We’re in 2 Chronicles in our reading program, but so far it’s repeating stories we’ve already looked at, for example, Solomon’s asking for wisdom. So we finish out Book 1 of Psalms. You may know that Psalms is divided into five books: 1 – 41, 42 – 72, 73 – 89, 90 – 106, and 107 – 150. Book 1 seems to end with reflections on tough times. We looked at Psalms 38 and 39 in that light. Psalm 40, even though it has elements of deliverance and praise, contains challenges, also:

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me! Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!…As for me, I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God! (Psalm 40.13, 14, 17, ESV)

The prayer for deliverance continues into Psalm 41 when King David feels like he’s on his deathbed:

But my enemies say, “May he soon die and be forgotten!” They act so friendly when they come to visit me while I am sick; but all the time they hate me and are glad that I am lying there upon my bed of pain. And when they leave, they laugh and mock. They whisper together about what they will do when I am dead. “It’s fatal, whatever it is,” they say. “He’ll never get out of that bed!” (Psalm 41.5 – 8, TLB)

The problem is, even if we don’t have enemies, there are still people on their deathbed: we have two close friends that may pass before this blog posts. Both are serious Christ followers. (Update: as expected, both have passed, one on Thursday, September 26, and the other in the wee hours Saturday morning, September 28. Detail to follow.)

Psalm 41 (and Psalms, Book 1) ends with the only perspective we can have:

Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who exists from everlasting ages past—and on into everlasting eternity ahead. Amen and amen! (Psalm 41.13, TLB)

We are temporary, but “the Lord, the God of Israel, exists from everlasting ages past – and on into everlasting eternity ahead.”

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed. Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them up like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool, but my righteousness will be forever, and my salvation to all generations. (Isaiah 51.6 – 8, ESV)

We’ve looked at don’t “follow your heart” in the life of King David and in a pastor’s modern-day story. Here’s another example.

In a review of a book, Aaron Damiani, pastor of Immanuel Anglican Church in Chicago, includes an intriguing story about Dorothy Day, about whom I knew nothing. Turns out she was a complicated woman who who gave her life to working for the poor:

Day was something of an outsider: a convert who, at times, had a complex relationship with the Church. Though orthodox, she was troubled by what she perceived to be the Vatican’s failure officially to condemn the Nazi regime. She faced criticism from within the Church for stubborn pacifism and early sympathy with the Communist cause, though she – unlike many of her closest friends – was never a party member. Day herself was uncomfortable with insinuations that she was especially holy…Day opened houses of hospitality…in response to the needs of hungry, destitute people who showed up at her door. There are still currently nearly 250 Catholic Worker houses in America and worldwide. – Let’s Not Canonize Dorothy Day by Hannah Glickstein [because to do so would be a “demotion.”]

Back to the story that caught my attention. Aaron Damiani writes:

I’m reminded of a critical moment in the life of Dorothy Day, the journalist turned founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. After the birth of her daughter Tamar, she wished to leave behind her bohemian, hedonistic life for the Christian faith of her childhood. But the love of her life, Forster, forbade it:

It got to the point where it was the simple question of whether I chose God or man. I chose God and I lost Forster. I was baptized on the Feast of The Holy Innocents, December 28, 1927. It was something I had to do. I was tired of following the devices and desires of my own heart, of doing what I wanted to do, what my desires told me to do, which always seemed to lead me astray. The cost was the loss of the man I loved. [This paragraph quotes Dorothy Day, emphasis mine.]

This pivotal act of self-denial and obedience led to many smaller ones in an imperfect yet luminous life of love and mercy. Like Day, we must in the end take up our cross in daily defiance of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Strangely, the way of death becomes for us the very path of life. – Aaron Damiani, Live Like a Christian, Even if You’re Not Sure What You Believe, Christianity Today, July/August 2024

Jesus was clear:

And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Luke 9.23, 24, ESV)

My old friend (in more ways than one – we go back to the 1950s) Mark Senter III just sent me pictures of a couple of special visual aids, prepared by June’s father (an artist) for Mark’s father (a pastor) to use at the Christian camp where June and I met in 1958. I wrote about Pastor Senter’s generosity a couple of years ago.

This blog is about his teaching. Look at this chart:

Chart by Doyle Porter for Pastor Mark Senter to teach children!

Pastor Senter would have spent a week teaching this chart to, as I say, children. Can you imagine? I haven’t seen teaching in this detail for adults for decades. Yes, it’s technical, but it was also understandable and practical. I think we’ve lost something over the years.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4.1 – 4, ESV)

Yesterday we thought about joy in giving. How about joy in work? Here’s a story too good not to pass on in its entirety. It’s by Mike Kerrigan, an attorney in Charlotte, NC, published by the Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2024.

St. Bernard on the Hertz Shuttle

What we do isn’t nearly as important as how we do it.

I recently returned from vacation in Boulder, Colo. On the drive to Denver International Airport, my mind churned over many things to be done back at work, sensitive issues I uppishly felt that I alone could handle. Then I met Dave.

