1 Chronicles 29:10-20

David praises the Lord

10 David praised the Lord in front of all the people who had met together. He said,

‘We praise you Lord,

the God of our ancestor, Israel.

29:10‘Israel’ was the special name that God gave to Jacob.

You deserve that people praise you for ever!

11 Lord, you are great, powerful and beautiful!

You rule as king over everything in heaven and on earth.

Yes, Lord, everything belongs in your kingdom!

12 You are the one who gives people riches and honour.

You rule over everything.

You have great strength and power,

so you are able to make people strong and famous.

13 So we thank you, our God.

We praise your great name!

14 But I and my people are like nothing. How are we able to give all these gifts to help your work? Everything that we have comes from you. So we are giving back to you things that already belong to you. 15 We are like strangers and foreign people who live in your world. Our ancestors also lived in that way. We live here only for a short time and then we disappear, like a shadow. We know that we will die one day. 16 Lord, our God, we have given these things to build a temple for you, to give honour to your holy name. But all these valuable things come from you. They already belong to you. 17 My God, I know that you look carefully at our thoughts. You are pleased when we want to do things that are right. And I really do want to offer all these things to you. I know that your people who have met together here are happy. I can see that they are pleased to give these things to you. 18 Lord, you are the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Israel. Please help us, your people, to continue to obey you. Help us to serve you faithfully. 19 Please help my son Solomon to want to obey you. Help him to obey all your commands, rules and laws. Help him to work well to build your temple. I have prepared the things that he will need to do that.’

20 Then David spoke to all the people who were meeting there together. He told them, ‘Now praise the Lord, your God!’ So all the people praised the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They bent down low to worship the Lord. They gave honour to the Lord and also to the king.