JESSE’S BOY

And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. – 2Sa 24:24

Though his words are taken slightly out of context when used during Offering time, King David’s original phrase, “I will not offer to God what will cost me nothing” reveals an important aspect of his mentality.

Many in the Church have a fundamental problem with what I term Upward Giving: giving to someone who is obviously better off than one is. It seems to go against the grain of rational thinking (and doesn’t Proverbs say something negative about “giving to the rich”?) Whether we realise this or not, this influences our  attitude towards giving to God’s work, for what does the Richest Personality in the Universe need from poor ‘Ol me?

David’s attitude of insisting on giving something valuable to God must have come from the training he got from Jesse, his father in Bethlehem.

In 1Sa 16:19 (CEV) Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Tell your son David to leave your sheep and come here to me.” This was the King of Israel talking. He has hundreds of servants at his beck and call, yet he was requesting for Jesse’s boy. Moreover, to make it even more acute, the king’s order indicated he knew the economic importance of David to his family.

Another man would have grumbled about the oppression of the powerful on the weak, but Jesse didn’t just comply, he loaded a donkey with bread and a goatskin full of wine, then he told David to take the donkey and a young goat to Saul. (1Sa 16:20 CEV). How incredible is that?

At another time when all of David’s brothers were gone to war against the Philistine’s Goliath, Jesse sent his boy once more to take food to his brothers at the battlefront. Soldiers of those days were civilians or militia, and their food provisions came from their families. However, Jesse’s family was different, because when their provision came, there was also something “for their captain”, (1Sa 17:17,18).

This practice of giving, unasked, to one’s betters must have made an impression on the young David. And we can see how it affected his attitude in giving to a God who is rich in all things.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN