# David’s Last Great Campaign

Key Passage: 1 Chronicles 22
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles to First Chronicles, Chapter number 22, if you would please. First Chronicles 22.

We’ve been on the life of David almost two years now, and you pray with me about what God would have us to go to next. I’ve had two suggestions. I’m praying about those, and maybe we do one first and another one later. But if you have a thought, I’d be glad to just take it and try to pray about it, trying to seek what the Lord wants. I appreciate your prayers on that also. David here, he’s nearing the end.

The title is really David’s Last Great Campaign. And I tend to think that David’s health was not real good towards the end. You know, Moses, he’s one of those; he died strong. His natural force was not abated. David doesn’t seem like that. Several years earlier, we don’t know—I would think about 10 years earlier when David was around 60.

He went out to battle and almost got killed in the battle, and the other soldiers, military, said, “No, you’re not going out to war anymore. You stay home,” you know. And then towards the end, we read, I think last week, maybe the week before, that sounds like he had poor circulation. He was cold all the time. He’s in bed a lot. Remember, got the Shulamite woman he didn’t know her, but to be with him having to warm him up, whatnot. Sounds like he maybe had some health issues, and he had lived a pretty rough life, and I don’t mean by that sinful, but I mean he had spent many nights in the wilderness running from Saul, and then battles and wars, and sometimes it takes a toll on your body. And I think David, he wasn’t in the best of health at the end of his life.

It may be even that when Adonijah—we studied that last, remember Adonijah trying to exalt himself, that never works—and that may have given David a little bit of life, it seems like. And it seems like, I think this is after that account, but it just seemed like David’s perked up and got a little energy now. He’s not in the bed all the time, it seems. And maybe got his blood pressure up a little bit. And he said, “No, no, Solomon’s going to be king.”

And praise the Lord, he did that. Now, a little while later on, by the way, remember they had the quick anointing of Solomon a little while later on. I don’t know if it was studied or not, but there’s a more formal coronation anointing of Solomon also. And Solomon becomes king, and we’ll cover some of that. But we’re here at this point of David’s life towards the end of it, right at the very end of it.

And we’re just going to try to look at a couple things tonight. Really, this seemed like the last big desire David had. The last thing at the end of his life is trying to get accomplished. And we’re in chapter number 22. We’ll start in verse number one. And if you’re able to, would you please stand, in respect to the Word of God, First Chronicles 22, and verse number one.

“Then David said, ‘This is the house of the Lord God.’” I was talking about the temple he’s wanting to build. He said, “This is going to be Jehovah, Jehovah Elohim. This is God’s house. This is the house of the Lord God. And this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel.” This is where Israel is going to go and get right with God. This isn’t just small time. David said this is a big deal. I’m going to make a house for God.

And David commanded to gather together the strangers that were in the land of Israel. And he set masons to hew wrought stones to build the house of God. So it seemed like he was getting to foreigners that were there, if you will, to hew out the stones. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails, for the doors of the gates and for the joinings, and brass in abundance without weight, also cedar trees in abundance for the Zidonians, and they of Tyre brought much cedarwood to David.

And David said, “Solomon, my son, is young and tender.” Very young, by the way. We think somewhere, some will say around 20, maybe even younger when he’s taken the throne. So it’s true, he’s young. And David said, “Solomon, my son, is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding magnificent.” It’s interesting how David uses that word. He said, “Man, this thing needs to be magnificent if you—there’s got to be something here—exceeding magnificent of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore now make preparation for it.” So David prepared abundantly before his death.

And would you pray that God would work in our hearts in our lives for just a little bit tonight? Lord, there are people that came out, and there are many tired and busy all day. Some are just hurt, or emotionally, and some physically. And yet, Lord, they’re in Your house. Lord, please, would You give them what they need? Would You feed them? Would You encourage them? Lord, would You challenge us? Lord, let us leave saying it’s good to be in the house of the Lord. Lord, help us to be alert and hungry for Your word. And Father, we’ll thank You and praise You and thank You for what You do. Lord, have me to say everything You want to say in the way You want to say it. Father, we’ll thank You for it. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

David is nearing the end. I don’t think he’s in great health. I think he’s frail, but David says, “But I’ve got to get everything ready for the temple.” I mean, he’s just a little bit—seemed like he’s in passion at the end here for this thing of the temple getting built. He says, “Everybody thought the whole world’s going to know about this thing. It’s going to be a little bit of a testimony, if you will, of our Lord.” And David was just passionate about this temple. We often call it Solomon’s temple. It may should have been called David’s temple because David had a lot to do with it.

David’s just all about, in the last days of his life, he’s all about this temple. And he gets all this preparation for this material. He even has people prepared for it. He tries to prepare Solomon for it. He tries to get people to follow Solomon in building. I mean, he’s just trying to line up everything for the temple to be built.

Now, just that alone speaks to me. On Sunday school, we were studying just a little bit this last Sunday about Herod the Great. He’s the one that had the boys killed when Jesus was born, two and under, remember that? And just a wicked man. And one of the things he did, towards the end, he had a lot of notable people locked up, actually imprisoned in Jericho. This isn’t Bible; this is history.

And he made his sister promise when he died that all those people would be killed simply because when people heard that he had died, he wanted tears to be shed. Is that pretty selfish or what? And I say that to say a lot of people, as they get towards the end, they’re all about their legacy and they’re all about themselves and how they’re going to be known, what people are going to think about them, and all the rest of that. But David at the end was focused on the Lord and His temple. At the end of David’s life, it wasn’t about, you know, his legacy and what they’re going to say about him; it’s, “Man, we’ve got to get this temple built. It’s got to be magnificent because it’s for God, the Lord Jehovah.” Man, what a guy!

Can I just say, I really believe this: It seems so much anymore that self-centeredness is an epidemic in our world. You know, the Bible talks about it over in 2 Timothy 3 about the signs of the times. One of those is we are lovers of ourselves. Boy, we seem like we’re there. It’s just all about us, us, us.

It bothers me sometimes when I’ll catch myself. If somebody’s talking about something, I always got to turn the conversation around to me. And I think, shame on me, we’re so self-centered people. And it’s becoming where it’s just becoming a little bit part of us, and even the church is all about us and how we feel and what we think and what people are saying and think about us. And David at the very end of his life is all about the temple getting built. Praise your Lord for David. He went out not thinking about himself, but the thing about the temple of God. What a wonderful thing.

Let’s look at a couple things here, maybe just a touch different than we think. Would you look down in verse number six there? Verse number six. Before you do that, or while you got that right there, if you have a Scofield Bible, this might just help you a little bit in Bible study. This was a good thing for me when I learned the Scofield Bible. Of course, the King James version is what you want to take, King James version.

But in the Scofield Bible, it’ll have a date right up there. All right. And Scofield, his notes, Scofield Bible, he uses Usher’s dates. The Bible’s called Usher’s dates. And the date he has there is—anybody else got it? You got it? What did you tell me what it says? What is yours say? 1017 B.C. 1017. Now I want you to notice that, all right? Want you to notice that. And now look in verse number six right there.

Verse number six, chapter 22: “Then he called for Solomon, his son, and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. And David said to Solomon, my son, ask for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Thou hast shed blood abundantly and so on.’” He wouldn’t let him build. We’ll get back to that just a little bit here.

So David is kind of rehearsing and is telling Solomon, “Don’t you build the house? I wanted to build it myself. It was in my mind to build it, but God wouldn’t let me do that.” All right.

Now, look over in chapter number 17, if you will, First Chronicles, chapter number 17. And we’re going to start in verse number nine, verse number nine. First Chronicle 17, we’ll be in verse number nine. And before you go to that verse number nine, would you look, those of you got that date, what date do you have there on that page?

1042, is that what you said? Yeah, I heard 1012, 1042. Brother Warren said 1012, and I thought, man, did I get this thing wrong? Now, here’s the thing: I already did the math ahead of time, amen. I can’t count past eight, all right, so I already did the math ahead of time, amen. That’s 25 years earlier.

So at the end, David’s all about this, but it originally started 25 years ago, give or take it here. Some will date it a touch differently, but it was right in 25 years. I don’t think about arguing about that. Let’s look at this saying, chapter 17, verse number nine. “Also, I will ordain a place for my people…” I’m sorry, I’m sorry. That’s where he is. Oh, look at verse number one. That’s what God’s going to do for David later on. Verse number one, forgive me. Verse number one, chapter 17.

“Now it came to pass, as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Lo, I dwell in the house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains.’” Then Nathan said, “Do all that is in thine heart, for God is with thee.” And it came to pass the same night that the word of the Lord, word of God, came to Nathan saying, “Go and tell David my servant, thus saith the Lord, ‘Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in.’”

And I’m going to continue on. But I want you to just notice, that’s 25 years ago. David wanted to build the house, and God said, “No, no, no, no, David, it’s not for you. Not for you. You don’t want to build it.” Now, God was very pleased with that, with that desire. God said, “No, David, you can’t build it.” We’ll talk about why in just a little bit here. But God was very pleased that David wanted to.

David said, “Man, I got my big old fancy house. It’s a sealed house, two-story house, three-story house, and three-thousand-square-foot house, and, you know, three thousand square feet, indoor swimming pool, all that. And the Lord, well, and getting in a tab, but I can tend over there. We’ve got to build a house for God.” God was very pleased with that. And that’s when God gave what we call the Davidic covenant, all right, or a covenant. David, there’s Abraham, there’s a lot of different covenants. This is the Davidic covenant, David’s covenant.

Look back over chapter 17. Look in verse number nine, if you would, please. And we won’t get everything covered in this covenant, but just want to point out a couple of things here. You’re already there in chapter 17. Look in verse number nine. This is what God told David He would do because he wanted to build Him a house for the Lord. Verse number nine: “Also, I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place and shall be moved no more. Neither shall the children of wickedness waste them anymore as at the beginning.”

Now, here’s the thing. David says, “We need a place for the Lord.” It was on Mount Moriah. Remember it was over there by the Threshing Floor of Araunah. And a place. And so we got it, we got to make it there. We got a place. And God said, “David, tell you what, I’m going to make a place for the children of Israel. I’m not going to let anybody take that land.” By the way, very prophetic when Israel went back in 1948, 1967, they took Jerusalem again. And God said, “No, that’s going to be Israel’s land.” And by the way, it’s amazing, you can put your thumb and cover up Israel, about the size of New Jersey, but you can put your feet on a map; you can’t cover up all the enemies around Israel trying to destroy Israel, and they can’t do it. Why is that? Because God—that’s their land. That’s the promise right here. You want to make a place for Me? I’m going to make a place for Israel, David.

Verse number 10: “Since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, moreover, I will subdue all thine enemies. Furthermore, I tell thee that the Lord will build thee a house.” Now, he said, “We need to build a house for the Lord.” The Lord said, “I appreciate that. You’re not going to be the man, David, but I’m going to make a house for you.” And he’s not necessarily talking about a physical house here, but he’s talking about his house’s lineage, if you will.

Verse number 11: “And it shall come to pass when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.”

This next phrase is very interesting. He says several times in the Bible, “I will be his father.” That’s very interesting. By the way, when we talk about Proverbs, we always say, “Well, this is what David taught Solomon.” Maybe that’s true, but maybe some of it was God. Several times He said, “I’ll be his father.” When we’ve talked about it many times, David didn’t seem like his best father in the world. Great king, but I wouldn’t be part of the family, you know, a lot of issues there. And God says several times, “I’ll be his father and he shall be my son. I will not take my mercy away from him as I took it from him that was before thee to my soul. But I will settle him in Mine house and in My kingdom forever. And his throne shall be established forevermore.” According to all these words, according to all the vision, so did Nathan speak to David.

Now, the last part, he’s talking about, “Hey, David, it’s going to be through your lineage that the Messiah is going to come. All right. And through your descendants, that’s when My Son, Jesus, He’s going to be born through David’s line or lineage.” God was very, very pleased with that.

Here’s the thing. So think about this. Now, David is 25 years later. He’s nearing the end. And the thing that comes up, he said, “Well, that temple, God made a covenant with me. And though I’m not the one to build it, man, I won’t just be a part of this temple getting built. And I want to prepare everything I can. I want to prepare my son. I want to prepare materials. I want to get the priests ready. I want to kind of put them in the certain families that need to be for the temple one day.” And David, at the end of his life, he’s not about money and possession. He’s not about fame and popularity. He’s about the temple.

And I believe maybe this is a little bit part of it. David said, “Boy, God, when I wanted that temple built, He said, ‘You’re not the one,’ but God said, ‘You know, I’m very pleased with that. And I’m going to give a covenant to you.’” By the way, a covenant which wasn’t a conditional covenant; it’s going to happen. And so David at the end, he goes back and he said, “Boy, this temple, it’s a big thing of my life, and I want to get this temple.” I’m so glad David didn’t finish his life being all about David. He’s all about God and His work and the temple being built. What a wonderful thing.

Now let’s look for just a moment at why David could not build the temple. Several different places we could look it up. Let’s go back here to chapter 22. Chapter 22, you were there earlier. And we’re going to pick it up in verse number eight. Chapter 22, verse number eight: “But the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Thou hast shed blood abundantly and hast made great wars. Thou shalt not build a house unto My name because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in My sight.’”

Now, by the way, he’s speaking of 25 years ago, all right? Remember verse number seven, he was talking to Solomon. He wanted to build a house, God said no, and because you shed much blood upon the earth. Verse number nine: “Behold, a son shall be born to thee. He shall be a man of rest,” Solomon. “And I will give him rest from all his enemies roundabout, for his name shall be”—this is before Solomon is born—“shall be Solomon. And I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.” That’s why David—no, no, no, Adonijah is not supposed to be king—“Solomon, he shall build a house for My name, and he shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever.” Notice the throne.

And by the way, I believe David will one day sit on that throne, right? And over Israel, of course, Jesus will be able to throne over us all. And so I want to just notice that David couldn’t build it. God says because he shed abundant blood. Now, many may disagree with me on this, but I’m going to tell you what I think. And if you want to tell what you think, go start a church, you can tell it there, amen, you know. It’s what I think.

Remember, this happened 25 years earlier. David, a lot younger then for sure. I don’t think necessarily God’s saying all these battles you fought—God led David to fight a lot of those battles. I don’t think God’s holding that against David that David fought the battles God wanted to fight.

The Lord here is speaking much of David’s earlier years. You remember David when he was just running from Saul for years? And Samuel had died during that time. The whole city had died, the priest there had died, and David just kept running and running in several different accounts. He was right there by Saul. Now, God always took care of him. But David didn’t find him in a cave, and David was inside the cave, and Saul and his men came in, and of course, the Lord let David escape. Just time after time, David had to take his family over to Moab and hide him there, and David was just kind of worn out, you know, after years and years of getting chased like a criminal and coming close to death, it starts to get to you a little bit.

Over in 1 Samuel 27. Really, I think, just the time when David backslid. It starts off that chapter. David said in his heart—very important what you say in your heart. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. It’s not true. And by the way, from Romans 1:20, he knows it’s not true, but he says it in his heart. Very important what you say in your heart.

But David said in his heart, “Hey man, I’m just a step between me and death. If I keep hanging around here, Saul’s going to kill me.” That was not true. And if David would have looked at the promises of God, he knew that wasn’t true. He was already anointed as king years earlier. And if he looked at God and what God had said, he knew he wasn’t going to die because he wasn’t king yet. We get discouraged when we don’t look at God in His word; we look at all the circumstances. David just got weird.

Remember what David did during that chapter? He went over there to the enemy’s king, to Gath. That’s where Achish is king. That’s where Goliath was from. I mean, years earlier, he’s killing Goliath from Gath. And now he’s going over there and he’s living with him. A year and four months he’s over there.

Remember what Achish did? Achish said, “Hey, I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you a city down south of here, a little bit, Ziklag.” Remember that? David went down there with his men, and during that time, if you remember, we studied it out months and months ago, David went and he went on some campaigns down in some cities, a little bit south of there, and he just killed everybody—men, women, and children. He didn’t want any witnesses. Remember, Achish would come and say, “Where have you been?” He said, “Oh, we’ve been building a road over there.” Well, they weren’t building a road; they were killing everybody. And just a sad time of David’s life.

And I believe this is what God is speaking of. David, man, you just slaughtered so much innocent blood. Remember, innocent blood. The land is marred. That’s why America’s in trouble: 62 million abortions, murdering innocent blood. And though David is forgiven and cleansed, sometimes sin leaves such a mark on you, there’s constant… Now, God forgives you in your sight; He’s forgiven you. He will not remember your iniquity anymore. The Bible says, “Cast your sin behind your back as far as the east is from the west, so far as your transgressions removed from you.” But there are consequences.

And I believe all these years later, 25 years after he died, 70 to do the math, 45—and David said, “Oh, I want to build a temple.” God said, “No, no, no, you shed blood abundantly. There are great wars.” I don’t think it was the wars that God led David to fight. I don’t think God would hold that against him doing what God told him to do. I believe He’s talking about this time when David had just went and he slaughtered and he’s living with the enemy for a while. And you remember that? And I believe when—remember they went back to Ziklag and their families were taken, and David encouraged himself in the Lord. I believe that’s when David really got right with God. And after that, boy, just a different day than that year and four months.

So it is a sad thing when someone backslides. They get right with God, praise the Lord for that, but the scars of the consequences last so often for a lifetime. And I believe David could not be the builder. He wanted to be the builder; it was in his mind, the Bible says. But I said, “No, all that blood you shed, great wars, man, you just went on a campaign just really…” Maybe that’s why, remember over there in Psalm 25, David is the one that God used to pen that, and he says, “Hey, would you… look at it, if you will. Psalm 25, verse number seven.” Psalm 25, verse number seven. This is the Psalm of David. I believe maybe David is speaking of that time in his life. I couldn’t promise you that, but I believe I tend to think that myself.

Psalm 25, verse number seven: “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to thy mercy, remember thou me for thy goodness sake, O Lord.” Maybe the sins of my youth are you speaking of that time he backslid. But David, no, you can’t be the one that builds it.

Now, here’s the amazing thing. If it was 1 Samuel 27, that time period I’m speaking of, that’s before he was ever on the throne. That’s about 43 years ago. But that sin still had consequences.

Parents, can I say this, parents, that’s one of our jobs. Now, when they get out of the house, they’re going to be on their own. But while they’re in the house, you want to protect them from having a whole lot of consequences later on. Now, while you’re doing that, you’re looking at their heart and you’re praying God to get a hold of their heart. But it’s your job when they’re living at home. I don’t want all these consequences to be on their life. By the way, that’s why we have a youth department. We want them to have fun and be able to do things in a good environment where they won’t have consequences one day.

And it’s so important. You know, Satan’s lie is—Satan lies and says, “Well, everybody has to sow their wild oats in their youth.” That’s a lie from hell. Satan would love for you to believe that because one day there’s going to be consequences for them. I guarantee there’s a whole lot of people in this room never been drunk one day in their life. One of them. I praise the Lord, I’ve never made out with anybody besides my wife.

Now, I’m just saying there are consequences, and Satan would long for you to believe that lie. “Well, everybody’s got to sow their wild oats. Later on, you can live for the Lord.” The vast majority never live for the Lord. That’s why we hear about the one that does get right. And the one that does get right, he’s got scars and wounds and tears and heartaches, and he cannot be what he could have been because that time is lost.

David hears that at the end, and God said, “No, no, no,” and David’s reminiscing 25 years earlier, God said, “No, you can’t build that because of that time when you shed all that blood abundantly.” What a sad thing. That’s what we’re trying to keep our youth from. Can I say this? Don’t sacrifice—there’s a good quote: “Don’t sacrifice the future on the altar of the immediate.” Don’t do it. David, I believe, sacrificed, and that was a tough time for him, and he was in a squeeze, if you will, and that’s always when Satan’s going to be tempting you. But don’t sacrifice your future on the altar of the immediate.

