1 Chronicles 28:9
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
David's dying charge to his son Solomon as his successor to leading responsibility commands him to take heed as the one chosen to build the sanctuary and to be strong and do it. Its plain meaning is to know the God of his father personally and to serve Him with a perfect, complete, undivided heart and with a willing mind in strict adherence to all His commandments, statutes, and testimonies. This is required because the Lord searches every heart and understands all the imaginations, thoughts, intents, and motives, with nothing hidden from Him and hearts read as an open book. If He is sought with all the heart He will be found, giving the light of His presence, pardon, acceptance, and help, but if He is forsaken He will cast off forever. God's promise to be a Father to Solomon and to establish his kingdom and the inheritance of the good land forever was joined to this condition of remaining faithful, and the same principles of wholehearted, willing service under God's searching remain the standard for all entrusted with responsibility in His work.
Setting of David's Charge
This was David's solemn, dying charge to Solomon as his successor called to a position of leading responsibility, spoken in the sight of all Israel and in the audience of God. It was his dying testimony to his son, given with the weight of a final charge to know the God of his father and to serve Him with a perfect, complete, undivided heart and with a willing mind. Its principles of piety and justice for rulers among God's people were laid down as the continuing standard, and it stands also as warning and promise for parents and children.
David spoke from greatest solicitude for Solomon and fear that he might follow his example in wrongdoing, with deepest sorrow over the spots and blemishes that grievous sins had brought upon his own character. He had learned that God will in no case sanction wrongdoing and will visit the leader of His people with severer punishment, because his position is more responsible. The sins of a leader lessen the heinousness of crime for the people and cause other nations to blaspheme God.
The charge rested on the lesson David never forgot, that the Lord looks on the heart and not on outward appearance. Standing high with a holy God does not come from houses, lands, carriages, expensive furniture, display, or outward show, for God looks at the heart, reads every purpose of the mind, and knows the motives that prompt action. Outward appearance cannot hide inner motives from Him, and sincerity and purity of principle are valued above everything else.
David had made extensive preparations for the temple, but the work of building it was assigned to Solomon. David could advise, counsel, and encourage his son from experience, while Solomon himself had to carry out the work. The charge therefore commands him to take heed as the one chosen to build a house for the sanctuary and to be strong and do it. It is followed by David's entreaty that God incline Solomon's heart to His commandments and give him a perfect heart to keep His commandments, testimonies, and statutes.
God's promise to be Solomon's Father and to establish his kingdom forever was joined to the condition that he remain faithful to God's commands. Keeping the charge was tied to possessing the good land and leaving it for an inheritance to his children forever.
Call to Know and Serve
Solomon is called to know the God of his father personally, not merely to know about Him but to enter into living acquaintance with Him. That knowing is joined to serving Him with a perfect, complete and undivided heart and with a willing mind. Such service means strict adherence to the law of God and keeping all His statutes, commandments and testimonies. It is to be wholehearted and willing, with nothing divided or reserved.
The service required is sincere and inward, not mere outward appearance. Outward show cannot hide inner motives from Him who searches the heart, and He is not pleased with half-hearted service. Completeness of heart and willingness of mind are therefore the measure of true obedience.
Obeying the charge requires humility, constant trust in God, and watchfulness against temptation. As king Solomon would face strong temptations, and those in prominent positions face particular spiritual danger. Only by remaining humble, trusting continually, and watching constantly can such service be maintained.
God Searches Every Heart
The Lord searches every heart and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts, intents, and motives, and nothing that enters the mind is hidden from Him. Hearts are read as an open book, and He is ever present to observe, inspect, and examine all things. No person's motives or choices are hidden from Him, for He knows every thought that enters the human mind.
His comprehension is exact and infallible, extending to all the actuating principles of the minds He has formed. He knows with what spirit they will act when under temptation, how they will be moved by objects placed before them, and in what manner they will act under every temptation and in every circumstance in which they are placed. He has witnessed persistent, rebellious courses and refusal to cease wrongdoing after being forbidden to follow personal plans and devisings.
The ways of man are before the Lord and He ponders all his goings, with His eyes in every place, looking to the ends of the earth and seeing under the whole heaven. He reads every purpose of the soul and inward willingness, and awareness that He sees each motive and deed should guard those who fear Him from selfish acts, since He will finally reward people according to their works whether or not others recognize their right doing. Standing high with God does not come from houses, lands, carriages, expensive furniture, or outward display, because He looks at the heart, reads every purpose of the mind, knows the motives that prompt action, reads between every line, distinguishes between the true and the false, and values sincerity and purity of principle above everything else. This searching discernment exposes disregard of light, as when continuing an association that does not strengthen morals or spirituality, and it permitted separation from Battle Creek because many were inwardly willing for it and to follow their own wishes.
