1 King 3-4; 2 Chronicles 1; Psalm 72

The kingdom is united under Solomon.....prosperous years.. God comes to Solomon and asks him what he desires (I hope I get one of those dreams) and Solomon wants wisdom, an unselfish gift so he can rule.  God was pleased and gave him wisdom and discernment along with great wealth...note  though, that Solomon marries Pharoah's daughter in a political alliance....will this lead to anything?   Stay tuned to hear about this developing trend...

Had you ever heard the story of the baby and the wise ruling of Solomon?  Strange that my Sunday School class never emphasized that the two women were prostitutes!!!! 
And isn't it interesting that prostitutes had an audience with the king?

Solomon was a botanist and patron of the arts...he was wiser than any other man...he wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiates and a few Psalms......note that this chapter is called Kings, so we will hear about more than just Solomon.

Psalm 119: 1-88

This is the longest chapter in the Bible...what is cool to me is that there are 22 carefully constructed sections, each corresponding to a different letter in the Hebrew alphabet and each verse beginning with the lettern of is section.   There is a lot of repetition to help the people memorize the Word....remember that people passed on the Word orally at that time.

There is a lot about obeying and longing for God's laws.  We are to keep his statutes and precepts. 

1 King 1-2; Psalm 37/71/94

Solomon becomes King....Adonijah tried to get the throne, as  he was next in line after
Absolom....he got Joab's support and Abiathar the priest.  Joab thinks only about conquests unfortunately, and not the big picture...

Nathan the prophet knew that God wanted Solomon and went to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother and alerted her of Adonijah's scheme.  He and Bathsheba figured out how to alert David.  Adonihjah asks for Abishag.   This is the virgin that took care of David in his old age.......this wasn an acceptable custom.    However, Adonihjah was in effect, asking to take over....if you take  a King's concubine or wife you are trying to take over the throne.

Joab is killed finally and Abiathar was demoted.....Solomon is again uniting the kingdom.  Solomon fufills the prophecy of what the Lord spoke at  Shiloh about the house of Eli....see 1 Samuel 2:27-36.

Psalm 37:
Notice  how many times "do not fret"  is repeated.

Psalm 71
We are to proclaim God's might acts......we are to declare His marvelous deeds....why?

Psalm 94
We won't be judged in the way that the wicked will......

1 Chronicles 26-29; Psalm 127

We finish 1  Chronicles.....some of these records we read are boring!  We do see a system that is set up for worship and how important it is.   I was struck by the fact that so many people had duties....they just didn't sit in a pew and receive......However; we are not just tied to a system......God has the Levites as the High Priests, however, Jesus, our true High Priest will not come from this order....God has David put his FOURTH son on the throne....so even with all the order that God requires, He may have reasons for changing it up.


Here are Patricia's notes from her blog....I love the fact that she wonders whether her children would be able to learn anything by picking up her Bible....

1 Chron 26-29 Psalm 127Posted May 27, 2010 by Patricia in 1 Chronicles, Psalms. 8 Comments

OK, here is the deal, some of the chapters we may never read again in our lifetime.  We may never study them or feel led to read them again.  Just in case that is true,  I tried to really concentrate on these.  I  also try to make notes in my Bible knowing I will forget!  This is what I think of…I want my kids to be able to pick up my Bible and learn from my notes after I am no longer here.  Here were some of my notes from Chapter 26 and 27:

• 26:1 Korahites…Moses Family
• 25:4-5 Obed-Edom.  Sound familiar? Go back to 2Sam 6.  When Uzzah dies fixing the stumbling Ark and David didn’t know what to do so He parked the Ark at someone house for 3 months.  Guess who’s house…Obed-Edom…that is why he was blessed.
• 26:18: Korah and Merari
• 26:32 Did any one else read this and say “Hey…the Transjordan tribe!”
• Army Divisions: The names were not that familiar but the cross reference was redundant, so I looked it up.  Some of them are the Mighty Men we read about in Chap 23
• 27:15 Was that Othniel the Judge?
• 27:23…When David took the census out of Pride….
• 27:33…I am sure you recognized the names from the time of Absalom, but Chronicles is about the heritage of God’s Chosen People, not about all that “lesson”, so it left all that Joab stuff out.
• 26:10-11 cross reference Duet 21:15

The rest of this book really grabbed my heart.  This is the “take away” for me.  Every fiber of David’s being is to Worship the Lord.  With his heart, soul, and mind.  He states that everything that has been given to him is from the Lord.  Everything.  He is a leader by example (now there is a modern day question).  He is so obedient! All those Psalms are just falling into place for me.  He never once gave up on the Lord.  His enemies were out to kill him, some of them were his closest friends and he took refuge knowing in the end, the big picture God always prevails.  Well look at him here.  The Lord gives him the exact plans for the temple, just as Moses was for the tabernacle (Exodus 25).
So God chose Solomon.  This inexperienced man to be the next king and the builder of the Temple.  David gives Solomon Godly advice (28:9..) and we are all the audience on that.

