Dilatory

2 Kings 12:7 KJV
Then king Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest, and the other priests, and said unto them, Why repair ye not the breaches of the house? now therefore receive no more money of your acquaintance, but deliver it for the breaches of the house.

I learned a new word this morning. Gill accuses the priests here of being "dilatory" which means slow or tardy[1]. There was a job which needed to be done, and there was money with which to do it, but the King did not believe the priests were handling the job with as much urgency as maybe they should have.

The work of God should not be done in haste, but the work of God should be done. There is a need in the things of the Lord both to raise money and organize labor to accomplish things for the Lord's service. Whether it is in
Repairing and expanding the buildings of the Lord or
Working to win souls to Jesus Christ or
Preparing to teach a Sunday school classGod's work deserves our investment. There is no place for "dilatoriness." Slackness, laziness and slothfulness are qualities that would disqualify a man from his position.

I notice that the king even replaced Jehoiada for this "dilatory" handling of the repair work. (He did not remove him from the office of the priesthood, but rather just took from him the responsibility of collecting the finances and repairing the breaches, giving that responsibility to someone else.) Friendships and loyalties might even need to be laid aside so the work of God may go forward.

God deliver us from a dilatory spirit toward the things of God

[1] E-Sword 7.7.7, John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, Dr. John Gill (1690-1771)