Seeking for the help of the Lord,   I direct your prayer for attention to the chapter we read, 1 Chronicles   chapter 28, and reading from our text, verse 9. And thou, Solomon, my son, know   thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect   heart and with a willing mind. For the Lord searcheth all hearts   and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek   him, he will be found of thee, but if thou forsake him, he will   cast thee off for ever. And we could add the further   charge in verse 10, take heed now for the Lord hath chosen   thee to build an house for the sanctuary be strong and doing. Of course, the latter part is   specifically to Solomon, but I want to go from Solomon to   a charge to us as well. We have here David's charge to   Solomon, and to us. 1 Chronicles 28 and verse 9. There's something sacred when   it comes to the end of the lives of the Lord's dear people. We   think of Jacob when he blessed his sons in Genesis 49 and prophecies   there the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Joseph when he also   blessed his sons and then he gave commandment concerning his   bones and gave charge concerning them, made mention of the departing   of the children of Israel out of Egypt. And of course, with   Joseph being the means of them going into Egypt, it is very   appropriate that he also was the one that gave charge going   out. It's very easy for people to   latch hold of something, maybe of fathers or maybe of pastor,   something that they've said, and they set it in stone, something   that they've done that they will not go back upon it at all. They   can read Providence, they can have direction, but no, they're   gonna stay firm on what their forefathers have done. But God,   in great wisdom, used Joseph himself, who was used to bring   them into Egypt, to give commandment for them to going out. So when   they came out, no one could say, well, Joseph brought us in here   and it was remarkably done, a wonderful providence. We're not going out   of Egypt, we want to stay here because they had his bones there   and commandment concerning his bones. And it's good for us to   look at God's providence, how he helps us and helps us to do   his will And even if we've been blessed in a place to make those   things happen so that we're willing to move to another place. I had 10 years in my home before   we were married. There was hardly a room in that   home that I was not blessed in. The Lord had given me promises   that partly had come to pass in being married over here. And   it also meant that I needed to move from that home. And so it   gave me the incentive, gave to the reason to move. Thou shalt not have sons or daughters   in this place. And I marvel at how the Lord   ordered that. And I see the same pattern with   what God did with Israel, with Joseph. But then we have with   David. And again, it's a lovely thing   where you get a, you might say, a continuity of power. There's   not David dying and then Solomon is left to start without any   charge, without any guidance. And this chapter here, in chapter   28, we have first David's charge to all Israel, all the congregation   in the first eight verses, and then he gives the charge to his   son in these verses nine and ten, and then gives the pattern   of the sanctuary, not leaving anything out. He'd prepared so   much for it, and even by weight, even to that extent. And then we read in the following   chapter, the charge again concerning the offerings to the people for   the temple and those things that had been prepared. And throughout   that chapter, he is preparing for that time as recorded at   the end of the chapter, when David passes away, when he dies. And he prays before he parts   from them. He prays for them and makes supplication   in front of them all to God for them. And Solomon is anointed   the second time over the kingdom. Really the Lord ordered it. so   that their kingdom was really established at that time. But it is the charge, the charge   that David gave to Solomon his son, that is upon my spirit this   evening. I want to look at three points. Firstly, The charge, know thou   the God of thy father. And then secondly, we have the   charge to serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind. And   then lastly, in our text, there is four reasons to do so. But firstly, there is the charge   that Solomon should know, know thou the God of thy father. There are several times through the   Old Testament where those like Jacob and like Isaac were blessed   for their father's sake. And the Lord acknowledges the   blessings that he has given to one generation and will have   the next generation learn from them and know from them. Solomon   doesn't have a charge from David just to know about David's God,   but to know him. Thou, Solomon, my son, know thou   the God of thy father, whom to know is life eternal. It's a great difference in knowing   about someone and knowing them. in taking this line to Solomon. I mean, he could have if he realized   Solomon had been blessed, and no doubt he knew that day Solomon   would be blessed, but if it had been put that make sure you know   the Lord thy God, that would be one thing. But the way that   this is worded here, It's really encouragement to all seekers   and all of those that would follow in the path of their fathers.   