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SERMON XI.

DAVID'S PURPOSE TO BUILD THE HOUSE OF GOD.

1 Kings viii. 18.

And the Lord said unto David, (my father,) Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house to my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

It is a small thing, as St. Paul most truly says, to be judged of man's judgment; swayed as man too often is by passion, by interest, by error. Here we have the judgment of God; that judgment which we must all abide at last. Blessed is the man who shall then have testimony like this: Thou didst well that it was in thine heart. The purpose of thy heart was good and well pleasing to God.

This testimony is handed down to us, and,

like all Scripture, is intended" for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."1 We are bound, therefore, to give it our close attention, especially on an occasion like the present, when you are invited to assist towards an object similar to that which God in the text is represented as approving. And may the Spirit of God attend and enlighten us, whilst we examine the grounds of the commendation which God here pronounces on David: Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house to my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.

First, It was well that David in his prosperity remembered God as the author of all prosperity.

We are often able to form our best and truest judgment of human conduct when we see it in the way of contrast. Compare, therefore, David's conduct with that of some others recorded in Scripture. Compare it, for instance, with that of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, whom Daniel reproves in just but severe expostulation.2 He, like David, had experienced the favour of God, had been raised to a royal throne. He, 1 Tim. iii. 16. 2 Dan. v. 17-23.

like David, had seen in his predecessor an evidence of what God approves and disapproves: Belshazzar's father, like Saul, because "his heart was lifted up and his mind hardened in pride," was deposed from his kingly honours, and "they took his glory from him." "Yet thou his son, O Belshazzar, (so the prophet addresses him,) hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest these things. The God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified."

Here, then, is one example of conduct opposite to that of David; conduct as severely condemned, as the other is graciously approved.

If we descend from lofty situations, and come nearer to ordinary life, another striking example meets us, in that rich man represented by our Lord, whose ground brought forth plentifully-so plentifully, that he knew not where to bestow his fruits. Surely he will remember the giver of so much good; surely he will turn his thoughts to Him who directs the seasons-holds the winds in the hollow of his hand-commands the rain to fall, the sun to shine!

3 Luke xii. 17-19.

No thought of God crosses his mind: "What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? This will I do : I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry."

Now here, brethren, whilst we have opportunity of calm reflection, we cannot see in this anything to approve; though we see an example of what, in effect, is too common in the world. But our reason, our conscience tells us, that we should be surprised if God had declared of this rich man, Thou didst well, in that it was in thine heart thus to employ, and no otherwise to employ, the substance which God had given.

These examples place in a clearer light, by force of contrast, the conduct which was approved in David.a "It came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See, now, I dwell in a house of cedar: 2 Sam. vii. 1; Psalm cxxxii. 3, 4.

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but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." I have all that is needful to me, and more also: God has no temple worthy of his name. Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob."

The difference is very evident between this character, and the character described by our Lord in his parable. One of these men regards only himself, his own inclination, his own present gratification. The other thinks how he may please, and serve, and honour God. The one has, the other has not, the love of God in his heart. Love towards God is in nature like love towards man; where it exists, it will show itself; it will find occasion for acting. Whatever talents a man possesses, he will employ them with a view to God's glory, if the love of God prevails with him; or with a view to this present world, if the love of this world actuates him. And, no doubt, things are so ordered that the bent of the heart may appear; the various wants which exist, the many distresses, the superfluity of some and the deficiency of others, all the many differences