• Get to know God personally
• Learn what God asks of us
• Worship God wholeheartedly
• Serve God willingly and henostly
• Be faithful
• Don’t become discouraged

David’s Prayer.  No words can describe this prayer and the paragraph to follow it.
Psalm 127: A Psalm written by Solomon.  I actually didn’t know that Solomon wrote a Psalm. And I loved it.  Imagine Life without God? Seriously.  I used to think it was scary to give God control of my life. I admit it, I did.  Now I think, imagine if God wasn’t? I didn’t realize the Peace I had, the comfort He gave me until I though about Him not there.

Psalm 131/138-139/143-145

Psalm 139 happens to be one of my favorites......we used it last night as one of our "worry" scriptures in our book study of the Christian Athiest.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts,
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting....

And here is what our New Jersey friend Patricia posted last year about these Psalms:

Ps 131/138-139/143-145

Posted May 26, 2010 by Patricia in Psalms. 6 Comments

Psalm 131:  This Psalm to me  is about not being prideful and finding the balance of humility when we are trusting in the Lord.
Psalm 138: verse 6…but the proud He knows from afar.  Pride is brought up so much in the bible.  When I read this,  I read it as a ‘separator’.  The definition in my Bible for Pride is an excessively high opinion of oneself.    When we are prideful we are pretty far from God.
Psalm 139:Very Popular Psalm…especially in the Veggie Tale World (I am a mom of 3).   This Psalm actually made me think a little different this time.  God knows me so well that He knows what is going to be my next thought.  How does He know that, because He knows my heart.  Yikes! The last verses hit me,

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
       test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,
       and lead me in the way everlasting.

When I starting praying “Lord, if  it does not please you, change it in me, make that language, that drink, that thought, that action…make it displeasing to me too”
Psalm 143:  We know from these Psalms the real life David led.  But I read it this morning and it talked to me pretty loudly.  We all have that “thing” in our life that we fight.  Business, pride, depression, over eating, loneliness, addiction, loss, failure…It pursues us.  Satan wants nothing less than for us to be in the slimy pit.

• Close your eyes.
• Think of the one thing the enemy whispers you that you hate.
• It pursues you.  It controls you.
• Now read this Psalm. Click here.  Change the version if you need.
• If you lean into this God,He can crush whatever it is that has a hold of us.

Psalm 144.  SO what part was your favorite

• The song in your head when you read the first  2 verses….Rock, Fortress, Stronghold, Deliverer, Shield, Refuge….
• The humbling next verse that in God’s time our life is just a breath….
• The Battle cry of How God actually fights our wars for us
• The person plead for the Battle within us
• Or the prayer for prosperity for the next generation

Psalm 145.    I felt like the psalmist was speaking of what he wished for the next generation…They will Praise your name and then it was like there was this Ah Ha moment where He thought…No, it will start right Here…I WILL Praise your name.  When we vision the life we wish for our kids to have with the Lord, why do we not wish that hard for us?

1 Chronicles 23-25

David begins to deal with the end of his life.   Remember he spoke his last words in 2 Samuel.  1 Chronicles is a good accompaniment to 2 Samuel and gives us more detail.  David appoints Solomon his successor and David sets up orderly plan for worship in the temple.  David assigns temple duties to the Levites, who were basicaly three sub-families:  Gershon, Kohath and Merari.  The NSRV says the Kohath family had the highest honor.  Aaron's family came from them, and they were set apart to perform the sacrifices...they were the priests.  Remember, not all Levites were priests, but performed other duties likle our elders, deacons, custodians, assistants, repairmen etc.

The Holy Spirit needs to be able to move, but God is a God of order, not chaos.  See 1 Corinthians 14: 40-But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.  Here, Paul was chastising the church of Corinth for how they were worshipping and gave guidelines for orderly worship.

I am so proud of you....do you realize that we are almost done with 5 months of Bible reading!   You are perservering!!!!  God is delighted with you, I just know it.  You are getting to know Him better and that is what He wants.

