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Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 166 & 167

Jun16

Sundays and Mondays studies are posted together on Mondays

Day 166. Reading Psalm 134, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150.

Day 167.  Reading 1 Kings 9,  2 Chronicles 8

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What insight or comfort do you receive?
 

Day 166 – Psalm 134 – 150.

What a wonderful psalm to remind us of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple.

  • Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
  • Life up your hands to the holy place and bless the LORD!
  • May the LORD bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!

Oh, DO READ the rest of these Psalms to 150.  These are the songs the people sang as they “sent up to Jerusalem” for the feasts of the Lord. They are psalms of praise!

Here’s just a verse or two from each.

  • Psalm 146.  “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have being.”
  • Psalm 147. “Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.”  “Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving, made melody to our God on the lyre.”
  • Psalm 148. “Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise Him in the heights! Praise Him all his angels, praise Him, all His hosts!  Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you shining stars! Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens.”
  • Psalm 149. “Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly!”
  • Psalm 150. “Praise the LORD!”   “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!”

 

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Day 167 – 1 Kings 9a.

The first part of this chapter repeats God’s “If-Then” blessings and warnings to Solomon and Israel.

IF Solomon will walk in the ways of David with integrity of heart and uprightness, keeping God’s statutes and rules … THEN God will establish his royal throne over Israel forever.

But IF Solomon and Israel do NOT keep God’s commandments and statutes but serve other gods and worship them … THEN God will cut off Israel from the land and make it a byword and a proverb among the peoples. And the “house” (Temple) will become a pile of ruins.

Dire warnings, indeed!

1 Kings 9b and 2 Chronicles 8.

It took Solomon twenty years to build the Temple, his own palace, and the palace of his queen. The queen’s “house” was outside Jerusalem, away from the temple, because she was the daughter of Pharaoh, a pagan, and Solomon did not want her living near the Ark of the Covenant.  

(You wonder why Solomon’s first wife (of Song of Solomon?) was a pagan Egyptian, the very people from whom God had rescued Israel. It was breaking God’s specific law about a King’s marrying.  Yes, it was a political deal, and Pharaoh had killed a bunch of Canaanites and given a city to Solomon as part of the dowery for his daughter, but still …  

  • Deuteronomy 7:3-4. “You shall not intermarry with them (pagans) giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods…”
  • 1 Kings 11:1-4. “Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh …. “Solomon clung to these in love …. “And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God as was the heart of David, his father.” 

There go God’s promises.

But meanwhile, Solomon got busy building cities.  He gave twenty of them in Galilee to King Hiram in appreciation for all the help and material he had supplied. But Hiram didn’t like them and gave them back. (What??)

Solomon used forced labor (slaves) for all his building projects, much like his father-in-law, the Pharaoh, had done.  But since God’s law forbade any Jewish people from being enslaved, Solomon used the Canaanites, which they had captured, to do the work and oversee the projects.

Solomon filled in the land depression between the city of David and the temple/palace, built the wall of Jerusalem, and the military outposts of Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, and others, as well as grain storage cities (also like Pharaoh), and cities for stabling his horses and chariots.  He also built a fleet of ships at Ezion-Geber on the shore of the Red Sea for international trading. (Gold from Ophir, etc.) (King Hiram sent ship-builders and seamen to teach Solomon’s workers the trade.)

“And whatever Solomon desired to build in Jerusalem, Lebanon, and in all the land of his dominion, he built.”

It’s interesting that in Ecclesiastes, Solomon bemoans all this grandeur and wealth as “vanity,” worthless to his soul. (We’ll get there soon.)

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  • 1 Timothy 6:6-10.  “Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these, we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is the root of all evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith…”

 

  • Hebrews 13:5.  “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Oh, Father, keep me from greed and a desire for riches and the abundance of “things.”  Help me see the so much greater value of knowing YOU. Help me to be content with what I have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 164

Jun13

Day 164.  Reading 1 Kings 8, 2 Chronicles 5

Read Today’s Scriptures.

