1 Chronicles 29:1-9--Offerings for the Temple

1 Chronicles 29:1-9
English Standard Version

Offerings for the Temple
29 And David the king said to all the assembly, “Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man but for the LORD God. 2 So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. 3 Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 4 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, 5 and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?”

6 Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. 7 They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. 8 And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.

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I've been making mention of this for some time, but David realized that the task given to Solomon was beyond the knowledge or wisdom that he currently had (though the LORD would grant him much wisdom later when he asked for it).  With this in mind, David prepared all the raw materials and the workers for Solomon's use and direction, and David drew up all the "blueprints" for Solomon so that Solomon knew the exact measurements and weights for each of the articles of bronze, silver, and gold that were to be used in the Temple.  The same goes for all the precious stones that were to be used as well as the iron, wood, and stone that was to be used.  Everything was prepared for him from the items that David had in his own personal treasury as spoils of war, as money that was paid as tribute to him from other nations, and from storing up these resources from getting the best gold possible from the land of Ophir.  David had planned for the house of the LORD to be overlayed in silver, but Solomon would gather so much more gold that the whole house of the LORD would be overlayed in gold, because at the time of Solomon, silver would essentially become worthless since he had so much gold.  David gave all this willingly from his personal treasury and the treasury of the nation, and he called on others to consecrate themselves, give themselves to the LORD first, and then join him in making offerings for the building of the Temple.

All those that David had called--the heads of the tribes, the commanders of armies, the members of his cabinet, and his close advisors gave for the service of the LORD's house (the Temple).    Their combined gifts filled in anywhere where the provisions that David made were lacking and gave Solomon the chance to also be generous with his giving (we'll see how many animals he will sacrifice and how that he will use so much of certain materials that they wouldn't even try to weigh or measure it, for it was beyond measurement).  Everything necessary to complete the work that the LORD had described to David and given for Solomon to complete had been provided.  Nothing was lacking, yet Solomon wanted to join in on the sacrificial giving and will do so and make the Temple even more ornate than David probably ever imagined it to be.