THE LORD SPOKE (June 24)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: II Chronicles 4-5

It was still a pretty diverse company. Though David had done a lot to bring them all together and give them a common cause, all the priests and all the Levites (II Chron. 5:11-12) still had some divisions among themselves. And they weren't all just of the nature of job descriptions and work schedules. Even without details we can easily imagine it because they were ordinary people. You can count on it: whenever you put people together in a temple-building type project, you get something that looks like hydrogen-peroxide on a wound. Even when a common spiritual project should unite them. Especially when a common spiritual project should unite them!

Why is that? Why do we often squabble at the very moment that unity should be the most natural and evident thing? Because we're people. Because we feel strongly about what we're involved in. Because we're each put together differently and have our own preferences and ideas about how things should be done.

So, how is it that, at least for this brief moment, the priests and Levites "joined in unison, as with one voice" (II Chron. 5:13)? Okay, it specifically mentions the trumpeters and singers but, the more you read, the more you realize that there was a vast crowd there that day (even those who were off duty - II Chron. 5:11) and they all "raised their voices in praise to the Lord" (II Chron. 5:13).

That's it! They focused on the Lord and sang, "He is good; his love (hesed) endures forever." That phrase appears repeatedly in Scripture. For example:

• I Chronicles 16:34 - back when David brought the Ark to Jerusalem and started this whole process
• II Chronicles 7:3 - again, here, after Solomon's dedicatory prayer that was the peak of the process
• II Chronicles 20:11 - when King Jehoshaphat was faced with impossible odds and put the choir in front of the army
• Ezra 3:11 - when the Temple was rebuilt after Babylonian Captivity
• Psalm 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 136 (take a look at that one! need I say more?)
• Jeremiah 33:11 - just before the O.T. statement of the New Covenant when God promises to "restore the fortunes of the land as they were before"

The result on this occasion was a magnificent out-pouring of the glory of the Lord (II Chron. 5:14). We too need a fresh vision of the goodness of God. We need it anew every day. Like nothing else, it will keep us on track and will bring us together with His children who have also experienced His loving-kindness (hesed). What grace (hesed) from God have you experienced recently? So, praise the Lord, for He is good. Tell others about it!


New Testament: Philippians 1

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:21)

If your grandparents had the same plaque on their wall, you too have some happy memories of reading these words each time you passed:

Only one life, ‘t’will soon be past.
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Paul says that Jesus is his obsessive-compulsive reason to live. How about you? Can you say that? Does He mean more to you than life itself?

Do you remember those last few months before you got married. You never actually said it but you thought it: “Please don’t come until after I’m married.” Or maybe it was waiting for Christmas when you were little? Or a big Alaskan fishing trip? Something was so significant to you that you just didn’t want life to end too soon.

Paul was to the point that he wished life would end so he could be with Christ. It wasn’t a morbid desire nor was it some sort of escapism. He realized that there was important work yet to be accomplished and his remaining time on earth held a greater value than any personal desire to move on. So he dedicated himself to doing God’s will in the time that remained.

You don’t have to be in some sort of “full-time service” for that to be true. What about that committee you serve on at church? Isn’t there so much more you’d like to see accomplished there? What about those people next door? Couldn’t a little more effort and time with them make a difference? What about those grandchildren [or the kids in AWANA]? Isn’t it too soon to stop building into their young lives?

For whatever purpose or reasons He has, God has granted us more time on this earth. We need to occupy until He comes. We need to be about our Father’s business. We need to “stand firm...contending for the faith” (Phil. 1:27).

O God, let me die in the traces.
Allow me to see joy on the faces
Of those You allowed me to help.

Keep me faithful and always serving,
In the end to be deserving
To hear Thy, “Well done!”

Lord, I want to remain true,
Independent of what any others might do.
For “to me, to live is Christ”.