Year 1, Week 34, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 34, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Chronicles 4-5; Psalm 73.

Today’s reading includes additional genealogical details concerning some of the sons of Jacob. 1 Chronicles 4 picks up with the line of Judah and explores additional descendants of Judah from other sons, before it begins tracing the line from Simeon. 1 Chronicles 5 traces the lines from Rueben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Psalm 73 opens book three of the Psalms. This Psalm, is ascribed as a Psalm of Asaph, who is a Levite whom David appointed as the chief musician for the Temple (see 1 Chronicles 16:5-7). The Psalms of Asaph are Psalms 73-83, as well as Psalm 50.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading is the orientation toward the LORD that is found in both portions of today’s reading. Asaph struggled with what he saw, but he turned to the LORD to make sense out of things: “But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end” (Psalm 73:16-17). Asaph knew that the LORD was good: “Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (Psalm 73:1). But he also struggled to know how the reality of God’s goodness to him, fits with what he saw played out around him: “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:2-3). Asaph wants to know how to make sense of the goodness of God and the prosperity of the wicked. The previous Psalm declares that is it the righteousness, not the wicked, who are promised a flourishing life: “In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!” (Psalm 72:7). But Asaph saw a lot of flourishing for the wicked: “For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind…Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches” (Psalm 73:4-5,12). Asaph contemplated whether seeking a righteous life was fruitful: “All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning” (Psalm 73:12-14).

But Asaph came to see things differently. Asaph was glad that he kept his struggle to himself: “If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed the generation of your children” (Psalm 73:14). Asaph realized that he was thinking considering what he saw rightly: “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalm 73:21-22). Asaph came to realize the real fate of the wicked: “Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!” (Psalm 73:18-19). The real situation of the wicked is very precarious. Whatever flourishing they have experienced is temporary. In fact, Asaph realized that he had something that the wicked did not have: “Nevertheless, I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory….But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works” (Psalm 73:23-24,28). Asaph had the presence of the LORD in his life; and he could not think of anything better: “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).

Asaph was not the only person in today’s reading whose life was oriented toward the LORD; Jabez lived a life oriented toward the LORD as well: “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked” (1 Chronicles 4:10). What is said about Jabez is a huge interruption to the genealogical details of this entire section of 1 Chronicles. It hardly says anything about anybody as it simply lists names. So, this drastic change is meant to get our attention. Janez’s mother named him in light of her experience with him: “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain” (1 Chronicles 4:9). Jabez as a “pain.” The notion of calling upon the LORD and the LORD hearing and responding to those who call upon him, will emerge as a large theme for the Chronicler. But this is the first instance of someone in the Book of Chronicles who called upon the “the God of Israel.” And the lesson is clear: the LORD responds to those who call upon him. The LORD is the One who makes the difference in his life. Jabez isn’t defined by his mother’s label. He was called a pain by his mother, but he called upon the LORD and was called honored by the LORD. His upbringing or past circumstances did not define Jabez’s life; the LORD whom he called upon determined his future. A life oriented toward the LORD is not too concerned with what those around them say about them. A life oriented toward the LORD is controlled by what the LORD says about them.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe