therefore, we should use ‘our’ belongings gratefully in a manner honouring God.  

1 Chronicles 17:1 – David notes his own wealth. He’s comfortable living in a ‘palace’. He tells Nathan, ‘Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent.’ This is a problem to him – the ark of the covenant is not housed in luxury as it should be so he wants to build a house ‘exceeding magnifical, of fame and glory throughout all countries’ (1 Chronicles 22:5) for God to put it right. Nathan encourages him but later the word of God tells Nathan to tell King David not to build God’s house because he is a man of war. Instead, his son Solomon ‘a man of rest’ (1 Chronicles 22:9) will build it (1 Kings 6:1). David prepared by getting all the building materials (gold, brass, silver, iron, wood, and precious stones) together.  

God created heaven and earth and everything in them by His powerful command (Genesis 1:1, John 1:3 Psalms 33:6,9) 

A: “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this?” (1 Chron. 29:14 expresses ‘beautiful principles’ of humility, gratitude, and appreciation of God’s wealth and gracious providence. They reflect that our attitude should be the same being appreciative and thankful for what God gives us knowing that He is that true owner.