It Will Not Cost Me Nothing
Written by Jarred Rushing
(6 minutes)
David said to Araunah, “Let me buy this threshing floor from you at its full price. Then I will build an altar to the Lord there, so that he will stop the plague.”
“Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, and the threshing boards for wood to build a fire on the altar, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give it all to you.”
But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” So David gave Araunah 600 pieces of gold in payment for the threshing floor. David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar. Then the Lord spoke to the angel, who put the sword back into its sheath.
(1 Chronicles 21:22-27)
In 1 Chronicles 21, King David is incited to dishonor and distrust Yahweh by taking a census of all the fighting men of Israel. David goes against the wise counsel of Joab who tried to convince the King that Yahweh would never want them to count the people. Joab understood something very important: Yahweh would never instruct you to take your eyes off of Him and direct your gaze to your own resources. Joab knew that the number of fighting men had no bearing at all on whether they would win or lose a war against their enemies. In the Kingdom of God, math is much different. In the Kingdom of God, one man can put one thousand to flight, and two can put ten thousand to flight. It has nothing to do with how many people you have on your team. It has everything to do with the intimacy and honor that you have with Yahweh. David, of all people, should have remembered this because he was the one that saw a whole Philistine army defeated by one shepherd boy and a slingshot. He had personal testimonies of Yahweh's favor and extravagant grace.
But, like we've heard at The Wilderness Place, storms have a way of giving us amnesia. When your back is up against the wall it's hard to remember your own history with God. And in this moment, David forgot. He went against the wisdom of Joab, and he numbered the fighting men of Israel. This act of dishonor was about to limit the amount of God's presence that Israel had been enjoying up until that point. Because of David's dishonor, an entire nation was about to feel the effects of Yahweh's protection being removed.
When David's eyes were opened to his distrust of Yahweh, he did the only thing he knew to do. He repented and asked for mercy.
There is a moment in the story where David is given the opportunity to repair the relationship with God and reverse the curse that had come upon the nation of Israel. If dishonor is what ruined the relationship, honor is the only thing that could repair it. So David went to the place where he was instructed to go to build an altar to Yahweh. In this interaction with the owner of the threshing floor, we see a beautiful picture of honor. With a heart overflowing with honor, Araunah has no regard for his own property, resources or livestock. Araunah hears that King David has a need and he withholds nothing. Araunah literally says, "I will give everything." This is a heart established in honor.
And then we have the response of King David, who had every right to take this gift and move forward with building his altar to God. But King David was also a man after God's heart and when offered this gift from Araunah, David responds with a heart of honor.
But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it for the full price. I will not take what is yours and give it to the Lord. I will not present burnt offerings that have cost me nothing!” (1 Chronicles 21:24)
When I think about honor, I think about this phrase: "It will not cost me nothing."
Honor in the heart of Araunah says, "I will give everything."
Honor in the heart of King David says, "It will not cost me nothing."
And because of the honor in the hearts of these two men, a nation is spared.
Honor, in all of our relationships, is simply us saying that the blessing of this person in my life will not cost me nothing. As we stir up gratitude in our hearts for the people that Abba has planted in our life and as we begin to see the greatness of God in each one of them, we will begin to honor them appropriately.
Araunah saw the kingship inside of David, and he responded with honor. Do we see the kingship and queenship inside of people? There was more than enough failure in David's history, even recent history, for Araunah to come to a different conclusion concerning the man. But Araunah chose to see something underneath all of that.
King David saw the value in what Araunah was offering to him, and he responded with honor. There are people in our lives right now that are giving us precious gifts that are becoming the foundation of our own personal altars with God. Are we honoring them and their gifts appropriately?
Honor reversed a curse over a whole nation. I hope we're all convinced by now that honor is playing a huge part in our lives.
We haven't even heard the most awesome part of this story! This threshing floor. This place where honor reversed the curse. This plot of land where we see honor on display in the hearts of two men. Look at what ends up happening there...
So Solomon began to build the Temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the LORD had appeared to David, his father. The Temple was built on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that David had selected. (2 Chronicles 3:1)
That's right. The next generation builds the house of God where the previous generation laid a foundation of honor.
In the same way that it's hard for us to remember our history with Abba in difficult times, it's hard to see just how significant our displays of honor will be for the generations coming after us. The honor we pour out today could be laying a foundation for the next generation's encounter with Yahweh.
This is such an adventure! We should be having the time of our lives. What robs us of joy is the same thing that stole David's affection early in the story. We get distracted by our resources, what we have and what we don't have. And dishonor lands us in a place where we no longer enjoy or get life out of our relationship with God. But what dishonor stole from us, honor can restore.
One act of honor today can change the trajectory of our lives, and the lives of those coming after us.
As you take the walk with Abba today, let His love and His heart of honor nourish your life. We love because He first loved us. And we will honor because He has first honored us. Jesus is God's heart of honor on display towards us. Jesus is Abba saying, "I will give everything." Jesus is Abba saying, "It will not cost me nothing." We do not need to muster our own honor today, we simply need to let Abba's honor flow through us. Let Him show you the way!
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Worship: "Fill My Cup" by Kingdom Culture Worship
Honor: Give Online to The Wilderness Place
Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!
