GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
1 CHRONICLES 29:26-30
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26 David son of Jesse had been king over all Israel. 27 He was king over Israel for forty years: seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, full of days, and wealth, and honor. Then Solomon his son became king after him. 29 The acts of King David from beginning to end are written in the records of Samuel the seer, the records of Nathan the prophet, and the records of Gad the seer, 30 including everything about his kingship, his mighty deeds, and the events that happened during his time, to him, to Israel, and to the kingdoms of the other lands.
Born around 1040 BC, David was about thirty when he became king, and ruled from 1010 to 970. After the Hebron years when his older sons were born, he ruled from Jerusalem. Solomon was born there in about 990. Our author gives David a good concluding report. He was buried in a tomb in Jerusalem. There had been famine during his reign (2 Samuel 21:1), and many wars. Two of his sons had rebelled against him. One of his daughters was raped by one of his sons– and that son was killed by another. David had committed terrible sins himself. But a man of God is not sinless; he is repentant.
And this is surely one of the great messages of 1 Chronicles. The first word of the book is “Adam,” the first man who fell into sin and from whom we all inherit our fallen, sinful nature. God brought his people through the flood, out of Ur and into Canaan to show his love for them, and through David’s kingship to secure them in the land of promise until the rule of David’s greater son: not Solomon, but the “true Solomon,” the true Bringer of Peace, the Messiah and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The symbol of Christ’s atonement throughout the book has been the Ark of the Covenant. David’s desire was to be sure that the Ark was secure, bringing it away from the Philistine border, learning that it must not be mishandled, and treating it with profound and sincere awe and reverence. He wanted to build a house for the ark, but was permitted only to set up a little temporary tent– even more temporary and insignificant than the one Moses set up. The tent that David made (15:1) is not even described. In our minds, it might as well be the kind of little tent used for family vacations in the summer month.
Yet David’s plan to construct something, a magnificent stone house of God, was approved by God, who also inspired David’s design.
David son of Jesse was a sinful man. So am I. All of the descendants of Adam and Eve fall under the curse of death and damnation as the punishment for our sins. But God “leads us toward repentance” (Romans 2:4) through sorrow over our sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), and when we have recognized our sin and guilt, and are turned from them to faith in Christ, we have been “led to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:25). For the most important doctrine in all of Scripture, and therefore supreme above all other teachings, is the forgiveness of our sins. The author of Chronicles has shown and will keep showing that sinful man, through repentance and only through repentance in Christ, is able to please God. This is on account of Christ’s own righteousness, prefigured and foreshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant. Just as the Ark was at the very heart of the worship space for Old Testament believers, where atonement took place and they were made right with God, so much more so Christ is the very heart of our worship, our devotion, and our faith. Through him alone we are made right with God and are able to serve him in purity and righteousness.
The temple, prepared by David and built by Solomon, would have been nothing at all without Christ. But through Christ, even our humble worship three thousand years on is acceptable to God, pleasing to him, and good for us, who are thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – 1 Chronicles 29:26-30 The End of David’s Reign