I owe you nothing, but I give you everything

1 Chronicles 29 David’s Prayer of Praise

¹⁰ Then David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly:

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! ¹¹ Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. ¹² Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

¹³ “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! ¹⁴ But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! ¹⁵ We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.

¹⁶ “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you! ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.

¹⁸ “O Lord, the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes. ¹⁹ Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made these preparations.”

²⁰ Then David said to the whole assembly, “Give praise to the Lord your God!” And the entire assembly praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and they bowed low and knelt before the Lord and the king.

 

I read this a few days ago.  This humbled me.  Sometimes I forget God owes me nothing.  Strictly speaking, I am entitled to nothing from God.

 

Romans 11:36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

 

Acts 17:28 For in Him we live and move and have our existence.

 

I forget that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me.(Romans 5:8).  I buried the memory of my rebellion, my sin and how in the middle of that He came to me.  I did not come to Him. He reached out for me, called my name and saved me.

 

God saved me by grace, through faith that is not mine.  My faith is a gift from God.  He activated it, I gave it back to Him and I am saved.  He gave me blessings and spiritual gifts, then He blessed me for giving them back to Him.

 

I have nothing on my own.  No good thing dwells in my flesh.  Nothing.

 

His kindness led to my repentance.

 

Sometimes I think, "You owe me, God." because of what I think I do for Him.

 

Then, I read this and I remember.  "I owe You so much for saving me, for filling me with Your Spirit...for even messing with me on some days."

 

He is God.  I am not.  Sometimes that is only answer I have.  He could say, "I don't owe you anything. I am God and you're a sinner."  Instead, He said, "I am going to give you my Son so you won't be a sinner anymore."  "I am going to prepare a place for you in Heaven so you can be with me."  "I am going to give you the Holy Spirit and He will guide and comfort you.  He will be God in you."  "I am going to give you My peace, My hope."  "I am going to give you eternal life."  "I am going to give you blessings and spiritual gifts, then I am going to reward you for giving them back to me."

 

He owes me nothing, but He gave me everything.  I love Him.