Glory Days (CaD 1 Chr 11) – Wayfarer

When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, he made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel, as the Lord had promised through Samuel.
1 Chronicles 11:3 (NIV)

In a few weeks, I will attend my 40th high school class reunion. I graduated in 1984. I came of age in the Reagan years. I entered high school the year Reagan took office and finished college the same year Reagan completed his second term.

It’s common for people to look back at their high school and college years as the “Glory Days” of life. Bruce Springsteen even wrote a song about it. I do find it humorous to think back about what life was like in those days. I get a lot of memes in my social media feed about growing up in the 1970s and 1980s and they always make me laugh. Life has certainly changed a lot in 40 years.

In today’s chapter, the Chronicler begins his description of the reign of King David. With both his words and his choice of details, he paints a “Glory Days” picture of Israel’s great King.

Twice in the first three verses of the chapter, the Chronicler chooses to say that “all” of the people and elders asked David to be their king. He then chronicles the capture of Jerusalem and David making it his capital city. The Chronicler then highlights David’s “mighty warriors” including the trio of nearly comic book-worthy heroes known as “The Three.”

Unity, power, and strength are the themes the Chronicler establishes immediately in his Cliff Notes condensed version of events. While it is true that his contemporary readers knew the more detailed accounts of Samuel version of history it is worth noting that the Chronicler chooses not to deal with the fact that David was named King of Judah years before the rest of the tribes asked him to be king over them. David united the tribes into one Kingdom, but history has taught me that no leader has 100 percent support. Even Walter Mondale took two states in 1984.

It’s also fascinating that the Chronicler puts David’s “Mighty Men” right up front in the narrative, while the author of Samuel placed it near the end almost as an appendix to David’s story. Again, there is a bit of glorification being presented in the Chronicler’s retelling.

Yet in the quiet this morning I can’t help but once again think about the Chronicler’s place in history. His generation was born and raised in exile. He’s known nothing but subservience to foreign empires. Now, he’s returned to Jerusalem which lay in rubble to rebuild a Temple that was also burned and turned into rubble. Our of the realities of defeat, destruction, exile, and subservience he is trying to find a way to rally his people to put their faith in God and have some pride in their national identity. So, he’s focusing on the unity, power, and strength that their great King David had back in the glory days.

And, I get it. It’s human nature to glorify our past. I certainly wouldn’t mind if Ronald Reagan was on the ballot this November.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.