For 35 years of his reign, King Asa trusted the Lord and sought Him with all his heart. God granted them peace on every side because of the king’s faith. However, for whatever reason, Asa thought an alliance with Benhadad, the king of Assyria, would offer him protection from his enemies.  Mistake!

Taking God’s blessing and protection for granted for 35 years, how tragic it appears now to see how foolish he was for transitioning his trust from God to protection he purchased with gold.

“Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain.” Ps. 127:1b

PRAYER: Father, we will keep our trust in You through daily spiritual devotion to You by the reading of Your Word and prayer. Apart from You, we can do NOTHING!

READING: 2 Chron. 15-17

Sadly, the rift between Jeroboam (Israel) and Rehoboam (Judah and Benjamin) caused a period of strain, war casualties, and regression among God’s people. Akin to the Civil War experienced in the U.S., it was a blemish on the history of the nation.

Clearly, the kings of Judah followed the precepts of David more closely.

Power struggles are not without casualties. Leaders who determine to put the Lord first and avoid conflict will be honored in the end.

PRAYER: Lord, our heart’s desire is to abide in unity with other members of Your body. Grace us to stay close to You in devotion and practice so Your Kingdom can make advances against our true enemy, the devil.

READING: 2 Chron. 10-14

As Solomon built the temple and his own home, nothing but the best was used. Silver was too common to use. Gold was the standard. It must have been a sight to see … this king in all his regal beauty.

However, he was merely a prefiguring of a King to come who would far transcend Solomon’s glory, only the King to come would use different standards to show value. He chose to focus on the inside of man, the heart, rather than outward appearance. Rather than an ivory throne covered in gold, King Jesus preferred to sit on the throne of the hearts of His people.

The best is an inner thing, an inner quality.

PRAYER: Father, help us not lose focus on the things You value, the heart and motives of man. Your kingdom is within us. The purity and splendor of Your kingdom consist of rightousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

READING: 2 Chron. 7-9

Solomon’s Temple was dedicated in such fashion that God’s presence filled it so that they couldn’t even continue ministering. Much praise and music that so pleased God prepared an atmosphere like none other. It was then that Solomon knelt, lifted his hands to heaven, and uttered one of the Bible’s most profound prayers.

This gives the NT believer a healthy pattern of approaching God through praise and worship. God inhabits the praises of His people.

PRAYER: Lord, we are SO GRATEFUL to You for the countless blessings we receive from Your hand. We will lift our hands and our voices in praise to You every day.

READING: 2 Chron. 5,6

When God offered to grant to Solomon his request, Solomon did not ask for anything that would be of personal benefit to himself, rather for wisdom that he could rule his people wisely. His request really was to benefit the people. His request greatly pleased God, and He ended up taking very good care of Solomon’s personal needs also.

Jesus said “Your Heavenly Father already knows what you have need of.”

PRAYER: Lord, forgive us for being so selfish, and grace us to put our eyes on the needs of others, especially at Christmas.

READING: 2 Chron. 1-4

Wisely, David selected capable leaders to place around himself to fulfill his leadership responsibilities. God even thwarted his plans to personally build the temple in favor of delegating it to his son, Solomon. In addition to simple oversight, this allowed David to devote himself to his ministry to the Lord and the composition of Psalms. Hence, we have rich volumes of personal worship expression after which we can model our devotional lives.

Unwise leaders try to do everything themselves.

PRAYER: Lord, teach us to recognize the giftings of those you’ve placed around us in the Body of Christ. Deliver us from the subtle pride that wants to facilitate a selfish demeanor in our Christian service.

READING: 1 Chron. 27-29

When David set up the system of ministry to the Lord, he designed a hierarchy of order and service to insure that the Lord’s presence would be worshiped continually. The Levite priests all had the responsibility to train up their sons to follow in their footsteps.

Contemporary fathers are wise to train their children to likewise serve the Lord. After all, each NT saint is a member of the priesthood of believers. Priests minister to their God.

PRAYER: Lord, stir the hearts of fathers to see the responsibility they have to train their children to love and serve You. Sweep over our land with revival.

READING: 1 Chron. 24-26

The scripture says, “Satan incited David to number Israel.” This implies the enemy’s ability and method of deviousness was directed toward the heart and mind of the leader. He played on the pride factor in David’s life.

In the New Testament, we remember that Peter rebuked Ananias when he stated, “Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost.” Again, the devil targets a leader and tempts him on a point of personal pride and advancement. Ananias had sold property and deceitfully kept back part of its value for himself after implying the entire profit would go to the Lord.

PRAYER: Father, keep us vigilant against the wiles of the devil. Hold back Your servant from besetting pride and self-preservation.

READING: 1 Chron. 21-23

As David was expressing his desire to build God a house to dwell in, Nathan intervened with a prophetic word predicting that Christ, David’s descendent, would build Him a house, one not made with hands, but from the hearts of His people.

Ps. 87 clarifies this truth when God declares through the king, “This (Zion, the city of God) is My resting place forever, here will I live, for I have desired it.”

PRAYER: Lord, keep us mindful that Your true dwelling place is the hearts of men, and deliver us from misdirecting our focus to buildings.

READING: 1 Chron. 18-20

The use of instruments and singing to worship the Lord reached its zenith in David’s reign. His Psalms and those of other Levite leaders are still used today to provide appropriate lyrical expression to sincere worshipers. Contemporary worship leaders are wise to carefully study this period of Israel’s history to form a doctrinally healthy approach to the use of singing and instruments in today’s churches.

God wants and deserves more worship, not less.

PRAYER: Lord, we still come before Your presence with singing and thanksgiving. Thank You for the richness of the Psalms to provide wording to worship You in Spirit and Truth.

READING: 1 Chron. 13-15