Sat.’s Devo - David's Kingdom

Read: 1 Chronicles 26:12-27:34; Romans 4:13-5:5; Psalm 14:1-7; Proverbs 19:17

David’s kingdom was a picture of how the body of Christ should function. Everyone had their assignments. They served hard for a month, then had the rest of the year to spend with their own families and working their own land. It took 24,000 men working throughout the year to maintain David’s kingdom. Some were gatekeepers and ministers in the house of the Lord. Others were in charge of the treasuries of the house of the Lord. Others acted as officers and judges and had oversight of the tribes west and east of the Jordan. 

 *** When we give God, our king, our best to maintain his kingdom - our month of service, he provides all we need for our families and our well-being. *** Every month had a different leader to command the workers of that month. Some of these were of David’s army officers. These men had to be gifted and honest men of integrity. Some kept the vineyards and the fields and were stewards of David’s property.  

*** Two men counseled David’s sons and Ahithophel was David’s counselor. Hushai was David’s friend and Joab commanded his army. 

 *** In Romans, Paul continued his sermon on faith. Abraham was promised his heir because of his righteousness. He didn’t even have the law then. Trusting in adherence to the law brings God’s wrath, but having faith brings the promise to life. 

 *** Abraham was made the father of many nations and he brought us righteousness by faith. When God told him he would make him a father of nations he never wavered in that promise. We must not waver in our faith over the promises God has given us. Abraham was our example of what faith looks like. It helps us be able to endure our sufferings and even rejoice in them knowing that our promise is on the other side. Suffering produces endurance which produces character, which givens us hope and God makes sure that our hope is not in vain. 

 *** Lord, thank you for reminding us that our faith is a process that shapes us to be able to handle the promise. May we let our waiting shape us into the vessel that can hold the promise.

Fri.’s Devo - The Divisions of the Priests

Read: 1 Chronicles 24:1-26:11; Romans 4:1-12; Psalm 131-6; Proverbs 19:15-16 Aaron had four sons but two of them Nadab and Abihu had died when they offered strange fire to the Lord. Neither of them had children. The two left were Eleazar and Ithamar. Zadok helped organize the priests into divisions. Eleazar had more chiefs among his sons than Ithamar so 16 of the chiefs came from the sons of Eleazar and 8 came from the sons of Ithamar. It was determined by lot which division of the 24 they would take. During their determined time they were to perform the duties of service in the house of the Lord. *** The rest of the sons of Levi served under them and their month of service was determined by lot also. David set apart some of them who prophesied with music under his direction. One of them was Asaph who wrote some of the songs we have recorded in the book of Psalms. Asaph received the first lot. There were 288 who were trained in singing to the Lord. *** The gatekeepers were also determined by lot and Obed-edom was one of them who had 8 sons who were blessed with great abilities. It was his house that the Ark had rested for three months. *** In Romans, Paul explained that Abraham was not justified before God because he did good, but because he believed in God. A man who works gets a wage because it is due him. It is not a gift. A person who tries to earn eternal life with his works will perish in his sin because no one can live a perfect life. But, the person who believes and confesses his sins and is forgiven and is given the gift of eternal life. *** Abraham’s circumcision did not make him righteous. It was given to him after he believed in God as a seal of his covenant with God. We are given the seal of the Holy Spirit after we believe. *** Lord, thank you that you make it so simple and easy to become your child. Thank you for opening our eyes to this wonderful truth of salvation. You have set us free from the bondage of sin and given us your Spirit to walk in righteousness and truth.

Thurs.’s Devo - Davids Commission to Solomon -

Read: 1 Chronicles 22:1-23:32; Romans 3:9-31; Psalm 12:1-8; Proverbs 19:13-14 David provided everything Solomon would need to build the Temple to the Lord down to the nails. He had accumulated a supply of cedar for wood, silver, gold and everything Solomon would need to build it. David had workmen and artisans ready to do the work. *** David didn’t wait till he was dead to let Solomon reign. He equipped him and appointed him king while he was still living and let him rule. He surrounded him with godly men who would assist him in building the Temple because he understood that this would be a daunting assignment for Solomon. *** David told Solomon why he was not building the Temple himself. He had shed too much blood in war but Solomon would have peace during his term. God had told David he would have a son and his name would be Solomon and he would be given peace and prosperity as long as he followed the Lord with all his heart. He would be the one to build him a Temple. *** When David made Solomon king he also assembled all the leaders of Israel, the priests and the Levites. He had 24,000 men to work on the house of the Lord. Six thousand would be officers and judges, 4,000 would be gatekeepers, and 4,000 would be on the worship team. David organized the Levites according to their families and they would keep charge of the sanctuary and attend to the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord. *** In Romans, Paul made it clear that the Jews had no advantage over the Gentile. They were all sinners. The purpose of the law was to let us know what sin was. Now, righteousness is obtained through Christ and it is available to all. We all come to salvation the same way - through repentance and confession in Jesus. *** Lord, thank you that when you died, you had trained your disciples to do your work just like David had prepared Solomon to build his Temple. You are building your Temple in the earth through us. You have equipped us to do your work and show forth your power through our faith in you. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that leads us to do your will.

Wed.’s Devo - Israel’s Battles -

Read: 1 Chronicles 19:1-21:30; Romans 2:25-3:8; Psalm 11:1-7; Proverbs 19:10-12 Nahash, king of the Ammonites died and David wanted to pay his respects to Nahash’s son Hanun. David sent ambassadors to honor him. The princes of the Ammonites told Hanun, not to trust them because they had really come to spy out their land. Hanun believed his princes and had his men shave the ambassador’s heads and cut off their garments at the hip and send them home. *** When David heard what Hanun had done to his men he had them stay in Jericho till their beards had grown back. This incident would surely end in a battle. Hanun hired men of Mesopotamia, Aram-maacah, and Zobah to fight with them against Israel. *** Joab divided his army into two divisions and defeated both the Ammonites and the Syrians. The Syrians surrendered and became subject to David. The next year, Joab led the army against the Ammonites and defeated them. *** Then they went to war against the Philistines. They had giants, but they were no match for God. *** Since David was conquering all Satan’s men on earth, Satan himself stood up to fight. He enticed David to number his people. Joab tried to talk him out of it, knowing it was wrong, but David refused to listen. He sent Joab out to number the people. *** God sent Gad the seer to rebuke David for numbering the people and he gave him his choice of punishment: 3 years of famine, 3 months of being defeated by their enemies, or 3 days of God’s sword. David chose to be disciplined by God because he was merciful. *** God sent out his death angel with a plague that killed 70,000 of his people. David saw the angel about to lift his sword against the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite on his way to Jerusalem. David plead with God to punish only his family since he was the one who sinned. *** Gad went to David and told him to offer sacrifices on the threshing floor of Ornan to atone for his sin. David bought the piece of land from Ornan and offered sacrifices to the Lord. God answered him with fire from heaven and commanded the angel to put up his sword. The plague was stopped. *** In Romans, Paul explains that circumcision was always a heart issue, not just a physical requirement. Circumcision was a symbol to show that a person had given their heart to the Lord, just like repentance was a spiritual circumcision of the heart. So, the uncircumcised were the same as the circumcised if they had cleansed their heart and given it to the Lord. *** Lord, may we have clean hands and a pure heart. May our worship be pure and undefiled. Thank you for your discipline and your mercy.

Tues.’s Devo - David’s Success -

Read: 1 Chronicles 16:37-18:17; Romans 2:1-24; Psalm 10:16-18; Proverbs 8-9 David left Ashaph and his brothers to minister before the Lord each day. He put Obed-edom and his 68 brothers and Hosah in charge of the gate to the tent. Zadok, the priest along with his brothers offered the burnt offerings in the morning and at the evening. Others were chosen to give thanks to the Lord with music and singing. *** Everyone else left to go home. David had in his heart to build a cedar house for the Lord like he had. He asked Nathan about it and Nathan gave him his blessing, but that night God spoke to Nathan. He told him to tell David that He had never dwelt in a building and had always traveled with the people in tents. He had never asked for a house to live in. Nevertheless, if will not be David who will build the house for the Lord, but his offspring will do it. *** So David set about to defeat his enemies and leave his off-spring a kingdom of peace and prosperity. He defeated the Philistines, the Moabites, Hadadezer, king of Zobah-Hamath, and the Edomites. Many nations brought him tribute and he put it aside for the Temple his son would build for the Lord. God gave David victory wherever he went. *** In Romans, Paul warned them against judging people for the same things they were doing. God is the ultimate judge who will judge all people. God’s kindness is meant to bring all to repentance. All will be judged for their works. Those who worked for the Lord will receive glory, honor, peace and eternal life, but those who lived for themselves and did evil will face the wrath and fury of God. *** Those who did not have the law will be still be judged and those who have the law will be judged by it. He explained that everyone has the law of God in their hearts and know what is right to do, so no one has an excuse not to do good. *** Paul confronted the Jews who had the law and asked them if they practiced what they preached. He reminded them that the scriptures say that the Jews caused God’s name to be blasphemed by the Gentiles. In other words, many of their works were an approach to God and had given God a bad name among the heathen. *** Lord, may our lives bring glory to your name. May we honor you in our walk and cause others to want to know you.

Mon.’s Devo - David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem

Read: 1 Chronicles 15:1-16:36; Romans 1:18-32; Psalm 10:1-15; Proverbs 19:6-7 David prepared a tent in Jerusalem to put the ark. He must have researched in the law of Moses to find out how he was supposed to transport the ark because this time he didn’t put it on a cart, but on the shoulders of the Levites. David assembled all Israel to come to Jerusalem to witness and celebrated bringing up the ark to Jerusalem. *** The singers sang, the musicians played their instruments, the trumpets sounded and thousands shouted and rejoiced as they brought up the ark. David danced and celebrated. Michal, Saul’s daughter who was married to David watched from her window and despised David for making such a public spectacle of himself. *** The priests offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and David blessed the people and gave each person a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisin. *** David appointed Asaph and his brothers to sing the song he had written to the Lord. In it they gave thanks to the Lord of all he was and all he had done for them. When they were done all the people said, “Amen!” *** In Paul’s letter to the Romans he writes about the wrath of God which will come upon all the ungodly and unrighteous who suppress the truth. They are without excuse because God has made it plain through the things he has made of his power. All creation speaks of his nature. But, they chose not to honor God or thank him so their thinking became futile and their hearts became dark. They claimed to be wise but were fools because they swapped the glory of the immortal God for images of the things he had made. *** So, God gave them over to their passions and women began to desire other women and men did shameful things with other men. They received in themselves the penalty for this sin. When they continued in their sin and didn’t repent, God gave them over to a debased mind filled with all kinds of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. They were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness. They gossiped, slandered, hated God and became haughty and boastful. They invented ways to do evil and disobeyed their parents. Even though they knew that what they were doing was worthy of death, they continued to do them and approved of others who did such evil. *** Lord, thank you that you have delivered us from darkness and brought us into the light of your salvation. May we live righteously that your goodness might be known in the earth.

Sun.’s Devo - David Establishes his Kingdom

Read: 1 Chronicles 12:19-14:17; Romans 1:1-17; Psalm 9:13-20; Proverbs 19:4-5 When David was running from Saul, he deserted to the Philistines and helped them fight in their battles. When they were going to fight Saul and Israel, the Philistines wouldn’t let David and his men fight in case David deserted to his master and fought against the Philistines. *** Many of the warriors from Manasseh had come to help David fight against Saul at that time. When they weren’t allowed to fight with the Philistines, they stayed with David and David’s army became like an army of God. *** When Saul died and all Israel met at Hebron to make David their king. The warriors from Judah, Simeon, Levi, Benjamin, Ephraim, Manasseh, Zebulun, Naphtali, Dan, Asher, Reuben and Gad came to join in the celebration. They brought food and celebrated with joy that David was now their king. *** David consulted with his commanders to bring the ark of the Lord out since it had been neglected in Saul’s days. They all agreed to bring the ark from Kieriath-jearim into the city of David which was Jerusalem. *** They carried the ark on a cart with much praise and music. When the oxen carrying the ark stumbled, Uzzah put his hand on the ark to steady it so it wouldn’t fall off the cart. When he did this, the Lord struck him and he died right there. David was so angry and afraid of the Lord, he stopped the ceremony and the ark was taken to the closest house, which was the home of Obed-edom. It stayed there for three months and while it was there, the Lord blessed Obed-deom in everything he did. *** Hiram the king of Tyre sent cedar trees and masons and carpenters to David so he could build his house. David saw that his kingdom was established and fathered more sons and daughters in Jerusalem. *** The Philistines heard that David had become king and went to raid Israel in the Valley of Rephaim. David asked the Lord if he should go against them and was told that God would give them into his hand. He was successful and named the place Baal-perazim. The Philistines had brought their gods with them so David burned them. *** The Philistines came again to raid them in the same valley and the Lord told David to do an ambush from the other side. He obeyed and struck down the army of the Philistines. David became famous and all the nations were afraid of him. *** Today we begin the book of Romans. Paul begins his letter to the church in Rome by explaining his mission for God. He stated what Jesus’ mission was and how he accomplished it through his death which was predicted by the prophets. *** Paul commends them for their reputation of being faithful and longs to meet with them. He wants to impart to them a spiritual gift that he promises will strengthen them. Paul has a burden to share the gospel of Christ with the Gentiles which he knows is salvation for everyone who believes. Those that are righteous will live by faith. *** Lord, may we be known as people who live by our faith in you. May we encourage others who are walking along side us to keep believing in your goodness and truth.