parklinscomb

Today’s reading can be heard on mp3 audio at files.me.com/parklinscomb/c8obeq.mp3.

Chapters 35 and 36 bring the book of 2 Chronicles to a close with the last few years of the kingdom of Judah. It’s a rapid drop from the pinnacle event of the Passover that topped all others (35:18) to the Judean exile at the hands of the Babylonians; so, hang on to your hat as you read through.

All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah — Although it is a common assumption by many in leadership (from presidents to parents) that enforcing what is right will make that leader unpopular, history (sacred and secular) argues forcefully against that assumption. Josiah made a lot of changes, torn down a lot of someone’s idols, altars, and high places. He brought sweeping changes in Judah’s devotion to the LORD. He’s bound to have made more than a few people unhappy. But time proved the wisdom of his righteous rule to the nation. Lincoln made a lot of enemies during his lifetime, but he remains one of the most beloved US presidents of all time — by doing what was right. Many a parent is thanked later by a grateful child — once the child gets to be about 25 — by doing what is right. All Judah was sorry to see Josiah pass away, unlike a number of other evil kings.

Until there was no remedy — God had sent prophets to the kings and people of Judah (and Israel) by the scores, but instead of turning around, they tended to be ignored at best and mocked, despised, scoffed, and sometimes killed them at worst. Judah and Israel simply hardened their hearts. There comes a time, regrettably, when a person’s (or a people’s) sinfulness has advanced beyond repentance, the point of no return. The New Testament speaks of it this way: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,” Hebrews 10:26, NAS95. Or put another way, until there was no remedy. All the more reason to reconcile with God today.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Hey, great to see you again today. I hope you’re keeping up with the readings. I’ll be asking you to do the reading yourself again today. I got separated from my microphone, and the audio sounds fairly lousy without it. But who knows, maybe you’ll pick something up new and interesting in reading instead of listening.

Today’s reading is largely about king Hezekiah and his reforms (really restoration efforts) of God’s pattern in Judah. But before we dive in, there might be a couple of things that would make the reading more interesting. First, you might be interested to realize that all the things that we’re reading about are happening approximately 6 years before Israel (the northern kingdom) was going to be conquered and taken into Assyrian captivity. Judah was going to be on its own, its brethren forcibly and cruelly scattered across the Fertile Crescent. Second, I found it interesting to note that 29:25 mentions that the instrumental music of the Old Testament was not merely tolerated, but commanded by God. This doesn’t justify or condone instrumental music in the New Testament era, since the covenants are different; instruments are no more warranted than is animal sacrifice, both being sanctioned in the OT, but not in the NT. Third, you may have found the reference to the Passover being celebrated in the second month of the year an digression from the patterned first month, but you must remember the provision God made in Numbers 9:10,11, sometimes called “the Little Passover” for those who were unclean. Rather than a departure from the pattern, Hezekiah is calling for the Little Passover for everyone, since the priests had not been consecrated.

He did right — After a father like king Ahaz, you have to wonder how Hezekiah turned out so well. It’s unknown for sure, but his mother was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah, Is this the same Zechariah who prophesied for king Uzziah? There were a lot of different Zechariahs in the Bible; but if there is a connection, it makes a good point about the power of a good parent. There are lots of moms and dads that are in mixed marriages (meaning one spouse is a faithful Christian and the other is not); such marriages are often strained over many a moral issue and the Christian will often worry about their children’s path under such circumstances. Strong convictions, strong positive examples, and a clear articulation of why you do what you do will make a big difference. Whatever the ultimate reason was for Hezekiah’s U-turn from the ways of his father, Hezekiah is to be admired for the confident action he took immediately upon becoming king to restore the patterned worship of God.

They laughed them to scorn — Hezekiah did something in 30:1-12 that as far as we know, no other king tried, made a sincere appeal for people in the northern kingdom of Israel to come back to worship in Jerusalem. Sadly, many of those who heard the invitation laughed them to scorn. One can only speculate about what they said, but it could have been something like: “Come back to Judah to worship that old way?” Are you kidding. What a bunch of dinosaurs! Nobody has worshipped that old fashioned way in centuries around here! We’re far more progressive; far more understanding of people’s feelings, their need to be included, to feel like what they want matters. Why don’t you go back home where you came from from and carve out a few more commands on stone.” It may have been very discouraging — not unlike it sometimes is in sharing the Gospel. But the discouraging part is never all the story.

But some humbled themselves and came — Some do listen and respond, but the key element is almost always that they must first humble themselves. The beatitudes seem to really underscore this principle:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:3-6, NAS95.

If you think you know it all, you will never be teachable. If you believe yourself to be spiritually rich, you’ll never feel the need to seek the “pearl of great price”. If you never grieve over your sins, you’ll never really want to change. May God grant us all humility in our discipleship.

With all his heart —Wouldn’t it be great to such a thing to be said about us at the end of our lives?

“Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God. Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.” 2 Chronicles 31:20, 21, NAS95.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading can be found in an audio file at this location: files.me.com/parklinscomb/0iv2t6.mp3

I hope your Sunday was uplifting. Most of us will be staying home Monday, since it’s Memorial Day. I think it’s important that we do take the time to remember the men and women who defend our country and its freedoms, especially those who gave the last full measure of devotion. Be sure to set aside a moment to think about it.

But on to our reading…

Seeking the LORD — Uzziah was among the better kings of Judah and the Scripture describes the reason why: “He continued to seek God”. Seeking after God is an active thing, rather than a passive one. Seeking God includes seeking His word, seeking His will, doing His will, applying His will, rooting out the attitudes and deeds that don’t belong in a Christian’s life, and active changing. Sadly, the default setting for practicing faith is often passive, but that’s not the way to real discipleship, really pleasing the Lord. God has actively sought us; shouldn’t we actively seek Him?

Pride went before Uzziah’s fall — Uzziah was militarily, spiritually, financially, and politically strong. And all his successes and strength went to his head. He became proud and his pride led him to a foolish move. It wasn’t unusual for kings to burn incense among the nations of Mesopotamia and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea; in fact, many kings were king/priests who were expected to function like a priest on high holy days among the pagans. God’s pattern, however, had given the privilege of incense burning only to the Levitical priests (Lev. 2:16). Before the whole incident is over, Uzziah is a leper for life.

It’s a serious mistake to allow our talents, skills, or accomplishments to tempt us think more of ourselves than is warranted. Uzziah was great, because God had blessed him. We may be talents, educated, skilled, and accomplished, too; but it will still be because God has blessed us. When we forget, we find ourselves on a slippery slope toward a prideful fall.

It wasn’t completely the leaders’ fault — I’ve often wondered at how it was that good kings of Judah continued to tear down pagan altars, Asherim, and high places; yet it never seemed to completely eradicate them. King Jotham was a good guy without making the mistake that his father Uzziah made, and he did stuff like that. The problem was that so many individuals and families of Judah were practicing these things persistently. The physical structures of paganism were being destroyed, but few of the practitioners were being punished. The Scripture says, “…But the people continued acting corruptly” (27:2). Long term changes don’t come from superficial adjustments; they come from getting to the root of the problems and changing things from the roots up.

Pouring gasoline on the fire — Ahaz was not a good king. He had already become displeasing to God. But instead of repenting, he opted to dodge the consequences of his sinful actions by doing more sinful things. It’s sort of like tell a lie to cover up a lie that was supposed to cover up another lie. When God weakened Ahaz, because of his sinfulness, he sought the Assyrians’ help — which backfired. And when that made matters worse, he took up the worship of gods of the Arameans — yeah, that’ll make it better. And when that didn’t work he began trying to sell of the tools connected with the worship of God and close down the Temple. Sometimes counseling clients have stories that are not far removed from Ahaz’s evil trajectory of action, just on a smaller scale. Their lives are complicated webs of mistakes piled on top of mistakes to cover up more mistakes. The solution — seldom taken — is just to start telling the truth, doing what’s right to correct the mistakes one at a time, and facing up to the consequences. But to do otherwise is worse. Don’t pour gasoline on the fire.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

I’m writing this installment of my blog for you to read on Sunday, so I thought since you’ll have your Bible out anyway (you will be going to church, right?) I could duck-out on doing the mp3 recording and let you read our reading yourself. Never fear, I’ll continue the audio reading tomorrow — Lord willing. 🙂 Anyway, on to lessons from today’s reading.

Thanks a lot, for nothing — Joash had been rescued from a massacre of all his brothers as a helpless infant. Jehoiadah the priest had doubtlessly taken a tremendous risk by keeping this secret from the evil queen Athaliah. It was Jehoiadah who had crowned Joash at the tender age of 7 and appears to have mentored him for years of successful and godly rule. Yet, after Jehoiadah’s death, not only did Joash depart from what Jehoiadah would have counseled, he even killed Zechariah, Jehoiadah’s prophetic son, because he didn’t like what he had to say! The ingratitude, the selfishness, and the foolishness are almost unbelievable — unbelievable, if it didn’t happen so often. And it does happen often, especially with God. But incredibly we adopt the old “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” attitude with God time after time. Despite His generous graces in both the physical and spiritual realms, we forget all His kindnesses and return neglect for His nurture, betrayal for benefit, and harm (to His children, the church) for His help; we place Him second (or worse) for His placing us first. God doesn’t do things for us in a quid pro quo sort of way, but there is something seriously unfair, unkind, and immoral about returning evil for good. Shouldn’t we do better?

Worshipping a loser — The story of Amaziah defeating the Edomites and then worshipping their gods always makes me scratch my head. Yet, in such a typically blind way, when I think about it, I see it happening all around — just in a different way than actually bowing down to a false god. Why do the children of alcoholic parents, who know what a damaged and self-destructive way of life it is, bow before the gods of substance abuse? Why do husbands and wives, who can see everywhere how destructive infidelity, the silent treatment, the cold-shoulder, disrespect, pride, and refusal to forgive can be; still worship infidelity, silence, coldness, disrespect, pride, and grudges? Why do business people, seeing people ruining their and other people’s lives through shady practices, fall down before the “god of shady practices”? They are losing strategies, “loser gods”. Let’s, instead, worship the one true and living God and follow His winning strategies in faith that they really will be the best thing in the long run.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

If you’d like to listen to this section of Scripture, you can download it at files.me.com/parklinscomb/c0ytxp.mp3.

Among the good kings of Judah, Jehoshaphat was right up near the top. But things went south in a big hurry. That’s the story in the reading today.

The obligations of family — The primary evil of what Ammon, Moab, and Edom (Mt. Seir) did was attack a family member. War was sort of considered a sad fact of life in the ancient world, but it was considered betrayal if you were attacked without cause by family. The Ammonites (children of Lot), Moabites (children of Lot), and Edomites (children of Jacob’s brother, Esau) had been protected by God as Israel approached the land of Canaan; God forbade Israel from even crossing their land without their permission. Yet here these family members were attacking Israel without cause.

Loyalty is expected of family. We understand that, when it comes to family, and sometimes even nations. But do we always understand and practice it within the family of God, the church? That counts, too.

Evil men will often destroy themselves — Not taking anything away from the intervention that was clearly coming from God, causing Jehoshaphat’s enemies to turn on each other; but one of the typical characteristics of evil men is that they often destroy themselves. It’s why criminals often fail. There is something fatally flawed in evil that cannot stand — there’s no honor among thieves.

