God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 14:1-2 The Lord established him
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Introduction to Part II:
In the first part of 1 Chronicles, the Holy Spirit showed the blessings of God on his chosen people Israel, from Adam to Abraham, to Moses, and to David. The main part of the book so far was presented in the short form of genealogical records, but there were many short stories nestled in every chapter, until finally the narrative of Saul’s death and the rise of King David was brought front and center in the account of God blessing his people.
David has been blessed with training, with intimate personal knowledge of the whole land of Israel and of the nations surrounding the land, and of the methods of their warfare. He has moved his capital from Hebron to the captured Jebusite city of Jerusalem, now the City of David, and he has begun to move the ark of the covenant toward its place in the capital city, although the temple where it would reside was as yet no more than an idea, and the tabernacle was still in place.
The remainder of 1 Chronicles will focus on certain key events of David’s reign without any references to David’s sin with Bathsheba or the rebellions of his sons Absalom or Adonijah. The one blemish in David’s record, necessary for the accurate telling of the story of the temple, is the account of the census (chapter 21) which led to the choosing of the site for the temple at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite (1 Chronicles 21:18-30). Following this, there is a record of the names of various Levites and army commanders, with one humble verse (1 Chronicles 24:10) of great interest to Christians in the way it may relate to the date of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Finally, chapter 29 presents the last prayer of David (which may have been abbreviated into the doxology of the Lord’s Prayer, see 1 Chronicles 29:11-13), the coronation of Solomon, and the death of David.
14:1 King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs, stoneworkers and carpenters to build a house for him. 2 Then David knew that the LORD had established him as king over Israel, since his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel.
An important step for anyone who comes to power is the moment when other nations recognize the new leader or government. For the young United States, that happened first in December 1777, by the Kingdom of Morocco. During that same period, when Germany was a bewildering group of dukedoms, kingdoms, principalities, free cities, and other regions, some naval and military officers from England and Spain wrecked their careers by accidentally “recognizing” the wrong government at times of upheaval and uncertainty.
Hiram, the King of Tyre, was certain that David was the man to reckon with in Israel. Tyre was a maritime state that depended on trade over sea and over land, and David controlled the crossroads between his country and Egypt, Arabia, Moab, Cush, Sheba, and even India and perhaps China (the “Sinim,” Isaiah 49:12).
Hiram ruled Tyre from around 978 until 944 BC, and may have enjoyed a co-reign with his father Abibaal from 993-978. Therefore he overlapped David’s early years in Jerusalem until the middle of Solomon’s reign. His cooperation and business dealings with Solomon during the construction of the temple will be seen throughout the first part of 2 Chronicles (also 1 Kings 5, 9 and 10).
There are various ways of saying “highly exalted” in the Old Testament. Moses and Miriam describe God this way with “he is exalted, very much exalted” (ga’oh ga’ah, Exodus 15:1, 21). Isaiah describes Jesus Christ this way by saying that he is “on high (exalted), very much so” (gabah ma’od, Isaiah 52:13). In the last chapter of this book, our author will say that God has actively “made Solomon exalted” with a verb (wayigaddel, 1 Chronicles 29:25). And here, David realizes that God has exalted his kingdom, very much exalted it (niseth lema’alah), but not for his sake. The lifting up or exaltation of Israel is for the sake of God’s faithful people, who put their trust in him, and for the sake of Christ the Lord. For “the horns of the righteous will be lifted up” (Psalm 75:10), and God himself is exalted, “who delights in the well-being of his servants” (Psalm 35:27).
God showed his blessing on Israel through David and Solomon in ways he never had done when Saul was king. Not since the great and glorious days of Moses, and of Joshua after him, had God exalted or lifted up his people as he did now. This was not on account of David’s handsome face, or his popularity, or his outstanding musical compositions. For although David was Israel’s “singer of songs” (2 Samuel 23:1), he cared deeply about his own faith in God, and about the faith of his people. He led them from out front, making his mistakes in public and repenting in public. The people knew David. They trusted him. And he taught them by his own example to trust in God, whose mercy endures forever.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.