See? I think David said, “Man, I wish I could go back and relive that year and four months.” We all have a time. And here’s this sad thing: once you’ve been there, you can’t go back. And what a wonderful thing if you have a young person that just says, “You know, I’m not going to buck against Mom and Dad. I’m glad to be inside the fence where Mom and Dad is. I’m not going to fight against it. I’m glad to be here.” And so they don’t have a whole lot of scars when they grow up. And then one day when they grow up, God’s worked on their heart, and they want to serve the Lord, and that equals a happy person. You don’t have to be restrained later on. By the way, something gets bent, it’s pretty tough to make it perfectly straight. Pretty rare it ever happens.

And a sad thing for David, he said, “I couldn’t build it,” I think, because of a backslidden time of David’s life.

Let’s look at one more thing here, just very briefly tonight about this time of David’s life. We talk about, praise the Lord, the end. He wanted to build the temple. He’s still in his mind; he’s preparing everything. But then, sad thing, why he could not build it because of the blood that had been shed abundantly. And then let’s look at one more thing here.

Would you look back to chapter 22? Chapter 22, and would you look in verse number 11? Chapter 22 and verse number 11 tonight. Y’all still out there tonight? Amen. Anybody falling asleep yet? Well, I tell you what, I came out of this door here—I mean, just walking out of the door—and I looked out, and I saw Brother Jacob yawning out there. I mean, we were just walking out of the door, and he said… I thought, “My goodness, what a way to get greeted,” you know? And Brother Jostin fell asleep back there. I thought the football would keep him awake, but even football doesn’t keep him awake. So, you know, Miss Beth will get him, though, I’m sure. Amen, we’re good there, you know. But look back in chapter 22. Look at verse number 11. Look at verse number 11. He’s got to behave. His wife, she has been sick. She’s back with him tonight, so he’s got to behave tonight, so we’re good, you know.

And look at verse number 11, if you would, please. Verse number 11: “Now, my son,” this is David speaking to Solomon, “the Lord be with thee, and prosper thou, and build the house of the Lord thy God, as He hath said of thee. Only the Lord give thee wisdom and understanding, give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the Lord thy God. Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel. Be strong of a good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.”

“Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord 100,000 talents of gold.” Woo-hoo! That’d be all right in our savings account, what do you think there? Again, 100,000 talents of gold, wow. And a thousand—that’s a million—a million talents of silver. You can make some jewelry out of that, huh, ladies, what do you think there, you know? And of brass and iron without weight, for it is in abundance. Timber also. Now, they’re not going to have lumber storage as short as when they’re building the temple here. Timber also. The stones are prepared, and thou must add thereto.

“Moreover, there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers, workers of stone, and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work of the gold, the silver, the brass, and the iron. There is no number. Arise, therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.”

And here’s the thing I love about it: David, under God’s leadership, is giving the next generation a vision. Under the Lord’s leadership, he’s given his son, the next generation, a goal, a drive, something to go after. He’s planted it right up front of him. He’s prepared for it. People need a goal, and he has something to drive after. He even gives him personnel. We read it there.

He can give them personnel. Look in verse number 17, verse number 17: “David also commanded all the princes, the leaders, if you will, of Israel, to help Solomon his son, saying, ‘Is not the Lord your God with you? And hath He not given you rest on every side? For He hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand. The land is subdued before the Lord and before His people. Now set your heart and soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise, therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the Lord God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God for the house that is to be built to the name of the Lord.’” He was giving him a vision, and he was given all preparation for it.

Now, everybody needs a driving force, a vision, a passion. They need that. You know the verse, Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” It’s very interesting. Look that up if you would. Proverbs 29:18, would you please? Proverbs 29:18. I want you to just kind of look at that verse for a moment. You probably know it already, but there’s a little bit of a hidden gem in there I don’t want you to miss. It’s very important for all of us, but especially for young folks.

