1 Chronicles 17 -- One Of My Favorites!

Man, I love this chapter!  My commentary says it’s divided into 3 parts – David’s desire to build God a house, God’s determination to build David a house, and David’s responsive prayer.

David was looking around him at all the materialism he’d amassed and came to realize that the Ark of the Covenant was in a tent, not a building.  David had been spending on himself and finally came to recognize that.  Without praying, relying totally on a whim, David decided to build a Temple to house the Ark.  His spiritual advisor, Nathan, had watched how God had been at work in David’s life and no doubt assumed that God had led David to that decision, so he readily agreed that it would be good.

Verse 3 contains my favorite red flag words:  “But God…”  David and Nathan might have agreed, but God didn’t.

God said that all through Israel’s history He’d been moving,  leading them out of Egypt, through the desert for 40 years, and into the Promised Land.  In effect, God wasn’t done moving in Israel yet.

Punctuated with a series of “I’s”, what God said next reminds David of how He’d been at work bringing David into his new palace from the sheepfold.  David had been nothing before God had intervened in his life.  Because of God’s grace and great love for him, David had prospered, and God promised to carry that on through the generations.

When God said, “I will make one of your sons the new king, and I will set up his kingdom … and I will let him kingdom rule always,” He was talking about His Own Son, Jesus, who He was going to graft into David’s family tree.  “I will never stop loving your son.  I will put him in charge of My house and kingdom forever.  His family will rule forever.”  Only God could make such a promise, and only Jesus could fulfill it.

Stunned by this revelation, David sat in front of the Lord in awe and wonder, asking what I can’t stop asking either – “Why ME??”

The only answer is God’s amazing grace.  In fact, John Newton, the former slave-trader turned preacher, based his song “Amazing Grace” on what God said in these verses!  All of us wretches will have eternity to wonder why God picked us.  Though none of us deserved it, God loved us anyway, and established His home in us.  That’s what’s so amazing about His grace!

Father, You always remind me of this when I feel least deserving of it.  Thank You for loving a wretch like me.  Thank You for establishing Your home in my heart.  Remind me of this whenever I’m rudely trying to crowd You out.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Chronicles 14-16 -- What They MISS

David learned something important in the last chapter, and these chapters show that he put it to good use.  Before, he’d consulted with his army officers, commanders, and even the people of the nation, but he hadn’t thought to ask God.  These chapters echo again and again with the benefits of doing just that:  “David asked God … and The Lord answered him.”

David summed up what he’d learned:

Give thanks to the Lord

Pray to Him

Tell the nations what He has done

Sing to Him

Sing praises to Him

Tell all about His miracles

Be glad that you are His

Be happy

Depend on the Lord and His strength

Always go to Him for help

Remember the miracles He has done

Praise the Lord

Praise the Lord’s glory and power

Praise the glory of the Lord’s name

Bring an offering and come to Him

Worship the Lord because He is holy

Tremble before Him

Thank the Lord because He is good

Say to Him, “Save us, God our Savior, and bring us back”

Those are great instructions for our part of our relationship with Him. 

I noticed what it didn’t say to do:

Attend church religiously

Sit quietly and reverently

Insure that everyone else does that, too

Judge what they’re wearing for appropriateness

Decide that the singing part of the service is going on too long

Judge the song selection for its reflection of your tastes

Worry that the rest of the community will be wondering what’s wrong that the Baptists are meeting longer today than usual

About now, someone is probably wondering where in the world it said anything like that.  It’s in 15:29 –

“As the Ark of the Agreement with the Lord entered Jerusalem, Saul’s daughter Michal (David’s wife) watched from a window.  When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she hated him.”

I wonder if she wasn’t approving his method of worship, or if she hated him because she felt unable to worship that way herself.

Father, I thank You for the joy I felt while worshiping You during Disciple Now.  I was feeling what David felt here.  The words we sang kept touching my heart, speaking of Your love for me and how little I deserve it.  What a privilege we have to be overjoyed for what You’ve done for us!  What a shame that all too often that privilege is squandered by those like Michal.  Help them to see, Father.  Help them to see.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Chronicles 10-13 Mistakes Along The Way

After the deaths of Saul and his sons in battle, the way was clear for David to consolidate his kingdom and come into power as God had intended.  He was able to take the city of Jebus and make it the new capital – Jerusalem.  Once their enemies had been subdued, the Israelites were ready to get down to the business of life.  David wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant into his new capital city and called all the people together, saying, “If you think it is a good idea, and if it is what the Lord our God wants … let’s bring the Ark of our God back to us.”  All the people readily agreed, thinking it was the right thing to do.

There was no mention that God was actually consulted or agreed.  Here, national consensus is taken to equate to God’s will, and that is never the case.

Once they’d decided their course of action, they wanted to hurry and get it done, and in doing so they failed to inquire from God’s word about the proper protocol for handling the Ark.  Their rashness ended up costing a man his life for improperly handling the Ark.

I can remember feeling angry about that the first several times I read it, thinking that anyone “doing something for God” should not have to fear His retribution.  But over the years, I’ve learned that above all else, God is to be respected, and we had better be sure that we’ve fully heard from Him and that what we’re doing lines up with His word.  Had they done that, the death wouldn’t have happened.