Though we have in the Word of God an example of how the Lord   deals with his people, and certainly we do have here with David, yet   in Solomon's eyes, those things that he had known and seen and   heard of David, his father, were a living witness. And I certainly   have been encouraged through my life, especially when times   of temptation, times when I've been very low in myself, when   the adversary has said, well, no, religion is just all the   cunningly devised fables. There's no reality in it. There   may be a cloud all over my own life, my own witness, my own,   what the Lord has done for me. And then the Lord has brought   to remembrance what I have seen done in another's life. I witness   what they have said, what they've done, how the Lord has appeared   for them and answered their prayers and what their testimony has   been. And that's often been a means to lift me up, encourage me,   strengthen me again. And the Lord has given us these   witnesses. And we have in Hebrews 12, after   that long list of those that lived and died by faith in Hebrews   11, wherefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of   witnesses, let us run the race that is set before us looking   unto Jesus. And the same principle is there. Witnesses that God has given   us, even in our own house, in our own lives, with Ruth, She   had no Omi. And you might say, what kind   of witness is that? That poor woman had gone down   to Moab. She'd lost her husband. She'd   lost her sons. But the witness was how she'd   brought up under those trials, how she was sustained, how she   humbled herself, and how she did not cast off the Lord, her   God. She still claimed to him and   Ruth. She claimed to Naomi and desired   to claim to her God as well. We mustn't think that if we're   to recommend our faith, our religion, and what the Lord has done for   us, that everything will go smoothly and lovely for us. We're not   to think, well, you want our children and grandchildren to   walk in the ways of the Lord, they've got to see that we've   had health and strength and a good job and everything going well   for us in this life. Otherwise, I think it was not   worth having your God. But David had had many, many   trials and many tribulations and his own sins as well, directly   related to Solomon's birth. How he was born a Bathsheba with   whom he committed adultery and murdered her first husband. And   Solomon knew all of that, but he also knew that God chastened   David. He knew that he restored him.   He knew that he blessed him in spite of those things that he'd   done. He also knew that which David   rehearses in the earlier part of this chapter, how that God   chose him. All of his household, really   all of the tribes of Israel, he chose Judah. And of the tribe   of Judah, he chose his house, Jesse's house, and of all his   sons, the youngest and the most insignificant. Overlooked it   would have been by Samuel and despised by his brothers. And   Solomon is reminded, the whole congregation is reminded of this. And Solomon especially has heard   all what David has said, as now has a charge, know thou the God   of thy father. you walk in that same path. As   David, as I have walked, and as I have known the Lord, so   you know the Lord as well. And there is David as an example   of that. Those of us who know the Lord,   we should be able to say with the Apostle Paul, when he spoke   to King Agrippa, when King Agrippa said that, almost thou persuadest   me to be a Christian, He said, I would that thou wouldst not   only be almost, but altogether, such as I am, except this chain. He would not wish upon others   our afflictions, our infirmities, and the things that are upon   us that are because of our sin, but we would desire for them   our God. What a recommendation that is. say that to her children, our   grandchildren, could we say that to others in our town, that we'd   have that they knew our God, that they knew the blessings   we know, that they could be in our shoes, in our place and walk   as we walk. And David is able to charge Solomon   with this before all of the assembly, that he might know the God of   his fathers. Know that he was a covenant-keeping   God. David says, although my house   be not so with God, yet hath he made with me an everlasting   covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my desire,   all his hope, though he make it not to grow. And this is the   God that David desired Solomon to know the God that he spoke   of before all of the assembly as he went, and of course this   was before Solomon was born, when he went against Goliath,   and he said, the God that delivered me out of the paw of the lion   and the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of   this Philistine, and that was before all of Israel. And so for David then to point   Solomon to this same God and to exhort him, to charge him   in this way to know him, he was giving Solomon an aim, an end   view. that does tie in with the next   part of the charge. But it's important for us to   have an aim. You know, if Solomon went through   his life and we go through our life, and our aim and desire   is not just to be blessed, not to be, know that we're one of   God's people, not to be brought to baptism, not to be favoured   in our lives, but to know God, to actually walk with Him and   know Him as our God, as our Saviour, as our Friend, as our Redeemer,   have that acquaintance with Him. When we think of the whole plan   of salvation, it's to bring a people that is alienated from God and   to bring them nigh by the blood of Christ. The work of our Lord   Jesus Christ is to have a people drawn to him. No man cometh unto   me except the Father which sent me. Draw him, I'll raise him   up the last day. We think of his disciples. They   were called, and the effect of that calling was that they were   Disciples, those that believed on him, as recorded in John 8,   the Lord said, if you continue in my word, then you shall be   my disciples indeed. You shall know the truth. The   truth shall make you free. And being so close to the Lord,   they learnt of him. And the Lord exhorts those, take   my yoke upon you and learn of me. I am meek and lowly at heart. In other words, the same Message   that is here, the Lord is saying, you learn of me, you