Bad alliances — Do we need to be careful of our friendships and alliances? Jehoshaphat was one of the good guys, but he was so apparently desirous of reconciling the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah that he made some strategic and ill-advised compromises. He gave his son (Jehoram) in marriage into Ahab’s family, he went to war with Ahab against Ramoth-gilead, and joined Israel in a commercial venture. God was displeased with every one of these compromises, but it was the marital alliance that turned out to be strategically tragic. Leaving the kingdom of Jehoram, married to the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, led to the murder of all of Jehoshaphat’s other sons. Jehoram only ruled 8 awful years of war and loss, and died of God-given disease “with no one’s regret”. His son Ahaziah took his place, but was killed by Jehu — at which point Athaliah, Ahaziah’s own mother, ordered that all her own grandsons be killed, so that she could rule over Judah. Only one son was hidden and preserved during the massacre, Joash. All because of poor choices — by an otherwise good man — of alliance.

We certainly understand that we can’t completely close ourselves off from the sinful and worldly in a cloister, but on the other hand we need to know where the lines are. What are all the old “chestnuts”? “If you lie with dogs, you get fleas”; “Bad company corrupts good morals”? We always think that we can filter out the bad, or be in control, so that things won’t get out of hand. So we get into business with a shady partner; we marry someone with some “rough edges”; or go on trips (maybe to Las Vegas?) with a wild friend. Sometimes the fall is meteoric — from great to awful. Paul’s warning stands as one of the best comments on this principle:

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1, NAS95.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

I’m trying something new today: reading the section of Scripture that we’ll look at today. You can download an mp3 on 2 Chron. 17-19 to listen here: files.me.com/parklinscomb/mrm3w6.mp3. Please let me know in the comments below, if you find this helpful. If so, I’ll continue; if not, I won’t. 🙂

Today’s reading mostly about Jehoshaphat. One of Judah’s good kings.

Taking great pride in the ways of the LORD — To our shame 21st century Christians often do not take great pride in the ways of the LORD. We more often feel semi-apologetic about being a Christian, having a higher moral standard, having a steadfast hope, being certain about the spiritual realities found in the Bible. No small wonder that our evangelistic numbers are what they are. We’ve concluded in many places that people are far more interested in entertainment than the wonderful Gospel, so since that’s what the people want, that’s what we seek to give them. Shame on us! The Gospel is truly wonderful! Ask any new convert! If I were a betting man, I would bet that we’d have many, many more converts to the LORD, if only we took a little more pride in the ways of the LORD. Say it loud and say it proud, if you’re a Christian!

Sending out teachers — Finally, someone was taking the importance of teaching the law seriously. True there had been smatterings of teachings here and there, but Jehoshaphat seems to be approaching the whole thing quite systematically. Ignorance was spiritually killing God’s people and nation. It’s hard to get people to obey laws that they aren’t aware exist. This is the importance of teaching Bible in our homes, reading the Bible privately, Bible classes in our churches, Bible Bowls for our children, and Bible-based sermons. As a matter of history, and somewhat in connection to the latest false prophecy about the end of the world, in 1841 churches of Christ were many and large. It was known generally as the Christian Connection. A similar movement existed at the same time (the Restoration Movement) in the midwest. The Christian Connection was more “revivalistic” (emotions and enthusiasm ruled the day). The Restoration Movement, led by Alexander Campbell and Barton Stone, was a bit more cerebral and text based. In the late 1830’s  a certain John Miller preached the imminent coming of Jesus, and set a date for 1841. Many sold farms and gave away possession and climbed hilltops on the designated day — only to be disappointed (known as the “Great Disappointment”). Churches emptied out quickly as duped farmers had to move west for new farms and start over. You’d think they have known about Matt. 24:36, but because they were more revivalistic they didn’t. The Restoration Movement did know Matt. 24:36 and didn’t fall for Miller’s folly. Bible knowledge is important.

Should you help the wicked? — Now on the face of it, it sounds like the LORD is contradicting the command to love our enemies — but He’s not. The command to love in the Bible is teaching us that we should always act in the best interests of others. What Jehoshaphat did is “enable” the wicked to do what he (Ahab) wanted to do. In legal circles, we’d call it “aiding and abetting”, and we must be careful of this ourselves. This is especially so when it comes to people we love. Such “aiding and abetting” (e.g., helping our child move in with his/her lover [not spouse], buying another bottle for an alcoholic father, getting birth control for our daughter) isn’t real love, it is the dysfunctional enabling people to destroy their souls. That was Jehoshaphat’s mistake. God forgave him, but let him know (19:2) that He didn’t appreciate it — and we could easily bring wrath on ourselves from the LORD, too, in the same way.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

You know, one of the best ways to be sure that our lives will turn out well in the long run is to do the right thing — not the “right things” as in making the “right” investments, making sure that our children go to the “right” schools, or knowing the “right” people. But doing the righteous thing. Today’s reading makes this point.

But before we examine a few principles to apply to our lives, let me explain a phrase that may have been unfamiliar to you, “covenant of salt”. Covenants are very special relationships; they are essentially the making of family with all the loyalties, duties, obligations, and love that accompanies that relationship. Marriages are covenants (e.g., Mal. 2:14), and adoptions are another example of them. They were a form what American Indians called being a blood brother. One form of covenant was a “covenant of salt” that came from the sharing of a meal, particularly salt. Israel was to include salt in its meal offerings: “‘Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Leviticus 2:13, NAS95. Abijah’s point (13:5) to Israel’s army was that God had made a solemn promise to David about the kingdom that Jeroboam had divided.

Victory is in trusting in the LORD — Here’s a point that is made a couple of times in the reading today. The writer-prophet who wrote 2 Chronicles tells us

“Thus the sons of Israel [Jeroboam’s army] were subdued at that time, and the sons of Judah conquered because they trusted in the LORD, the God of their fathers.” 2 Chronicles 13:18, NAS95.

“Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, ‘LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.’ So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.” 2 Chronicles 14:11, 12, NAS95.

“and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, ‘Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.’” 2 Chronicles 15:2, NAS95.

Get the point? Trust in the LORD and things will work out. This isn’t always easy for us humans to grasp; doing things God’s way sometimes seems counter-intuitive, while doing things man’s ways seems so practical and effective. So, we do things our own way and then wonder why things went so poorly.

There is a reward for your work — It’s a common question among active and involved Christians: “Will what I’m doing really make any difference? Or am I doing all of this for nothing?” Paul answered, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58, NAS95. One of the hardest things about storing up treasure in heaven is that you don’t exactly get a monthly statement to give us humans the tangible assurance we’d like. It takes faith. The LORD’s encouragement to king Asa for the hard work routing out the remnants of idolatry and trying to get the whole nation back on track is that it would indeed have its reward. And it always does and not just in the sweet bye and bye — peace, love, joy, meaning, and hope (the fruit of living a godly life) are priceless, and as it turns out, righteousness actually is a better way to act for yourself, for your family, for society, for the nation, and the for the world. Never get discouraged, there is a reward for your work, you can count on it.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading is — once again — about the division of Israel after the death of Solomon. It’s a story with a lot of things stirring in the mix of history, and its glance behind the curtain of what is seen (into the counsels of God) gives us a chance to consider how the events in our own lives or in current events of the world are sometimes determined.

The underlying reason for the division of Israel was Solomon’s unfaithfulness. As smart as he was, as wise as he was, as educated as he was, as advantaged as he was — all the things that we often believe make us immune to mistakes — he still could commit truly egregious sins. And this set events off on a course of division of the nation, determined by God’s righteous judgment. Sometimes a careless scan of the text can lead one to conclude that if only Rehoboam had been wiser in his first address to the nation’s concerns, all would have been well. But God, it seems clear enough (especially if we cross reference 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 11:4), had a hand in things, and nothing would have prevented it.

Listen to your elders — That being said, however, we really should notice that Rehoboam made a bad choice by refusing to listening to the counsel of the elders. Younger men have 1) more fire and vinegar and 2) less experience. Neither are great for wisdom: fire and vinegar engenders impulsiveness, uncontrolled anger, competition, jealousy; and less experience doesn’t often accurately anticipate the action/reaction chain of events. Elders, however, tend to have both experience and less impulsivity. A friend once put it this way, “The hardware isn’t as fast as it used to be, but the software’s better.”

