organized worship

The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the LORD, all who were skillful, was 288. And they cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.
1 Chronicles 25:7-8

King David extended the organization of the worship of Yahweh to include the singers and musicians who were on site at the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. It was quite a task. There were 288 of these skilled musicians, songwriters, and singers. And all of them were organized around the same type of schedule that regulated the duties of the Levites. With that many artists to manage, the worship of the Lord must have been quite a production!

The bottom line was that these musicians were divided into 24 teams. Then they were assigned musical duties in worship around the same 48 month lunar calendar that the Levites followed. So there was always a worship team planned and organized around every worship activity in the life of the nation of Israel.

Both experienced master musicians and their most gifted proteges served together in this ministry. And the result was that the ministry of musical worship always had a good learning, growing, artistic edge. It was always worshiping toward the future. David's skill as a musician is shown in this stroke of developmental genius. He fostered new talent. He knew that good art is always growing into the next generation. That's why pupil and teacher alike were part of the rotation.

I love music. And I love playing music and singing. I deeply feel the loss in my busy life right now. Circumstances are such that I am unable these days to offer any musical worship service due to the overcrowding of other important expectations and responsibilities that have been pressed upon me. I could play and learn new guitar abilities for hours (when I have those hours... which is never). I dearly wish sometimes that I had the hours to give it again because I find it often brings me into sweet communion with God, personally. Given that insight, I feel something when I read this story in 1 Chronicles. I get a feel for how elated these 288 musicians must have felt to be released and supported and organized to do nothing but worship God with their hearts, hands, instruments, and voices. And there will be a time when I will get to do nothing but that myself. I'll bide my time until then, I suppose.

Team ministry is a not just a New Testament concept.

These had as their appointed duty in their service to come into the house of the LORD according to the procedure established for them by Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.
1 Chronicles 24:19

Ministry has its demands. And the priestly work of the levitical priesthood in Israel was not only spiritual but also hard physical labor. It required teamwork and organization. And David took all of the families of the priests and organized them into 24 different divisions. Then those divisions were organized into work teams arranged on a 48 month lunar calendar and assigned various levitical duties in the house of God. Each division served publicly two months out of each year. The rest of the year was filled with behind-the-scenes responsibility.

The levitical duties were diverse. The duties at the house of the Lord including being bakers (the grain offerings and the shewbread were regular requirements). They were incense makers. They were butchers (some sacrifices let the person offering the sacrifice take home a portion of the meat. Other portions of sacrifices went to feed the Levites and their families. Every day numerous goats, sheep, and oxen were slaughtered on the grounds of the temple). All this physical labor was shared through this unique service roster.

The priests and Levites benefitted from team ministry. And the ministry itself was strengthened by the organization and administration of these teams. David was a wise king to ensure that those who led Israel's worship did so in an atmosphere of organization and mutual ministry. So team ministry is not just a New Testament concept. It is a biblical concept. There are no "Lone Rangers" in the plans that God has for His worship.

administration's greater glory

For their duty was to assist the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the LORD, having the care of the courts and the chambers, the cleansing of all that is holy, and any work for the service of the house of God.
1 Chronicles 23:28

David's passion for the worship of the Lord combined with a gift of administration to organize the Levites around the duties of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. Not only did David want to make sure that all the preparations were made for a physical temple, but he also wanted to put together the organization of the levitical duties in such a way that when the temple was complete and as worship was conducted in Jerusalem, the Law would be followed and the duties of the priests and Levites could function smoothly for the glory of God.

So by royal edict, the Levites were mustered, arranged, and a duties list was organized. This account is almost purely administrative in its detail. But it is clear that the focus of this was to bring the kind of quality worship that God deserved in His place of meeting. And roles and responsibilities emerged that were clearly understood. By the time David's edict was finished, the transition to worship on the site of the temple was complete. Worship commenced and continued even as Solomon began the work of building a temple there.

An application to consider is the role of administration within God's kingdom. It is a service gift within the church. And there are always details to manage in ministry. The important distinction is that administration as it relates to God's kingdom is not solely about project management. It is much more about the glory of God being emphasized by offering our organizational gifts and abilities to Him.

I am so thankful that God uses us in this way. And many people labor with servant's hearts behind the scenes so that God's glory may be known among the nations. Some of us organize and others of us perform the tasks assigned. But all of us worship God in His work for His purpose so that His name may be great among all people.

leadership vision that transcends generations

For David said, "Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the LORD must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will therefore make preparation for it." So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.
1 Chronicles 22:5

King David's driving ambition before his death was to leave behind a life that commended the worship of the Lord. His last days on earth and his last acts as king were to make all the provisions for his son Solomon to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. This involved a massive amount of advance planning on his part. It was a project of worship.