Psalm 108-110

Here is what Patricia says about these Psalms:

« Journey of the Ark

1 Chron 23-25 »

24 May

Psalm 108-110

Posted May 24, 2010 by Patricia in Psalms. 3 Comments

Psalm 108: Some of this may have sounded familiar to you, it was a combination of two other Psalms.  This psalm written by David must have been a battle prayer since the enemies of Israel are named in it.
Psalm 109: Harsh huh?  Let me ask you a question, if we could record your thoughts on a bad day, at home, at work, looking at the neighbors, driving, thinking, e-mailing…and then played them on a loud speaker, would you?  Psalm 109 is called  an ‘imprecatory’ or cursing Psalms.  Although it seems harsh, David (like Jesus) is hated by his enemies for no reason.  His prayer here is for God to handle the evil.  David knows that God is just and right.  Clearly David is angry, but the right thing is to leave it in the Lord’s hands.
Psalm 110: Did the name Melchizedek pop out at you? It did me, so I took the time to look it up.  Hmmmmm what I found was most interesting.  Way way back in Genesis 14 there was this verse out of no where:

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,  and he blessed Abram, saying,
       “Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
       Creator of heaven and earth.  And blessed be God Most High,
       who delivered your enemies into your hand.”
      Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Stay with me here for a moment..I want your opinion.  Then the Psalm says:

“You are a priest forever,
       in the order of Melchizedek.”

Then…Hebrews chapter 5 says:

No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him,
   ”You are my Son;
      today I have become your Father.And he says in another place,
   ”You are a priest forever,
      in the order of Melchizedek.”

So who is he?The King of Salem (Jerusalem)! The name Melchizedek  in Hebrew means ‘King of Righteousness’; The King of Salem means ‘the King of Peace.
Hmmmmmm. What are you thinking? Possible?  Could Christ have made an Old Testament Appearance? For Fun? Why…why not?
(if you are interested in the blog from Genesis 14 click here)

2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21-22; Psalm 30

Ahhhh....I delight in the different scholars opinions.....The NIV and the NSRV are different in their opinions of the motivation behind the census taking that David did.  The NIV argues that David was overcome by pride.   He was being self-sufficient and felt power from his military, not from God that gave true power.   He wanted a census just to see how powerful he could be.   The land was in a time of peace.  In Numbers when the census was taken, this was equivilent to the draft to be prepared to fight.  Joab even knew that such a thing was prideful.  David realizes he has sinned and begs for forgiveness.

NSRV argues that Joab was the one at fault.  He deliberately disobeys David and doesn't count the Levites and the Benjamites.  Verse 7 says that God was displeased with this thing....which NSRV attributes to Joab's disobedience.  David, realizing it is his ultimate responsibility offers to die in place.

What do you do when scholars disagree?  The way I see it, you ask if it is a saving issue.  If it is not, you realize that it is an interpretation of man, and if it was important for God to have us know, he would have made it clear in scripture.

Both interpretations agree that David selected the plague because he wanted punishment from God's hand and not man's.   And the threshing floor purchase is significant because it will be the future site of the temple, that David's son Solomon will actually build.

We are ending David's story:

psalm 95/97-99

Psalm 95 gave me flashbacks because we used to sing this in the Lutheran church when I was growing up.

Psalm 97 talks about God reigning.....do you think about him as a king?

Psalm 98 is high praise.....did you notice that verses 8-9 prophecy about Jesus coming again to judge the world?

Psalm 99 also talks abot King God....he is just and we have examples of people that we have read about that have called on his name....

2 Samuel 22-23; Psalm 57

David's song of praise is recorded because God delivered him from enemies...remember that this part isn't chronological...

chapter 23 are the last recorded words of David...note verse 5 in which David talks about the everlasting covenant that God made with him to have his descendents rule....Christ will come from this line.

David's Mighty Men are mentioned again.....we are closing out the book of Samuel very soon....

Psalm 57 shows what to do in times of trouble....David certainly saw his share of it....turn to the Lord.

Psalm 5/38/41-42

Psalm 5 is the first "imprecatory" Psalm...it is the first cursing segment....see 9-10.


Psalm 38 is a penitential Psalm because David is expressing sorrow for his sin...seems like the sin had lead to health problems if you read 1-8.

psalm 41 contains what some believe to be the prophecy of Judas betraying Christ in verse 9. See John 13:18.

psalm 42 is for when you feel depressed....the soul being downcast is mentioned 3 times....even depresses, try and praise God and remember that if He has done good things in the past, He can do them again.

