“Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God. Begin to build the sanctuary of the Lord God…” 1 Chronicles 22:19a (NIV)
As a baseball fan, I have been enjoying the outpouring of honor for Willie Mays the past few days. Not only was Mays possibly the greatest all-around player ever, but he is among the last players who transitioned from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He is one of the greats.
“We were playing for generations of players who were held back. We had a lot to play for, not just [for] us,” Mays told John Shea, co-author of Mays’ memoir 24.
One of the things that I love about history is its power to inspire, and there is plenty of inspiration in a man like Mays who was not only a great ball player, but a stellar human being who helped move history forward out of the sickness of segregation.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post/podcast, we have entered a new phase of 1 Chronicles. Once again, I found it important this morning to place myself in the sandals of the Chronicler and the people to whom he is writing his history of King David and the Kingdom of Israel. His generation has returned to the rubble of Jerusalem left by the Babylonian army almost a century before. Their generation has been given the monumental task of turning the debris into a new Temple.
How does he inspire them? With the history of their larger-than-life hero King David. King David’s greatest desire was to build the temple, but God made it clear that it would be his son, Solomon, who would do the job. So, David made all of the preparations he could, and in today’s chapter, he passes the responsibility to his son with history’s version of an inspirational locker room speech.
I think it’s important to note that all of these details are not found in the earlier historical account in Samuel. This is the Chronicler’s unique addition to the story. When he writes of David urging his son to succeed in completing his life’s greatest ambition he knows that he is writing to the “sons of David” who have the same task before them hundreds of years later. He is using history to inspire.
In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that everyone has a natural bent with regard to time. My bent is to look to the past for its lessons and inspiration. Wendy’s bent, on the other hand, is to always be looking to the future so that she can plan and execute that plan well. Still, others have a bent to living in the moment and focus on the present realities. There is no right or wrong. It’s not an either-or, but a yes-and. I have learned along the journey that we all need to learn from and appreciate those who have a different bent. And from time to time everyone needs the pasto to inspire us. The Chronicler certainly understood this.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan. Then report back to me so that I may know how many there are.” 1 Chronicles 21:2 (NIV)
Earlier this month my older brothers celebrated that momentous birthday number 65. For a long time, the idea of retirement was out there somewhere. With my brothers turning 65, the reality of being retirement age is suddenly a fixed spot on the seven-year horizon.
Today’s chapter got me thinking about retirement planning. The chapter is fascinating for both its content and placement in the larger story. The Chronicler has painted an idyllic picture of King David through the first 20 chapters, both as priest-king and warrior-king. So it’s surprising for the author to present David making an actual mistake. It is, however, an important piece of the story the Chronicler wants to emphasize.
Having established David as a King who put God first, and a victorious warrior, the Chronicler is now going to go back in time. We are entering an entirely new section of the Chronicler’s account that is focused on the building of Solomon’s Temple. To understand how God established the place where the Temple would be built, the Chronicler must go back to the days before David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. The location where David pitched the temporary tent-temple and where the permanent Temple would someday be built was established by God as part of the consequences of David’s mistake. David demanded that a census be taken of all the fighting men in the Kingdom.
In a modern context, it seems silly to think that taking a census is a big deal. The national census is part of the flow of life here in the States every decade. For the ancient Hebrews, the reason for taking a census of fighting men was only necessary if and when there was an imminent military threat. There was no threat, so the only motivations David had for doing so was either insecurity (e.g. “I don’t trust God to provide what we need if we’re attacked, so I’m going to make sure.”) or simple hubris (e.g. “Look at the empire I’ve built and the size of the army I can muster!”). Either way, something was not right spiritually in the act.
The consequences of David’s mistake led to David meeting the Angel of the Lord on the threshing floor of a man named Araunah. God tells David to purchase the land, build an altar there, and offer sacrifices. When David did so, the sacrifices were accepted with heavenly fire, thus establishing that this is where the Temple would be built.
As I meditated on the chapter this morning, two prevailing thoughts rose up in my spirit.
First, I find that there is a difference between wisely managing my finances and possessions and building a personal empire. In many ways, the entire Great Story from Genesis to Revelation is about the conflict between human empire and God’s Kingdom. As I read about David taking stock of his empire this morning, I thought of Jesus’ parable of the rich man who built larger and more storage units for all of his wealth and possessions, “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” (Luke 12:13-21)
Human empire exists at multiple levels in life from national, to corporate, to vocational, to familial, and even to personal. If my life is spent building an empire then something is spiritually askew.
The second thought is simply the question, “Where is my security?” Is it in my 401K? Again, it is a wise thing to plan and save for the third phase of life, but I never want to confuse that with my faith and trust in “my God who supplies all of my needs through the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins. 1 Chronicles 20:1 (NIV)
Today’s short chapter continues the Chronicler’s overview of King David’s military exploits, but it’s also a continuation of the story in yesterday’s chapter when the newly crowned Ammonite King humiliated King David’s entourage by shaving their beards off and cutting holes in the backsides so they returned with their butts exposed for all to see. David’s army attacked the Ammonites and their mercenary allies, the Arameans. While the attack was technically a win, most of the Ammonites fled into their walled city and escaped. But David considered the job undone.
Warfare in ancient times was typically dependent on the weather and the seasons. The first attack on the Ammonites must have been late in the season because David’s army withdrew back to Jerusalem. When the following spring arrived, they returned to the land of the Ammonites and laid siege to the city of Rabbah. This time, they were successful in deposing the King who had humiliated David’s men.
In the quiet this morning, I thought about the King of the Ammonites’ foolish act on the advice of his commanders (be careful whose advice you heed). I thought about the anger he roused within David. David told his men to stay away until their beards grew back so they would not be humiliated in front of their family, friends, and community. That means during the season the army was on stand down and they were waiting for spring the absence of these men was a constant reminder of the insult. When their beards finally grew back and they returned, it was yet another reminder of the Ammonites’ offense. The King of the Ammonites had ensured that David’s anger would fester and the insult would be perpetually remembered.
As I meditated on these things, I was reminded of Jesus words:
“This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.
“Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.” Matthew 5:23-26 (MSG)
Of course, Jesus was talking about interpersonal relationships and not international diplomacy. Nevertheless, the King of the Ammonites is a great object lesson of the principle. When David’s army returned in the spring, the King did not send his army out to face them in the field. Perhaps the same commanders who advised the King to insult David now advised him to keep them and their army safely sequestered inside the walls of the city. In doing so, the Ammonite King abandoned his own people in the lands and villages around the city sacrificing his own people to David’s army who easily captured and plundered them. In the end, the King paid dearly for a proud and foolish insult.
I’m reminded this morning that following Jesus’ teaching means treating others, even enemies, with humility, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Sometimes that’s hard, but I find that it avoids escalation of the conflict and the consequences that brings. I’m also reminded of the importance of initiating peacemaking when I’ve knowingly offended someone else. Ignoring it allows for anger and resentment to fester, and the consequences could very well be regrettable.
Just ask the King of the Ammonites.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Rivals, Defeat, and Shame (CaD 1 Chr 19) –
Wayfarer
So Hanun [the Ammonite] seized David’s envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away. 1 Chronicles 19:4 (NIV)
Yesterday, Wendy and I purchased tickets for our annual pilgrimage to the “mother ship,” U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, to cheer on the Minnesota Vikings. We kind of enjoy being fans, having a team to root for, and riding the ups and downs that come with it. Almost every team to whom we are loyal are “good” teams who rarely break through and win “the big one.” C’est la vie.
Every one of “our” teams has an archrival. It’s the nature of sports. When Wendy and I go to the lake in the heart of Cardinals country, we get a lot of ribbing for wearing our Cubs gear. Our neighbors used to fly their Cardinals’ flag just for us. One summer we happened to be at the lake when the Cubs beat the Cardinals, so I blasted the Cubs’ victory song Go Cubs Go at full volume on our deck knowing that the water of the cove would carry the sound a long way. Rivalry is part of the fun of being a fan.
I remember years ago hearing that as the annual game against the archrival approached, a team’s coach made the players sit and watch the previous match-up which was an agonizing, humiliating defeat. The coach made the players watch it in its entirety. It motivated them to step up and they turned the tables on their rivals that year.
In ancient times, kingdoms also had rivals, but with bloody, dangerous, and life-threatening consequences. When reading through the history of the ancient Hebrews and the wars they fought to survive, the same enemy names pop up over and over and over again: Philistines, Edomites, Arameans, and Ammonites to name a few.
The author of Chronicles is scratching out his version of that history with his stylus on papyrus around 400 B.C. His generation is desperately trying to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, which has been lying in rubble for decades. Their people had been scattered and taken into exile in Babylon and Assyria. At the point in time he is writing, they are history’s version of what sports would call “cellar dwellers” or “bottom feeders.” The “glory days” are far behind them.
Guess who doesn’t want to see them successfully rebuild?
It’s their rivals. In Nehemiah’s account of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, he tells of the Ammonites being among those who antagonized the Hebews and their rebuilding of the walls.
In today’s chapter, King David sends a delegation to the newly crowned prince of the Ammonites with his condolences on the death of his father, the King. It was a gesture of goodwill. Instead of accepting it, the new King shaves the heads of the Hebrew delegation (to be shaved was culturally shaming at that time) and cut their garments so the men’s butts were publicly exposed (also extremely shaming and humiliating). David responds by attacking the Ammonites and their allies, successfully defeating them.
In the quiet this morning, I considered what it must have been like for the Chronicler and his readers to read these historical accounts of the Ammonites’ antagonism and dishonor of David, and David’s victorious response. I wondered if reading about this past humiliation inspired the Chronicler and his contemporaries to be diligent in their defense of Jerusalem and their stand against their antagonistic rivals.
We mostly talk about shame in negative terms these days, and for those like me who are susceptible to shame’s toxicity, it can have devastating, negative effects on one’s heart, mind, and life. But there is also such a thing as good shame when a humiliating defeat or failure inspires me to make a positive change to ensure I never experience that humiliation, failure, or defeat again. It’s possible for a healthy memory of failure’s sting to motivate thoughts and actions that will avoid any future recurrences.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
"In the course of time…" (CaD 1 Chr 18) –
Wayfarer
Yesterday was Father’s Day here in the States. I was honored to be asked to deliver the message among a local gathering of Jesus’ followers near Des Moines, so Wendy and I took off first thing in the morning. We have friends among the gathering there and were joined by other friends who accompanied us for a wonderful lunch. We headed over to spend the rest of the afternoon with our kids and grandkids. Last night, we had other friends who joined us for a semi-regular Sunday evening visit which usually turns into a debrief on our respective lives. It was a really lovely day.
As Wendy and I made the drive home, I sat holding Wendy’s hand and found myself thinking about our lives together. We are so blessed. Life is so good.
Not that our lives have been perfect. In fact, they have been far from it. Wendy and I both have dots on our respective timelines in which we made major mistakes in life. We both have had seasons of life marked by serious moral lapses. The skeletons aren’t in the closet, either. We have been open about these things. Why? They are part of our respective stories.
The Chronicler begins today’s chapter with the words, “In the course of time.” This is his way of telling us as readers that he is being loose with the chronology, and he has been. The Chronicler has chosen to present David’s story in a certain way. He begins by presenting David as the “priest-king” who “was a man after God’s own heart.” He wants us to see that David put God first as David brings the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and restores the tent temple of worship and the sacrificial system as prescribed by the Law of Moses.
Now, the Chronicler shifts to telling us about the victorious warrior-king who defeated the surrounding kingdoms. He’s also sure to point out that it was through these victories that David collected the gold, silver, and bronze that would eventually be used to furnish and decorate Solomon’s Temple.
It’s a perfectly lovely big-picture description of David. He put God first and was blessed and victorious…in the course of time.
The Chronicler leaves out some of the details. David wasn’t perfect. He had dots on his own personal timeline marked by mistakes. He had seasons of serious moral lapses. The Chronicler, however, is looking back through the lens of history and presenting the larger story of David that he sees. He’s presenting the big-picture view of what God was doing in the larger context of the Great Story that God is telling from Genesis to Revelation.
In our cynical, tabloid-driven culture of tell-all scandals and true-crime podcasts and documentaries, the Chronicler’s version of events might strike one as dishonest. In the quiet this morning, I find it to be an honest view of God’s grace and mercy.
The most beautiful and gracious thing that Jesus offers is forgiveness. God through the prophet Isaiah said, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Thank God that I am not defined in His eyes by the mistakes I’ve made, many many failures, or the seasons of my moral lapses. When God “remembers them no more” all that is left of the story is the person God has been growing, cultivating, pruning, and transforming me to be “in the course of time.”
I am so blessed. Life is so good.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
On this episode of the Wayfarer Weekend podcast, I had a conversation with Marcus Pittman, co-founder of LOOR.TV, a start-up streaming service targeted at “cigar and whiskey evangelicals,” whom he defines as men primarily from college to middle age. Based on a video gaming model, young and aspiring producers and filmmakers get an opportunity to put their faith-based and conservative work before LOOR’s subscribers, and subscribers get to virtually invest in the shows they want to continue. Subscriber gets to participate in what shows get funded to continue and which don’t. Comedy, Sci-Fi, and Animated content that appeals to young men looking for what they can’t find anywhere else. I found it to be a very interesting model that could, if it catches on, disrupt the entertainment and steaming model in big ways.
Marcus Pittman
Remember! You can subscribe to the Wayfarer Podcast on any of the major podcast platforms from Apple to Spotify. Just seach for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well” and subscribe. It’s FREE and you’ll never miss an episode.
When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. 1 Chronicles 17:11-12 (NIV)
After living over 40 years as a disciple of Jesus, I’ve come to realize that one of the greatest spiritual challenges one has on this earthly journey is to see the things of this earthly life in the context of God’s Kingdom. If I step back and look at the theme that Jesus was always preaching it was to live my life and relate to others with a Kingdom of God perspective.
So much of daily life is filled with earthbound needs and priorities. There a jobs to do, bills to pay, kids to raise, and a never-ending list of life’s daily maintenance tasks that make me empathize with Sisyphus.
I can let all of these things distract me from God’s Kingdom, which I’ve observed to be the human default. Jesus asks me to see all of it, to approach all of it, and to execute all of it with God’s Kingdom in mind. If you read Jesus’ famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), you’ll basically find that it is His overarching theme of the entire thing. Approach and live out daily life with God’s Kingdom in mind.
In today’s chapter, David moves into his new palace. I picture him walking out onto the balcony and viewing the tent he had constructed as a temple for God and the Ark of the Covenant. He immediately sees the contrast in earthly terms. “I live in a gorgeous palace, while I put God in a tent. Somethings not right here.” And, I have to honor David’s sensitivity. For those of us who have gone to beautiful, opulent buildings, cathedrals, basilicas, and the like for church on Sunday, David’s thinking feels right.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)
What struck me in the quiet this morning was God’s response His appointed King, the “man after His own heart.”
“Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”
God didn’t ask David to build a temple. It’s a nice thought and all, but God has other things in mind in the context of God’s Kingdom. David is thinking bricks and mortar. God’s Kingdom is about flesh, blood, and Spirit. I love that God flips David’s desire 180 degrees: “Oh no, David. You’re not going to build Me a house. I’m going to build you my kind of house!”