get to know   me and know my ways and know my spirit. Not like the disciples   who said to the Samaritans who wouldn't receive him, shall we   call down fire from heaven and destroy them? The Lord says,   you know not what spirit you are. That is not my spirit. The Son of Man came not to destroy   men's lives, but to save them. And so this gives us an aim. In our reading the Word of God,   in our coming under the preaching of the Word, in all of our lives,   our aim, our desire, should be that we might know, that we might   truly know God. And it's put then in a focus   here, know thou the God of thy father. And so those of us here,   or some of you who have your father here, You know, have your   grandparents here, have your grandparents that you've been   with today, and it is a memory that is lively, it's present   with us. And when we can remember our   fathers, remember what they've gone through, the trials they've   been through, you know, with our children, there was, we used   to lie in the family, worship the problems and trials before   them when we were blessed, and we gathered together and we thank   the Lord. There are some things, of course,   parents keep to themselves, bear the burden themselves. But as   children are able to bear it, it's a good thing to see how   practically a parent walks before the Lord as an example, not just   in words, but actually an example. Being with brethren in the ministry   recently, and some of them were sharing deep trials that they've   been through in illnesses with their families, their wives,   and the observation made that the congregation do not just   hear our words, but they see our lives. They see how we respond   when we have adversity and trials and afflictions. And that is,   we mentioned Naomi and Ruth observing her, And these things then are   not done in a corner. What the Lord does for his people,   he does before others. They see what he does. And so   this is a charge, an aim to Solomon and an aim to us as well. May we take this away this evening. If nothing else, may I take it   away as my aim too. And to be renewed to this, know   thou the God of thy father. Well, of course, joined with   that will be prayer, won't it? Prayer to seek the Lord and to   ask the Lord that we might know this God. How many times have   we actually prayed that? Lord, reveal thyself to me. Cause   me to know thee. caused me to know Thee the same   as my fathers, my mother, those that I've seen blessed, those   of a generation before. The blessings I've seen them   have caused me to know those blessings and to walk in that   path as well. And a very scriptural pattern   here for it, and counted a real blessing where we have been a   witness of the blessings of another. We have seen the blessings of   another. We have seen the effect of the   blessings of the Lord upon those near and dear to us. I want to   look then, secondly, at the charge that he has concerning serving   him. Serve him with a perfect heart. How we serve God is very important. Not just serving Him, but how   we do. You think of the illustration   in our own employment. If we're working for an employer,   we can just do the basic, bare minimum. We can do it begrudgingly. We can do it in an unkind way. But what a difference if we do   it willingly, cheerfully, and go the second mile, and do all   that is set before us, not saying, well, I think it should be done   this way, I don't want to do it this way, I'm not happy with   my lot. How we serve is very important,   even in natural things in your life, and serving the Lord. How we serve is important. You might say, but I'm not a   minister. I'm not a deacon. How do I serve the Lord? Well,   all of God's children are brought to obey him, to do his will,   to be submissive to his providential leadings and appointments, and   fulfilling what he has given us to do. whatsoever thy hand   findeth to do, do it with all thy heart, all thy mind, working   as unto the Lord and not as unto men. We are to serve the Lord   in that way, where the Lord maybe has given us smaller things to   do, helping in the church of God, playing the organ, serving   at chapel teas, helping in small ways, we might say small, and   yet greatly valued in the house of God. She had done what she   could, and it is a good thing to think when the Lord brings   his people, and the language is, Lord, what thou have me to   do? and the desire that we might   be his servants, not Satan's servants. Paul says that as we   have yielded our members, servants to unrighteousness, so yield   them servants to righteousness. Where our feet have gone for   pleasure and sin, our feet then in the ways of the Lord. Where   our hands have been used to do things that are ungodly, have   them used to that which is godly, where our skills, our minds have   been used for self-pleasure and the things of this world, to   have them brought into captivity to serve the Lord. And with Solomon, he was then   given this charge. He is the leader of his people,   as the king, he was to serve in that way, but it does apply   then to all of us, and especially in how it is set before us here,   not what, in what way serving, but in the spirit, with a perfect   heart and with a willing mind, a complete heart. Our Lord said,   you cannot serve God and mammon. No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one or   cleave to the other. You cannot. serve God and mammon. And so it is sincerely and fully,   cheerfully, not hypocritically, but serving the Lord with all   of our lives, willingly, not in a forced way and not with   weariness. And when we think of what David   has set before Solomon, to know thou the God of thy father, He's   implying Solomon is looking at his servitude as well. So here's   an example of servitude. So for the next generation, what   will our children and grandchildren see of how we serve the Lord   as well? And so this charge for Solomon,   he was before all Israel. All Israel would look at him.   