Our Father Knows Best

"And 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, 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." (1 Chron. 28:20)

In this single verse, we get to eavesdrop on a conversation between a father and son.

I am reminded of a show I watched as a child called “Father Knows Best”. It was about a loving patriarch who was highly respected by his family. But he didn’t always have all the answers. He wasn’t perfect and he made mistakes. Sometimes, he just accidentally fell into the right thing.

As a father, David made mistakes; he did a lot of things wrong, but he did a few things right.

When David converses with his son in this scripture, we get to dissect the advice from a loving father to his son. As I read this, I heard a resounding in my spirit - these were not only words from David to Solomon but are words from God to his children - to anyone who lays hold to the claim of being a child of God.

When David says, "Be strong and of good courage", we see the encouragement of a father.

When David told Solomon to "fear not, neither be dismayed", we see the warning of a father.

He's letting him know that obstacles may come, times may become scary, things may not always go as planned but don't let it sway you or change your direction. Don't become discouraged or distracted. Sometimes distractions are disguised as friends and well-wishers.

After the encouragement and the admonition of the father, comes the promise of the father.

David assures his son, God will be with you. And we know - God is a promise keeper; his promises are both precious and true.

When He says God will not fail thee – we know he’ll always be somewhere around because he’s not slack concerning a single one of his promises, he’s faithful to do whatever he says he will do and he will never leave us alone or forsake us.

In fact, 22:13 goes on to say, "then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfill the statutes and judgments which the Lord charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed."

Don’t be scared. Do what you must do. Do what God requires. It will pay off.

It’s prosperous to obey God. It may not materialize as cash in your hand – but then it may – just know the things God gives are priceless – things like his favor, his joy, his peace, things like having hope in a hopeless situation, his blessed assurance, his amazing grace and his unfailing love.

Lastly, we see the timeline of the father. He says, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord, you’re not through. In other words, it’s not over until it’s over.

Philippians 1:6 says, "being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

And the result of his handiwork is not for us – in and of ourselves – but it’s for God’s glory – that others may see the Father in us and glorify Him. Let us be like Timothy, and be not ashamed: for if you know whom you have believed, be persuaded that he is able to keep that which you have committed unto him against that day.

God is able. That means, we are able because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us and who directs our pathways and orders our steps because after all ...

Our Father Knows Best.