July 19: 1 Chronicles 28 – 29; Psalm 15; Proverbs 19:18-19; Romans 5:6-21



Overview

            1 Chronicles: David assembled all his officials and the leading men of Israel and explained to them that he wanted to build a house for the Lord but the Lord wouldn’t let him because he shed much blood. God selected and made him king over Israel forever and his son, Solomon would take over after him and he would build the temple. Therefore, they are to observe all the commandments so that they and their children can continue to possess the land.
            David then told Solomon to serve God and seek him but if he forsakes God, he will cast him off forever. David then gave the plans for the temple and the division of Levites to Solomon. It was all given to him in writing so that he could do the work according to the plan. He told Solomon to be strong and courageous and do it. God is with him so he didn’t have to be dismayed. God will not leave him until the work is done. Al the others assembled there are with him too.
            David told the assembly that Solomon was young and inexperienced so he provided much gold, silver and other things for the temple. He then asked who else will provide for the temple. The assembly also contribute much gold, silver, and other materials for the temple. David and the people rejoiced because they gave willingly.
            David then prayed and declared God’s awesomeness and provision. He admitted their dependence on God and the ability to give was only because of him. He prayed about God’s joy in righteous people. He asked the Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel to keep his purposes in the people’s hearts. He prayed for Solomon to keep the commandments so he could finish the temple.
            He told the whole assembly to praise the lord and they did. They offered many offerings. They then anointed Solomon king. Solomon prospered and everyone pledged allegiance to him. The Lord made him greater than any king before him.
            David reigned over Israel 40 years. 7 in Hebron and 33 in Jerusalem. He died old, rich, and honored.
            Psalm: Who can live in fellowship with the Lord? Only the person who is blameless and does right. He never lies, slanders, gossips, or harma others. He despises those who do evil and honors those who fear the Lord. He will keep his promise even when it hurts. He is financially upright by not charging interest or accepting bribes. This kind of person will never be moved.
            Proverbs: Discipline your kids so that they won’t grow up to be people that you wish would be executed. If you bail out an angry person when he gets into trouble because of his temper, you will only have bail him out again.
            Romans: At the right time, Christ died for us. We were still sinners and that demonstrated God’s love for us. Being justified by his blood, we are saved from God’s wrath. We were enemies of God but now we are reconciled by Jesus’ death and saved by his life. Therefore, we rejoice in God and being reconciled to him.
            Sin came into the world through Adam and death was the consequence that applies to all people because everyone has sinned. Even before the law was given, there was sin and death. The free gift of life isn’t like the sin. Many died because of Adam’s sin. Because of Jesus, the gift of grace didn’t bring condemnation but justification for many after many sins. This grace reigns brigns the free gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ.
            One sin led to condemnation for all men but one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. Adam’s disobedience caused all to be sinners but Jesus’ obedience makes many righteous. The Law came to expose how sinful people are and where that sin is exposed, grace is there even more. Sin reigns in death. Grace reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life in Jesus our Lord.

What Stood Out

            1 Chronicles: “A Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all” (1 Chron 29:11).
            Psalm: “In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord” (Ps 15:4).
            Proverbs: “Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death” (Prov 19:18).
            Romans: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God” (Rom 5:9).

Insight

            1 Chronicles: The ending of David’s reign and his life are like a fairy tale ending. It would be except that David gives God all the glory. You don’t find that in fairy tales. David acknowledges that without God’s working, he wouldn’t have been able to do anything. He tells us that all the honor he received came because God gave it to him. David was quite generous with his riches as he prepared for the temple. He also lets us know that all these riches came from God. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to the Lord. He is in such control of nations and people that he can make it certain that the person he prospers will have as much as the Lord wants. No one gets rich or receives honor because they have the power within themselves.
            I’ve met people who are “self-made.” They believe that it was all due to their hard work and ambition that they are wealthy and honored. They discount God and don’t event believe in chance. That is the height of arrogance. The Lord has let them become who they are because he is gracious to them. However, if they don’t repent and turn to Jesus for salvation and repent of their arrogance, their earthly wealth and position will certainly be left to another and their eternity will be bankrupt at best and hell at worst.
            Psalm: Does God tell us that we should actually despise (loath, scorn, hate) evil people? That doesn’t seem to agree with what Jesus said about loving our enemies. It doesn’t seem to correspond with what Paul said that while we were still sinners, God loved us and Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). I think the answer to this is seen in the rest of the Psalm. David is saying that only a perfect person can dwell with the Lord. He is using hyperbole to make his point and that would then apply to his statement about despising evil people. Since we know that no one is perfect (just look at Psalm 14), we can also assume that despising evil people must have a meaning that is less drastic and is accordance with Jesus’ and Paul’s teaching.
            Rather than despising evil people, we should shun or avoid being like them. We can despise the evil they do but not necessarily despise them. In fact, we should have great concern for them and do what we can to steer them to faith in Jesus Christ so that Jesus’ righteousness will show them blameless before the Lord in the same way we are.
            Proverbs: Wow, what a couple of interesting Proverbs today. I wonder how many people have failed to disciple their kids and then later find out that they have done something worthy of the death penalty? Back in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 a rebellious son could be brought before the elders of a city and put to death when the parent gave up hope on him. That is a sad thought but our society has changed the way we disciple kids and my conversations with grade school teachers and administrators indicate that many parents who were raised without disciple are raising their kids the same way. When the child gets in trouble at school, these parents angrily blame the school and completely exonerate their kid.
            The second Proverb ties right in because these people never had to be accountable for their actions and especially anger. Now they continue to react in anger. Someone bailed them out of the consequences of their anger and it continues in their lives.
            The application is quite obvious, if you want to spare your kids future problems, some that will lead to jail time or worse, discipline them now.
            Romans: Many people rebel against the concept that we are all sinners and we are sinners because of Adam’s sin. They simply think it’s not fair that we should suffer for what Adam did. Or, they may say that they shouldn’t be blamed for their sins because they can’t help it; it’s Adam’s fault. Either way, they don’t want to be held accountable for doing things that they know are wrong. Why don’t they look at the rest of Paul’s argument? Jesus Christ died and his obedience in going to the cross to take our sins provides the opportunity for all our sins to be forgiven and receive God’s righteousness. The reason they don’t look at this is that they really like sinning. While they make all these other excuses or smoke screens, it is to cover up the fact they like their sins and don’t want to give them up. Christ’s sacrifice doesn’t help them at all because they are unwilling to have their sins forgiven. Some even think they haven’t done anything wrong. That’s why Paul says many will be made righteous instead of all will be made righteous (Rom 5:19). Jesus didn’t die so that everyone would be saved, but only those who confess Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead (Rm 10:9-10).

Application

             Salvation is only through Jesus. Overcoming a lack of disciple in our lives and confessing that we are wrong is necessary to have salvation. If we don’t want to do that, we are enjoying our unsaved state and don’t want salvation. We can’t have fellowship with God when we are evil people and evil can be seen in the way we treat others. Even after becoming a Christian, we need to repent when we fail to live up to God’s standard. We will be restored to fellowship with God when we do.

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