All Israel would see how he served God, how he behaved. Of course,   sadly, we know the Lord appeared to Solomon twice, but he did   depart, went after the gods of the many wives that he had. And   the Lord then chastened him for that. But Solomon was blessed   and was favoured. And the Lord was here with him.   The temple was built and all was done as David had made preparations   for. And there's a beautiful promises   and encouragements later on in this chapter. In verse 20, David   said to Solomon his son, be strong and of good courage and do it,   fear not nor be dismayed for the Lord God, even my God, he   comes back to his own God again, reminding Solomon of the God   of his father's David, even my God will be with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake   thee until thou hast finished all the work for the service   of the house of the Lord. So in many encouraging words   that David gives when he charges Solomon to first know thou the   God of thy father and secondly serve him with a perfect heart   and a willing mind. In one sense, we can't serve   someone properly unless we really know them, can we? And so it's   vital, those two points that go together. But then thirdly,   David gives four reasons to do so. The first is this, for the   Lord searcheth all hearts. Lord searcheth all hearts. He   knows what is the innermost thoughts, what our intentions are. He knows before we put into action   what our intentions are going to be. Many times we read of   our Lord when he was on earth, knowing the thoughts and knowing   the hearts of those that were about him, and certainly telling   us of what is in the heart of man by nature. There are many   Gospels that we could choose from, but in Mark, in chapter   7, we read in verse 21 what the Lord says of what defiles a man   that that comes from within, out of the heart of men. And   this is what the Lord searches of the heart of men. He says,   from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts,   adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness,   deceit, lasciviousness and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within   and defile the man. And so this is the incentive   to serve the Lord fully and perfectly. And it should be an encouragement   to us if the Lord has opened our hearts and opened our eyes   to see what we are by nature. And we might say, how can any   good dwell here? recoiled from the sight of what   God sees, what we see. But we have to remember this   is what God sees, even when we didn't see it. When we were in   trespasses and sins, when we were in darkness, God still saw   what our heart was. So when we start to see it and   mourn over that heart and lay it before Him and confess it   before Him, we're not showing the Lord anything He does not   know. we are telling him what he has revealed to us. And David   in Psalm 51, in that beautiful Psalm of repentance, he is very   clear of what is in his heart, and the need of cleansing, the   need of washing, the need of redemption. And so when Solomon   has this charge, David is bringing him to a real heart worship,   a heart work, reminding that God sees that within. You cannot   deceive God, you cannot be one thing outwardly and another thing   inwardly. It must be, if we serve the true   and living God, that it be through and through, right from the very   intense thoughts and intense of our heart. And so the incentive   of four reasons to know God and to serve him, the first one he   gives concerning the heart. Now, when David had a view of   Solomon as God opened up to him what his kingdom should be like,   he said, is this the manner of man, O Lord God? And I believe   that was David getting a little glimpse of the kingdom of our   Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That peaceful kingdom. He was   a man of blood. In a way, both David and Solomon   portray the Lord. Our Lord suffered. He was a man   of blood. But then after his sufferings,   and David, of course, was a man after God's own heart, but after   our Lord's sufferings, then is the kingdom of peace. then is   the gospel of peace. It is a peace making blood of   the Lord Jesus Christ and the blood of the covenant. And so   if we are to know David's God, we are to know David's greatest   son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who deals with the sin   of the heart, not just superficial, what a solemn thing, Today, Christ   is set forth mostly as just an example, how we are to live,   just an example of charity, not as the Son of God, eternal Son   of God, who suffered, bled, and died to put away our sin, to   cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and to give a hope beyond the   grave. And it is right for us that our   incentive in our serving should be that the Lord does see us   exactly as we are, and that His salvation deals with the heart. Now, I want to just notice another   thing as well. Solomon had highlighted how,   or David had highlighted how Solomon should serve. The blessing   of repentance, and when the Lord begins with the sinner, It doesn't   mean to say that that sinner, though he has repentance or she   has repentance, that they're able to eradicate all of their   sin, turn away from all of their sins. They do turn away, but   certainly not perfectly. But to have a heart to do it,   to be willing to do it, to want to do it, like in Hebrews 12, resisted unto blood, striving   against sin. Or like the Apostle Paul, when   I would do good, evil is present with me. So he had the desire   to do good. If I do that which I would not,   is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. So repentance,   firstly, is the attitude of the heart, the desire to walk in   the ways of the Lord. And Solomon was to have this.   