In my Bible’s sidebar today, it says, “God helps us avoid future mistakes by sending people to correct us.  When you are corrected, use the opportunity to learn and improve Your attitude and work.”

Such good timing today for that, Father – particularly on improving my attitude.  Whenever we have reviews, exams, or audits at work, I can get defensive and prideful and even feel put upon.  Help me to not just avoid future mistakes, but also help my attitude to reflect You to those around me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Chronicles 7-9 -- Who's NOT On The List?

I can just imagine the real pride welling up in the hearts of the people as the chronicler mentioned the names of their ancestors, especially those who’d served in some capacity in the Temple!  Just thinking about their great-grandfathers being mentioned after having to endure that captivity in Babylon and not having grown up in Israel would be awe-inspiring.  Their names in the Bible!  What a privilege especially to have been a descendant of Joshua, for instance!

But it also broke my heart to think about who wasn’t listed.  Two of Jacob’s sons and their entire genealogies weren’t even mentioned – Zebulun’s and Dan’s.  Two of the twelve tribes!  One-sixth of them!  Were there truly no descendants left from these tribes upon the return from exile?  Or if there were, what might they have felt not hearing their families’ names mentioned?  Did everyone feel shame about their black-sheep cousins?  In Revelation, Dan’s tribe is left out entirely from the promised future of Israel as well!

Father, I so regret mistakes I’ve made in the past.  I thank You for Your forgiveness of them.  I also pray that I will never sin to such a degree that You would not want to even mention my name ever again.  I don’t want to be a disappointment to You.  Thank You also for how You touched me at Disciple Now with the lyrics of the song “How He Loves”, catching my eye with what it says about my regrets:  “I don’t have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way He loves us.”  That’s not part of the eternal life You’ve given me and so many others that’s already begun here on this earth.  You are such a wonderful God to forget the way You choose to do!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Chronicles 4-6 -- What They'd Been Missing

It’s so stunning to think that God had directed all of this genealogical and geographical information to be written down because the people had been in captivity for so long that so much of it had been forgotten.  Just imagine a county courthouse and all its records utterly destroyed.  Questions would pop up after 40 years:  Who owns this valley?  Who lived there?  Were you really a descendant of ____?  It’s hard to know whether the original records were lost during the Babylonian siege or whether so many of the older people who would have known this stuff had died during the trek to Babylon or shortly thereafter.  But it seems that somewhere along the way, a generation must have decided for themselves that it just wasn’t important.

This touched on something we discussed as youth was starting last night – the constant shaving at the edges of our morality, allowing or tolerating what once would have been unthinkable, to the point that we see nothing wrong with what we’re doing.  This moral erosion was deadly for Israel and Judah, destroying their nations and leading them into captivity.  Likewise, today in America this very same problem is causing internal moral decay that threatens our nation far more than terrorists or rogue states, for we fail to see it coming.

Father, please shake us and wake us up to the fact that we’ve allowed ourselves to be moved farther than we’ve ever intended from You.  Call a spade a spade.  Tell us we’re wrong, and put us back on the right path.  How we need You now!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

1 Chronicles 1-3 -- Why Should I CARE About These People?

My commentary said that the Chronicles were written after the exile to help distinguish the kingly and priestly lines and to help the people learn to obey God.  They hadn’t had training in all that while in exile.  The good and the bad are both mentioned here, for the ramifications of disobedience needed to be understood by those returning to the Promised Land.

One thing I particularly noticed was how I remembered certain Bible stories and associated them with certain names.  Often, a sad story of disobedience led to the ending of a genealogical line in the narrative, even those the people in the line probably continued to exist and reproduce.  Because of their disobedience, they had become of little use to God.

Father, I pray that if someone someday writes about my genealogy, they will be able to hear of obedience that led to Your blessing over multiple generations.  I pray that my boys will become men of character and faith who will stand out in their generations as well.  Help me to teach them to have a true relationship with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Nehemiah 11-13 Finishing The Task

Jerusalem’s wall had been completed.  Supposedly Nehemiah’s task was done.  Yet many people were choosing to live outside the city out of fear of attacks from those who did not want a strong, renewed Jerusalem.  It actually took a lottery of sorts to force people to move into the newly-secured city!

A celebration was held, offering the wall itself as a gift to God.  Life had to be restored to the city and what better way to start!  As they read more of the Teachings and discovered just how they’d been disobeying God without even knowing it, their society made the appropriate corrections.

Nehemiah, some would think, might have gone just a little too far in his zeal to set things right in that time, admitting that he argued with those who refused to listen, hitting some of them, putting curses on them, and even pulling out their hair!  And he said he forced some to make promises to God.

We often say that we can’t legislate morality, that godliness must come from a willing heart.  I wonder just how successful those efforts were at changing not just the behaviors, but also the mindsets  of those people.

Father, I thank You for the opportunities You gave me to counsel with those this weekend who came to me to admit failings and seek help in purifying themselves.  I am thrilled with their willingness to change their lives.  Help me to be the kind of accountability partner You desire for them!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford