Tag: 1 Chronicles

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 21  Read: 1 Chronicles 16 Listen: (5:21) Read: Psalms 90 Listen: (2:03)
Nov 22  Read: 1 Chronicles 17 Listen: (4:14) Read: Psalms 91 Listen: (1:39)
Nov 23  Read: 1 Chronicles 18 Listen: (2:36)  Read: Psalms 92-93 Listen: (2:09)

Scripture Focus: 1 Chronicles 16.4-9

4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:

Reflection: The Historian’s Purpose: Freedom

By John Tillman

Perhaps the most famous teller of histories known today is Ken Burns.

Burns’ documentary films, for decades, have shared stories that say something about America to Americans. His visual style became so iconic that in most video editing and presentation software there is a “Ken Burns Effect” setting that will slowly and dramatically zoom into an image or pan across it.

Burns labors long on each film. His most recent, The American Revolution, took ten years. Yet, despite being worked on for so long, his films often arrive at timely moments when their message seems purposeful.

Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles scrolls were all written by historians. But the chronicler has a distinct style, composed for a timely moment, with the purpose of telling a story about God’s people to God’s people. 

Samuel and Kings’ historians focused on the rulers, court dramas, and political fallout. The chronicler focuses on moments of faith, ecclesiastical occasions, and the people who lived them, often turning his camera away from the rulers to pan across the faces of ordinary Israelites.

This is the “Ken Burns Effect.” We often get long, slow pans and zooms across lists, records, and genealogies important to the audience and the story the chronicler is telling. To us, these records seem to interrupt the story. To the chronicler, they ARE the story.

Samuel skips the scene in 1 Chronicles 16 where David sets up the levitical structure, supporting artists, and those who will oversee worship. The chronicler gives us a medley, blending Psalms 96, 105, and 106 into a sample psalm and giving us closeups of the faces of those who would sing this liturgy.

Chronicles was written to returning exiles. His purpose? Freedom through de-assimilation. Their parents and grandparents were taken in chains to foreign empires. They grew up hearing about the land they lost, living in the land that stole it from them. Chronicles helped exiles recover their lost identity and de-assimilate from the culture of their oppressors.

The message to exiles is also for us—as timely now as then. We are exiles in a world that isn’t ours, pressed into its patterns, assimilated to its thinking. 

Read the chronicler’s blended psalm. Allow it to de-assimilate you from kingdoms, cultures, and forces in this world, pressing you into their mold. Regain your identity in Christ, his cross, his resurrection, and the freedom he offers to all humanity.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Hallelujah! Praise the Name of the Lord, give praise, you servants of the Lord,
You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing praises to his Name, for it is lovely. — Psalm 136.1-3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: What We Do For God

Do we want to do something for God? Then we should do it for the least of these, the brothers and sisters of the lowly Jesus.

Read more: Missing the Son of David

What type of righteousness and justice are we looking for from the Son of David? Could we miss him because we are focusing on the wrong qualities?

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 20  Read: 1 Chronicles 15 Listen: (4:38)  Read: Psalms 89 Listen: (5:29)

Scripture Focus: 1 Chronicles 15.11-15

11 Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. 13 It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” 14 So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Reflection: Handling God’s Presence and Word

By John Tillman

The first time he moved the ark, David failed.

David missed (or ignored) important instructions in God’s word. He moved the ark just like the Philistines did, on a cart. David treated the ark like a load of goods or an idol instead of the throne representing the presence of a real and living God. Chronicles clarifies David studied the proper procedure for moving the ark before his second attempt. David read the syllabus.

A good syllabus contributes to student success. However, professors, teachers, and students know that students often fail to thoroughly read syllabi.

Since I was in graduate school, syllabi have gone beyond simple instructions. Many syllabi are bloated documents of legal jargon meant to shield professors against complaints and campus politics. Students skip or skim syllabi for the same reasons we skip or skim the “Terms and Conditions” we consent to for digital services that dominate our lives.

Some professors go to extremes to promote reading their syllabi or to humiliate students who don’t. In a viral stunt, a music professor put fifty dollars in a locker. In his syllabus he included the locker’s number, combination, and instructions that the cash was free to the first student who claimed it. At the end of the semester, the cash was still there.

Does this prove students don’t read syllabi? Or does it prove syllabi are unreadable and unhelpful?

The Bible is not an unreadable syllabus and God is not a sneaky professor or a corrupt corporation trying to trick or make fools of his people. The instructions for carrying the ark showed respect for God’s presence, power, and person represented by the ark. There was no excuse for David carrying it before the people in an unworthy way. 

We have God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts. How are we handling it?

Are we carrying God’s presence before people in an unworthy way? Are we missing (or ignoring) important instructions in God’s word? Are we treating God (or the Bible) like a mascot or idol? Does our obedience respect God’s presence, power, and person? 

Moses told Israel God’s commands were not too difficult or beyond reach. (Deuteronomy 30.11-15) Moses’ encouragement is as true for us today as it was for Israel. Be a good student of God’s word, using all the tools we are blessed with today. Don’t neglect our clear instructions to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. (Micah 6.8)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

My eyes are upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me… — Psalm 101.6

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Daughters of Saul and Sons of Moses

Michal, daughter of Saul and wife of David, critiqued the celebration…The daughter of Saul despised this lowly king.

Read more: When Temples Fall

God would rather destroy his temple than see it continue in unrighteousness, but the psalmist’s good news is that God also restores.

Links for today’s readings:

Nov 19  Read: 1 Chronicles 13-14  Listen: (4:13) Read: Psalms 88 Listen: (1:58)

Scripture Focus: 1 Chronicles 13:7–10

7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets.

9 When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. 10 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God.

Reflection: Revelry and Reverence

By Erin Newton

What is holy revelry without appropriate reverence?

Martin Luther is said to have proclaimed, “If you are not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” I concur with the desire for eternal laughter and frivolity. Yet some prefer to keep religion serious and devout, perhaps echoing the lyrics from Sound of Music, “How do you solve a problem like Maria?,” who was (according to the song) “a clown.”

David and the Israelites were fellow “clowns” celebrating the return of the ark—with all their might. The same account in 2 Samuel 6 tells of David’s wife Michal criticizing him for “going around half-naked . . . as any vulgar fellow would!” David says his celebration was merely an expression of joy.

In both accounts of the ark’s return, the fate of Uzzah is repeated. As a quick, seemingly absent-minded, reaction he failed to show the ark and by proxy, God, the proper respect. David danced and celebrated without care of his reputation or impression. Uzzah lapsed into religious carelessness. David was chastised. Uzzah died.

The juxtaposed stories of how a person responds in this religious setting is interesting. David was much like the “will-o’-the-wisp” nun Maria, carried on by his emotions and joy. The story of him dancing is often used to encourage others to hold nothing back emotionally, to praise God with every fiber of our being. Uzzah could have benefited a little from Mother Abbess, who sought to ensure obedience.

What of churches today? Are we to follow the lead of holy revelry and let our joy go unbounded? Or do we keep our minds focused on the holiness of God, knowing that a misstep into irreverence would only anger our Lord?

As they say, everything in moderation. And perhaps everything according to our context.

So many Christians today have lost the joy of the Lord. Perhaps their reading of God’s Word has been used to define faith as a stern list of do’s and don’ts. The focus is constantly on finding the right posture before God, always with downcast eyes and quiet reflection. This type of church would benefit from some revelry before God.

While God is the source and aim of our joy, loving God isn’t just a life of fun and laughter without morals and responsibility.

The pendulum must continually swing between revelry and reverence. May we always seek to find the middle.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to you holy hill and to your dwelling;

That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God. — Psalm 43.3-4

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Irreverently Abusing God’s Presence

Do we abuse God’s presence?…take “the Name” in vain?…weaponize God against enemies?…treat him like a magical charm?

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