To serve the Lord, knowing that he doubt with the heart, saw   the heart, and that his heart was to be wanting to walk in   the ways of the Lord and to serve Him. Sin is, the promise is that   sin shall not have dominion over you. You're not under the law,   you're under grace. The second incentive was that   the Lord understands all the imaginations. The imaginations   and thoughts. Understandeth all imaginations   of the thoughts. David's beautiful psalm, Psalm   139. In the first part of that psalm,   David says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me, Thou   knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising. Thou understandest   my thought afar off. Thou compass my path and my lying   down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not   a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and   before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Then he says, such knowledge   is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain unto it. David knew, and he bends it in   this psalm, and he goes right through that psalm, you can read   it at leisure, and he conveys then to Solomon that the Lord   understands these thoughts, these imaginations, of the thoughts   of man. And we have many references to   it in the Word of God, but going right back to the flood, right   back to where the Lord first was speaking concerning what   man is like. And we have, before the flood,   God saw, this is in Genesis 6 and verse 5, that the wickedness   of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of   the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But we find then also, after   the flood as well, then the Lord knowing that man's heart is like   that, it is still the same, it is unchanged in this way, when   Noah built an altar, when he offered there, and the Lord smelled   a sweet savour in Genesis 8, 21. The Lord said in his heart,   I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for   the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither   will I again smite any more everything living as I have done. And the   beautiful promise, while the earth remaineth, seed time and   harvest and cold and heat, summer and winter and day and night   shall not cease. And we might think Solomon has   been giving reasons here, but David is giving reasons that   Solomon and ourselves are having to come face to face with really   the root of our sin, our hearts and our thoughts and imaginations,   Going right back there to Genesis and telling him, the Lord, he   understands these things. What I thought it is, that all   of our imaginations and our hearts, our minds are such a busy workshop. How much they imagine, how many   things, many of it evil as well. And yet the Lord understands   these things. This is a real encouragement   to bring it before him, to lay it before him, that which is   too hard for us, too complicated for us. You might say, Lord,   thou hast charged us to serve thee and serve thee with all   our heart, but this is my heart, and this is my imaginations.   One of the hymns held to me once, whether it's applied in this   sense or not, high above imagination, is God's love to man. And sometimes   it's been a comfort to me. I've thought, well, the Lord's   high above all my imaginations. He can overcome them. He can   deliver me from them. And the thing that tries me,   and maybe tries some of you as well, what if my faith, what   if my religion was just imagined? What if it was not real and foundation? Now we are exhorted to commit   our works unto the Lord, and our thoughts shall be established. In other words, the works are   real things that we are doing. They're not just imagined things. The libraries in this land are   full of fiction. There's bookshelf after bookshelf,   and it's fiction. And what is it? It's books that   are written out of the imagination of some type. They can't live   that life, so they live it in a book. They just make it up. And the Word of God is not like   that. The Word of God describes men's   lives, the very things that they walked in, regarding David, what   he walked in, how the Lord dealt with him, how the Lord blessed   him. And that is the, I think it was Thomas Watson said that   he, put more weight on the providence of God than even the words from   the Lord. Because you cannot argue with   providence when the Lord says with Moses, I'll make all my   goodness pass before thee in the way. You can't imagine that. That is what happens. The Lord   does that. And those things that work together   and go together for good. You look at the book of Esther   and can't you see the goodness of God and Lord going before   in Providence and delivering them and saving them. The book   of Ruth as well, you see the Lord's hand. And we need to pray   in that way, Lord, let me not be deceived. Let my faith not   be just an imagined thing, but may it really touch my life. May it be how my footsteps are   guided. May my ways are ordered. And like David said, my meditation   of him shall be sweet. I prevent the night watchers   that I might meditate upon his word. And they be real things. And where we find and we're playing   with our old nature, as we will be, to bring that before the   Lord. And we might think we're so inadequate,   but to be able to so remind him like this, Lord thou understandest   the imaginations, thou understand my thoughts, these thoughts.   