9:35–20:8 Section
Saul and his family line didn’t continue to rule as kings in Israel. This was because Saul wasn’t faithful to the Lord. As a result, God took his love away from Saul. This didn’t mean that God stopped loving Saul and started hating him. It meant that God chose someone else to be the ruler of the Israelites. God chose David and his family line.
The stories about David recorded in 1 Chronicles show times when David was faithful to God. They don’t include some of the times when David wasn’t faithful. Those stories are recorded in 2 Samuel. 1 Chronicles shows how David asked God for help and for advice about fighting wars. David was an example of how to worship God with much joy. David brought order to the worship practices of the Israelites. He made sure that the Levites followed God’s commands about sacrifices. Those commands were recorded in the Law of Moses. David also made sure that the Levites led the people in praising God. They praised God by singing, dancing and playing instruments. The song in 1 Chronicles chapter 16 includes parts of Psalms 96, 105 and 106.
The stories about David recorded in 1 Chronicles also show something about the Israelites. The entire community supported David as king. This included a special group of mighty warriors. It included the elders and men from all 12 tribes who could fight. It included families and neighbours who brought food to celebrate David as king. David led the Israelites in making decisions together. He led them to make decisions that were according to what God wanted. He did this when they decided to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. This was very different from how the Israelites made decisions in earlier times. During the time of the 12 judges, the people did anything they thought was right (Judges 21:25).
David was the kind of king that the book of Judges showed was needed. David and the Israelites worked hard to fight against people groups that attacked them. They worked hard to build the city of Jerusalem. God blessed the hard work of David and the people and made them successful. This is what the words the Lord was with him mean. It’s also what the words the Lord honoured his kingdom mean. God made David’s rule as king secure by making a covenant with David. God promised to never take his love away from the sons that came after David. This meant that someone from David’s family line would always be king. The Jews who returned from Babylon were waiting for that king to come and rule.