“Dad, I Hope You’re Pleased” – Part Two

I imagine David and Solomon become very best friends as they spend countless hours discussing the necessity of building the Temple.  I envision endless conversations in which David shares his testimony with Solomon.  Beginning with the Genesis accounts of God’s love for humankind, generally, and Israel, specifically, David empowers Solomon with historical, theological, cultural, and ideological underpinnings for the Temple construction project.  More personally, David probably explains the difficult circumstances of his marriage to Solomon’s mother, Bathsheba.  David doubtless shares the horrid details of 2 Samuel 11 and 12.  Rather than dwelling on his sin and punishment, David almost certainly tells Solomon about the unfailing love, incalculable forgiveness and incredible provision of Almighty God.  In sharing his personal journey and testifying to the goodness of the Lord, David reveals to his son, Solomon, the depth of his desire to build the Temple.  David’s tutorial for Solomon affords David the opportunity and blessing of depositing the dream of the Temple in Solomon’s heart.

Parenthetically, David’s and Solomon’s stories instruct us on the importance of teaching.  Had David refused to take the time and teach the importance of the Temple to Solomon, it may not have been built.  Most assuredly, it would not have been built with the grandeur and speed with which it was built.  Teachers daily contribute to the expansion of the kingdom of God and the progress of humankind as they assist students in actualizing their God-given talents and potential.  Teachers take time and care to ensure a student gets the lesson.  When a student internalizes the lesson, it can have eternal consequences.

Nonetheless, David lays the groundwork for the Temple on Solomon’s heart.  In addition, David reserves a significant portion of his estate for the Temple.  He gathers needed raw materials for construction and priceless decorative items for furnishings.    Succeeding in both dimensions, David gives the baton to Solomon who builds the Temple in seven and one half years.  What an incredible accomplishment considering the expense and elaborate nature of the Temple!  David’s dying words, I envisage, was “Solomon, remember the Temple.  Whatever you do as king, build the Temple.”  In reply, Solomon, I surmise, said, “Don’t worry Daddy.  I’ll get it done with the help of the Lord.”

There are two historical and contemporary examples in which fathers laid the groundwork for future success within the minds and hearts of their sons.  The late Ambassador to the Court of St. James in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, boldly believed an Irish Catholic could become President.  He like countless other Irish Americans were grossly disappointed by the loss of Alfred Smith in 1928.  Kennedy, himself, actually aspired to the presidency.  Yet, a personality clash with FDR and the confluence of other circumstances would eliminate Kennedy’s personal ambition.  In immediate response, Kennedy began to groom his sons.  The “old man” deserves the most credit for orchestrating the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960.  Second, the late civil rights lawyer, Charles Hamilton Houston, laid the groundwork for many of the successful legal battles that dismantled segregation in the United States.  Through his student and “son,” the late Justice Thurgood Marshall, Houston annihilated the second-class citizenship of African-Americans.

Contemporarily speaking, former President George Herbert Walker Bush articulated a vision of a “New World Order” in his one term as President.  His failure to won re-election nearly ended his heartfelt dream of reshaping the world toward the strategic advantage of the United States and other Western countries.  Nonetheless, he continued his pursuit of that paradigm shift through his eldest son,

George W. Bush, the forty-third President. 

David’s Desire to Build the Temple

Each of us possesses a dream within our “heart of hearts.”  If we are honest with our “innermost self,” we greatly fear failing to accomplish this particular dream.  An inability to achieve this dream will plagues us with the “coulda, woulda and shoulda” syndrome.  Constructing a Temple to the honor and glory of Almighty God is David’s heartfelt dream; desiring to demonstrate his love of God and gratitude for the Lord’s lovingkindness and enduring provision.  David wants the whole world to know there is no other god besides the God of his fathers.  To serve any other god is simply worthless.  Unfortunately, in His mysterious ways and sovereign providence, Yahweh decides to deny David his heartfelt dream.

David shares this divine consideration in 1 Chronicles 28:2-3.  He says, “I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and I made plans to build it.  But God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.”  In 2 Chronicles 6:8, the Lord tells David that it suffices that he held such an admirable dream in his heart.  “Because it was in your heart to build a temple for my Name, you did well to have this in your heart.”