God then explains that He is going to channel David’s earthly kingdom into God’s eternal Kingdom. From David’s line, from the House of David, will come God’s Son who will be the King of Kings. He will build God a House made of flesh-and-blood children from every nation, tribe, people, and language who sit at the table with Him eating the bread and drinking the wine of a new covenant. From tent to temple to table.
David is thinking in the context of a building in Jerusalem in 1000 B.C. God is thinking in the context of the plans He has for an eternal Kingdom beyond time.
And there it is again. David, with all good intentions, is stuck in his earthbound thinking. God invites Him to expand his heart and mind to see things in terms of the Kingdom of God. Just like His Son Jesus invites me to do in His teaching. He who would be the One to invite me to the table for a meal of bread and wine where my flesh and blood is transformed into the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
And here I sit in the quiet on a Friday morning, with every good intention to make good on the day ahead of me. I am God’s temple, God’s Spirit in me. As I head into day 21,231 of my earthly journey, a simple ordinary day, I endeavor to live in Kingdom context. I want to see each task as a Liturgy of the Ordinary, each moment with others as a divine opportunity, and each challenge as God’s classroom to educate me on Kingdom living.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: “Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm.” 1 Chronicles 16:19-22 (NIV)
Like everyone else in life, Wendy and I have experienced times of uncertainty. In fact, just a few weeks ago we were taking stock of some current circumstances in which we’re having to trust that God has a plan and is going to provide. Feeling my tendency to spiral into pessimism, Wendy sat and recounted for me all of the times over our nearly 20 years together when God has proven faithful in having a plan and providing. I needed to hear it. It was good.
Today’s chapter provides Part 2 of David’s grand event marking the Ark of the Covenant’s unveiling in its new tent temple in Jerusalem. Once again, the Chronicler reveals that David broke down the royal and priestly silos as he led in making the sacrifices and offerings. David then appoints musicians to play worship music and instructs them how he wants it done, using his own Psalms. With these events, not recorded in the original account in Samuel, the Chronicler reminds us that the warrior king was also the worship king who composed much of the book of Psalms and began his career as his predecessor’s private musician.
The lyrics the Chronicler quotes from the event can be found in three Psalms (105, 106, 96), but to understand why these additions are so important for the Chronicler and his contemporary readers, I have to place myself in their shoes on the timeline.
The people have just returned from decades of exile in Babylon. Reconstructing the Temple from the rubble, the Chronicler and his generation are going to have to do the very same things David did. Levites will have to be appointed as caretakers and musicians. Instructions will have to be given. They are restoring God’s sacrificial system as prescribed in the Law of Moses, just as David did.
The lyrics David prescribes at the event describe God’s covenant with Abraham, God’s promise to bless “a thousand generations,” and God’s faithfulness to the Hebrews who “wandered from nation to nation as strangers” before settling into the Promised Land. If I’m an exile having just moved back to Jerusalem from Babylon, this describes my own personal experience. I know what it’s like to live as a stranger in a strange land. I have had to cling to my faith in God and trust His promises, His covenant, and His faithfulness. Now I’m back in Jerusalem restoring the Temple and experiencing God’s faithfulness. What David is doing in today’s chapter and what David is singing in today’s chapter resonates deeply with my own life and experience. It’s life repeating itself. And through all of the uncertainty I’ve felt as an exile and now as a people trying to reconstruct our lives, our legacy, and. our identity as God’s people, I need to be reminded of God’s faithfulness. I need to trust that He has a plan and will provide. I can imagine reading today’s chapter and finding my soul saying: “I needed this. This is good.”
