Tag Archives: 1 Chronicles 29

May 17, 2024 Bible Study — Be Strong and Do the Work for Which God Has Chosen You

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 27-29.

In today’s passage, as he gave Solomon his plans for building the temple, David told Solomon that if he sought God, he would find Him, but that if he forsook Him, He would forsake him as well (this is one of those sentences where I am so happy that we capitalize the pronoun when applying it to God).  That is an important point to which we should all pay close attention.  Those who genuinely seek God, will indeed find Him, no matter where they choose to begin their search.  However, those who forsake God will be forsaken.  But David had more to say to Solomon which also applies to each of us, “God has chosen you to…  Be strong and do the work.”  Now, not all of us, not even many of us, have been chosen to build a house for the Lord, but all of us have been chosen by God to do something for God.  Let each and every one of us be strong and do the work.  The best part of that instruction is what David says about it a little later.  As we strive to be strong and do the work for which God has chosen us, God will always be with us and will not fail us.  If we strive to be strong and to do God’s work, God will make us strong enough to accomplish whatever task He has chosen for us.  With God by our side, or, perhaps, with us by God’s side, there is nothing for us to fear, or for us to be discouraged by.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

May 17, 2023 Bible Study — Learning From The Absence Of Detail

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 27-29.

Once again today I noticed something which I would never have observed if I was not writing this blog.  The list of the leaders of the tribes of Israel listed in today’s passage leave out Gad and Asher.  That is, the passage lists leaders for each of the tribes of Israel, except for these two.  Interestingly, it lists a leader for each half of the tribe of Manasseh (those who settled east of the Jordan River and those who settled west of the Jordan).  I also noticed that in the list of tribal leaders there was a leader listed for the tribe of Levi, and a leader listed for the descendants of Aaron.  At the end of the list of tribal leaders the writer points out that Joab began counting the fighting men of Israel, but did not complete the count.  I am not sure if this is intended to explain why a leader for neither Gad nor Asher is listed, or just as a note about the census being incomplete.  I am sure there are those who would conclude from the absence of a leader being listed for Gad and Asher that during David’s reign those two tribes did not have a leader.  I think a better conclusion would be that no leader is listed for those two tribes because the compiler of this book did not have the information, either because it was not recorded or had been lost from the documents they used.  Which tells me that those who compiled this book honestly recorded the information they found in older sources.  If they had been making things up, they would have invented names for the leaders of Asher and Gad in order to make their document seem more complete.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

May 17, 2022 Bible Study — We Have Nothing To Give To God That He Did Not First Give Us

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 27-29.

Today’s passage starts with a continuation of the lists of people who ran things under King David. Unlike the last few days, I did not find anything interesting hiding in those lists.  I did however want to write about what David had to say during his commissioning of Solomon to build the Temple.  When the vast amounts of wealth (gold, silver, bronze, etc.) had been gathered for building and furnishing the Temple, David rejoiced at the generosity of the people.  However, he pointed out an important point; what had been given towards the Temple had come from God in the first place.  A point we should carefully remember, everything we have came to us as a gift from God, so we should never begrudge giving any of it back to His purposes.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

May 17, 2021 Bible Study The Lord Has Chosen You. Be Strong and Do the Work.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Chronicles 27-29.

I had written a completely different blog than what follows, but it was not very helpful and as I wrapped it up I started the following.  We can learn from David’s commission to Solomon.  As part of that, David said to Solomon, “…the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.”    Each and every one of us should listen to that because God has given us a task.  We also need to be strong and do the work.  However, like me you may be unsure what that task is.  Well, there are two parts of what David tells Solomon which provide us with guidance on that.  First, he tells Solomon, and us, “Be careful to follow all of the commands of the Lord your God.”  A little further on David says, “…acknowledge the God of your father and serve Him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind,…” He also tells Solomon, “if you seek Him, He will be found by you,…”  So, if we do not know the task which God has given us, David’s advice tells us that task is to follow God’s commands, acknowledge Him, server Him, and seek Him with devotion and a willing mind.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

May 17, 2020 Bible Study Learn to Know God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

This passage lays out how David laid out his government of the Kingdom of Israel.  It lists those who commanded the forces he kept prepared against an unexpected attack (and probably sent out to deal with bandits who raided caravans on the trade routes) and those who he appointed to administer the various aspects of his government.  Perhaps the most interesting thing is how he included the leaders of each of the tribes into his government.  Certainly, that contributed to the division of the Kingdom when his grandson took the throne, but it also helped to make the people think of themselves as part of the Kingdom rather than just as part of the various tribes.

However, I want to spend a little time about something it relays from David’s instructions to Solomon.  Up until this point, most of what was written in this book was there to show how the Returned Exiles were connected to the Kingdom of David.  This was included as instruction on how they, and we, should live.  It includes a series of points which we should meditate on frequently:

  • Learn to know God intimately
  • Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and a willing mind
  • God sees every heart and knows every thought and plan
  • If you seek Him, you will find Him
  • If you forsake Him, He will reject you.

Part of me wants to expound on that, but everything I think to write seems to dilute the above.

May 17, 2019 Bible Study

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

The account given here of King David naming his son Solomon as his successor and commissioning him to build the Temple is, on the surface, inconsistent with the accounts of Solomon becoming king given in 1 Kings. However, despite the inconsistencies between these two accounts, they are not contradictory. The account in 1 Kings emphasizes King David’s frailty and the political maneuvering which surrounded the end of his reign. The account here emphasizes that King David chose Solomon as his successor and put the force of his reputation behind the legitimacy of Solomon as king. More importantly, I think, the writer puts King David’s support behind King Solomon building the Temple. I believe that the writer attempts to more closely tie the Temple to King David than the account in 1 Kings did.
Having said all of that, I think if we read both passages in light of each other we can see how both could represent what happened. I was tempted to go into a discussion of how these two accounts fit together, but I think the messages in this passage are of more value.

God had chosen David to rule over His people and He chose Solomon to rule after him. Wherever we find ourselves in life and whatever success we have result from the fact that God has chosen us for that lot and that success. God intends for us to serve His purposes. That is why we are wherever we are and why we have the successes which we do. If we worship and serve God with all of our being, He will grant us great joy in all of our life and take care of all of our needs. God does not do this for us as payment for our service, because He does not need us. God rewards us for doing His will because it pleases Him to do so. We suffer when we reject His will because He has designed the world that way.

May 17, 2018 Bible Study — Those Who Seek God Will Find Him, But He Will Reject Those Who Reject Him

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Chronicles 27-29.

    The passage continues on from yesterday’s listing of the duties assigned to priests and Levites to list David’s other officers and officials. We see that David carefully delegated his authority in order to efficiently administer his kingdom. David also managed to balance the advantages of a trained army ready to fight at a moments notice with the liabilities of keeping a professional army by having units which served for 1 month out of the year. This allowed him to have enough men on hand to deal with any sudden military necessities without the expense, and other problems, of keeping an army of warriors busy year round. In addition, it left him with a pool of trained men to call upon when a larger force was needed..

    Considering the way in which Solomon was crowned, I am unsure how much of the address this passage says King David gave at Solomon’s coronation reflects what David actually said. However, there are still important words in it for us. There is a promise contained within which God will honor. Those who obey God’s commands wholly and completely will be secure in their land. God knows all of our thoughts and plans, no matter how cleverly hidden they may be, even if we have hidden them from ourselves. If we seek Him, we will find Him. If we seek to do His will, we will learn it and find the strength to do so. But there is an important codicil to this, if we reject God, He will reject us.