What truth about God stays in your mind?

1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 5.

The Temple that King David had imagined, planned, and provided for, and that King Solomon had built … was finished.  A fantastic monument for the LORD GOD of Heaven, glorious and magnificent, only awaiting the breath of God Himself!

Solomon gathered all of Israel for the dedication. The priests were consecrated and sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted. Then, they brought up the Ark of the Covenant from Zion, the City of David. They placed it in the Most Holy Place in the Temple, under the wings of the cherubim.

And when they came out … a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not minister, for the GLORY of the LORD filled the house of the LORD!

King Solomon then blesses the LORD God of Heaven.

  • Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with His hand has fulfilled what He promised with His mouth to David, my father, saying… ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that My Name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people, Israel.’  Now it was in the heart of David, my father, to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. (But the LORD said, you shall not build the house, but your son shall build the house for my name.)  NOW, THE LORD HAS FULFILLED HIS PROMISE.”

Then Solomon spread out his hands toward heaven and prayed a lengthy prayer to the LORD, filled with praise, humility, contrition, and confidence in God.

  • “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like You, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart.”  “Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David, my father (that he would not lack a man to sit before you on the throne of Israel). 

Solomon pleads that God when He hears prayer offered from that place, would hear it and forgive.

  • If a person sins against his neighbor and comes before the altar…
  • When the people of Israel are defeated because they have sinned…
  • When there is no rain because the people have sinned…
  • If there is a famine, pestilence, blight, mildew, locus, or enemy at the gates because they have sinned and they come before this place with repentance…
  • When a foreigner comes to pray before this place…
  • If your people go to battle and pray for help…
  • If they sin against You, and you send enemies to take them captive, and they turn to you….
  • If your people repent with all their mind and hearts…

“Then, O God, hear in heaven Your dwelling place their prayer and their plea and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and for all their transgressions that they have committed against You, grant them compassion.”

Then Solomon got up from his prayer and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice:

  • “The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers, may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Him to walk in all his ways and to keep His commandments, statutes, and rules he commanded our fathers.  Let your heart, therefore, be wholly true to the LORD our God.”

After that, there were tons more sacrifices and offerings.  After eight days, the people went home to their houses, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people.

(More tomorrow on Solomon’s prayer and dedication and God’s well-known promise of forgiveness and healing. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

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(Oh, the mountain-top experiences! How we all wish we could stay there. Filled with the joy of the LORD, praises, goodwill, and full tummies. 

There will be more good things about Solomon, but eventually, as he goes against the laws for a king, we will see him falter. God is faithful, but sin will show its ugly head in his own son’s reign. 

Message to me?  Stay alert, be on guard, for my heart tends to sin, pride, greed, and wishes for glory.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 162

Jun11

Day 162.  Reading 1 Kings 5-6, 2 Chronicles 2-3

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What amazes you about Solomon’s Temple?
(We are taking a break from Proverbs for a few days to catch up on Solomon and his building and dedication of the Temple of God.)

1 Kings 5 and 2 Chronicles 2.

PREPARATION & SUPPLIES

Time to build the Temple, for “the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. There is neither adversary nor misfortune.”

Solomon’s father, King David, had known and had good relations with King Hiram of Tyre. (“Hiram had always loved David.”)  So when Solomon sent to him for cedar wood to build the Temple, Hiram was more than willing.

He had woodsmen cut the great logs, carry them to the sea, and raft them down to Joppa, where Solomon took them up to Jerusalem. Hiram also sent cypress and algum (sandalwood) timber.

Interestingly, Solomon also asked Hiram for “a man skilled to work in gold, silver, bronze, and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue fabrics, trained in engraving, to work with Solomon’s skilled workers.”  (This reminds me of Bezalel, whom God chose to do the same for the building of the original Tabernacle.) Hiram’s man was Huram-abi, whose mother was a Jew from Dan.