He is a jealous God, the embodiment of purity and holiness, who requires the heart to be right with Him and the spirit to be pure before Him, sanctified by truth in heart and life. If iniquity is regarded in the heart He will not hear prayer, and it is impossible for Him to work with that person's efforts, so the golden opportunity to gather a harvest of souls is let slip and sad failure follows where there might have been success. As the searcher of hearts who knows inner motives, He stands as witness to sincerity, seeing readiness to obey earthly rulers in honor or in dishonor, in life or in death, with unshaken fidelity in all affairs of this present life where to lose or to gain is of no consequence to salvation. When eternal interests are concerned He wills that man not submit unto man, with no exception save the word of God by which man lives, because submission in spiritual matters is real worship owed solely to the Creator. His providence works to reveal His wisdom, justice, goodness, and love and to search out human hearts, and recognizing this work requires more than trusting in human wisdom.
Seeking and Forsaking God
If sought with the whole heart, God will be found, for He does not leave seekers in darkness but gives the light of His presence to those true to Him. To such He grants pardon and acceptance and help, sustaining steady faith even when feelings are troubled. This brief life is preparation for endless life, and beside eternity all gifts, possessions, and selfish enjoyments weigh nothing, so the one who knows God searches the heart is bound to serve Him willingly with all power. That service does what is right because it is right and refuses what is wrong because it is wrong, with kindness and courtesy, casting off melancholy and disappointment rather than being ruined by them.
Seeking means desiring God Himself and not merely His blessing, with assurance because God is already seeking the seeker. The very desire to come is the drawing of His Spirit, to be yielded to. Christ pleads for the tempted, the erring, and the faithless, to lift them into companionship with Himself. Sinners cannot remove or cancel their sins themselves, yet when their sins have been set before them and they have repented, their prayers are heard through His intercession.
He sets His people's sins before them, ever present to observe, inspect, and examine all things, reading hearts as an open book. When they have repented of transgression and feel humbled and ashamed for sin they cannot remove themselves, He promises that if they seek Him He will be found by them. He will forgive even a past life of frivolity, pretense, and deception if there is now repentance and seeking of His grace in order to live unto Him and Him alone. Without turning square about, forsaking Him brings being cast off.
But if He is forsaken He will cast off forever, for He searches every heart and understands every thought, so He is to be served sincerely and willingly. This knowledge of every thought and imagination of the heart makes urgent the warning to fear Him and walk humbly before Him. Seeking Him therefore requires giving Him earnest attention rather than exhausting strength on earthly treasures. Professed followers who neglect this pursuit and live unconsecrated lives deny their faith, making the truths they profess seem like idle tales to unbelievers.
Charge for Today
The charge to know God and serve Him with a whole, perfect heart and willing mind remains the standard of piety and justice for those given oversight of the church and for all entrusted with responsibility in God's work. Those in sacred trust are to be wholly devoted to Him, consecrating their abilities to His service, teaching His Word and practicing it in life. They are to remain faithful amid testing and trial, living under His searching of every heart and thought, being converted daily, working out salvation with fear and trembling, and being sanctified daily through the truth. God is not pleased with half-hearted service, and His work is to be borne by persons of genuine experience and dependable character who cooperate with the heavenly agencies present, including in the publishing offices as ministers proclaiming that the hour of His judgment is come.
With increased light and a solemn, weighty message to bear to the world, His chosen disciples meet this inward standard not by outward appearance but through a deep inward experience and endowment with the power of the Holy Spirit. The verse stands also as warning and promise for parents and children, urging parents to train young people to love and serve God and urging young people to heed this counsel and gain heavenly wisdom. Because this brief life is the season of preparation for endless life, and all gifts, possessions, and selfish enjoyments weigh nothing against eternity, His searching eye upon each soul calls for living for God. Those true to Him receive His help, and since He has done everything they are to serve Him willingly with all power, doing what is right because it is right and refusing what is wrong because it is wrong, with kindness and courtesy, casting off melancholy and disappointment instead of being ruined by them.
Serving God with a perfect heart honors Him as Moses did, and He honors such servants and does not require them to carry their burdens in their own strength. Awareness that God searches every heart and understands every thought, imagination, device, motive, and deed should guard those who fear Him from selfish acts, since He will finally reward according to works whether or not others recognize right doing. It warns against judging and criticizing brethren, for God knows their hearts and the critic's alike, and it calls for dependence on God rather than self-reliance, since prayer unites with divine counsel and brings wisdom to guide work rightly. The heart must be right with Him and the spirit pure and sanctified by truth, for He is jealous, the embodiment of purity and holiness; if iniquity is regarded in the heart He will not hear prayer and cannot work with human efforts to gather souls. That failure to keep the heart pure lets slip the golden opportunity for a harvest of souls, as shown when following own judgment like Cornell and when disregarding light like Harris in an association that did not strengthen morals or spirituality.