In the quiet this morning, I return from standing in the sandals of a returned Hebrew exile in 400 B.C. Jerusalem to sitting here in my 21st-century office. One thing that hasn’t changed in 2500 years is the human condition. Life is filled with uncertainty. I need reminding that God has a plan and will provide. Holy Spirit brought to mind a little verse, not particularly well-known, that has become a staple go-to along my own personal journey:
“If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13
I spent some time in the quiet this morning meditating on God’s faithfulness to the ancient Hebrews through the generations. I recounted some of those reminders Wendy gave me a few weeks ago of the many ways God has proven the truth of 2 Timothy 2:13 and the many times He’s proven faithful in having a plan and providing.
I needed this. This is good.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. 1 Chronicles 15:27 (NIV)
I have a bit of a fascination with words and their origins. There is a weekly column in the Wall Street Journal in which the author, an etymologist, chooses one word that was used a lot in the news that week and explores its origins and uses. I know. It’s geeky, but it’s my kind of geeky.
When working in business, one hears a lot of references to silos, which I find fascinating living in Iowa. An agricultural staple used for storing grain on the farm became a universally used metaphor describing strict divisions within a business or corporation. In my career, I’ve had to struggle with our client’s silos regularly. The Sales and Marketing silo usually pays for customer research, but the results have all sorts of important data for the Customer Service team who is in the Operations silo. At best, they don’t communicate well. At worst, they consider each other internal rivals. Silos prevent the data from having a maximum impact on the client and their customers’ experiences.
In the ancient world of the Hebrews, there were also silos that God had established in the Laws of Moses. Only members of the tribe of Levi were priests and caretakers of God’s ark and the temple. Hundreds of years later, the Hebrews established a monarchy. But King David, despite being anointed by God and established as a man after God’s own heart, was from the tribe of Judah. That’s a different silo.
The Chronicler, unlike the earlier account of David’s reign in Samuel, is writing hundreds of years later and with knowledge of all that has happened since, including the writings of all the prophets. He knows from the prophets that the Messiah will come from David’s line and that the Messiah will be both King and High Priest.
In today’s chapter, I noted that the Chronicler was careful to explain that it was King David who ordered that no one but the Levites should carry the Ark of the Covenant and that they should all consecrate themselves before doing so as prescribed in the Law of Moses, a mistake they had made two chapters earlier. So it’s the King who is commanding the priestly tribe of Levi to do their job.
Later in the chapter, the Chronicler provides a little detail about the big event of the Ark of the Covenant’s big arrival celebration in Jerusalem. King David was wearing the same priestly garments as the Levites.
The Chronicler is establishing with David there was a tearing down of the silos between King and Priest. David had authority and told the Levites to do their job. David wore priestly garments as the Ark was brought into Jerusalem. The Chronicler sees David as the precursor of the King-Priest that will eventually be fully realized in the Messiah.
Note: The Priest-King issue as it relates to Jesus was eventually explained by the author of Hebrews, and it’s pretty cool. The answer lies in a mysterious figure who appears briefly in Genesis. I introduce him briefly in this post.
So what does this have to do with my life today? As a disciple of Jesus, I find that He’s all about tearing down the silos. He tore down cultural silos and religious silos. He burned the silo of a priestly class system to the ground and made every follower a member of the royal priesthood. I just talked about that in a message I gave to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers a few weeks ago.
So in the quiet this morning, I find myself asking “Where have I built silos in life that need to be torn down?” Where do I see distinctions between me and others that Jesus would say don’t exist? If I’m a member of the royal priesthood as God tells me I am, then how am I supposed to live that out in my life, my words, and my actions today? Or, have I built a silo around my heart and mind so that I can ignore this spiritual truth and tell myself “It’s not my job!”?
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him. 1 Chronicles 14:17 (NIV)
When I was a teenager, I spent two years being spiritually mentored. The first thing my mentor had me do was memorize Joshua 1:8, the words Moses gave to his successor, Joshua:
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
It was the beginning of my fascination with the Great Story and a commitment to reading it, studying it, and applying its principles and lessons to my life. You might say it was the seed that took root and eventually led to these chapter-a-day posts.
Of course, there’s also that promise the verse gives of prosperity and success if one lives according to the Book. Which, I have meditated on long and hard over the years. The promise has been a source of both tension and wisdom.
