Day 120 1 Chronicles 17-20

In our reading for today we find David pursuing what must have been his life's ambition. When he approaches Nathan with the idea of building a "house" for the LORD, Nathan, the trusted advisor says, sure, why not?--"Do all that you have in mind, for God is with you" (17:2). But that same night Nathan, the prophet, has a dream that contradicts his earlier advice. In the dream God gives him a disappointing message to pass on to the king—"You shall not build me a house to live in" (17:3).  It is not that God is opposed to the building of a temple—for the chronicler building the temple in Jerusalem is the highest expression of Israel's faith. For him the temple is the center of the universe. God does not want David to build it, however, because even though the LORD has shown steadfast love for David and unwavering interest in his career, taking him "from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be the ruler of [his] people Israel" (17:7), David is not the one to build the temple. That will belong to one of one of David's sons. He will be a man of peace—the name "Solomon" means "peace"—it will be left for him to build the temple. God has chosen David, the man of war, to secure Israel's boundaries in the place where God has chosen to "plant" his people (17:9). With the LORD's help, David will "establish" Israel as a power and his own descendents as a dynasty that will last forever (17:14). Instead of allowing David will not build him a "house," the LORD will build David a  "house" (17:10) and give to it eternal kingship. Such a reply might well be a disappointment to one who is so used to divine favor and blessing as David is, but David's response is a model of what submission to the will of God means. 'Who am I, O LORD God?" he asks (17:16). David is aware of his own unworthiness, and knows God is, as well—"You know your servant," he says (17:18). God knows us, but we cannot truly know him. "There is no one like you," David says-- God is always mystery beyond our grasp. And our relationship to that mystery—what we call faith-- is based upon our willingness to do what David does—he surrenders himself to the will of God and brings his own hope in line with God's plan for his life. He will not build God a house, instead, he will be satisfied that his own house "will be established in the LORD's presence" forever (17:24). And then David, the obedient warrior, goes on to fulfill his purpose—he enlarges the boundaries of Israel and establishes its defenses, scoring victories against the Philistines (18:1), the Moabites (18:2), the Arameans (18:3ff), planting garrisons at strategic points (18:6), and receiving tribute from foreign kings (18:9ff). This wealth is "devoted to the LORD" to be used for the building of the temple. David is indeed the Chosen One, the bringer of "shalom." He brings external security to his realm with his conquest; the chronicler tells us that "the LORD [gives] victory to David wherever he [goes]" (18:13).  And he fosters internal stability as well; David, the ideal monarch, administers "justice and equity to all his people" (18:17). (Notice that at this point, where it would appear in the story of David  as told in Kings, the story of David's adultery with Bathsheba and his contrived murder of her husband Uriah is omitted. This nasty story of lust and betrayal does not fit in the portrait of the ideal monarch painted by 1 Chronicles.) David's campaign against the Ammonites, the traditional enemies of Israel, and their Aramean mercenaries is no less spectacularly successful than the wars against Israel's other enemies.  The Ammonites provoke David by humiliating the emissaries he had sent in peace (19:4), and they suffer the just and terrible consequences. For the chronicler, to fight against the one who puts his trust in the LORD is to fight against the LORD himself (19:13). David captures the Ammonite stronghold of Rabbah, takes for himself the fabulous crown of its king, and presses its citizens into forced labor to fortify his kingdom (20:1-3). And of course there are still some pesky "descendents of the giants" around to subdue (20:4). Like Goliath whom David slew while still a boy, these Philistine champions are long on height and the number of their digits—one has six fingers on each hand and the same number of toes on each foot, we are told (20:6). But all that avails them nothing—"they [fall] by the hand of David and his servants" with a great loud crash (20:8)