READING FOR MAY 5, 2025: 1 CHRONICLES 12, 2 CORINTHIANS 6, PSALM 38:1-14 1 CHRONICLES 12 Be patient as we travel back in time to when Saul was still king and David was living in Ziklag, which was the town the King Achish of the Philistines gave him. Recall that David joined the Philistines because Saul sought to kill him. A listing and description of the men who attached themselves to David during this time is given. The first group mentioned is a surprise: a group of Benjaminites, Saul’s tribe, who could sling stones and shoot arrows with either hand. In verse 7, the Korahites are mentioned, a musical clan of Levites (musicians can be tough). In verse 8 we see the Gadites, who were really fierce and well-trained in fighting. Perhaps verse 14 is hyperbole, but it says the least of them was worth a 100 men and the best of them was worth a thousand. Notice it is not always the number of folks serving God, but it can be the quality of those serving that is most important. In verses 16-18, David double checks the loyalty of some late-coming men from Benjamin and Judah. God’s spirit comes over their leader, Amasai, as they pledge fidelity to David. They pass the loyalty test.
Some men from Manasseh defected to David, just as David was about to join the Philistines in battle against Israel. As we remember from Romans 13, we are told to honor the governing authorities because God established them, even evil ones such as Saul. God saved David and all his men from violating this principle because the “lords of the Philistines” did not trust David. Instead, David and his men conducted raids against Israel’s enemies, even though he told the Philistine king he was raiding Israelite towns. During this entire time, David’s forces kept growing.
Starting in verse 23 we leapfrog in time to after Saul died and after his son Ish-bosheth was assassinated while reigning over Israel. David had been reigning over Judah in Hebron. A huge force from throughout Israel then came to Hebron to make David king over the entire nation of Israel. Representatives came Simeon in the south, from Benjamin and Ephraim in the central regions, from Asher, Napthali, Issachar, Zebulon, and Dan in the north, from Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh east of the Jordan, and Levites including Aaron’s priestly line. While It’s not possible to come up with an exact number, the total likely was between 300,000 and 400,000 men. This rare moment of national unity was celebrated with three days of joyous eating and drinking. Let’s stay united at Yorktown Methodist so that we can keep having joyous and delicious carry-ins. Let’s also invite others to join us.
2 CORINTHIANS 6 Paul says that the Corinthians, and by extension we at Yorktown Methodist Church, could receive the grace of God (5:20-21) in vain. How? The rest of the chapter gives the dual answer of not supporting what God is doing in the world and not separating from
READING FOR MAY 5, 2025 CONTINUED: 2 CORINTHIANS 6, PSALM 38:1-14 non-believers. As mentioned in the story of Rebekah’s selection, Paul says now is the time to be totally responsive to God’s grace. What are we waiting for?
Paul provides a model for doing ministry: endure hardships and opposition; act in purity, knowledge, kindness, and love; be empowered by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word; expect to be considered deceivers; and don’t seek material gain. The ministries in which at Yorktown Methodist engages and supports financially should meet these same criteria. Sounds daunting, but keep in mind, this is a small price compared with the grace of God given to us as believers. It’s really a high privilege. Paul tells the Corinthians that although he and his coworkers have been open toward the Corinthians, their response thus far has been restrained. There is still time, though, for them and for us to be fully responsive to what God has done for us. Again, now is the time.
The last four verses emphasize the need to be separate from unbelievers. Obeying this command requires wisdom. There are some groups, such as the Amish, who interpret this as not living at all according to modern standards. They signify their distinctiveness by adopting a separate, nineteenth-century lifestyle. By contrast, other groups have focused upon being culturally relevant by accepting any belief and practice in the name of inclusivity. In looking at Jesus’s and Paul’s ministries, they interacted with the full range of society for the purpose of communicating the Gospel and supporting civic welfare. When it came to establishing boundaries for participation, belief, behavior, and service within the community of faith, they drew clear boundaries based upon God’s word. Can we apply this balance in Yorktown?
PSALM 38:1-14 Here we see David believed such a thing as God’s wrath exists. The following article by Timothy George demonstrates how David’s belief is controversial: “Recently, the wrath of God became a point of controversy in the decision of the Presbyterian Committee on Congregational Song to exclude from its new hymnal the much-loved song ‘in Christ Alone’ by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend. The Committee wanted to include this song because it is being sung in many churches, Presbyterian and otherwise, but they could not abide this line from the third stanza: ‘Till on that cross as Jesus died/the wrath of God was satisfied.’ For this they wanted to substitute: ‘as Jesus died/the love of God was magnified.’ The authors of the hymn insisted on the original wording, and the Committee voted nine to six that ‘In Christ Alone” would not be among the eight hundred or so items in their new hymnal.’ Getty and Townend lived out Paul’s command from 2 Cor. 6 to be separate in a way that cost them financially. A definition of God’s wrath by Tim Keller is helpful: “God’s settled opposition to evil.” Don’t we desire God to oppose evil? Jesus experienced God’s wrath in our place because He possessed the ultimate love. If we reject Jesus, God’s wrath must be directed upon us due to our unrepented and unpaid for sins (John 3:36).
