“In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.”

If it were a bittersweet moment, you would have never known it.  King David was near the end of his reign, preparing to turn over the Jewish kingdom to his son Solomon, who was “young and inexperienced” (1 Chronicles 29:1).  David was one not to look back too often.  He would not be allowed to build the Temple, the strongest desire of his heart (see 1 Samuel 7).  In keeping with that, he contributed his “personal treasures of gold and silver…over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple” (v. 3).  Obviously he didn’t mind cutting into Solomon’s inheritance, something he wouldn’t need anyway.  Solomon would become the richest, not to mention wisest, king that ever lived (1 Kings 10:23).

David took the lead in sacrificially giving toward the project because he was so passionate about it.  Despite knowing that he wouldn’t live to see it, he gave anyway to something much bigger than even his family that had the promise of God attached to it (1 Samuel 7 again).  Maybe one reason why he gave that much was because of that promise.  But don’t you love David’s leadership style?  Committed, passionate, humble, clear headed most of the time, wanting God’s input on most matters and willing to give him all the praise, he was anything but today’s nuanced, gimmicky, posing, calculating-for-free-airtime, talking-out-of-both-sides-of-their-mouth politicians.  There’s no comparison; not even close.

What king or government leader today prays like this: “Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things.  In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.  Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise you glorious name” (vs. 10-13)?  I mean, David is virtually and verbally tripping over himself wanting to be exhaustive in covering all the bases so as to not limit the glory he wants to give God.  And remember, David wasn’t a priest or a Levite either!

He is quick to point out that humanity is essentially nothing and God is everything, the source for everything and the owner of everything.  David can only own anything and give anything to the Temple construction project because of God and his provision.  God even makes it possible for David — and anyone else — to have a willing heart (vs. 14-15).  There is nothing selfish or self-centered in his praise.  It is total absorption with God Almighty, responding to his majesty and splendor and power.

In crediting God for everything, David finishes his prayer describing him as the one who “give[s] strength to all.”  The word means to strengthen, prevail, to be or become strong, courageous, firm, resolute or sure.  It is used to describe the angel firmly pulling Lot out of Sodom (Genesis 19:16), hardening Pharaoh’s heart multiple times (Exodus 7, etc.), the command to be strong (Joshua 1:6), Samson’s prayer for strength (Judges 16:28), David’s prevailing over the lion and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:35, 50), and many times by Nehemiah for rebuilding/strengthening Jerusalem’s crumbled walls.  Just to give some context for its many applications.

Two verses from Paul to the Corinthians also reinforce this idea.  In his first letter, Paul wrote, “… the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1:25b).  If God’s weakness is stronger than our strength, we should all be crying out, “God!  Give me your weakness!”  To the ear that sounds awkward at best.  Perhaps that demonstrates just how untaught our ears are.  Imagine what his strength can do!

But we don’t have to imagine.  2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  Thus we should “boast all the more gladly about [our] weaknesses” (v. 9).  Ever hear a Christian do that?  I find it very rare.  But think of Jesus, at his physically and emotionally weakest moment, whipped to within inches of his life, rejected and spit upon by his own people.  It was then that he carried our sins to the cross. That took God’s strength. That is the way of God. It is the same for us, the only way to receive his strength.

Overcome by weaknesses?  Ready to boast about them and glorify the Giver of strength?