AP

1 Chronicles 28:1-2a David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.  King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. …”

One of the things I find impressive about King David is the way he exercised firm and decisive leadership without falling into the trap of being a ‘one-man band’.  He knew he carried divine authority to lead God’s Covenant People because “the LORD, the God of Israel, chose [him] from [his] whole family to be king over Israel for ever” (4).  He knew that his son, Solomon, was the divinely chosen one through whom the Covenant kingly line would be continued, because, “of all my sons … [the LORD] has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel.  He said to me, ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.  I will establish his kingdom for ever if he is unswerving in carrying out my commands and laws, as is being done at this time’” (5-7).

King David was very much aware of the key role he himself had in this whole process, but he still wanted to be consultative in the way he fulfilled his task.  It is interesting, but unsurprising, to see how this whole scenario reflects the Godhead: God the Father calls people to be part of his Church; he delegates the task of building his Church to his Son (Matthew 16:18), but they both involve us, with all our foibles and weaknesses, to participate in what he is doing.  When the Apostle Paul is explaining all these relationships to the Church in Corinth he does so in terms of our being ‘ambassadors for Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:20), having pointed out that “we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.  For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:5-7).

Let us always be thankful that God has so graciously included us in the work he is doing to grow his Church, and let us avoid trying to serve him as ‘control freaks’ who fail to consult/delegate. Let us remember the old cliche: “there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’”.
– Bruce Christian