In My Trouble
Now behold, with great pains I have prepared for the house of the LORD 1 Chronicles 22:14
With Great Pains – As David approached the end of his life, he gave us a summary that we need to heed (remember qashav?). David, the man after God’s own heart, the man of great triumph and terrible failure, speaks just a single word that paints the color of his life. That word is be’aniy. The literal meaning is “in my affliction.” I don’t believe that David is saying he took great pains to gather the materials for the building of the temple. I believe that David is commenting on his whole life and what he sees is a life of affliction. Yes, he started well – a shepherd boy who became king. But then he spent over a decade running from Saul. He lost his best friend in the process. He fell prey to two great temptations, resulting in thousands and thousands of deaths, including his infant son. He lived with the ghost of adultery, treachery and murder. He saw his own children betray him. He watched his family fall to pieces. Finally, he was denied the one great reward he so desired – to build the house of his Lord. Affliction? Yes, I would say so. David, the hero of the faith, counts it all up and says, “In my trouble, I prepared for the house of the Lord.”
We would do well to heed this word. If David, the man after God’s own heart, has a life of affliction, why do we believe that our lives should be filled with ease and escape, with blessing and benefit? Are we as close to the heart of God as David? Perhaps it is nearness to God that brings such affliction. Perhaps the reason that we are so much not like the man after God’s own heart is that we hold our distance for fear of affliction. We don’t risk – therefore, we don’t experience the rewards of the afflicted life.
I am quite sure that our modern, affluent, Westernized version of Christianity is more mythology than divinity. We employ a trained and pacified blessing God who serves us as though He were the perfect genie. When life doesn’t go the way we wish, we file complaints at the heavenly service window, demanding consideration for all that we have had to endure in an unruly world. Long ago we stopped reading the real details of the men and women of God. We would rather have the Pollyanna, storybook versions.
Give me a single example of a Biblical character who was close to God because of luxury, leisure and largess. You will be hard-pressed. The God of the wilderness does not reside in the hearts of those who seek city security. Trouble is a precondition of close encounter. When I run from life in the desert, I desert God’s grace.
Can you stand with David and say, “I have prepared the house of the Lord in my affliction?” Or do you think that trouble is a terrible thing?
