Thoughts for the Day

* David and Solomon, Strasbourg cathedral

Then the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill-offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, and the officers over the king’s work. They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord... Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord.

Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: ‘Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, for ever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all.... For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The first time I read the whole of the Bible aloud (which took six days and a mouthful of ulcers) I came to Chronicles 1 and thought "Hello, I've just read the story of David - why have we got a repeat?" That day was long, but I began to realise that the writer had "tidied up David". Why was this? Well the books of Chronicles, Samuel and Kings in our Old Testament focus on different things, eg Kings looks at the Northern Kingdom of Israel, while Chronicles looks at the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Chronicles were written between 450 and 425 CE at the end of Babylonian exile, so they were looking back at the past, perhaps to teach those returning how to worship in the rebuilt city of Jerusalem. They are from the perspective of a priest, probably Ezra, to show how Jerusalem had lived and worked in the past before the exile. In the passage above we see David and the people worshipping God. They give generously and freely, because all things come from God, and they give back to Him as generously as He gave to His people.

Today, churches in many western countries are facing a positive storm of problems. Covid-19 has closed many churches, or restricted their access, and when this hasn't happened numbers of those attending have dropped to the lowest anyone can remember. Many are facing financial ruin, and each one of us needs to consider how we can improve the situation. God gives to us generously, and we should give back to Him as generously, through our worship, our prayer, and our money.

Lord God,
help us to turn to You each day,
grateful for all that You give to us,
and thankful for Your love.
May we not forget Your Church -
Your body on this earth,
and remember that we need each other
to help strengthen our faith.
Amen.