2. Offerings of gratefulness.
David saw all God had done for him and he wanted to give in response. When he went to set up the plot of land the temple would be built on, he insisted on buying it, even though the owner wanted to give it to David for free.
David said, “I will not give unto the Lord my God that which cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). David insisted on paying because he knew the issue was not providing a need (the field would be provided either way), but was the statement the gift made about David’s heart.
There are some gifts that are valuable for the good they can do in the world, and some gifts that are priceless for the statement they make about the heart of the giver and the value of the God they serve.
If David was grateful to God because of what he’d seen God do, how much more should we be grateful to God? David was blessed with a temple, but we have been blessed with Jesus, the true temple whose flesh was torn so we could enter the presence of God.
Does that not do something to your heart? Do you not want to pour yourself out for him in gratitude? Or if we looked at your gifts over the last year, what would they say about how you feel about God, about his worth to you?
3. Obedience to God’s Spirit.
David did with his money exactly what God instructed of him. This is an overlooked element in giving—the involvement of the Holy Spirit.
When you look at a lot of the biblical stories about giving, you find statements like, “God stirred up so-and-so’s heart to give” (Exod. 36, 2 Cor 9). Giving is supposed to be a Spirit-thing, a Spirit-driven thing, in which the Spirit moves in your heart and you listen to him and obey as he directs.
I sometimes think the reason a lot of us don’t know what to give God is because we’ve simply never asked him what he wants us to give.