2 Samuel 19-21

And here is the post that Patricia Szymnankski did on May 19, 2010 on our particular reading...

So as David returns to Jerusalem he makes his political moves as well as his personal moves.  He appoints Amasa back to his commander  (in 17:25 Absalom had made him commander of his army), this united the kingdom back.  David spared Shimei (go back to Chapter 16, he is the one who cursed at him) and then restored Mephibosheth (I told you the other day Ziba was lying) If any of this confuses you, just let me know in comments and I will be more specific.
Joab: what a character.  He was the one David used to plot against Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to have him killed, murdered Abner without permission, murdered Abslamom AGAINST orders from David and now out of jealousy has killed Amasa, in order to gain his ranking position back.
Chapter 21.  The next 4 chapters are like an appendix to this book.  These events are not necessarily in chronological order.  It is the Record of David’s reign.  In my bible this chapter is called The Gibeonites Avenged.    If this confused you that means you WERE paying attention.  There was a treaty made in Joshua 9:3-27 Click here for chapter, that Saul obviously did not adhere to and must have drawn blood against them.  This seems to have happened after the restoation of Mephibosheth but before the Absalom stuff.  This story was not told in either Samuel or Chronicles.
A few of the things I noted was Vs. 8 Merab was Saul’s daughter who was promised to be David’s wife.  Rizpah, the daughter that camped out, for  about 6 months, till her father was buried properly with his sons.

Psalm 26/40/58/61-62/64

Psalm 26
Twice David says he leads a blameless life....is he being cocky? no.....he was not saying he was sinless..he was talking about being right with God.....when he sinned, he repented and did whatever it took to be restored to God......in this Psalm, David wanted to have his name cleared from the false charges of his enemies....gotta love a conspiracy...

psalm 40
I just hate waiting patiently...My study bible has this wonderful quote....."often blessings cannot be received unless we go through the trial of waiting". What do you think about that...

Psalm 58
This is a prayer for justice...many times we don't get that with earthly leaders, do we?

Psalm 61-62
We are going to have problems...that is a given...our hope is in salvation ultimately. it is human nature to want relief from our problems....but more problems are going to come.....David mentions salvation 3 times in Psalm 62...

psalm 64
God will take care of conspiracies by taking care of those that conspire against us.

2 Samul 16-18

Chapter 18 was interesting....was Ziba a friend or foe?  Scholars disagree....there is no scriptural reason given for why David agreed so quickly with Ziba, but there are many challenges to Ziba's motives.  Perhaps he expected a reward from David...perhaps he was sincere.

Shimei cursed David through quite a bit of his journery....David tolerated the abuse and even says that the Lord told Shimei to curse him.  David knows that God sees what is going on.

Now remember that Ahitophel is Absolom's advisor, and was Saul's.   Hushai is David's spy.  Verse 21 is the fulfillment of scripture where  Nathan said that another man would sleep with David's wives (rembember those 10 concubines that David left behind when he fled), and Absolom did.  Culturally, this means that Absolom was making claim to the throne.

In chapter 17 Ahithophel counsels Absolom with good advice....Hushai gives advice in David's favor.  Verse 14 shows us that the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice of Ahithophel to bring disaster on Absolom.  Yay, God!!!  Remember when David prayed, "O Lord, turn Ahithopahel's counsel into foolishness?  (15:31)...the Lord delivered and his counsel was not followed. Ahithophel saw that his advice wasn't followed and hanged himself.

Chapter 18 is sad and ironic.  David wanted Joab to be gentle with Absolom for his sake.  A father's love runs deep.  Scripture tells us that Abalom's head was caught in a tree.  Many scholars speculate that it was actually his hair....remember how "pretty" Absolom was supposed to be?   And when he had a haircut, it was about 2-5 pounds of hair that was cut off?   His pride was his undoing....Joab took matters into his own hands and executes Absolom.  David hears the news, and is crushed.  David truly loved his son, even through the rebellion.

Nathan's prediction that the sword would affect David's household and not depart from it (12:10) is certainly coming to pass.

Trivia:  Did you know that Absolom means Father of Peace?    This one did not live up to his name.   Here are some artist renderings of Absolom...





I like the image on the left  LOL.....Do you think he looks like a spoiled prince?  Can you see Absolom stewing over the treatment of his sister when she was raped and getting mad at David for not doing anything about it?  Absolom stewed over it and killed Amnon himself and fled....do you think the sins of the fathers are being reflected in the sons?  David repented.  Did Absolom?