Dave Moller drove the shuttle bus that carried me from Hertz’s rental-car lot to the terminal. I might not have noticed him, but the whimsical song he was playing—“A Groovy Kind of Love” by the Mindbenders—broke my newsfeed’s gravitational pull.

Looking up from my iPhone was good fortune. It allowed me to see festive bunting reading “Cheers to 45” that adorned the bus cabin. Mr. Moller has driven airport shuttles for Hertz for 45 years, a fact he shared with pride moments later over the public address system.

The announcement drew applause. Humorous observations of a man comfortable with his place in the cosmos followed, making the journey pleasant. Based on how swiftly he moved luggage from bus to curb, Mr. Moller appeared to be as light of foot as of heart.

As his shuttle pulled away, a thought occurred to me. Mr. Moller had performed the morning’s repetitive tasks multiple times a day for more than four decades, yet still he did them with the purposefulness and lightheartedness of an applicant looking to land the job.

The admirable marriage of consistency and mirth got me thinking about this bus driver’s job, and the one to which I was returning. All things being equal, work done joylessly is work done less effectively, for nothing ever happens in a vacuum.

Someone is always watching, whether it’s an office colleague or a bus passenger, and influenced accordingly. This means that whatever a man’s vocation in life happens to be, what he does is scarcely more important than how he does it.

This is so especially after considering a timeless self-inquiry attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux: Quid hoc ad aeternitatem, or what does it matter in light of eternity? Asking this frequently of oneself reminds that all earthly tasks, from bus driving to lawyering, are comparatively small. All that matters in the end is the love with which we do them.

Deep in his bones Mr. Moller seems to understand this. Perhaps that is why he has stayed in the same happy seat for 45 years. (Emphases mine)

Kudos to Dave Moller, the bus driver. Kudos to Mike Kerrigan, the attorney, for noticing and sharing.

After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life…Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now…(Ecclesiastes 5.18 – 20, MSG)

We wrote about tithing a few weeks ago and shared a 9-point list from a pastor in Seattle on why we should give. I’ve just read 1 Chronicles 29 – not the first chapter one thinks of when the subject of giving comes up – and I think we missed a reason to give:

Giving brings joy.

Here are some snippets:

[David said, ] “So I have provided for the house of my God…the gold…the silver…and the bronze…besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God: 3,000 talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and 7,000 talents of refined silver, for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen…Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?”

Then the leaders of fathers’ houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king’s work. They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron. And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (1 Chronicles 29.2 – 9, ESV, emphasis mine)

Then David prays:

…I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you… (1 Chronicles 29.17, ESV, emphasis mine)

And finally,

All the assembly blessed the LORD, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the LORD and to the king. And they offered sacrifices to the LORD, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the LORD, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. And they ate and drank before the LORD on that day with great gladness. (1 Chronicles 29.20 – 22, ESV, emphasis mine)

It’s hard to improve on that…

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9.7, ESV)

And the people were full of a sense of celebration—all that giving! And all given willingly, freely! King David was exuberant. (1 Chronicles 29.9, MSG)

We’re wrapping up 1 Chronicles with King David’s last instructions. In chapter 28, he’s getting Solomon ready to build the Temple. The chapter opens this way:

David called together all the leaders of Israel—tribal administrators, heads of various governmental operations, military commanders and captains, stewards in charge of the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons—everyone who held responsible positions in the kingdom. (1 Chronicles 28.1, MSG)

This would be a boring sentence, except the text had just listed all those people (1 Chronicles 27). I’m reminded again of what we quoted from Peterson’s introduction to 1 Chronicles:

The task of Chronicles was to recover and restore Israel’s confidence and obedience as God’s people. Names launch this story—page after page of names. Holy history is not constructed from impersonal forces or abstract ideas; it is woven from names—persons, each one unique. There is no true storytelling without names. Chronicles erects a solid defense against depersonalized religion. – From The Message, Introduction to Chronicles

The book begins with nine chapters of names and ends with five chapters of names (23 – 27 – we wrote about the musicians a few days ago). God’s story moves along with real people in real places. David is acutely aware of his place:

GOD chose me out of my family to be king over Israel forever. First he chose Judah as the lead tribe, then he narrowed it down to my family, and finally he picked me from my father’s sons, pleased to make me the king over all Israel. And then from all my sons—and GOD gave me many!—he chose my son Solomon to sit on the throne of GOD’s rule over Israel. (1 Chronicles 28.4, 5, MSG)

David is aware of his place AND his responsibility: to help Solomon do his job well.

Then David gave Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule of the temple, and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, and its inner chambers, and of the room for the mercy seat; and the plan of all that he had in mind for the courts of the house of the LORD, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of the house of God, and the treasuries for dedicated gifts… (1 Chronicles 28.11, 12, MSG)

David gave Solomon the plans, and, as we’ll see in the next chapter, the materials. But more importantly, he gave Solomon encouragement:

Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it…Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished. (1 Chronicles 28.10, 20, MSG)

Be strong, courageous, and do the work. It’s a good word. The same word the Lord gave to Joshua:

Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul…Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. God, your God, is with you every step you take.” (Joshua 1.6, 9, MSG)

Words have power. Here’s what Luke said about John the Baptist:

There was a lot more of this—words that gave strength to the people, words that put heart in them. The Message! (Luke 3.18, MSG)

I shared some highlights from Psalm 40 yesterday, emphasizing David’s deliverance from some of his troubles seemingly recorded in Psalm 38 and 39. My son David had been reading Psalm 40 around the same time, and God showed him something completely different.

