Daily Devotional For Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Good morning and good day Southside! Following the reading in the One Year Chronological Bible reading for May 5, I have pulled these verses from that reading for us to focus on for today. Our text is found in 1 Chronicles 29:3-6:
“And now, because of my devotion to the Temple of my God, I am giving all of my own private treasures of gold and silver to help in the construction. This is in addition to the building materials I have already collected for his Holy Temple. (4) I am donating more than 112 tons of gold* from Ophir and 262 tons of refined silver* to be used for overlaying the walls of the buildings (5) and for the other gold and silver work to be done by the craftsmen. Now then, who will follow my example and give offerings to the LORD today?’ (6) Then the family leaders, the leaders of the tribes of Israel, the generals and captains of the army, and the king’s administrative officers all gave willingly” (NLT).
Following verse 6, the Chronicler mentions all these family leaders gave as us. David is old and he knows his death is near. So, through his career as king he collected as much materials as he could for the building of the Temple by his son Solomon. Now, he gave all his personal wealth and then challenged the family leaders to give as well. They did and they gave willingly and joyfully. David had already amassed a lot of materials but to him, God deserved the best.
In 1 Chronicles 29:7, the word “darics” [אֲדַרְכּוֹן] is used. The interesting thing about this word is that it is the term used for the currency of gold in the Persian Empire, some 500 years after David’s death. Scholars tell us that 1 Chronicles was not written until 450-400 BC during the Persian Empire. Now what is amazing here is that the Chronicler knows that future Jewish generations are going to read this. So, he used a term from his time to emphasize the generosity of those some 500 years earlier for those to have the same kind of generosity in the future for the Lord’s work.
“Darics” were not used to build the Temple, shekels, gold and silver were. But the Chronicler wants to connect his readers with a term in his day they would understand to help convince them to be generous as well. A daric was first minted by Darius 1 during the Persian Empire. It is a term that denotes lavishness and overwhelming giving. Ironically, one way, but not the only and exclusive way of gauging a person’s spirituality is their giving to the Lord and His work. When we come to the New Testament, we see how Barnabas and Saul/Paul had to deal with this in the early church at Antioch in Acts 11:27-30 when a deceptive prophecy about an impending famine was given by Agabus.
The Bible tells us that this church gave willingly and joyfully to meet that need. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. I have been told that God will also accept from a grouch. That may be true but when it comes to the Lord, He deserves our best because He gave us His best on the cross and in our lives. Don’t be a grouch; give cheerfully.
Reflection Assignment: When you give, do you give willingly and joyfully? Do you give overwhelming to the Lord, or do you keep the best of the spoil for yourself? If you could not receive a tax credit for your giving, would you still do it? Why or why not?
Scripture To Meditate On: Luke 6:38, Jesus said, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I do not want to be selfish, especially with You. I want to give You my best. Thank You for not withholding Your best to me. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly