God does not need your help. Let's talk about it on this edition of Key Life. Hello, I'm Mike Kellogg and this is Key Life. If you are interested in honest and practical Bible teaching for struggling believers, you are at the right place. Here's Steve Ruff. Thanks Mike if you have your Bible open it to 1st and 2nd Chronicles. As we continue with our survey of the Older Testament, I'm just taking time in each of the books of the Old Testament. And whatever time it takes, sometimes we'll do it in a week or two. Sometimes we'll take three or four weeks depending on whether it's one of my favorite books or not. But I really have a genuine concern that Christians understand the Old Testament and that they spend some time there. The Older Testament is a tremendous place of God's grace and His love and His patience and His faithfulness. And Christians ought to be aware of the Old Testament. So we're spending whatever time it takes to get through the entire Old Testament. And as I said occasionally, we'll take a break like next week. Next week is Holy Week and I'm going to take the whole week to talk about things from the New Testament about a Galilean carpenter who was killed and died and got up after his death. And he said, we could do. So we're going to talk about that next week in a special Easter week of teachings on key life. And then right after that's over, we're going to come back to this Old Testament survey. Now if you have your Bible open it to 1st Corinthians 17 or for 1st Corinthians. It's the microphone. It's certainly not me. I do not make those kinds of mistakes. It's 1st Chronicles 17. Now I want you to take the time before you go to bed tonight to read the entire 17 chapter of Chronicles because it's an interesting chapter because it shows the desire of a man to help God out. And God's response to that desire. Now David goes before God and he says to God, I'm going to help you. I'm going to build a temple and it's going to be some kind of temple. And God says in effect, I don't need your help. You know, one of the best lessons I've ever learned in life is that God was doing fine before I came along. And he's going to do fine long after I'm gone. That God knows what he's doing. That he does it right. That he doesn't ask for my vote. And the great thing is that he allows me to be a part of what he's doing. And he was going to do it anyway. He allows me to come along. Sometimes when we get to heaven I'll introduce you to my father. He became a Christian shortly before his death. And I loved him more than I can possibly tell you, but sometimes he would let me drive the car. Well, actually, he never let me drive the car when I was a small child. But he would let me sit in his lap and put my hands on the steering wheel. When we would get home, I would say to my mother, hey mom, I drove the car. And she would smile and my father would smile because I knew I didn't drive the car. I'd just sat in his lap and put my hands on the steering wheel. One of the great privileges of my life is being able to sit in his lap and put my hands on the steering wheel. That's what he does. He was doing it. I mean, he's going to drive the car anyway. And in fact, he does drive the car, but he doesn't need my help. That makes people angry. You know that? I don't know why it makes people angry. If you're a pastor, you need what I'm saying more than anybody listening to what I'm saying. Or if you're in full-time religious work or religious professional, you need what I'm telling you. God doesn't need you. He's allowed you to be a part of what he was already going to do. You be faithful and you'll find your joy there. And you'll see God do stuff through you that will absolutely blow you away. And this is not a cause to unfaithfulness, but it is a call to understanding that God is God, but at any rate. So David goes to God and he said, I'm going to build you a temple. And God says, no, you're not. Now I want to show you, and I want to take the time to read this. If your Bible is open, turn to the 17th chapter, and I'm going to start reading at the 16th chapter, so we can see what God says to David. Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that you have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in your sight. Oh God, and you have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come. And have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God. What more can David say to you for the honor of being your servant? For you know your servant, O Lord, for your servant's sake. And according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness and making known all these great things. O Lord, there is none like you. Nor is there any God beside you according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like your people Israel, but one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for himself as a people, to make for yourself a name by grade and awesome deeds, by driving out nations from before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt, for you have made your people Israel, your very own people forever, and you, Lord, have become their God. And now, O Lord, the word which you have spoken concerning your servant, and concerning his house, let it be established forever as you have said. So let it be established that your name may be magnified forever, saying the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel is Israel's God, and let the house of your servant David be established before you. For you, oh my God, have told your servant that you will build him house. Therefore your servant is founded in his heart to pray before you, and now, Lord, you are God. And if promise this goodness to your servant, now you have been pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue before you forever, for you have blessed it, O Lord, and it shall be blessed forever. Do you see it? David, look at that. David went and told God how he was going to help him out. And God told David all the good stuff that he had done for him. In other words, God was saying, God was saying, listen to me. Remember where you were. Remember where I found you. Remember my promises. I always fulfill those promises and praise me because that's your business, not helping me out. It's a wonderful freedom when you find out you're not God. Then you can be faithful without having to check everything you're doing to see if you're doing it right. One of the greatest lessons you can learn is that God doesn't need your help. So you say, well, wait, what am I supposed to do? Let him love you. Well, what about, well, witness easy and cool. I want you to witness and stuff like that. But why don't you not witness for a little bit, just let him love you. Well, I've got a lot of stuff to do for God. I'm busy doing guides, but I know, and that's probably good. I can't hurt for you to do that, but why don't you remember that God loves you and that nothing you can do will be more sufficient than the blood of God's own son. Nothing. Okay, enough about that. Flip on over to First Chronicles 29-26-30. This is the text. Thus, David, the son of Jesse, rained over all Israel. The time that he rained over Israel was forty years. He rained seven years, and he brawn thirty-three years in Jerusalem. Then he died in a good old age full of days, riches, and honor. Solomon's son rained in his stead. Now the axe of King David, from the first of the last, are written in the Chronicles of Samuel, the Seer. And the Chronicles of Nathan, the prophet, and the Chronicles of God, the Seer, with accounts of all his rule in his might. And the circumstances that came upon him, upon Israel, and upon all the kingdoms of the country. So we read about David being an old man and David dying, and there's somebody, I've just got to share this with somebody. Let me give you the top ten hymns. Somebody sent this to me for people who are old. I'm including myself. These are the hymns. It is well with my soul, but my back hurts a lot. Nobody knows the trouble I have seeing, or amazing grace, considering my age. Or how about this one, just a slower walk with me? Or go tell it on the mountain, but speak up. Or what about this blessed insurance? Guide me, O thou great Jehovah. I've forgotten where I've art. Count your many birthdays, name them one by one. Give me that old timers religion, and the one that we all sing nearer my God to the... But at any rate, David's an old man. In the first Chronicles 29, 26, 30, the writer probably, Ezra, is saying some really good stuff about David. But I want you to know that something's missing. Something important is missing from this short account of David's ring. What's missing? I'll tell you, Bershiba is missing. The adultery is missing. The murder of Uriah is missing. What about the way David raised his kid in such a bad way and he became rebellious? That's missing. What about all of that? Let me tell you what God did. God erased it all. And that says something important to you. No matter what you're saying, no matter what you've done, God will start where you are. Edit the tape and it'll be sweet music in his ears. Because when he forgives, he really forgives. I get letters from you guys all the time that say, I've done so and so. You think God will ever love me again? I want to say, what? I've fallen and I don't know if God will ever be able to use me again. I want to say, what? Haven't you read the Bible? So you find that when God sums up the life of David, he forgets about the bad stuff. It is as if it had never happened. I saw an artist once who had a kid come forward and draw a line on a piece of canvas and then the artist drew a magnificent picture around the ugly line. Can we talk? He's done that with me and he continues to do it. He'll do it with you too. You think about that. Hey, listen, if you haven't written a call for our little booklet, Easter Meditations, next week is Easter Week and we'll send it right out to you. And it's something you can use after Easter too. It's a collection of my writings on the death and resurrection of Christ and it's biblical. And I think you'll find it helpful. Why don't you just just give us a call, 1-800-key life, 24 hours a day, or write key life, post office bucks, 5,000-Mateland for the 3-27-94. Or key life, Canada, post office bucks, 321-5-0. Cambridge, Ontario, M3H5, M3, or you can email us at Steve at keylife.org with your regular mailing address and ask for Easter Meditations. 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