Tag: 1 Chronicles 16

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The Historian’s Purpose: Freedom

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:

8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

    make known among the nations what he has done.

9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;

    tell of all his wonderful acts.

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.

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If You Can’t Say Anything Good

Scripture Focus: James 3:9-11
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?

Reflection: If You Can’t Say Anything Good
By Jon Polk

Reading through James’ letter, one might get the impression that he has a pretty pessimistic view of our ability to control our speech with one another.

Without a tight rein on our tongue, our religion is worthless. (1:26)
No one is faultless in what they say. (3:2)
The tongue is a fire, a world of evil in the body. (3:6)
The tongue corrupts the whole person, set on fire by hell itself. (3:6)
The tongue is an untamable, restless evil, full of deadly poison. (3:8)
With our speech we curse one another. (3:9)
We slander and judge one another by our speech. (4:11)
We selfishly brag and boast. (4:16)
We grumble and complain against each other. (5:9)

Ouch.

Honestly, though, it sounds as if James could have been writing these words in 2019 rather than in the first century AD. And when he refers to our speech, we should certainly include our tweets, posts, and texts.

Before we start pointing our fingers at the world around us though, let us be reminded that James was writing not to unbelievers, but to an audience of those claiming to follow the way of Christ. Unfortunately, we know all too well based on our experiences (not the least of which is the unflattering stereotype of the church business meeting) that Christians can be the worst about using our words to wound rather than to speak grace and love.

We know this so well, in fact, that the Christian band Third Day turned James 3 into an unlikely #1 rock hit with the song, Nothing At All, from their debut album in 1996.

“Well, on and on and on and on and on it goes
Now look who’s the one playin’ the fool
Criticizing, telling lies, putting down
Ain’t you got nothin’ better to do?
But if you can’t say nothin’ good, don’t say nothin’ at all”

But wait! There is hope! James also says that with our mouths we can speak on behalf of God (5:10), pray for ourselves (5:13) and each other (5:16), sing songs of praise (5:13) and confess our sins (5:16). 

When we learn to control our tongues, we can bring great teaching, healing and joy to many.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s rule for the students of his seminary classes was that no one should speak about another student in their absence. Many of his former students admitted they frequently broke this rule, but they learned a great deal from their mistakes about the power of our words to damage the body of Christ.

Oh, how would our speech be different today if we tried to follow Bonhoeffer’s rule?

*Song, “Nothing at All” by Third Day

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity.—Psalm 84:11

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

Today’s Readings
1 Chr 16 (Listen -5:21)
James 3  (Listen -2:38)

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