David's reasons for doing so are diverse. His son Solomon was young and inexperienced. David wanted to leave him with the plans, the materials, and the funding in place to do this great thing. David had a huge vision to build a temple that was testament to the magnificent glory of God. It needed to be something that had never been done before. And that kind of extravagant worship involved lots of preparation. David wanted God's fame to draw the world to Jerusalem by the sheer beauty of the temple. God's fame would go out from the temple mount to all the lands of the earth.

These three factors (inexperience, extravagance, and outreach) are what led David to such serious planning. He laid up the supplies. He commissioned Solomon to the task. He made it the defining vision of the nation for the generation that succeeded him. David's leadership thus carried over an extra generation just because he was consumed with glorifying God. That is a benefit of letting God set leadership priorities. I had never really noticed this facet of the story before today. It is one worth considering. When I am consumed with devoting my life to the glory of God, my impact can outlast me. Future generations can catch and live out that same vision. In my opinion, that is leadership worth living for... forever! I want to find a way to make it the defining and overarching goal of all that I am doing in this life.

repentance: great cost... huge value

But King David said to Ornan, "No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the LORD what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site.
And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering.
1 Chronicles 21:24-26

David's principle of costly sacrifice was not just about giving in worship of the Lord. This was literally a deadly serious repentance on his part. He had disobeyed the Law of the Lord knowingly, against the protests of his own advisors, in an act of selfish pride. His ordering of the census of the fighting forces of Israel was a selfish act of human trust and a willful disbelief in the power of God. And God punished David's sin by afflicting the nation.

David was forced to make a choice for national disaster to strike Israel. And David chose three days of a raging pestilence at the hands of God's "destroying angel". The supernaturally led disease swept through the nation, stopping at the gates of Jerusalem as the destroying angel stood with drawn sword at the threshing floor of Ornan. It was there that David faced death eye-to-eye and offered sacrifices of repentance. And he would not repent without cost to himself.

The Lord was pleased with David's since and broken heart. He relented and ordered the destroying angel to sheath his sword. God showed his acceptance by raining down fire from heaven that consumed David's sacrifice, thus showing that peace and forgiveness were restored. God accepted what had cost David so very much.

So the principle to take from here is not so much about significant generosity (as I have often heard extrapolated from this passage). It is more about sincere repentance. When we mean business with God in sincere and real confession, repentance, and obedience, it will cost us something meaningful. And we should not regret the cost. We count it, willingly sacrifice it, find relief in restoration, and see God glorified in the renewal.

down go the giants!

These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

1 Chronicles 20:8

 

David was not the only giant-killer in Israel. There were at least three other men in his army who had that distinction. David was just the first giant-killer. And he subdued Goliath while only a boy. His victory in his youth set the standard by which all other giant killing would be measured. And there were many bad Philistine giants that needed to go down in defeat.

 

The three giant killing soldiers were diverse, but ready to display the bravery of their king. Sibbecai the Hushathite was the first on this distinct list. He killed a champion name Sippai and ran off the Philistine threat. The second great giant-slayer was Elhanan the son of Jair. He brought down Lahmi, the brother of Goliath. Again, the Philistine threat was removed from Israel The final brave dispatcher of giants was Jonathan, the nephew of King David. He fought and killed a 24-digited beast of a man. The giant remains un-named except that he taunted Israel. And Jonathan stood up in battle and silenced the mocking threats for good.

 

God used these three men to remove the threats to peace in Israel under David. In so doing, more heroes joined with David in seeing God defeat the threatening giants for the sake of His people. And their bravery inspired a nation. God will use men who are brave enough to stride into a toe-to-toe fight with a giant. And when God uses such a man for His glory, the giants go down!

fighting fear with faith

Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.

1 Chronicles 19:13

 

Joab was David’s fighting general. As commander of Israel’s army, he always led from the thick of the battle. And this is an epic fight. Israel is fighting two different armies, sandwiched between them and outnumbered. The Syrians are at the front. The Ammonites are behind them. And Joab is ready to charge ahead.

 

Joab’s faith is part of his resolve to fight. His speech to rally the troops is punctuated with his trust in God. He appeals to the troops to be strong, to fight for Israel’s people and the cities of their God. His courage is shown in the teeth of battle that was ALWAYS hand to hand combat. His final resolve was to trust the outcome of the battle to the Lord’s hands.

 

So in the faith of the fighting forces of Israel there is an encouragement to trust God. And Joab would face swords and spears with confidence that God’s sovereign hand would not let them down. That kind of courageous faith is inspiring. It moves men to face the impossible for the sake of God’s mercies on which they can confidently rely.