Today’s chapter is fascinating both for its content and its placement in the Chronicler’s updated history of the Kingdom of ancient Israel. One of the things I’ve learned in my decades of studying the Great Story is that the Hebrews were very deliberate in the structure of their writing. Today’s chapter is a great example.
In the previous chapter, the Chronicler reveals the priority King David placed on his faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. He leads a procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem where a temple will eventually be built for it. However, the Ark is not yet brought into the city. The Ark is left at the house of a man named Obed-Edom for three months. The Chronicler is sure to mention that while the Ark was in Obed-Edom’s home he and his household were blessed.
In the next chapter, the Ark is brought into the city of Jerusalem and David makes it a major event.
So, what happens in the three-month interlude?
The Chronicler tells of God blessing David in every way.
A foreign King makes a treaty with David and builds a palace for him. This shows David’s growing prominence in the region, as well as the respect and fear neighboring Kingdoms have for the powerful David. (verses 1-2)
David is blessed with more wives and children. (verses 3-6)
David, who the Chronicler is sure to mention always inquires of God before engaging in battle, is given major military victories over the Kingdom’s biggest rival. Not only this but when David and his men capture the idols of the Philistines, he dutifully burns them in accordance with the law of Moses. A detail marking David’s obedience to God that Samuel failed to mention. (verses 8-16)
With his structured account of David’s commitment to God and David’s blessed life and reign, the Chronicler is making the same connection that Moses was making with Joshua in the verse that I memorized all those years ago. Make God your priority, live according to His Book, and you will be prosperous and successful. One might say that this is the pre-Christian version of a prosperity gospel. The Chronicler is lifting up David as the example for his people to follow.
In the quiet this morning, I feel the nagging tension that comes with the fact that I regularly observe people making God into a good luck charm and a shortcut to worldly wealth and prosperity. It’s easy to do with the simplistic equation that is given. In my wrestling with this tension over the past 40-plus years, I have made a few conclusions.
First, I believe the promise is genuine. Making God and God’s Word the center of my life has led to success and prosperity for me. But, those words are layered with all sorts of meaning that I don’t believe are intended. God’s ways are not our ways, the prophet Isaiah reminds me. His thoughts are not my thoughts. Prosperity and success in God’s Kingdom does not look like it does for the Kingdoms of this World and people who are focused on this life and worldly things. Exhibit A is God’s own Son who revealed that success at the Kingdom of God level is taking up one’s cross and laying down one’s life for their friend. Prosperity in God’s Kingdom is ultimately an eternal concept, not a temporal one.
Second, living according to God’s Word has benefitted me in so many ways. I have avoided a lot of foolish mistakes because I followed God’s wisdom. I have diminished stress and anxiety with the antidote of faith and hope. I have found joy and contentment in enjoying the blessings I’ve been given rather than the envy and stress of chasing after the blessings of others.
Finally, I have learned that God’s view of “success” and “prosperity” comes at the expense of trials, struggles, tribulations, obstacles, and suffering. The Chronicler is holding up a specific piece of David’s story and an example for his people to respect and follow. However, he does so at the cost of providing context that is essential for wisdom and understanding. Before David was king he was an outcast and branded as an outlaw. David spent years on the run, living as an exile in the desert. The anointing and promise given to little boy David that he would be king would not come to fruition for decades in which his everyday life was a constant struggle for survival.
So, in the quiet this morning I once again find myself back at a place of understanding. Yes, there is success and prosperity in surrendering to Jesus and living my life according to His Word. No, that doesn’t look like success and prosperity as the world defines it, though it may look that way at certain times for certain individuals like King David. It does not, however, change a couple of basic principles that the Great Story gives as necessary context. First, spiritual blessings and maturity in this life are rooted in struggle. Second, this world is not my home. True prosperity is found in eternity.
If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.
Wayfarer 