1 Chronicles 29:15 (LSB)

Passage

For we are sojourners before You, and foreign residents, like all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

Nearby Context

1 Chronicles 29:13 So now, our God, we are thanking You and praising Your glorious name.

1 Chronicles 29:14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as willingly as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.

1 Chronicles 29:15 For we are sojourners before You, and foreign residents, like all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.

1 Chronicles 29:16 O Yahweh our God, all this abundance that we have prepared to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.

1 Chronicles 29:17 And I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these things. So now with gladness I have seen Your people, who are present here, make their offerings willingly to You.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sojourners", "before", "foreign", "residents", "like", "fathers", "days", and "earth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sojourners" and "before", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "But who am I and who are..." into verse 16's "O Yahweh our God all this abundance...", so "sojourners" and "before" belong inside that flow. In 1 Chronicles context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sojourners" and "before" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.