Set your heart to seek the LORD — Rehoboam’s underlying problem, according to 12:14, was a failure to set his heart to seek the LORD. What does it mean to set one’s heart to see the LORD? It’s about a deliberate decision, a commitment based on a conviction. It is not passive, but rather it is active. It is not casual, coincidental discipleship; it is deliberate, compelled, and active. Have you set your mind to seek the LORD?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

Today’s reading revolves around the glorious beginnings of Solomon’s reign, beginning with God’s glorious acceptance of the Temple built for Him.

When God moves in — The Temple was finished, and Solomon’s prayer had been offered — but would God accept it? The answer was a glorious and awesome “Yes!” Fire fell from heaven to consume the sacrifices and the glory of the Lord filled the Temple. In Exo. 40:35 when the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle, it did so in the form of a cloud, and perhaps we can assume that the glory or the Lord filled the Temple like a cloud, too. When God comes to dwell (Shekinah), His glory fills the house. It’s what happens when God moves in.

Does this still happen? Oh, I know, the Temple’s been gone for almost 2000 years (destroyed in AD 70), and was never rebuilt — but was it really never rebuilt? Paul tells us,

“Do you not know that you [plural, speaking of the church] are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17, NAS95.

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22, NAS95.

And possibly you might also have remembered that, because the Holy Spirit indwells each Christian (Acts 2:38), we individually are temples…

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19, NAS95.

The question is “Are you allowing the glory of God to shine through?” The expectation is that God’s Temple will reflect His glory: “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:5, 6, NAS95. Does the glory of holiness, purity, loyalty, obedience, endurance, joy, love, hope, faith, courage, boldness, and humility shine from the church? From you and me? “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20, NAS95. This is supposed to be what happens, when God moves in.

By the way, in vv. 3 and 6 it notes that the people, lying prostrate in awe of God’s glory, and the singing priests were singing “for His lovingkindness is everlasting”. It is possible then, that they may have been singing Psalm 136, the responsive psalm that repeats the praise, “for His lovingkindness is everlasting” for 26 verses like a drum beat.

The possibility of apostasy — I’ll not dwell on this too long, but the end of chapter 7 here (vv. 19-22) is very clear about the possibility that God’s people, Israel, could and did fall away. In a day when we don’t want to hear about the real danger of falling away — largely because of excessive warnings in the past that kept some folks in serious doubt of any security at all — we need to remember that as forgiving as God is, if we continue to sin willfully (Hebrews 6), we can be condemned along with the rest of the world. Israel forgot this, possibly for the same reasons that we sometimes do: too lopsided an emphasis on “We’re saved, God loves us, He’s forgiving, we’re His people.”

Whose throne? — Finally, when Bathsheba comes to visit Solomon and sees his wealth, power, and wisdom, she is so overwhelmed (NASB translates her reaction in 9:4 as “breathless”) that she exclaims the praises of the LORD to Solomon who has blessed him with so much, including “setting you on His throne as king”. The throne was not Solomon’s, it was God’s.

Godly leadership isn’t easy for a number of reasons. Among its challenges is the constant remembrance that the position of leadership that we may occupy is not really ours, after all. It, like everything else we “possess”, is really only a stewardship. Compare this with “Gentile” leadership in which leadership is obtained so that “I can do it my way”. And this applies to every kind of leadership…

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” Romans 13:1, 2, NAS95.

Husbands, parents, employers, government officials, judges, police officers, or whatever your position of leadership, your “throne” is really God’s, where you get the chance to sit for a while. Use the stewardship well and wisely, because you will be judged on how you used it. You know, a lot of the kings of Israel weren’t bad kings in the sense of national security and prosperity. By American standards of “good politicians” they were OK, but God condemned most of them in the end, because they hadn’t used the stewardship of leadership well or wisely in the most important way — leading people back to God. That’s why Paul commanded, “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” 1 Timothy 2:1, 2, NAS95.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.