Read 1 Chronicles 17
Highlights:
King David and the Ark of the Covenant. The Covenant with David. David's kingdom is fully established. A misunderstood kindness leads to a battle, and the Ammonites and Syrians are defeated.
Of no other person in Hebrew history do we find David's equal in the often-recorded phrase, David inquired of the Lord (I Sam. 23:2,4; 30:8; II Sam. 2:1; 5:19,23; 21:1; I Chr. 14:10,14). All of us need to meditate upon his prayer in today's reading. Although he was the King of Israel, he opened his prayer with a deep sense of humility and dependency: Who am I, O Lord God? (17:16). Then he magnified the Lord: O Lord, there is none like Thee (17:20).
His love for the Word of God and his prayer life were the key to his greatness. In fact, knowing the Word of God is the foundation to anyone's true wisdom, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God (I Cor. 2:12). Although we are reminded of the importance of prayer, not many learn to actually take time to pray and even less to read through our prayer manual — the Word of God. When we are faced with a critical situation we may say with our lips that only prayer can solve it, yet we often talk, worry, and scheme more than we pray. Other activities are given priority while prayer is often put aside for a more convenient time.
Christians are usually loyal in attending worship on the Lord's Day because Christ also loved the Church . . . That He might sanctify and cleanse it (Eph. 5:25-26). The Church is essential for spiritual stability. If we fail to be faithful to the Church, we fail to accomplish the perfect plan of God in our lives.
Once we have been awakened to the importance of knowing His Word, taking time to pray, and being loyal to His Church, numerous things will interfere with our intent to remain faithful. It may be a knock at the door, the ring of a telephone, children causing a disturbance, or other unexpected situations. These are not coincidences; they may be Satan's planned strategy to keep us from praying. On the other hand, they could be the best our Lord has for our lives to give ourselves to prayer and to reading His Word. Both God and Satan know that spiritual work which is established on the foundation of prayer and obedience to His Word will eventually prevail. Because of this, Satan's strategy is to keep Christians so busy about other things that they fail to allow Christ to be Lord of their lives.
Take . . . the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always (Eph. 6:17-18).
Thought for Today:
He only is my Rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved (Ps. 62:2).
Christ Portrayed:
By David, the shepherd-king (I Chr. 17:7; comp. Matt. 1:1-2; Rom. 1:3), symbolic of Christ as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) and King of saints (all believers) (Rev. 15:3).
Word Studies:
17:7 sheepcote, pasturelands; 18:4 houghed, crippled by cutting leg tendons; 19:4 hard by, close to; 19:6 odious, detestable, offensive.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for International Broadcasts in honor of Bonnie Wilhite • Staff: Mary Kay Wagner • Government Officials: Rep. George Miller (CA) and Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) • Country: Greenland (60,000) northeast of Canada • Major languages: Eskimo dialects and Danish • Religious freedom • 98% Protestant; .1% Roman Catholic • Prayer Suggestion: Husbands, give honor to your wives, or else your prayers will be obstructed (I Pet. 3:7).
Optional Reading: 1 Corinthians 4
Memory Verse for the Week: John 15:7
