Days 95&96: 1 Chronicles 3-6, Psalms 36,39,77,78

The Chronicles passage is a continuation of the genealogies of the people of Israel. I admit that it's mind-numbing reading for me - so I skim it just in case a name or phrase grabs my attention. A couple did.

There's the Jabez passage which says:

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.”  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:9-10)

This passage has become fairly famous because of of a little book that was written a few years ago called The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson. Personally, I sort of felt like Wilkinson made way too much out of these few verses of scripture. I could be wrong. I still think the book is worth reading. Either way, I still think it's interesting that the writer of Chronicles pauses in the middle of listing all these generations of people to comment on this one thing. Makes me wonder what Jabez was really like.

Then there's this:

These are the men David put in charge of the music in the house of the LORD after the ark came to rest there. They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them. (1 Chronicles 6:31-32)

Of course, when he mentions the music ministers I become a little interested. It seems like music has always been an important element in worship, however music is such a different think now than it was in biblical times...or even a hundred years ago. I'm not talking about music in worship, I'm talking about music generally...and it's place in culture. It's everywhere today. It's hard to find a time and place to actually have silence. Music permeates everything. Not so in Chronicles. You had to actually be in the presence of a musician to hear music.

I also find myself wondering how much creative input these guys had. That last phrase makes it sound like they didn't have much. The artist in me shudders a little when I read, "They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them." I think I read that somewhere in a music minister's job description. I didn't take the job. The truth is, even after being in music ministry in some capacity for over 40 years, I still struggle with the place of music in Christian worship. Is it for God, or for the worshiper? Is it for the believer, or for outreach? Is it to express emotion or for teaching doctrine? Is it a tool, or is it art? Actually, I don't think it's an either/or question. I believe it's for all those things. I think we get in trouble when we try to make it one thing.

There were a few noteworthy passages in today's psalms also.

Here's one of the reasons it's easy to identify sin in someone else's life and hard in our own:

In their own eyes they flatter themselves
   too much to detect or hate their sin. (Psalm 36:2)

 Here's another reminder of something that I find I'm realizing more and more with each passing day:

“Show me, LORD, my life’s end
   and the number of my days;
   let me know how fleeting my life is.
You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
   the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
   even those who seem secure. (Psalm 39:4-5)

Here's the reason the people in the OT thought it was so important to pass on their history...and a reminder of our responsibility to do the same:

He decreed statutes for Jacob
   and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
   to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them,
   even the children yet to be born,
   and they in turn would tell their children. (Psalm 78:5-6)

Psalm 78 is a retelling of Israel's history in song. It begins with the above passage and ends with these words about king David:

He chose David his servant
   and took him from the sheep pens;
from tending the sheep he brought him
   to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
   of Israel his inheritance.
And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;
   with skillful hands he led them. (Psalm 78:70-72)