David is an excellent pianist, and when he plays he’s almost as fun to watch as to listen to. A feeler, just like his Biblical namesake:

And David danced before the LORD with all his might. (2 Samuel 6.14, ESV)

So here’s what my David saw in Psalm 40:

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O LORD. I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation. (Psalm 40.9, 10, ESV)

“I have not restrained my lips.” No restraint. My son David says, “I will not apologize for the way I worship.”

Moreover, just as King David “did not restrain” himself, neither does God:

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! (Psalm 40.11, ESV)

“You, O LORD, will not restrain your mercy…” Isn’t that good? We can and should worship “without restraint” because God offers his mercy “without restraint.”

Often, the only time we worship without restraint is at a football game!

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4.8 – 11, ESV)

After recalling really tough times in Psalms 38 and 39, David records relief in Psalm 40:

“To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David”

I waited patiently for God to help me; then he listened and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and set my feet on a hard, firm path, and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God. Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him. ( Psalm 40.1 – 3, TLB)

A good list worth looking at:

I waited patiently for God to help me; then

• he listened and heard my cry.
• He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out from the bog and the mire, and
• [he] set my feet on a hard, firm path, and steadied me as I walked along.
• He has given me a new song to sing, of praises to our God.

Now many will hear of the glorious things he did for me, and stand in awe before the Lord, and put their trust in him. ( Psalm 40.1 – 3, TLB, bulleted for clarity)

Early in our marriage, June and I were greatly encouraged by Psalm 40.5:

Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. (NKJV)

A prayer for us all…

But may the joy of the Lord be given to everyone who loves him and his salvation. May they constantly exclaim, “How great God is!” (Psalm 40.16, TLB)

One thing to appreciate about the Bible in general and the psalms in particular is that we need not pretend that all is well when it’s not. Psalms 38 and 39 describe such a period in the life of David. Here are some highlights.

O Lord, don’t punish me while you are angry! Your arrows have struck deep; your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my body is sick, my health is broken beneath my sins. They are like a flood, higher than my head; they are a burden too heavy to bear…Meanwhile my enemies are trying to kill me. They plot my ruin and spend all their waking hours planning treachery. (Psalm 38.1 – 4…12, TLB)

Psalm 38 ends with a prayer. What else can he do?

Don’t leave me, Lord; don’t go away! (Psalm 38.21, TLB)

The problems continue into Psalm 39, written to be performed by Jeduthun, whom we met yesterday.

“To the choirmaster: to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.”

I said to myself, I’m going to quit complaining! I’ll keep quiet, especially when the ungodly are around me. (Psalm 39.1, TLB)

Then a perspective on the brevity of life:

Lord, help me to realize how brief my time on earth will be. Help me to know that I am here for but a moment more. My life is no longer than my hand! My whole lifetime is but a moment to you. Proud man! Frail as breath! A shadow! And all his busy rushing ends in nothing. He heaps up riches for someone else to spend. And so, Lord, my only hope is in you. (Psalm 39.4 – 7, TLB)

And he ends, again, with a prayer:

Save me from being overpowered by my sins, for even fools will mock me then…Lord, don’t hit me anymore—I am exhausted beneath your hand…Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry! Don’t sit back, unmindful of my tears. For I am your guest. I am a traveler passing through the earth, as all my fathers were. Spare me, Lord! Let me recover and be filled with happiness again before my death. (Psalm 39.8, 10, 12, 13, TLB)

Deliverance seems to come in Psalm 40. Stay tuned. In the meantime, life was tough for the Apostle Paul, also:

Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. (2 Corinthians 11.23 – 27, ESV)

A shout-out to those who are persisting in our reading through the Historical Books of the Old Testament… 1 Chronicles is tough going, opening with nine chapters of genealogy and closing with several chapters of how David’s kingdom was organized.

I’m pleased to say that an entire chapter is devoted to the musicians, of which I am one (see bobplayspiano.com). Here’s a sample:

David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals…the sons of Jeduthun…who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the LORD…the sons of Heman…the king’s seer, according to the promise of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. They were all under the direction of their father in the music in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the order of the king. The number of them along with their brothers, who were trained in singing to the LORD, all who were skillful, was 288. (1 Chronicles 25.1 – 7, ESV)

Trained singers and instrumentalists: cymbals, harps, and lyres. “All who were skillful…” 

Sacred music has a long and storied tradition! I know there are a few church traditions who do not use instruments in their worship services. While I admire the quality of their a capella singing, scripture seems to support the idea that God likes it all: singers AND musicians.

Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! (Psalm 150.3 – 6 ESV)

And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5.8 – 10, ESV, emphasis mine)