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GOOD MORNING!!
Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 28 – 2 Chronicles 1
Click here to read these passages at BibleGateway
I just feel like jumping up and down, clapping, and blowing my shofar after today’s passages!
Rabbit Trails
Y’all get ready for some praising!
We begin with Chapter 28.
1 Chronicles 28:6: Remember how we’ve seen, time and again, that YHWH is a God of patterns? It is very important that we acknowledge this, take note if it time and again in His Word, and understand that He is a God of patterns and He has shown us His patterns time and again so that we may know Him.
1 Chronicles 28:6 says:
He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.”
YHWH Adopts Solomon as His own son.
Wow. When I read this my jaw drops every time. Recall all of the other times this pattern of adoption has taken place in Scripture. Israel adopted Joseph’s two sons (Ephraim and Manasseh) as his own. YHWH adopted Israel away from the world (by setting them apart, declaring them as His chosen people), God then adopted the Levites away from Israel as His own, and we are adopted, grafted in to, His chosen people through our faith in Messiah.
The principles of being adopted, set apart, separated from the world in order to be the children of YHWH are yet another pattern of YHWH. Why are patterns important? He shows us that we should look for them because we can count on them. He wants us to know how He operates. Knowing this makes it easier to recognize His hand, His will, and His movement. So many do not read the word and do not know the patterns of YHWH and that makes them all the more easy to deceive. And make no mistake, the Word tells us time and again that the majority of those who claim to follow Him are actually deceived in thinking they are doing just that. There are no shortcuts. It is up to each of us to do our due diligence in knowing – and doing – the Word.
1 Chronicles 28:6-7 and see if you see the conditional if/then statement:
He said to me, ‘It is Solomon your son who shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. 7 I will establish his kingdom forever if he continues strong in keeping my commandments and my rules, as he is today.’
Remember, sometimes the “then” condition is there even if you don’t see the word.
1 Chronicles 28:8 Was really interesting to me. My initial translation says to “observe and seek out all of the commandments of YHWH.” Some translations leave the seeking part out but I looked and the Hebrew word used in the text here is transliterated as “darash” and it does mean to seek out.
So we are to not only obey the commandments we know, but search and make sure to learn the ones we don’t know so that we can obey them, too. That’s what we’re doing here!
Read this entire verse and then we’re gonna dissect it a bit.
9 “And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. 10 Be careful now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it.” 1 Chronicles 28:9-10
- Solomon is told to serve YHWH with a whole heart and a willing mind. Oh mercy. How often does our own mind and our heart get in the way of serving the Father? May we train ourselves to seek His will in all things – for our own will leads us to devastation but His leads to blessings and wisdom.
- “If you seek Him, He will be found by you.”
This is a promise the Father repeats over and over in His word. I just want to testify that once I began earnestly seeking Him – with my wholeheart – he surely did show Himself to me in amazing ways, deeper than I ever dreamed possible. He has blessed me with an appreciation, zeal, and hunger for His word and continues to draw me closer to Him through this precious book. Praise YHWH!!!
1 Chronicles 28:19 – “All this he made clear to me in writing from the hand of YHWH, all the work to be done according to the plan.”
Did you read that? Some translations say “the hand of YHWH upon me” but the Hebrew translates to “writing from the hand of YHWH”. God’s own hand, writing these instructions for David.
1 Chronicles 29:10-19 Y’all THIS PRAYER!! The prayer that David prays to bless the Father in 29:10-19 just made my heart SOAR to read. It is so true, so wonderful, and reminds us time and again that everything, even what we choose to give to help advance the Kingdom of the Father, is only ours by the blessing of His hand! I want to encourage you to take a moment and say this prayer out loud and join me in blessing Him!
10 Therefore David blessed YHWH in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, YHWH, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, YHWH, 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, YHWH, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. 16 YHWH our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
AMEN!
A parent’s prayer – Did you catch the parent portion of that prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:19? If you have children or young people in your sphere of influence, I encourage you to pray this over them, replacing Solomon’s name with theirs.
“Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes…” 29:19
I can’t imagine a better prayer than that for our kids. May we already be honoring Him by seeking to live that way ourselves as well. If not, we can pray all we want but the example we set will certainly undermine any words we speak.
The death of David. This one sentence says it all
Then he died at a good age, full of days, riches, and honor… 1 Chronicles 29:28
A man after YHWH’s own heart, summed up beautifully.
7 In that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.” 8 And Solomon said to God, “You have shown great and steadfast love to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 O Lord God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great?” 11 God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, 12 wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.” 2 Chronicles 1:7-12
I get goosebumps each time I read about the Father appearing to someone. Make sure you pause on passages like these and let them sink in. Just try to imagine the majesty, the wonder, the awesomeness of such an experience. The weight of Solomon’s position, responsibility, blessings, and excitement were still fresh on His mind and He responded with a humble heart, fully honoring the Father in his request.
However, given all of this it still wouldn’t be very long before Solomon fell away from the Father in his heart and subsequently in his actions. How much more susceptible are we to the same action?
Remember, the Bible is not meant to be used as a microscope to examine others with but a mirror to see ourselves in.
We must always remind ourselves, daily, moment by moment, of the Greatness of the Father, of all that He has done for us. We must keep Him at the forefront of our mind and learn to lean on His wisdom from the start, because it is that one decision that seems small (such as Solomon allowing His wives to keep their idols) that lead us away from Him. As the Messiah explained and Paul restated: a little yeast leavens the whole lump.
Let us praise Him as we read through His word today!
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Test everything, hold tight to what is good.~ 1 Thess 5:21
We are saved by Grace alone: Obedience is not the root of our salvation, it is the fruit!
May YHWH bless the reading of His Word!