January 17
“Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build an house for the sanctuary: be strong,
and do it. Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses
thereof ……. All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon
me, even all the works, of this pattern” (1 Chro.28: 10,19).
The very spot where David was punished became the site of God’s House. (2 Chron. 3:1).
From that day David’s true joy began. He had happy days, wonderful days, but nothing
compared to the joy he found there at the altar, on the site for the temple of God.
God was now able to give to David the pattern for His temple, and the assurance that his son
had been chosen of God to build it. The joy that David now experienced was an entirely
different kind of joy. It was the joy that comes with the revelation of the heavenly plan for
the house of God. The king rejoiced and the people rejoiced also. Yet David could not have
rejoiced as he did now without going through all those other experiences. Every stage was
necessary.
The joy of the Lord is your strength, but the joy of the revelation of the heavenly pattern, and
of knowing that God has called us to share in it, supersedes all other joys that you may have
experienced on other occasions. In this joy you enter into the plan and purpose of God
regarding His people, both now and in ages to come. Pray then that the Lord will lead you on
from joy to joy, till you come to the fullness of the joy of the Lord which is your strength.
Daily Devotionals
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David’s history
January 16
“So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built
there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was
entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel” (2 Samuel 24:24b, 25).
There was still another happy day in David’s history, when God brought him to the threshing
floor of Araunah the Jebusite. He had been tempted to number the people, as though his
strength depended on them and on the size of his army. So God had to punish him, and he
repented at the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
It had been a very grievous sin, but God had forgiven him, and that is why it was such a
happy day in David’s life. Is it not a very happy day in your life, when God forgives you some
grievous sin done in blind disobedience to His will?