Do You Worship the Lord?
Today's Scripture: 1 Chronicles 9
1So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and, behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah, who were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.
2Now the first inhabitants that dwelt in their possessions in their cities were, the Israelites, the priests, Levites, and the Nethinims.
3And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and Manasseh;
4Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah.
5And of the Shilonites; Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.
6And of the sons of Zerah; Jeuel, and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.
7And of the sons of Benjamin; Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hasenuah,
8And Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephathiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;
9And their brethren, according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty and six. All these men were chief of the fathers in the house of their fathers.
10And of the priests; Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, and Jachin,
11And Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;
12And Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasiai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;
13And their brethren, heads of the house of their fathers, a thousand and seven hundred and threescore; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
14And of the Levites; Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;
15And Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph;
16And Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, that dwelt in the villages of the Netophathites.
17And the porters were, Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brethren: Shallum was the chief;
18Who hitherto waited in the king's gate eastward: they were porters in the companies of the children of Levi.
19And Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, of the house of his father, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their fathers, being over the host of the LORD, were keepers of the entry.
20And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the ruler over them in time past, and the LORD was with him.
21And Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
22All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office.
23So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the LORD, namely, the house of the tabernacle, by wards.
24In four quarters were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.
25And their brethren, which were in their villages, were to come after seven days from time to time with them.
26For these Levites, the four chief porters, were in their set office, and were over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God.
27And they lodged round about the house of God, because the charge was upon them, and the opening thereof every morning pertained to them.
28And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels, that they should bring them in and out by tale.
29Some of them also were appointed to oversee the vessels, and all the instruments of the sanctuary, and the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.
30And some of the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices.
31And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the set office over the things that were made in the pans.
32And other of their brethren, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the shewbread, to prepare it every sabbath.
33And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.
34These chief fathers of the Levites were chief throughout their generations; these dwelt at Jerusalem.
35And in Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Jehiel, whose wife's name was Maachah:
36And his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab.
37And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.
38And Mikloth begat Shimeam. And they also dwelt with their brethren at Jerusalem, over against their brethren.
39And Ner begat Kish; and Kish begat Saul; and Saul begat Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.
40And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begat Micah.
41And the sons of Micah were, Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz.
42And Ahaz begat Jarah; and Jarah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza;
43And Moza begat Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.
44And Azel had six sons, whose names are these, Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.
Today's Scripture Meaning:
Genealogies.
- This chapter expresses that one end of recording all these genealogies was, to direct the Jews, when they returned out of captivity, with whom to unite, and where to reside. Here is an account of the good state into which the affairs of religion were put, on the return from Babylon. Every one knew his charge. Work is likely to be done well when every one knows the duty of his place, and makes a business of it. God is the God of order. Thus was the temple a figure of the heavenly one, where they rest not day nor night from praising God, (Re 4:8). Blessed be His name, believers there shall, not in turn, but all together, without interruption, praise him night and day: may the Lord make each of us fit for the inheritance of the saints in light.
Today's Scripture Application
Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today we continue in the book of 1 Chronicles with Chapter 9. In our text today we see the Returnees from exile in Babylon and the genealogy of Saul. What catches my eye is the detail and time the priests and Levites took for worship. In today's busy world we pop in and out of a "Worship Service" with no thought of who we are worshiping. We say a prayer, sing a song, and listen to a message without a true thought of worship: which means to show-worth. In making application we see that our lack thought and detail we put in our worship to our God shows the position we put God in our lives. If we don't put God first, then we are not worshiping our Lord. Our time, our talents, our finances, should give God the position He deserves in our lives: 1st Place. How about you? Do you truly worship the Lord? Do you put Him first? Let us learn from our text today and the example the Priests and Levites placed before us to truly worship the Lord