Proverbs 29, verse number 18. It’s a classic verse. Proverbs 29:18. He says over there, Proverbs 29:8—if you’re there, would you say, “Amen?” Good deal. He says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Watch this, but—here’s a contrast—“but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Here’s what I’m getting at: It’s on opposite sides. No vision over there? People perish. The guy over here, he keeps the law, he’s happy. What’s He saying? When you have a vision, it helps you keep the law. When you have a dream, a goal, a desire—“I want to have a good marriage one day. I want to have a good family one day. I want to have good kids one day. I want to be used by God one day. I want to be a Sunday school teacher one day. I want the Lord to use me.” You have a vision. It helps you keep the law.

You guys have played football. You know if you’re just standing there and you get hit, man, that rocks your world. But if you’re going somewhere, you get hit, it hurts, but not nearly as bad because you’re going somewhere. You ever hear the coach say, “Don’t stand there, just hit somebody”? You get hit one time just standing there. You understand why he says those things. And if you’re going somewhere and you get hit, it doesn’t hurt quite as bad. It helps you keep the law, but he that keepeth the law happy is he. If I’m going somewhere, “Hey, son, daughter, God has something for you.” Now, parent, it’s not our job to dictate what it is. What do they say? “Mama called, Daddy sent preacher.” They don’t last very long for him. Give them a couple years, and they’ll wash up. I’m not talking about, “Well, this is what you’re going to do, this is what you’re going to do.” No, no, but you put it in front of them: “Hey, God has something for you. God likes to use you. You have a unique way God made you, and He wants to use you to do something for Him,” and you’re trying to plant a vision in them, what God likes to do in their lives. They need that.

This life is not just about you, and you’re not going to grow up and please yourself. You need to grow up and live for God. God’s going to hold you accountable for the knowledge and the resources and the talents you’ve been given. You’re trying to plant on them a vision. David, God had used David, really just a plan of vision in the next generation. And then David had really prepared, and he had prepared Solomon for… Brother Gregory, praise the Lord, Brother Gregory came forward. By the way, he’s at a fair down in Lawrenceburg. He’s down there at a fair, winning souls. His grandpa, there’ll be in church somewhere in the night down there. But he came forth Sunday and surrendered to the full-time ministry. God had been working on his heart way before all that. But here’s the thing: you know what the honest truth is? Praise the Lord, his parents have been preparing him to lift the Lord for years and years. It’s not a great adjustment. He grew up working in the bus ministry 18 years, winning souls. He’s been out with his grandpa at the fair, winning people to the Lord, I think, since he was like 11 or so, and he’s been prepared.

Parents, that’s your job to put a lot of material. David, all this material, and that personality, they’ve been trying to tell Solomon how this is it, and he’s been preparing him to do God’s will. Parents, that’s our job to prepare our children to be used by God.

By the way, one day when we started Christian school, it’s not going to be—the school’s not going to be to raise great athletes. I have sports; I love sports. I’m all about that. But it’s not the purpose. It’s going to be to teach those children how to live for the Lord one day. To prepare and put preparation and materials in their hearts and their minds and their lives so one day they can go out and serve the Lord.

When we were thinking about trying to start the Christian school over here, we couldn’t because it wouldn’t perk and all that. And I was actually talking to a man about maybe coming and becoming our principal one day and all that. And he was in between positions, a good man. And he had just been through a very tough time. The church had just—just major crisis and major crisis. Media was all over, just a whole detail. But in it was a very crisis moment. He said, “You know, I’m not going to get out of Christian education.” He said, he had been hurt and wounded. He said, “I said that one of the big things,” he said, “because I know kids all across America that are in church serving the Lord in some capacity, whether it be full-time or not, whether they’re in church, serving the Lord, all across America, and they went through our Christian school. And I feel like I had a part in that.” Now, that’s what we’re after. And parents, we’re the number one. Parents, it’s our job. The school can assist home, but it’s home’s job to be just putting in them all the material to serve God one day for God to use them. David had been preparing all this material.