Psalm 3-4/12-13/28/55

Psalm 3 was specifically written by David when he fled from his son Absalom.  How would you feel if your own son wanted you dead so he could have the throne?

David knows that God is not against him....circumstances may be against him, but he can call to God for Sanctuary.  David still wants just punishment.......Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.....I might have to use that quote!

Psalm 4
David feels joy....he knows that God will listen to him no matter what.....verse 8, "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety"...


Psalm 12
People lie and are deceitful.  You can't trust them.  They might want something from you....think how many times that David probably encoutered people using him to get something from his Kingship.   You can trust the Lord.  He is authentic.....what a contrast in this Psalm.

Psalm 13
David is feeling some distress....count how many time he used the words, "how long".....

Psalm 28
Who is your safety?  This has been an ongoing theme in these Psalms.

Psalm 55
When someone close to you betrays you, it is human to feel devastated.  Who cares if you are devastated?   Who can you call on?

2 Samuel 13-15

Oh, my....the trials of the family begin....another Tamar comes to play......she gets raped by a brother, David's son.  Amnon thought he was in love with Tamar (hello....your sister may be pretty, but ewwwwwww) which was lust.   After the sexual act, Amnon hated her and cast her out.  This was the worst thing he could do....since there were no witnesses it appeared that Tamar propositioned Amnon....David was furious but did nothing.....why???????   Maybe  David didn't want to deal harshly with Amnon since he was first in line for the throne...maybe he felt guilty because of his involvement with Bathsheba....

Absolom kills Amon with a conspiracy.....Absolom stays safely in refuge with his grandfather, Talmai........Joab sets up a scheme with a widow woman to get Absolom back.......Joab knew that David was grieving for his son........David brings him back and we begin to get a bit of character coming into place....Absolom is pretty and praised for his handsome appearance.....apparently hair was a big thing, because when he had a cut, there was two pounds of hair and this seems to be a compliment.....I say that is one hairy man...   Absolom is a baby and burns Joab's field to get attention.  This would tick me off...go to all this trouble to bring pretty boy back because David is grieving and he burn up my field.....

Absolom creates a rebellion and David leaves.   He intends to come back because he leaves 10 concubines to take care of the palace.  David has many allies from different lands.  The priests and Levites were loyal to David....David puts a spy in Absolom's court....Hushai is the man......more intigue to follow..

Psalm 32/51/86/122

Psalm 32 is incredible...we are supposed to read it with Psalm 51....these are Psalms of forgiveness...there is such joy in that.... God wants to forgive and He wants to live in harmony with His children.....we have to do our part....we have a natural tendency to do wrong and go our own way...it is in all of us......King David sinned big time and he has been described as a man after God's own heart.....David truly repented..

try a different version of the Bible sometime to get some new meaning......Here is something from The Message Bible.....Psalm 51....can you tell what verses these are?


Generous in love-God, give grace!
Huge in mercy-wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
Soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
My sins are staring me down....

psalm 122 moves back to the Psalms of Ascent......pilgrims are on the way to the Temple to celebrate one of the 3 festivals God called them to celebrate in remembrance of what He did for them....Do you know what the 3 festivals are? No, you have not been taught them yet, just checking knowledge....

2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 20

Here are some pictures of modern day Amman, Jordan.  This is where Rabbah, the capital of the Ammonites was when Joab attacked it.







Yikes...there is a Marriot in Amman!!!!

David has restored peace, and now we are going to read how some very human struggles affect even a great Christian who loves the Lord with all his heart......

We open with it being spring.   Kings are supposed to go to war during this time, but David remained in Jerusalem.  David is not where he is supposed to be.

David can't sleep and takes a walk and notices a beautiful woman bathing.....my NSRV says that David's palace was high on a hill looking down, so it would not be impossible for David to see the goings on of his city....David has some plain and simple lust and falls into sin.   He gets Bathsheba to sleep with him.   She was put into a position...what do you do when the king wants this?  She can't disobey without consequence.    Note that it says (she had purified herself from her uncleanness) This was her period....the reason that this is in here is because it was pointing out that she was not pregnant from her husband......Oh what a tangled web we weave....David has to fix this, so he sends Uriah, her husband out to battle specifically to be murdered.   He was and Bathsheba became his wife.