Hiram gladly complied with Solomon’s requests, asking only for food to be sent, which Solomon did yearly.  Solomon then counted all the “resident aliens” (people they had conquered in the land but whom God did not command to kill) and found over 150K to use as laborers to carry materials, quarry stone, and oversee the workers.

1 Kings 6 and 2 Chronicles 3.

THE BUILDING BEGINS & FINISHES

In the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, after he had gathered the materials, the king began the construction of the Temple.

  • This was 480 years after the people of Israel came out of Egypt.  THAT’S A LONG TIME.  If we were to think back from today (2025), it would be 1545, and King Henry VIII would be reigning in England!
  • I wonder how the Tabernacle tent was enduring by that time. While King David had brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, the Tabernacle itself, with the bronze altar for sacrifices and all the other holy items, was still in Gibeon, where the people went to worship God.

Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah, the very place where Abraham had been willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, until the Angel of the LORD stopped him, saying, “I will provide a sacrifice,” and indicated a ram caught in the thorn bush.  Mount Moriah is also the place where God provided “THE Sacrifice,” His only begotten Son, Jesus, who died there on the cross.

While Solomon was building the Temple, the LORD came to him and spoke this promise, “Concerning this house that you are building, if you will walk in my statutes and obey my rules and keep all my commandments and walk in them, then I will establish my word with you, which I spoke to David, your father. And I will dwell among the children of Israel and will not forsake my people Israel.”

The materials and measurements, the details of decorations, and the beauty and majesty of the Temple are almost beyond conceiving. The actual building process took seven years to complete. (the perfect number)

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(The following chapters describe the furnishings Solomon made for the Temple, similar to the Tabernacle but more majestic and large. Unlike the Tabernacle furnishings, they didn’t need to be portable.)

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 151

May31

Day 151.  Reading 1 Kings 3-4.

Read Today’s Scriptures.
What do you see of God’s heart in these chapters?
1 Kings 3.

What??  Marry the daughter of Pharaoh!!  Where God had delivered His people from slavery??? Seriously??  Bad boy, Solomon!  What was he thinking?  Political alliances and stature in the world, that’s what.

Note verse 3.  “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David, his father …  ONLY (except), he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places.” Already, you see Solomon’s heart dividing, using those pagan places to “worship God.”

God is SO gracious to him (and to us). He came to Solomon in a dream, and asked what He could give to the new king.

  • Wow, what would I ask of God if given that opportunity?  Search your heart with me, and let’s see our priorities. What is important to us?

Solomon lists the kindnesses and love God had shown to his father, how David had walked in God’s ways, and how God had chosen

Solomon to rule. (Was he stalling, thinking of what he wanted?)  And then he thinks of his inexperience and the hugeness of his responsibility to God’s chosen people.

“Give your servant an understanding mind to govern Your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this Your great people?”  (In my mind, he should have asked to discern between good and evil IN HIS OWN HEART!)

But God was pleased that he hadn’t asked for a long life, riches, or victory over enemies.  And God gave him a “wise and discerning mind like none other.”  God also gave him what he didn’t ask for: riches and honor greater than any other king.

“And if you will walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

Right after that, Solomon went to the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, offered sacrifices to God, and gave a feast to the people.  His heart is right NOW. Will he continue on?

  • As if to confirm to the people (and maybe Solomon himself) a situation arose that tested and highlighted the extensive WISDOM God had given him.  Two prostitutes (living together, perhaps even with others) came to Solomon, both claiming the baby boy they brought was THEIRS.  They’d both given birth, but in the night, one baby got suffocated when one of them rolled over onto him.

How do you tell the true mother?

  • Solomon quickly identified her by exposing the women’s hearts.  “Get a sword and cut the baby in half. Give a half to each woman.”  YIKES!  The un-mother agreed (the boy wasn’t hers, after all.)  But the true mother cried out to keep him alive, even if it meant giving him away. Solomon saw her love and settled the dilemma.

“And all Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered, and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”

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1 Kings 4.

This chapter is loaded with statistics and praise for King Solomon.  It gives a glowing overview of his kingdom and rule. (The next chapter begins the construction of the Temple,)

Much like David, Solomon appointed high officials, including the priests, secretaries, recorder, army commanders, other officers, governors over other lands, people in charge of the palace, and the … forced labor.  He also appointed leaders around the country who would provide his food for himself and his palace, month by month.  Judah and Israel ate and drank and were happy.

  • “Solomon ruled (eventually) over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt.  They brought tribute and served him all his days.”

He had peace on all sides around him. And Judah and Israel lived in safety from Dan to Beersheba (north to south), with every man under his vine and under his fig tree, all the days of Solomon.

Ah-oh! Wait!  “Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen!!!

  • Didn’t we read in Deuteronomy 17:16 God’s rules and cautions about future kings… “He must not acquire many horses for himself or return to Egypt to acquire many horses.”  And… don’t we also read there in verse 17, “He shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away.  NOR shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold ….”

And again, this chapter tells of Solomon’s wisdom (in ruling others, it seems).  “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand of the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of the people of the East and all Egypt.

“Solomon also spoke 3,000 proverbs!   He wrote 1,005 songs. (We will read some of these soon.)

People of all nations and kings of the earth came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

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  • Oh, LORD, how easy it is to turn from loving and serving YOU to loving the things you give us.  Help me not to value “stuff” more than my relationship with You. Solomon had everything in abundance … and it did turn his heart away.  In Ecclesiastes, he said (late in his life) that all he experienced, and possessed,  and was honored for … was vanity … futility.  ONLY YOU are worth my adoration!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 148

May28

Day 148.  Reading Psalms 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118.

Read Today’s Scriptures.

Psalm 111.

  • “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.  Holy and awesome in His Name! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.”

Psalm 112.

  • “Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.  He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.”

Psalm 113.

  • “Praise the LORD!  Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the Name of the LORD1 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore!  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the Name of the LORD is to be praised!  The LORD is high about all nations, and His glory above the heavens! who is like the LORD our God who is seated on high…?

Psalm 114.

  • “Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence at the God of Jacob…”

Psalm 115.

  • “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your Name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and your faithfulness!  O Israel, trust in the LORD!  He is their help and their shield.  O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.  YOU who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!”  “But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the LORD!

Psalm 116.

  • “I love the LORD, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.”  “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous, our God is merciful.”  “For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”
  • “What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits to me?  I will life up the cup of salvation and call upon the Name of the LORD, I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.”  “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the Name of the LORD.”

Psalm 117.

  • “Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”

Psalm 118.

  • “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for (because) He is good; for (because) his steadfast love endures forever!”  “Out of my distress, I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?  The LORD is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.”  “The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.”
  • “I shall not die, but i shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD. The LORD has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.”
  • “Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.  This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank You that You have answered me and have become my salvation.” “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!”

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Amen, and amen!

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 142

May22

Day 142.  Reading Psalm 95, 97, 98, 99.

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
 

Psalm 95.

This psalm reads like Psalm 100; praise and thanksgiving to “the LORD, a great God, and a great King above all gods.  Perhaps you have even sung the following as a chorus.

  • O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

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Psalm 97.

Another wonderful psalm of praise and glory at the majesty of the LORD.

  • The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the LORD of all the earth.  YOU, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
  • Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to His holy Name.

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Psalm 98.

More praise to the Lord, plus a hint at the coming Messiah.

  • O sing to the LORD a NEW song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for Him.  The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed his righteousness in the sight of all nations.
  • …make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!  Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

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Psalm 99.

The LORD our God is holy. His awesome Name is to be praised!

  • Exalt the LORD our God; worship at His footstool!  HOLY IS HE!
  • Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called upon his name. They called to the LORD, and he answered them.  In the pillar of the cloud, He spoke to them; they kept His testimonies and the statute that He gave them.  O LORD, our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them. 
  • Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy mountain; FOR THE LORD OUR GOD IS HOLY!