I’ve been trying to prepare Solomon at the end here. I was thinking about talking to my sister a month or so ago, I don’t know. And we were talking about, praise the Lord, Mom, when we were little, Mom would read us—one of the best influences around—Mom would read us books when we were just little. A lot of those books about Christians that were being tortured in other countries. Corrie ten Boom, you know of him, Tortured for Christ and all those different books. Man, that was so good for just a little boy. I heard all those stories, and it put something in my heart. And God was preparing. God was using that, preparing my heart to serve Him one day.

In Sunday school, we just had teachers’ meeting. That’s what you’re doing. You’re trying to put something in those young people from the Word of God that one day they can use that to serve the Lord. You’re trying to put a vision in there and let God lead—God’s one of the directions of specifics of it—but you’re trying to put that in there, and then you’re trying to give them some ammunition to shoot one day for the Lord. God’s using David, really, just to prepare Solomon for. Solomon was so young. Some would say even as young as 18. It’s according to who you read by. I was listening to J. Vernon McGee today; he said 20. Who knows how old? He’s young, though. Can you imagine 20 years old being a king? Wow. And he didn’t do a bad job, as the honest truth, at the beginning at least. How could he just, man, just step up at such a young age? Because there has been preparation for years: planting a vision, preparing.

Hey, wouldn’t it be wonderful if God used you and used us, maybe, to give a vision to the next generation and to prepare for God to use them one day if the Lord tarries?

Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I’m not trying to get you to raise your head for me and all that, but I am trying to lead us to make some decisions tonight.

But maybe you’re here tonight. You say, “Preacher, you know, sometimes I fall into the trap; it’s just too much about me.” David, what a wonderful example—the end of his life, and it’s all about the temple, not about David and his legacy and what he’s going to leave for everybody else and what they’re going to say about it. He wants the temple built. God spoke to my heart. I don’t want to be all about me; I want to be about the Lord. Our whole world is so full of self-centeredness, everywhere you look, everywhere you look.

“Preacher, God spoke to my heart. I’d like to be more about the Lord and others.” God spoke to my heart about that. That’s you tonight? You slip your hand up. “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about that right there.” God bless you. God bless you. Me too. Me too, friend. God bless you. God bless you. That’s a wonderful thing. The old world’s philosophy just seeps in on all of us from time to time.

You hear tonight, you say, “Hey, I don’t want to hinder my future by what’s going on in my life now.” Maybe a young person: “I don’t want to sacrifice my future on the altar of the immediate. I don’t want years down the road saying, ‘Well, I couldn’t do this and I couldn’t be that because of my past.’” Now, God has forgiven you as long as you’re still breathing, but you are hindered. And God spoke to my heart, “I don’t want to live a life that hinders me from being used by God later on in the future.” “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about that.” That’s you tonight? Slip your hand up. “Preacher, God spoke to my heart about that right there.” God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. So important. So important. God bless you. Thank you so very much. You can put your hands down.

Maybe your heart’s tonight: “Lord, would You use me to plant a vision and to prepare the next generation in some way, some form, some fashion, to be used by God?” “God, would You use me that way?” If that’s you tonight, you slip your hand up. “Preacher, would You use me? Or Lord, would You use me? Would You use me to plant a vision?” Prepare, moms and dads, all of us—so vital, so vital. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so very much.

Would you please stand tonight? We’ll have a word of prayer. We won’t be long. Our instruments will play. Let’s come and just pray for the next generation. It would be a wonderful thing to do. Would you come as the Lord leads?

Father, thank You so much for David, the example You’ve given us. Help us to learn and glean. Help us to respond to how You worked in our hearts and our lives. Well, thank You for it, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Would you come as our instruments play? Would you come? Won’t be long. We’ll come on. I wonder if 1 Samuel 27 wasn’t in the Bible. That year and four months that David went over to the Philistine side and lived with them and killed. I wonder what the end would be. I wonder who would have built the temple. I wonder how much more God could have used David. Oh, God’s a gracious, merciful God, and I praise the Lord for that. Oh, I’m so thankful for that. I need that. But, friend, there are the laws of sowing and reaping. Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

Original File: David’s Last Great Campaign - Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday PM 92921