Then David said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.
David is at the end of his life. The temple is the great hope of his last years, but he will not build it. Everything he has prepared now passes to his son Solomon, who must do the work. His charge to Solomon raises a question every servant of God meets: where does courage come from when the task is bigger than the person?
A father's parting counsel
The verse comes near the end of a long handover from a dying king to his son. One writer boils David's whole charge down to a short list of lessons, and this verse gives the last one:
Truth & Testimony"Serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever" (1 Chr. 28:9). "He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished" (1 Chr. 28:20). In simple language: obey God's Word. God judges motives as well as acts. Be brave for God. God's righteous government accompanies sin. Depend on God for His lasting support in His work. These were wise, solemn and encouraging words from a father to a son.
Building to God's plan
The command to build rests on what came just before it. David handed over a pattern he did not invent.
William KellyWe see how completely David is the source of everything here. "The pattern of all that he had by the Spirit." It was not a matter of his own will… It was really God arranging all by His servant. On this ground David charges Solomon… It was the great prospect of David's declining years. It was not his own house, but the LORD's house.
Courage, not bravado
The call to be strong is easy to misread. One writer marks out two opposite mistakes.
William KellyMany sincere Christians go badly wrong here. They confuse good courage with presumption. They confuse that assurance in the Lord with the lowest, most shameful, proudest feeling of the flesh — thoughtless daring without a scrap of believing confidence in God. May God keep every child of His from presumption! On the other hand, God forbid that any child of His should be robbed of the good courage and single-hearted confidence God is owed, by the very thing that gives them a bad name.
"Even my God"
David does not just say "God." He says my God — and tells Solomon that this God is with him. The same "my God" turns up in Nehemiah, and one writer reads it as the mark of a life lived close to Him:
Edward DennettHe says "my" God — the One he knew in that personal relationship, which faith and experience alone can recognise (compare 1 Chr. 28:20; 1 Chr. 29:2-3; Phil. 4:19). And he lived so constantly in His presence that he could recognise at once the thought God had put in his heart.
A promise with no conditions
Verse 9 held out an "if." Verse 20 does not. The next verse shows who God sent to help.
H. L. RossierIn verses 20 and 21, David urges Solomon again to be strong, to do it, and to fear nothing. The Lord would not forsake him "until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished." This is again an unconditional promise. And Solomon finds help — not only from the workers (1 Chron. 22:15), but also from the divisions of priests and Levites, from the princes, and from all the people.
The same words for us
God said words like these more than once, to very different men. One writer traces them from Jacob to Solomon, and then to us:
J. T. MawsonIt is He who has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." As He said long ago to Jacob the wanderer (Gen. 28:15), to Joshua the warrior (Josh. 1:5), and to Solomon the worshipper (1 Chron. 28:20), so He says to us, and what strong comfort His word gives, for it is impossible for Him to lie. So that we may boldly say, as those Hebrews could say, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?"
Summary
- The work — it is God's house, not Solomon's. The pattern came by the Spirit, so the builder follows a plan; he does not invent one.
- The command — "be strong, do it, do not fear" calls for confidence in God. That is not presumption, and it is not fear.
- The companion — David's own "my God" names a relationship only faith and experience can recognise. He hands it to his son.
- The promise — no conditions. God will not leave him or forsake him, and He sends helpers too: priests, princes, and all the people.
- The finish — the promise runs "until all the work ... is finished." The same words reached the wanderer, the warrior, and the worshipper — and they reach us.