Great, now the prophet Nathan has to go rebuke the king......not a fun thing.   Nathan tells a parable that David could perhaps relate to since he was a shepherd boy.  Rich man stills the one and only precious sheep from a poor man.    David is righteously angry when he doesn't know that the story is about him.  David, the adulterer and murderer truly repents.  This is his best quality.....when he knows he is wrong, he admits it to God.  God still has plans for David.   However, Nathan tells David that the sword will never depart from his house....you are going to see this prophecy fulfilled many times over with David's children.   David and Bathsheba's baby dies as punishment.

Note that David doesn't continue to dwell on his sin.  He truly repented.  There may be consequences, but David bore no false guilt when he truly gave it all to God and knew his forgiveness.    David and Bathsheba have a fourth son that they name Solomon....the Lord names him Jedidiah, which means loved by the Lord.....the Lord shed his grace on David and Bathsheba.

Gotta love Joab....he sends a messenger to David saying, Hey, I got this city held (Rabbah)....if you don't come, I'll take credit for it myself" and David went.....

The 1 Chronicles 20 account shows that the Phillistines were also defeated.

psalm 65-67/69-70

We have praise from David because God provides. God answers prayer and we should praise God. PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE. God deserves it because he does so much for us...

David even praises when he is scared in Psalm 69.... If you have less time than David did in Psalm 69, you can do a quicker call for help in Psalm 70!

2 Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles; Psalm 20

remember the Ammonites? They were a result of the incest between Lot and his daughter in Genesis 19:30-38...The king died and David wanted to express sympathy to the son, Hanun....Hanun freaked out and thought David's forces were attacking.......Hanun rents help from the Arameans....Isrealites Are humiliated by having half their beards shaved off and their robes cut off from the waist down.......David goes in and saves the day.

Psalm 20 shows that David knows real power isn't just in weapons....his enemies had plenty of weapons and were defeated. David had God on his side.....this was the ultimate power.

Psalm50/53/60/75

Psalm 50
God knows those that are going through the motions for worship.....He doesn't want the empty ritual....God loved authentic worship......did you know that believers will be judged first....read 1 Peter 4:17..... Remember that we won't be judged for sin...but for what we did to advance God's kingdom......wicked people(non believers) will be judged for sin and will pay the consequences......God knows our heart

psalm 53
Deals with what fools attests are.....somtimes the intellectual people that stand on reason and proof alone, are fools.

psalm 60
I liked my study Bible on this one.....we get some additional information tha David' army meets resistance...they get a little nervous and plead to God

Psalm 75
The cup in God's hand represents judgment.....the wicked will have to drink it all down....they will be punished completely......just wait until Revelation, when angels will pour from cups in the end days....

2 Samuel8-9; 1 Chronicles 18

David is victorious with his conquests because the Lord is with him.....An empire is growing for the first time in the Israelites time. David dedicate the spoils to the Lord.... Scripture makes a point of showing that he is a just ruler...people trust and follow David as a result....Some scolars say that this foreshadows the way that Jesus will rule when He comes back...

David had promised to look after Jonathan's descendants....he asked Ziba, a servant in Saul's household if there was anyone that he could show kindness to....this was loyalty to the previous king, Saul. david calls Mephibosheth into his presence......can you imagine what Mephiboseth thought.....usually kings put to death any family of the previous king so that no one will try and take over...David tells him not to be afraid and that he will always eat at David's table.....an incredible honor......do you remember how Mephibosheth got crippled? see 4:4..

psalm 25/29/33/36/39

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Here's a great note from my study Bible....We may be tempted to demand answers from God, but David asked for direction.....How does God give us direction? the Lord confides in those who fear him, we are told in verse 14......do you hear Him? How?

the voice of the Lord is described in Psalm 29.....

What do you think Sing to the Lord a new song means? My research shows different opinions....it is found in Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 5:9, 14:3......I have been highlighting the words "forever" and "unfailing love"through these Psalms....the promises found in here are amazing....and that is what they are...promises...and they are promises to you and to me...

I must confess I will have to continue working on Psalm 39:1, where it says I will put a muzzle on my mouth.....

2 Samuel 7; 1Chronicles 17

We meet the prophet, Nathan...God always makes sure that His kings have a prophet to guide them spiritually.....some kings will listen and some won't.

These chapters have some key things....David's intentions are good....his palace is built and he doesn't think it is fair that the Ark of the Covenant is housed in a tent.....he wants a temple to house God's dwelling place.......God says NO....David is a warrior who brought Israel back together....but in doing so, he spilled a lot of blood and had blood on his hands....now, God supported David in this because it had the purpose of bringing unity among God's chosen people; however, God didn't want a man with blood on his hands to build the temple.....God makes a covenant with David that has two parts..
A) this is conditional......the people must follow God's commands and he will be with them...
B) David's line (house, dynasty) will be carried on forever......Jesus Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of this promise. count how many times "forever" appears in 1 Chronicles 17:13-14.

David understands why God turned down his request about building the temple (wouldn't it be nice to have a prophet to explain God's decisions plainly and clearly right now???) Sometimes, God says no to direct us to a greater purpose in life (got that from my study bible)David realizes humbly, that this isn't about him, but it is so that Israel can benefit.....God will give Israel peace from her enemies......it pays to have an obedient leader!!!! just a thought.....what do you think this means to us with our current president? any application?....David realizes that he is God's servant......he may be a king but says "who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? Wow!!!!! David didn't consider it his due.

psalm 89/96/100-101/105/132

I challenge some of this chronology....in the Psalms we are reading, there is reference to the Davidic Covenant, or the promise that God makes to David to continue the "monarchy" through his line. We won't read that till tomorrow in 2 Samuel, so if when you read these Psalms and it didn't make sense, it is not you.....the Messiah will come from David's line which is the ultimate cool thing..?...God will not violate this covenant, even if Israel misbehaves because God does what he says He is going to do...

we continue the themes of "Give thanks to the Lord"
"His love ensues forever"
what are we supposed to do when we notice things repeated in the Bible?

psalm 105 is an historical Psalm that taught each generation what the Lord had done......what happens if you have a king that doesn't know or use these Psalms in worship? do you think the priests had responsibility for teaching God's Word to the children......seems like the sacrificing and worship took quite a bit of their time.....

Psalm 1-2/15/22-24/47/68

Psalm 1
wicked vs obedient......the wicked will not last...they will perish if they choose not to be obedient.....the obedient meditate on God's Word.....this means spending time reading and thinking about God's word....

Psalm 2
David prophesized about Jesus being crowned king....Kiss the Son means to fully surrender and submit to Jesus...God is the ultimate power and he laughs at those who, on this earth, think they have power

psalm 15
David is giving guidelines about how to live...no slandering, keep your word, don't charge excess interest at the expense of others, and honor God.

Psalm 22
Davidwas probably really suffering at the beginning of this Psalm.....scholars say this is amazingly accurate about what Jesus will suffer beyond David's future....David ends this Psalm with God delivering the faithful.

psalm 23
one of the better known Psalms....this is often read at funerals.....God is depicted as a shepherd who guides His sheep....have you ever looked at the stained glass above the child loft?

psalm 24
Scholars think this Psalm may have been written to celebrate the moving of the Ark to Jerusalem.....the King of Glory is the Messiah, Jesus Christ

psalm 47
god is King over all the world and eventually the whole world will recognize it.

psalm 68
David wrote this praise which probably summed up the final stages of the Ark's journey to Jerusalem. Check out the prophecy of verse 18..."when you ascended on high".....did David really know what this meant? did he get a vision or somethin.....Scripture doesn't tell us....what is important is that it is prophecy....

2 Samuel 5:11-6:23; 1 Chronicles 13-16

Here are two parallel accounts, with the Chronicler giving more detail..David moves into his "united kingdom" and sets up Jerusalem as hus political and religious capital. David prepares a place to have the Ark of the Covenant moved to Jerusalem...remember that this has the stone tablets of the 10 commandments the jar of manna and the sprouted rod of Aaron.....the ark had been stored away for many years and this symbolized Israel 's neglect of God....

David's intentions were probably in the right place, but either he didn't remember or didn't know the law where God commanded how the Ark was to be handled. They put it on a cart....this is how the Philistines captured and transported it....it was supposed to be transported by pole on the shoulders of Levites....Scripture doesn't say whether Uzzah was a Levite, but he touched the Ark to prevent it from falling over.....God struck him dead for his disobedience....David was mad......God had his attention, though.....David, as king, should have known the law and respected it. David was. Afraid to have the Ark near him and so it stayed at the home of Obed-Edom.......I bet he respected the Ark, don't you????

David inquired of the Lord about what to do with the Philistines, and the Lord delivered them to David in battle.....King Saul never inquired of the Lord beforehand.......David cools down and realizes he is at fault for the whole Uzzah thing...he repents. David has the ark brought to Jerusaelem following the law to the letter......ther is great rejoicing.....David dances his heart out in thanks.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
His love endures forever

Is repeated again....we should take notice of this.......do you believe it?

David's first wife Michal (Saul's daughter) looks out the window and sees what she perceives to be a spectacle of David 's goofy behavior.....seems like she is bitter.....why? She loved David at first....Scripture tells us she helped save David's life from her father.....she was given to someone else in marriage and David brought her back....we don't really know why she was bitter......she wasn't feeling the love for David or God in worship....as a consequence she didn't bear David any children......

Psalm 106-107

Did you know that "Praise the Lord" is Halleluyah.....how many times have you sung Halleluyah in your lifetime?

how much of the history did you remember in Psalm 106? I confess I had to go back and look up Dathan and Abiram in Numbers 16 1-3. did you remember what Phineas did? remember what happened at Meribah? Israel constantly turned away from God....are we any different? our idols may not be actual images.....our culture's gods could be power, convenience, fame, sex and pleasure.....ever thought of convenience being a god? Are we in any type of captivity? God patiently delivers us...are we open to it?

Psalm 107 begins Book 5 of the Psalms...it mirrors Deuteronomy, the 5th book of Moses. did you notice it started with the same words, "give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever"....That reminds me of the Michael W. Smith song.....the Psalms mean more to me when I have a song associated with them. this Psalm is all about deliverance.....everyone has times of trial....no one escapes it....this Psalm assures us that if we beg, ask or call On God
he gives us what we need......"let the redeemed" refers to all of us believers....when Jesus died on the cross He paid the ransom for, or bought us back, from sin. If Jesus suffered, why should we escape it? Sometimes trials test us, or remind us of ou dependence on God.

psalm 133

A short read today.....The Psalm is about unity.....just like what the Israelites were feeling at the crowning of David. You remember that everyone was doing as they pleased during the period of Judges. This did not bode well for the Israelites and it was not what God had intended for them. This is also one of the Songs of Ascent in which the people would sing this on the way to the temple for the Holy Festivals (they just don't have a temple right at the moment)

Do you think the church is living in unity now? Does unity mean that everyone has to agree. What are your thoughts about unity on this day that the U.S. Retaliated and killed Osama for the terrorist acts of 9/11?

2 Samuel 5: 1-10; 1 Chronicles 11-12

At last we get beyond geneologies and poems! Something for everyone, I know....but the history of the stories and characters resonate with me so much more.

2 Samuel lines up with 1 Chronicles...in fact, 2 Samuel 5: 1-10 is almost word for word the same as 1 Chronicles 11......when things repeat, God wants us to take notice. The NIV uses the word compact which is a covenant word.....in fact covenant is used in the NRSV. See 1 Chronicles 11:3 and 2 Samuel 5:3. I mark the word covenant wherever I find it in the Bible.....David is King of Judah first.....the largest tribe and the Southernmost tribe...

now the people had never been driven out of Jerusalem when the Israelites entered the Promised Land, so 1 Chronicles 4 tells us that David finally did it....the Jebusites were driven out.....Jerusalem was called Jebus prior to David. David chose Jerusalem as his capital....it was right on a tribal border between Benjamin and Judah......Saul was a Benjamite...David was from the Judah tribe....what is going to be critical here is that Jesus will be from the tribe of Judah.....NOT the tribe of Levi......he is a new order of things.....not the law which does not save....more to come on this but tuck it away..

Jerusalem becomes the City of David and the Lord is with him and he steadily becomes more powerful...we learn of David's Mighty Men and warriors join David.....even from the tribe of Benjamin, which is Saul's tribe.....now the tribes were divided, but they all come together now in unity, supporting David.

My NRSV points out this this banquet is symbolic of the banquet mentioned in Revelation, where the bridegroom (Jesus) and his bride (the church) have a banquet on Mt. Zion...every knee bows....everyone will know that Crist is the Lord.

Also noteworthy is that the Spirit comes on Amasai, Chief of David's Thirty....when there was an important job to be done, God chose a person to do it and gave that person special power.....at Pentacost, all Believers got the Holy spirit who is in us everyday......you saw that the Holy Spirit left Saul......may that never happen to us....we are sealed right now, Thank God....the Holy Spirit is in us and we are a temple for the Holy Spirit.....we are not our own.......not what our culture teaches, huh?

Zion will be used for Jerusalem in many of the Scriptures......Zion, many times is known as the New Jerusalem......this is when Jesus comes back.....Bonnie, is your head blowing off yet? Any questions?