And that be an incentive to us to pray and to seek those right   thoughts and right affections. So then we have thirdly the beautiful   promise, if thou seek him he will be found of thee. Now Lord   really takes this up, doesn't he? Ask, and it shall be given   thee. Seek, and thou shalt find. Knock, and it shall be opened   unto thee. He that asketh, receiveth. He   that seeketh, findeth. He that knocketh, it shall be   opened. The encouragement that we had   in our first hymn, encouragement to seekers to seek after him. Again, as the first charge, Know   thou the God of thy fathers. So the word that David brings   before as a reason that he might know him is to seek him with   the promise he will be found of thee. Does not seek to know   about him, not seek to know things surrounding him, but seek him,   his person. So we would, says the Greek,   so we would see Jesus. Seek after him and the beautiful   promise he will be found of thee. There's a time factor, isn't   there? So may we be helped, may each   of you be helped to seek on, seek him in prayer, seek him   at the means of grace, seek him in the closet, seek him in the   word of God. We had this morning, our Lord   in Psalm 69. They're beautiful psalms. When   you come to the psalms and you find the Lord there, you find   His sufferings there, you find Him foretold, you find the very   exercise of His soul all laid out in those psalms. And that's   where we are to seek Him. We won't find Him in the world,   but we find Him in the temple, in the sanctuary, in the Church   of God, in the Word of God. to seek Him where He may be found.   If we were looking for something naturally, we would use our understanding   as to think, well, where is this likely to be? Where are we to   find this thing? And so in the things of God,   where the Lord is to be found, that is where we seek Him. Then lastly, if thou forsake   him. He will cast thee off forever. This may seem a strange word. We know with God's people that   they can never be lost, that once the Lord begins with them,   He will finish that work. He will not cast off forever. But what we do know is this.   God does not cast off a people. We have the charge to Israel   to say to them, well, where is the bill of your mother's divorcement?   Where is the proof that I have put you away? Or where is the   proof that I have sold you to your creditors? And then to say   that it is your sins that have separated is not me. And so this as well, it points   to those that forsake the Lord. The Lord said, if ye believe   not that I am he, ye shall perish in your sins. Those that went   back and walked no more with him, There was no other salvation,   no other way of help. And David, in effect, is saying   that my God is the true and living God. If you turn away from that   God, my God, there is no other God. There is no other way of   salvation. And so it's a real incentive   to abide with the Lord, not to listen to Satan. says, well,   the Lord's forsaken you. The Lord won't answer you. The   Lord won't appear for you. There's no use seeking him anymore. In one sense, a reason for this,   or a reason that is set before Solomon, is an answer, no, the   Lord has not cast me off. I am not going to cast him off.   You think of the Syrophoenician woman. When she came to the Lord   because of her daughter, The Lord answered her, not a word.   But did she go away and say, well, the Lord's cast me off   and he's not going to help me? No. The disciples, they said,   she crieth after us. And the Lord then said that it   wasn't me. He's not sent but unto the lost   sheep of Israel. It's not me to give the children's   bread to dogs. She came worshipping him, saying,   Lord, help me. And then the dogs eat of the   crumbs that fall from a master's table. And then he commended   her faith, commended her faith. She knew of that opportunity   to keep coming unto him. She would not forsake him. She   would not leave off the hope in his mercy. And I believe this   is the way that David is setting before Solomon. Don't you give   up on the Lord. Don't you forsake Him. He does   not cast off. It is the forsaking Him. And then, then there is no hope   outside of Him. He will cast thee off forever.   And of course, the beautiful other side of that is in verse   20, where he says that thy God, even my God, will be with thee.   He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. until thou hast finished   all the work for the service of the house of the Lord." Of   course, David knew what had happened with Saul that went before him,   that Saul did not obey the Lord. Saul did forsake the Lord. He   went to a witch. He wasn't bothered that the Lord   wasn't answering him because he had an alternative. He could   go somewhere else. Really, there's a solemn a backdrop   to what David has to say to Solomon. There was a king that the Lord   gave in his anger, took him away in his wrath. So may we be really   encouraged in the Lord, encouraged to know him, to serve him, and   to seek him with all of our hearts. And we know that the Provisions   in the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ, David's   greatest son, has suffered, bled at Calvary. He has died and risen   again. And it is through his work, through   his finished work, that the people of God are brought to know the   Lord, to know his mercy, know his grace, know his forgiveness,   know his long-suffering, his tender mercies. These are things   that poor sinners are to know by grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not to say like the one that   hid his coin or pound in the earth, I knew thee that thou   wast an austere man. And he portrays the Lord in a   way that he was not. May we know the Lord different   to that. Know him as so merciful, gracious,   long-suffering and loving. our God and our Father's God. May the Lord bless this charge   to Solomon and bless the word to us, grant that we might not   only know the God of David, but also know the God of our fathers   where they have served the Lord, but know this true and living   God, the same yesterday and today and forever. Amen.