David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 2 Chronicles 3, 1 Kings 7, 2 Chronicles 4, Psalm 141.

1 Kings 7:48-51

So Solomon made all the vessels that were in the house of the Lord: the golden altar, the golden table for the bread of the Presence, ⁴⁹ the lampstands of pure gold, five on the south side and five on the north, before the inner sanctuary; the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs, of gold; ⁵⁰ the cups, snuffers, basins, dishes for incense, and fire pans, of pure gold; and the sockets of gold, for the doors of the innermost part of the house, the Most Holy Place, and for the doors of the nave of the temple.

⁵¹ Thus all the work that King Solomon did on the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and the vessels, and stored them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.

“What are you gonna do with all that stuff?!?” That’s a title of a video that we used several years ago to make the point that sometimes our stuff begins to rule us. At some point in life, we all have to decide what to do with our stuff. Store it? Organize it? Dust it? Insure it? Repair it? Upgrade it? Move it? Sell it? Give it away? Hand it down to children who may or may not want it? Eventually, someone has to sort through it all.

Reading the end of 1 Kings 7 reminded me of that, and almost made me smile. After pages describing magnificent pillars, gold vessels, ornate furnishings, and treasures fit for a king, the text quietly concludes: “And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated… and stored the treasures in the treasuries of the house of the LORD” (1 Kings 7:51). Even the splendor of Solomon’s Temple eventually became… stuff to put away!

This is not to belittle the importance or beauty of the adornments and furnishings of Solomon’s Temple. Buildings communicate values, and there is a world of difference between architecture designed to dazzle for entertainment or excess and architecture intended to inspire reverence for the worship of God. Solomon’s Temple surely stood apart from the palaces and monuments of its day as a visible reminder of the holiness, beauty, and presence of the LORD among his people.

Still, all things – family heirlooms, keepsakes, fine jewelry, or (dare I say it?!?) camera equipment – will one day be disposed of, passed on, or stored. Solomon’s temple stands no more; its treasures long lost or scattered to a thousand places.

And I think about God’s storage plans. He stores different things. He stores our tears in his bottle (Psalm 56:8), sound wisdom for the upright (Proverbs 2:7), and abundant goodness for those who fear him (Psalm 31:19). He even remembers injustice for the day of wrath (Romans 2:5).

God stores that which he values. And what God treasures most is not gold stored in temple rooms or possessions stacked in warehouses, but people – people he is shaping by grace into a spiritual temple that we may offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. We may rightly thank God for the stuff we have. Stuff isn’t evil. But we must reserve our highest praise and gratitude for the spiritual blessings we have in Jesus Christ. These will never wear out, rust away, or need to be packed into boxes, for they are eternal gifts of grace.