Overview
1 Chronicles: Men from Manasseh came to David before the Philistines fought Saul and David was with the Philistines. The Philistines didn’t let him fight against Saul for fear he would turn on them. The men from Manasseh are listed. Other men came to David in Hebron to turn the kingdom over to David. They and their numbers are listed.
David then attempted to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. But they put it on an ox cart and when the oxen stumbled, the driver, Uzzah, touched the Ark to keep it steady. The Lord killed him for touching it. David was angry and took the Ark to Obed-edom’s house where it remained three months. Obed-edom was blessed because of the Ark.
Hiram, king of Tyre sent material and people to David to build his house. David was established in Israel so he took more wives and had sons and daughters. Their names are listed.
The Philistines made a raid in the Valley of Rephaim when they heard David was king. David asked the Lord if he should fight and the Lord told him to go. He defeated them mightily. They tried again and David asked the Lord and he was told to go around opposite the balsam trees. He heard the sound of marching in the trees, he was to go because the Lord had gone out before him. He did as the Lord said and defeated the Philistines. The Lord brought fear of David on all the nations.
Psalm: David now asks the Lord to look upon his afflictions from his enemies. He wants to be spared from death so he can praise the Lord for his salvation. The nations have already been trapped in their own sinfulness. The Lord has executed his judgment on them. The wicked of all the nations will go to hell. The needy, on the other hand will not be forgotten or lose hope. They will continue forever.
David asks the Lord to get up and not let men succeed in their ways. He wants them judged. He wants the fear of God put in them so they will know they are merely men.
Proverbs: People with a lot of money seem to have a lot of friends and a poor man can’t depend on his friends. A person who gives false testimony and one who continually lies will both be held accountable.
Romans: Paul describes himself as a servant of Jesus and an apostle. He is ministering the gospel which God promised in the Scriptures regarding Jesus as God’s Son. Jesus is David’s descendant, Son of God in power and Spirit. This is shown by his resurrection. We have received grace from Jesus and Paul received his apostleship.
Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome. He thanks God through Jesus for their faith. He prays for them always asking to come to them so they can mutually strengthen and encourage each other. He wants to also bring other Gentiles in Rome to Christ.
He is not ashamed of the gospel because it is God’s power for everyone one to be saved. In the Gospel, righteousness by faith is revealed.
What Stood Out
1 Chronicles: “And the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations” (1 Chron 14:17).
Psalm: “Put them in fear, O Lord! Let the nations know that they are but men” (Ps 9:20)!
Proverbs: “Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend” (Prov 19:4).
Romans: “[Jesus] was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace” (Rom 1:4-5).
Insight
1 Chronicles: One of the most important aspects of David’s early reign is demonstrated in his reliance on the Lord. Before he went into battle, he would ask the Lord what to do. The Lord answered and gave him victory in these accounts. When he was established as king, the Lord made all the nations afraid of him. In these life and death matters, David depended on the Lord. It is somewhat surprising that in the matter of moving the Ark, David didn’t ask the Lord. He basically told the people that it was a good idea and they agreed. He didn’t ask God and he didn’t read in the Law how it was to be transported. They did what they thought was best.
How many times do we do the same thing. We ask God for help when there is a big decision and then ignore him about the minor things. We go about our daily chores without really acknowledging that we need him even in these. We even do our Bible study and prayer time out of habit. What do we miss when we don’t consult the Lord about all things, from the moment we rise to the time we fall asleep at night? We find that some of those minor things are much more important than we thought.
Psalm: Sometimes the fear of God needs to be established in a person before they realize they are not as great as they think they are. They need to be reminded of their feebleness and that they are not God. They need to be reminded that their destiny is hell without Jesus Christ. Not everyone needs this to turn to Jesus, but some do. Those who don’t need a hell-fire and brimstone reminder should contemplate their salvation and realize how close they were to being lost in hell so that they can gain a well-rounded respect for God.
Proverbs: A person who gains friends by his wealth will soon find out who his true friends are when the rich friend runs out of money. This works both ways. If we only want to be friends of a rich person because it is the next best thing to being rich, we are in no better position than they are. Instead of being friends to a person, rich or poor, because of what they can do for us, we should take the servant attitude and be friends based on what we can do for them. We should be looking out for their interests and not just our own (Phil 2:3-4).
Romans: Paul established that his apostleship came only because of Jesus. He is entrusted with this message and it is effective for both Jews and Gentiles to be saved. The gospel isn’t complicated as Paul explains it briefly in this opening of his letter to the Roman Christians. Jesus was foretold in the Scriptures long before he appeared on earth. He is God the Son, he lived a holy life proved by his resurrection and because of that, we receive grace. It is by faith in Jesus that we are saved. So that is the outline and the rest of the letter will explain it all in more detail. While we need little detail to put our trust in Jesus for salvation, we need the rest of the book to tell us the implication of that faith and why we need it. It tells us how to live after believing. These are all needed to make sure we have a faith that is genuine.
Application
With these daily blogs and other things I have to get done each day, I’m learning to depend on Jesus for more of the little things that make up the whole day. It isn’t just about the big stuff. I need to keep that up.
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