relationships (1 Chronicles 17:1-27) Giving and Serving

(1 Chronicles 17:1-27)  And it came about, when David lived in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under tent curtains.” 2 Then Nathan said to David, “Do whatever is in your heart, for God is with you.”

3 But it happened that same night, that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, 4 “Go and tell David My servant, ‘This is what the Lord says: “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in; 5 for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up Israel to this day, but I have gone from tent to tent and from one dwelling place to another. 6 In all places where I have walked with all Israel, have I spoken a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’ 7 Now, therefore, this is what you shall say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of armies says: “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be leader over My people Israel. 8 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have eliminated all your enemies from you; and I will make for you a name like the name of the great ones who are on the earth. 9 And I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them there, so that they may live in their own place and not tremble with anxiety again; and the wicked will not make them waste away anymore as they did previously, 10 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel. And I will subdue all your enemies.

Moreover, I tell you that the Lord will build a house for you. 11 When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, then I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be from your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. 12 He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. 13 I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My favor away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 14 But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne will be established forever.”’” 15 According to all these words and according to all of this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.

16 Then King David came in and sat before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 17 This was a small thing in Your eyes, God; but You have spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have viewed me according to the standard of a person of high degree, Lord God. 18 What more can David still say to You concerning the honor bestowed on Your servant? For You know Your servant. 19 Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have accomplished all this greatness, to make known all these great things. 20 Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to everything that we have heard with our ears. 21 And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for You a name by great and awesome things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed from Egypt? 22 For You have made Your people Israel Your own people forever, and You, Lord, became their God.

23 “Now, Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and concerning his house be established forever, and do just as You have spoken. 24 Let Your name be established and be great forever, saying, ‘The Lord of armies is the God of Israel, a God to Israel; and the house of Your servant David is established before You.’ 25 For You, my God, have revealed to Your servant that You will build him a house; therefore Your servant has found courage to pray before You. 26 Now, Lord, You are God, and have promised this good thing to Your servant. 27 And now You have decided to bless the house of Your servant, that it may continue forever before You; for You, Lord, have blessed, and it is blessed forever.”

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

There is nothing that God NEEDS from us!  But, God desires that all come to know Him and have a close, personal relationship with Him!  And in this relationship, we will desire to serve Him, in His will.  God actually created us for exactly all of this, so that we would have a life of purpose, joy and fulfillment: to have Him fill our soul, having Him as our heavenly Father, and to work and serve the Lord and each other, being part of a community-family of peace, unity and love.

We might think that is strange... that "work" would be part of having a relationship with someone, especially in countries where most people work with the goal of early retirement, or work "just enough" in order to afford fun things and luxuries for themselves.  Yet, even there, if they are married or have someone they are trying to woo, keep and/or impress, they might desire to work hard FOR them, in order to provide a life of comfort and/or give them extravagant gifts.

It is essentially the same way in our relationship with the Lord.  Not that we have to woo, keep or impress Him.  All He wants is our hearts - our humble and willing hearts that trust in Him - knowing that HE saved US, and provides and takes care of US.  Like David, we should embrace and be thankful for everything Jesus has done for us and is doing for us and will do for us!  As verse 11 describes, even in our physical deaths, we are blessed, as then, our days are "fulfilled" and we will be "at home" with the Lord!

relationships (1 Chronicles 16:1-43) Being Blessed and Blessing

(1 Chronicles 16:1-43)  And they brought in the ark of God and placed it inside the tent which David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 3 Then he distributed to everyone of Israel, both men and women, to everyone a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a raisin cake.

4 He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the Lord, to celebrate and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: 5 Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, and lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, 6 and the priests Benaiah and Jahaziel blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his relatives to give thanks to the Lord.

8   Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
     Make His deeds known among the peoples.
9   Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
     Speak of all His wonders.
10 Boast in His holy name;
     Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
     Seek His face continually.
12 Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
     His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
13 You descendants of Israel His servant,
     Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
14 He is the Lord our God;
     His judgments are in all the earth.
15 Remember His covenant forever,
     The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
16 The covenant which He made with Abraham,
     And His oath to Isaac.
17 He also confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
     To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
18 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
     As the portion of your inheritance.”
19 When they were only a few in number,
     Very few, and strangers in it,
20 And they wandered from nation to nation,
     And from one kingdom to another people,
21 He allowed no one to oppress them,
     And He rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
22 “Do not touch My anointed ones,
     And do not harm My prophets.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
     Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
24 Tell of His glory among the nations,
     His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
     He also is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
     But the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
     Strength and joy are in His place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples,
     Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
     Bring an offering, and come before Him;
     Worship the Lord in holy attire.
30 Tremble before Him, all the earth;
     Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
31 Let the heavens be joyful, and the earth rejoice;
     And let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
32 Let the sea roar, and everything it contains;
     Let the field rejoice, and everything that is in it.
33 Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy in the presence of the Lord;
     For He is coming to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
     For His faithfulness is everlasting.
35 Then say, “Save us, God of our salvation,
     And gather us and save us from the nations,
     To give thanks to Your holy name,
     And glory in Your praise.”
36 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
     From everlasting to everlasting!

Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

37 So he left Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required, 38 and Obed-edom with his sixty-eight relatives; Obed-edom, the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers. 39 He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place which was at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to everything that is written in the Law of the Lord, which He commanded Israel. 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because His kindness is everlasting. 42 And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who were to play them, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

43 Then all the people departed, each to his house; and David returned to bless his household.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God is peace, joy, strength, faithful, worthy, great, good, everlasting, holy... He is Lord, above all, the King of kings who reigns, the just and righteous Judge, the Creator who firmly established the world... He is truth, and in His perfect wisdom He has given us His commandments, covenants, and scripture to guide us, and because of His sacrificial love, He is Savior to everyone who goes to Him for forgiveness.  In His salvation, He gives us eternal life and clothes us in holy attire so that we may come before Him and be with Him for all eternity.  As our heavenly Father, He provides, protects and guides us, and works in and through us to His glory...

BECAUSE OF ALL THIS AND MORE, desire to strive obediently in His perfect will - in His strength - to His glory.  Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, remembering and telling of His glory, splendor, majesty, wonderful deeds, marvels, words and judgements!  Call upon the Lord, worshiping, serving, giving, blessing, thanking, praising, celebrating, singing, and proclaiming the good news of His salvation from day to day.  To seek the Lord's face continually is to seek intimacy in a close relationship with Him.

In all of this, God will bless us, which then allows us to bless others.  Going to the Lord for nourishment then allows us to nourish others.  Boast in His name, speak of all His wonders, to make His deeds known so that others may be saved as well as encouraged.  By seeking the Lord and His joy allows others to join us in seeking the Lord and being joyful.  To "let" all these things happen - means that we will not do anything to stop it or quench it, but that we encourage it and be part of it.

relationships (1 Chronicles 15:1-29) Doing Things the Right Way

(1 Chronicles 15:1-29)  Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God except the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to serve Him forever.” 3 And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place which he had prepared for it. 4 David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his relatives; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and two hundred of his relatives; 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and eighty of his relatives; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives.

11 Then David called for the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab; 12 and he said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves, you and your relatives, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst against us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. 15 The sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles on them, just as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

16 Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives as the singers, with musical instruments, harps, lyres, and cymbals, playing to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, 18 and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. 19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; 20 and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth; 21 and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark.

25 So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains of thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with joy. 26 Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps, and lyres.

29 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

This time David studied the scriptures to see how God wanted the ark to be carried.  This time, he made sure they did it right, in God's will.  And this time, it was a true joy and celebration.  But even when we are doing things in God's will, there will be those who hate us for it, and will not understand our joy and celebration.  Still, David chose to put God first - to love God first - over and above any person.

A unbeliever will not understand, but, we can see the importance of marrying a believer.  If we are a believer, we need to find a believer who shares the same core values.  There will be need to make some comprises in marriage, but when it comes to God's word and serving the Lord with our whole heart, soul and might, there should be no comprises.  We should be continually encouraging each other and striving together with the focus of growing closer to our precious Lord and Savior.  Then, the closer we all grow to the Lord, the closer we grow to each other.

relationships (1 Chronicles 14:1-17) Victory in Battle

(1 Chronicles 14:1-17)  Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David with cedar trees, masons, and carpenters, to build a house for him. 2 And David realized that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that his kingdom was highly exalted, for the sake of His people Israel.

3 Then David took more wives in Jerusalem, and David fathered more sons and daughters. 4 These are the names of the children born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, 5 Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, 6 Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, 7 Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

8 When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard about it and went out against them. 9 Now the Philistines had come and carried out a raid in the Valley of Rephaim. 10 David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You hand them over to me?” Then the Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will hand them over to you.” 11 So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore they named that place Baal-perazim. 12 They abandoned their gods there; so David gave the order and they were burned with fire.

13 The Philistines carried out yet another raid in the valley. 14 David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs. 15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the baka-shrubs, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” 16 David did just as God had commanded him, and they defeated the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far as Gezer. 17 Then the fame of David spread in all the lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him on all the nations.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

Here we see David inquire of God and wait for His answer.  As well, David did exactly as the Lord commanded, both times.  And at the outcome, David gives the credit and the glory to God for not only winning the battle against the Philistines, but also gives the credit and the glory to God for his kingdom being established.  This may sound all very easy, but Israel had a formidable enemy who was persistently rising up against them.  And in order to obey God's directions, they had to go to war and fight.  Taking a life is never easy, even when justified.

To make this applicable for us today, we might not have to fight a literal battle, but there is a spiritual battle, and as soldiers of Christ, we will face a few enemies.  These might include standing up for justice, sticking our necks out in the face of peer pressure, going into undesirable or uncomfortable areas to help someone, being a gracious ambassador while struggling with a disease... 

And all the while, we are still not perfect.  Notice that David took more wives, which was one of his weaknesses throughout his life until near the end.  As for the idols, in verse 12, there was a repentant act of destroying them, and fully turning their hearts over to the Lord, in a willingness to strive in His will.  Sin prevents us from having a close relationship with the Lord in the first place, and even after we become believers, sin will bring about consequences, impact our relationships with God and others, as well as impede our prayers.

There is no doubt that we will require courage!  Even within our own lives, we need to fearlessly, vigilantly deal with our personal enemy - sin - as it creeps in and tries to take hold, and destroy.  Firstly, one requires God's salvation, which comes with forgiveness, and then grace, with a guarantee of eternal life.  Then we are to equip ourselves appropriately with the gospel of peace, faith, God's righteousness, God's word, and prayer... And to stand firm, we can strive to be obedient in the Lord's will when we consistently ask for His guidance and strength, in all things.  This is when we experience victory and blessings, in the Lord.