It's all about You, Jesus

1 Chronicles 17

David Submits and Prays

 ¹ After the king had made himself at home, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Look at this: Here I am comfortable in a luxurious palace of cedar and the Chest of the Covenant of God sits under a tent."

 ² Nathan told David, "Whatever is on your heart, go and do it; God is with you."

 ^3-6 But that night, the word of God came to Nathan, saying, "Go and tell my servant David, This is God's word on the matter: You will not build me a 'house' to live in. Why, I haven't lived in a 'house' from the time I brought up the children of Israel from Egypt till now; I've gone from one tent and makeshift shelter to another. In all my travels with all Israel, did I ever say to any of the leaders I commanded to shepherd Israel, 'Why haven't you built me a house of cedar?'

 ^7-10 "So here is what you are to tell my servant David: The God-of-theAngel-Armies has this word for you: I took you from the pasture, tagging after sheep, and made you prince over my people Israel. I was with you everywhere you went and mowed your enemies down before you; and now I'm about to make you famous, ranked with the great names on earth. I'm going to set aside a place for my people Israel and plant them there so they'll have their own home and not be knocked around anymore; nor will evil nations afflict them as they always have, even during the days I set judges over my people Israel. And finally, I'm going to conquer all your enemies.

 ^10-14 "And now I'm telling you this: God himself will build you a house! When your life is complete and you're buried with your ancestors, then I'll raise up your child to succeed you, a child from your own body, and I'll firmly establish his rule. He will build a house to honor me, and I will guarantee his kingdom's rule forever. I'll be a father to him, and he'll be a son to me. I will never remove my gracious love from him as I did from the one who preceded you. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will always be there, rock solid."

In London, England there was a beautiful church with a musical worship that rocked people out of their seats. Even though the church was full, the musicians did a brilliant job and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves, something was missing. The pastor realized that the musical aspect of the praise and the performance became more important that the worship itself. Pastor Mike Pilavachi and the church leadership then fired the band and took the congregation back to the basics. The following song was written by Matt Redman as a result:

When the music fades
All is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

Bridge:
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

Chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus

Verse 2:
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor
All I have is Yours
Every single breath

Bridge:
I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

Chorus:
I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus

The Soul Survivor Church realized that we are called to offer our sacrifice of praise and that the intentions of the praise are more important than the praise in itself.

In 1 Chronicles 17, David realizes that he stays in a beautiful palace whilst the ark of the covenant of God must be sheltered in a tent. David wants to build a temple to shelter the covenant but God is a God who values the simpler things in life. God uses David’s own life to explain to him the value of simplicity when he says : I took you from the pasture, tagging after sheep, and made you prince over my people Israel. I was with you everywhere you went and mowed your enemies down before you; and now I'm about to make you famous, ranked with the great names on earth… The Hebrew text literally states: “You want to build me a house?” God understood David’s intentions and he knew that David wanted to do something to thank God

God takes note of David’s desire to serve Him and makes promises to him and his descendents which He keeps (2 Chronicles 6)

To God the intention is more important than the action itself. This can also be seen in Genesis 22 when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. To God the intention and Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac was more important than the offering itself. God rewarded Abraham for his obedience and provided a lamb for offering instead.

What is your intentions regarding your actions today? You might be giving food to the hungry……why? Providing shelter to the destitute…why? Being a shoulder to cry on for someone in need…why? Give your pennies to the beggar next to the road…why? You see, all the abovementioned actions are noble and good in God’s eyes but what is more important is the heart with which you do it.

Isaiah wrote:

The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

May all your actions today be led by one question only: What shall I do for God, to serve and honour him?" May we follow Paul’s advice when he wrote to the Romans:

Romans 12

Place Your Life Before God

 ^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Praise God in whatever you do with A PURE HEART and remember the words of the song written by Redmann:

You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart


I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus