1 & 2 Chronicles – Page 14

1 Chronicles 17:16-27 – David Responds in Prayer

Read 1 Chronicles 17:16-27

After receiving the promise from God in our last reading, what was David’s response? Prayer. David was moved and spoke to God in this humble prayer of thanks.

David begins with such humility. “Who am I, O Lord God?” Have you ever felt that way? Perhaps God has revealed to you a plan for your life, and you don’t feel anywhere close to being worthy of such a mission. There is no greater honor, I can tell you, than to be used by God! But how often do we ever feel “ready?”

1 Chronicles 17:1-15 – The Promise

Read 1 Chronicles 17:1-15

There are many promises in the Bible, but this is one God made particularly for David. God knew what David needed to hear and used Nathan as his messenger. David was starting to feel guilty that he was living in such a beautiful palace while the Ark, the presence of God lived in a tent. I can understand David’s perspective wanting to honor God.

Judging from the message God gave Nathan, the time for such a grand home had not yet come. God promised David that one of his ancestors would be the one to build this place of honor, the temple. God said, “He is the one who will build a house—a temple—for me. And I will secure his throne forever.” There is a promise within a promise!

1 Chronicles 16:37-43 – Worship Assignments

Read 1 Chronicles 16:37-43

Interesting that David wanted all of Israel to be part of the celebration around the Ark as well as witness his appointment of priests and Levites in both Jerusalem and Gibeon. All of that before “all the people returned to their homes, and David turned and went home to bless his own family.” It makes sense that tradition holds that the Chronicler was from the Levite clan, possibly even the priest, Ezra.

What stood out to you in this reading? Other than assigning seventy (yes 70!) gatekeepers to watch over the Ark, being a worship leader myself, I was drawn to David’s assignment of musicians. They were commissioned to give thanks to God with their instruments. What a great assignment!

1 Chronicles 16:1-36 – Song of Praise

Read 1 Chronicles 16:1-36

If you can get past the part about David giving out food to everyone in Israel, the song of praise is just beautiful. I love how the Chronicler captures this for us. I recognize lyrics from praise songs we sing today. Did you notice any of those, too?

David may have given this song of praise for the special occasion of successfully bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. When we can keep praise on our lips as a regular part of our day, our day can only shine brighter. Such a good reason for worshiping our God!

1 Chronicles 15:1-29 – Celebrate God!

Read 1 Chronicles 15:1-29

David made sure he handled the movement of the Ark differently this time. He had learned from his mistakes and was sure to receive God’s counsel about the proper way to move the Ark the second time.

It was quite the event. I recently had this story come up for my orphanage Sunday School class, but we read the account in 2 Samuel 6. While similar, the differences are striking. There are three that stood out to me: (1) both accounts of moving the Ark are recorded together by Samuel; (2) the Chronicles account focuses much more on the worship and celebration; and (3) the Samuel text goes into more detail about Michal’s contempt and consequence.