What Does the Bible Say About Money? 4 Biblical Wealth Principles to Learn from David

Many of us have a picture that comes to mind whenever we hear about David in the Bible. Whether it is the shepherd boy in the pasture, the one who killed Goliath with a sling and a stone, or the artistic Psalm writer. Whatever the case, there is a much lesser-known David who was a master of stewarding the wealth God had given him. While Solomon is typically credited with the title of the wealthiest man in the Bible, it is no doubt he learned much, if not all, of what he knew from his father, David. 

I’d like to examine a few of the things we can learn from David as he was preparing to take on the task of building the temple.

1 Chronicles 22:2-5 reads, “and he appointed masons to cut hewn stones to build the house of God. And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joints, and bronze in abundance beyond measure, and cedar trees in abundance; for the Sidonians and those from Tyre brought much cedar wood to David.” Now David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made abundant preparations before his death.”

Wealth Principle #1 – Preparation

We read in verse 2 about not only the materials David prepared for building the temple, but also the abundance of what he prepared. If this tells us one thing, it is that it is much better to overprepare than underprepare. David had the wherewithal to know that a shortage of materials would do nothing but slow things down and hinder forward progress, even if some of the materials weren’t needed in the end. I wonder, if David lived in Montana, would he source some of the pine trees from the Beartooth Mountains? Or maybe use the Yellowstone River to transport them? 

Wealth Principle #2 – Have Kingdom-Minded Priorities

It’s clear that David knew what the end game was all about. It was his job to build the temple to honor and reverence the Most Holy God. Yahweh. Jehovah. The King of the Universe. 

In this translation we can see the emphasis that the translator puts on the words that David might’ve used if he were speaking in plain English today: “exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious”. There aren’t many things that I’ve ever thought of that can be described using these words. David had divine inspiration to build and execute on the vision God had called him to. Anything short of that would be umacceptable, and it was his priority to make the temple a reality. 

Wealth Principle #3 – Intentionality

Because of the alignment of his priorities and using the wealth and prosperity God had given him, David was able to execute extreme intention towards his vision of building the temple. We can see in detail the type, amount, and purpose of each of the resources that David was allocated toward building the temple. He himself appointed the masons to cut the stone into the proper size, shape, and amount. The iron was to be used for the nails to hold the doors and joints together. All of the wealth David had prepared wasn’t just sitting idle. Everything had a very specific purpose in the grand plan.  

Wealth Principle #4 – Legacy-Focused 

Lastly, we can see that David cared about what happened after he was gone. At the time when Solomon was still young, David was planning on the temple being used and enjoyed for generations to come. While he knew Solomon would make mistakes, David saw how he could help to make Solomon’s impact even bigger than his own. He also knew that the events he set into motion now would still be working in Solomon’s favor even after David was gone. He cared about legacy. 

Stewardship Application

I believe we should handle wealth how David handled it. He not only had a balanced, biblical view of money, but he also made money work for his purposes. Money was the tool that he wielded to propel forward the vision God had given him.

If this sounds like the type of relationship you want to have with your money, schedule a call with us to learn more.

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