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Father, God, we too worship You, for YOU ARE WORTHY! 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 141

May21

Day 135.  Reading 2 Samuel 22 – 23, Psalm 57.

 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
 

(We are still in the book’s epilogue, and review of David’s past history, glory, and praise.)

2 Samuel 22.

This chapter contains a PSALM!  

The chapter begins by telling us this psalm was spoken to God on the day He delivered David from the hand of Saul.  So we know this was before he was King, before his sin, and before Absalom’s disastrous coup.

Look at all the things that David says God is like to him — “my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior!”  In this way, David “called upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised.”

  • In my distress, I called upon the LORD; to my God, I called.   From His temple, He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.

Then comes an amazing picturesque description of God – showing in David’s imagination – the power and fury (as a mama bear?) as he comes to David’s defense. (Verses 8-16) Read it!!!

  • He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy; from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.  They confronted me on the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
  • This God – His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.  The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation!

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2 Samuel 23.

This chapter has the heading, “the last words of David.”  But it is not actually his LAST words.  This is the last literary “oracle” and final song-speech.  (We’ll read more of David in 1 Kings and 1 Chronicles.)

Note the ways he identifies himself and the honor he gives to God.

  • The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the “sweet psalmist of Israel.”  
  • The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; His word is on my tongue.  The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: “When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, He dawns on them like the mourning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.“
  • For does not MY HOUSE stand so with God?  For He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will HE not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?

Then Samuel reviews the names of David’s mighty men and their deeds. (It is pretty much the same as 1 Chronicles 11:10-41.)  These are the men who helped David to become king.  Interestingly, the very last one mentioned is … Uriah the Hittite.

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Psalm 57.

As with 2 Samuel 22, this psalm was written when he fled from Saul in the cave.

  • Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge till the storms of destruction pass by. 
  • My soul is in the midst of lions, I lie down amid fiery beasts – the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords. They set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way….. but……. they have fallen into it themselves!

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  • Awake my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations. For Your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let You glory be over all the earth!

Amen, LORD!!

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Hey! Today is my 80th birthday. God has been so faithful to me. Praise Him!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 127

May7
Day 127.  Reading 2 Samuel 6-7 and 1 Chronicles 17.
 
 
 
Read Today’s Scriptures.  How did they challenge you?
 

2 Samuel 6.

This chapter reviews the bringing of the Ark of God into Jerusalem (1 Chron 13:1-14), with some added details.

First, he tries to bring to Jerusalem “the Ark of God, which is called by the Name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim” (if you want the full name). Remember how he put it on a new ox cart, then one of the beasts stumbled, and Uzzah put out his hand to steady it. ZAP!!  He’s dead.

Procession halted, the Ark stored in the house of Obed-Edom, because “David was afraid of the LORD that day.”  Then David hears how the LORD is blessing Obed-Edom and all that he has because of the Ark of God. So his desire is stirred again to bring it to Jerusalem.  THIS TIME, THE CORRECT WAY.

David danced before the LORD with all his might, wearing a linen robe and ephod. And all the House of Israel were shouting and blowing the ram’s horn.

  • And Michal, Saul’s daughter (and David’s first wife) looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the lord, and she despised him in her heart.

After the Ark of the LORD was in its place, David offered burnt and peace offerings, blessed the people, and gave each of them a sack of party food.  Then they, and he went home. 

Joyful and full of blessing, David walked into his house only to meet the dour-faced Michel.

  • “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

Wow. Shock.  A big downer on the glorious & holy celebration parade.

(Because the verse identifies Michel as “the daughter of Saul” and not the king’s wife, she might still have been longing for the courts of her father, Saul, where royal decorum was observed. She probably expected King David to be wearing royal robes, a crown, and perhaps being brought through Jerusalem on a royal chariot.  Regardless, she was disgusted with him.)

This absolutely put off David for his wife forever (she would never have children).  He answered her (before leaving her forever) in a calm but intense voice,

  • “It was before the LORD, who chose ME above your father, and above all his house, to appoint ME as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord — I WILL make merry before the LORD.  I will make myself yet MORE contemptible than THIS, and I will be abased in your eyes.”

Okay, then.

 

2 Samuel 7.

With the Ark of God in Jerusalem, all his enemies at rest, and enjoying his own cedar house, David’s thoughts turned to building a House (Temple) for the LORD. He got excited and told Nathan, the prophet about his idea.

  • Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.” answered Nathan.

But later that night, the LORD told Nathan something else, which he retold to David in the morning.

  • So you want to build Me a house to dwell in?  I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel out of Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. Did I ask any of the judges shepherding My people to build me a house of cedar?

Then God told David what HE would build FOR DAVID.

  • I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies. And I WILL MAKE FOR YOU A GREAT NAME. And moreover, I WILL MAKE FOR YOU A HOUSE.

Then God told who would build the Temple.

  • When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. HE SHALL BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  

Of course, God knew the weaknesses and faults of Solomon, but He promised David…..

  • When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, BUT MY STEADFAST LOVE WILL NOT DEPART FROM HIM, as I took it form Saul, whom I put away before you.
  • YOUR THRONE WILL BE ESTABLISHED … FOREVER.

Oh, my gosh, was David flabbergasted. 

  • Who am I, O LORD GOD, and what is my house, that You have brought me thus far?
  • Because of Your promise, and according to Your own heart, You have brought about all this greatness, to make Your servant know it.  
  • Therefore You are great, O LORD God, For there is none like You, and there is NO God beside You.

And David continues to praise and exalt God for the extraordinary promises He made.  (Yes, David was a man after God’s heart.)

 

1 Chronicles 17.

This chapter reviews and expands on what is said in 2 Samuel 7. 

It tells of David’s desire, and Nathan telling him God’s different plans and His great promise to make David’s house be on the throne forever.  And that, David’s own son would build the House for the Ark of God.

Then comes David’s wonderful prayer of awe, wonder, thanksgiving, and praise for what God has promised.

(It’s glorious to read it a second time!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 126

May6
Day 126.  Reading Psalms 89, 96, 100, 101, 105, and 132.
 
 
 
Read Today’s Scriptures.
 
Psalm 89.

This Psalm is written by Ethan, the third official court songwriter/singer appointed by David (along with Asaph and Heman. see 1 Chron. 6:31-47)   He puts a lot into his song —  Praise to God, first and foremost, then the glory of David, chosen to be King and his enduring royal line. But then he talks of discipline for the disobedient kings, God hiding Himself, and Ethan’s own longing for the “days of old.”  Finally, he ends with a blessing to the LORD, almost as an afterthought. 

  • “I will sing of the mercy of the LORD forever; with my mouth, I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations!
  • Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your face, who exult in Your Name all day and in Your righteousness are exalted.

Then about the chosen David.

  • I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him so that My hand shall be established with him; My arm also shall strengthen him.
  • I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations. 
  • My faithfulness and My steadfast love shall be with him, and in My Name, shall his horn be exalted.
  • I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 
  • If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish THEIR transgression with the rod and THEIR iniquity with stripes, BUT, I WILL NOT REMOVE FROM HIM MY STEADFAST LOVE OR BE FALSE TO MY FAITHFULNESS.
  • I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.

WOW!

Psalm 96.

This psalm is one of praise and worship of the Lord and His holiness! (Notice all the imperatives!)

  • Oh, sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!
  • Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day.
  • Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples.
  • For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised.
  • Splendor and majesty are before Him; strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
  • Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
  • Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His Name, bring an offering, and come into his courts!
  • Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness, tremble before him, all the earth.
  • Say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!”
  • Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice … for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth.
  • He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His faithfulness.

Psalm 100.

Another psalm that you could probably recite right now.  (Note here all the imperatives again.)

  • Make a joyful noise (laugh?) to the LORD, all the earth!
  • Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing.
  • Know that the LORD, He is God!  It is He who made us and we are HIS; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
  • Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him, bless His name!
  • For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 101.

Notice David’s vows for integrity, both for himself and for all around him.  Sadly, wanting and doing are not always compatible.  (On our own, we can never accomplish this.  Praise God for His Holy Spirit and for His promise of forgiveness when we confess & repent.)

  • “I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to You, O LORD, I will make music.
  • I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh, when will you come to me?  I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.
  • I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. 
  • No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house: no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.”

Psalm 105.

Another psalm of praise, plus an account of Israel’s history, of how God worked wonders and miracles and judgments to bring them to and settle them in the Promised Land.  (Psalms 96 and 106 are very similar to this one.)

(Wouldn’t it be good for us Americans too, to list (and sing?) about the glorious things God did in bringing our own country into being and blessing us to this day?.  Why not sing our national anthem today! Look up all the verses and do it. Then THANK God.)

  • Oh, give thanks to the LORD; call upon His Name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!
  • Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wondrous works?
  • Glory in His holy Name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
  • Seek the LORD and His strength; seek his presence continually.
  • Remember the wondrous works that He has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of Abraham, His servant, children of Jacob, His chosen ones!

Then David recounts the glories of the LORD in fulfilling his “everlasting covenant” with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel, through Genesis, Joseph & Moses, Exodus, and Joshua.  All the “good” history of God’s salvation and provision (none of their sin). It ends in this way.

  • And He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing.
  • And He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil, that they might keep His statutes and observe His laws. 
  • Praise the LORD!

Psalm 132.

This psalm contains the nation’s prayers for David’s royal descendants who look ahead, even to the Messiah.

  • Remember, O LORD, in David’s favor, all the hardships he endured, how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, “I will not enter my house or get into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
  • Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, You and the Ark of Your might. 
  • Let your priests be clothed with righteousness and let Your saints shout for joy.
  • For the sake of Your servant David, do not turn away the face of Your anointed One. 
  • The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which He will not turn back: “One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne. If your sons keep My covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their sons also forever shall sit on your throne.”

God’s desire is for Zion always. And He tells of a promise of the Messiah from David’s line.

  • For the LORD has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His dwelling place.
  • “This is My resting place FOREVER; Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
  • I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread.
  • Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.
  • THERE I will make a HORN to sprout for David; I have prepared a LAMP for My Anointed.
  • His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on Him His crown will shine.

 

 

 

 
 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 121

May1
Day 121.  Reading 2 Samuel 5 and 1 Chronicles 11-12.

Beginning a new MONTH.

Read Today’s Scriptures about Israel’s new King.

(Did you know that David is the only king mentioned in Hebrew 11’s list of mighty men?

  • (As we study both 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles (and Kings), there will be overlaps.  Chronicles, written 500 years later, will contain things not included in the present-day text of 2 Samuel.)

2 Samuel 5.

Finally, all the northern tribes come together and take David as the King of all Israel.  They said, “When Saul was king over us, it was YOU who led out and brought in Israel. The LORD said to you, ‘You shall be Shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be Prince over Israel.'”

So all the elders came to the king at Hebron and King David made a covenant with them before the LORD, and they anointed him king.  David was 30 years old. (15 years after old Samuel had anointed him.)

David had had his eye on Jerusalem for a long time, so now he fought against the Jebusites to take the city.  They laughed and said, “Oh, the blind and the lame could ward you off!”

HA!

They didn’t know that the LORD also had HIS eye on Jerusalem, that He had loved it from of old (Psalm 87:1-3).  It would be the place where He would set His NAME, and where He would dwell among His people.  It would be the place where the greater Son of David would walk and teach, and eventually be crucified outside its walls.  And then be resurrected.

Jerusalem, the City of God, the City of David. 

And so David sent his best soldiers up the water channel into the city and beat all those “blind and lame” Jebusites.

He lived in the stronghold (fortress) of the city and built it up all around.

“And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.”  The king of Tyre, Hiram, sent cedar trees, carpenters, and masons to David so he could build his house in the “City of God.”

The philistines.

When the Philistines (who thought David was with THEM) heard that he’d become King of Israel, they spread out in the Valley of Rephaim, ready for war.

David inquired of the LORD. “Shall I fight? Will you give them into our hands?”  And the LORD said, “Yes” to both.”   And so it happened.

Then the Philistines come up again and spread themselves out for war in the same valley.

David inquired again of the LORD.  “Shall I fight? Will you give them into our hands?”  But this time the LORD said, “No. You shall go behind them. When I cause the leaves of the balsam trees to rustle, THEN, go from behind and strike them down.”  And so it happened.  The Philistines went running.

  • Here, I have to confess, that I WISH my prayers for direction would be answered as quickly and in such detail as David’s were in these verses.  But I know the Holy Spirit dwells in believers today, and that His voice is quiet. We have to ask in faith, and then listen, and search His word.

1 Chronicles 11.

(Chapter 10 ends with, “Therefore the LORD … turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.”)

In this passage, the people of all Israel who want David to be their king, say, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh,” aligning themselves as one to him. David made the covenant, and they anointed him king over Israel …. “according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.”

And then the taking of the City of Jerusalem.  The man who was David’s commander went up first, becoming chief of his men … Joab.

David’s Mighty Men

These men gave the new king, strong support in his kingdom. There were 300, thirty of which were super-duper mighty men. Three were the Most Mighty, two of them killing 300 at one time, each!

Another, named Benaiah, went down and killed a lion in a pit … on a day when the snow had fallen(???), and also killed a 7.5-foot Egyptian giant, yanking his beam-like spear out of the giant’s hand and killing him with it. (David set this mighty man as head of his bodyguard detail.)

One day, when David was still hiding in the cave of Adullam, with the Philistines below, he mentioned how sweet he remembered the cool water from a well in his hometown of Bethlehem.  Unbeknownst to him, three of the chief men in his army went down, through the Philistines, to the well at Bethlehem, got a flask of the water, and brought it back to their Commander-in-chief.  (Oh, wow!)

David was so astounded and humbled, that he would not drink it and poured out the water before the LORD.  “Far be it for me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men?  For at the risk of their own lives, they brought it.”  

This is why his army loved him so much.

The list of mighty men goes on.  One name should stand out to us, sadly.  In verse 41, Uriah the Hittite, is listed. He was the righteous man whom David had killed after committing adultery with his wife who turned up pregnant.  Ah, David! How could you fall so low with one of these faithful men?

1 Chronicles 12.

This chapter describes more about David’s mighty men, telling how they came with him when he was still being pursued by Saul.  They were bowmen who could shoot arrows and sling stones – either with their right or left hands from the tribe of Benjamin.

Men from the tribe of Gad also joined with David when he was in the wilderness.  They were experienced warriors, experts with the shield and spear, “swift as gazelles on the mountains”.  They became officers in the army.

Then the Spirit “clothed Amasai,” chief of the thirty who said this blessing, “We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you.”

Some from the tribe of Manasseh came and helped David against the Philistine raiders.  Also, some came to David from other tribes after Saul died, Simeonites, Ephraimites, those from Issachar, Zebulun, Naphtali, Dan, Asher, and from the east side, Reuben, and Manasseh: 120,000 men armed with weapons of war.

(Also, the relatives of the soldiers came from the tribes, bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen, for a big celebration, “for there was joy in Israel.“)

  • I love this portion of scripture, when David is at his height, honoring and seeking God with all his might, loyal to a fault to his men, with a heart to please and serve the LORD.  I’ll “savor” these chapters because I know David falls, and, though forgiven by God, his life and his kingdom are ruined.
  • Maybe I dislike it so much because I see how we, ourselves, sin and ruin our lives, although our God loves and forgives us.
Read today’s scriptures.  How are you challenged by these passages today?

2 Samuel 5.