Category Archives: 1 Chronicles

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No, You Didn’t Marry The Wrong Person

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

If you want to avoid the “I married the wrong person” syndrome, you had better learn forgiveness—then practice it early and often, readily, unconditionally, and pre-emptively in the marriage.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 15:29

But as the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David skipping about and laughing with joy, she was filled with contempt for him.

What kills marriages? Was it the wrong choice of a spouse? No, it is likely contempt for the spouse that was chosen. And it is quite likely that it was unforgiven mistakes that allowed the contempt to fester over time and fatally infect the marriage. What a tragedy! A marriage that began with so much promise was brought down by festering contempt—and it could have been prevented with some steady doses of forgiveness along the way.

The story of King David and his wife, Michal, the daughter of the late King Saul, is a cautionary tale of how contempt killed a once thriving relationship. In this account, which spans several books (1 and 2 Samuel) and several years, Michal could never let go of the belief that David had destroyed her father’s dynasty and had contributed to his, and her brothers’ deaths—at least in her mind. David never let go of the fact that Saul had stolen Michal and had given her to another man. (1 Samuel 25) And then we see in this story where Michal’s seething contempt broke the surface toward David, that in response, David held resentment toward Michael for the rest of their marriage—most likely the cause of her barrenness was because David withheld sexual affection from her.

Reality is, you are going to be hurt by your spouse, sometimes intentionally, sometimes accidentally, and sometimes severely. If you hold onto a hurt, the wound festers. It slowly poisons your relationship if you refuse to forgive, and if there is chronic unforgiveness, a barren marriage is guaranteed.

Someone has said that forgiveness is the fragrance of the rose petal that’s left on the heel of the shoe that crushed it. Here is God’s truth for married couples: Forgiveness is the fragrance that gives your marriage a sweet aroma. If you want to avoid the “I married the wrong person” syndrome, you had better learn forgiveness—then practice it early and often, readily, unconditionally, and pre-emptively in the marriage.

You may feel like you have married the wrong person, but the truth is, you have not. There are a few exceptions, but you are probably not one of them. You don’t need a better spouse, you need to be a better spouse. And here’s where you start:

First, accept responsibility for your actions. You cannot control your spouse’s actions and you cannot control your spouse’s attitudes. But you can control yours!

Galatians 6:5 says, “Each person must be responsible for himself.” That means you have to accept responsibility for healing your marriage. You must quit the blame game and take responsibility for your part of the problem, and your part of the solution.

Second, believe your marriage can change. You may be confused, disappointed, and feeling that your marriage is hopeless, but God doesn’t feel that way; he hasn’t given up. The Bible says in Matthew 19, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

From a human standpoint, you may think your marriage is in the coffin and they are nailing the lid shut, but if you could see it from God’s perspective, you would see nothing but life, health, happiness and fruitfulness, for a long time to come. How you perceive your marriage—either negatively or positively, either through eyes of faith or eyes that see only failure—will have the greatest impact on whether or not you can experience healing and growth. So begin to ask God to give you a new perspective on your spouse and on your marriage.

And third, commit to doing whatever it takes to restore your marriage. Pray, get professional help if you need it, take marriage classes at your church, and most of all, seek—or give—forgiveness. Dig in for a long obedience in the same direction, even if you don’t feel like it, and see how God will change your marriage—and you—in the process.

Great marriages just don’t happen; it takes real and sustained effort. Galatians 6:9 says, “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time.”

What Paul is saying is do the right thing whether you feel like it or not, and God will bless your obedience. Good feelings eventually follow faithful action. It’s easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into an action. If you wait for the feeling to come to start being nice to your spouse, it isn’t going to come. Make the choice to obey God, because according to Philippians 2:13, “God who is at work within you will give you the will and the power to achieve His purpose.” That is God’s promise to you! Philippians 4:13 exhorts, “For I can do everything [that means even to love again somebody that I have come to hate] with the help of Christ who gives me the strength that I need.”

The truth is, maybe you married a lousy person, but don’t give up without giving God his rightful chance to bring healing and health to your home. And giving God a chance is your choice!

Going Deeper With God: Is your marriage in a desperate state? Then take desperate measures! Pray, get professional help if you need it, seek—or give—forgiveness, and take marriage classes at your church. Dig in for a long obedience in the same direction, even if you don’t feel like it, and see how God will change your marriage—and you in the process.

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Fully Devoted

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

A flawed heart does not mean you cannot be wholehearted toward God. How is that? When you are aware of your flaws and are sincerely repentant when those flaws take action to become sin, when your ultimate motive is to please and honor God, when you characteristically seek God for direction in your life, when you desire to give God the glory for your successes, there you have the makings of a heart after God.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 14:8-12

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they mobilized all their forces to capture him. But David was told they were coming, so he marched out to meet them. The Philistines arrived and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. So David asked God, “Should I go out to fight the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord replied, “Yes, go ahead. I will hand them over to you.” So David and his troops went up to Baal-perazim and defeated the Philistines there. “God did it!” David exclaimed. “He used me to burst through my enemies like a raging flood!” So they named that place Baal-perazim (which means “the Lord who bursts through”). The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, so David gave orders to burn them.

God himself wrote King David’s epitaph, saying of him, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:22) Is that the same David we read about in 1 and 2 Samuel, as well as here in 1 Chronicles?

Just in the last chapter, David got angry with God and sulked over the death of Uzzah for mishandling the Ark of the Covenant. (1 Chronicles 13:11) In the aftermath of that event, David got mad at his wife, Michal, and refused to engage in normal marital relations with her—for the rest of her life. (2 Samuel 6:16-23) And those are just two of the more “minor” questionable episodes in David’s life. In his earlier days, he had wanted to murder a man for refusing to feed his fighting men but took his wife instead after this foolish man had dropped dead. (1 Samuel 25) There was the whole affair episode with Bathsheba and the cover-up to the affair when he had the woman’s husband murdered, then took her as his wife. (2 Samuel 11) And there was the time he angered the Lord by arrogantly counting his fighting men. (2 Samuel 24)

To put it mildly, David was a less than perfect man. So why did God forever designate him as a man after God’s own heart? Well, to be certain, only God knows his own reasons, but he knew what was in David’s heart. David was not perfect—no one is—but he seemed to have a heart that was tender toward God, and while he blew it bigly throughout his life, he also repented bigly after these unfortunate episodes. Even though he was a flawed man, he was wholehearted toward the Lord.

In case you missed that, and this might seem a bit controversial, a flawed heart does not mean one cannot be wholehearted toward God. How is that? When one is aware of their flaws and is sincerely repentant when those flaws take action to become sin, when one’s ultimate motive is to please and honor God, when one characteristically seeks God for direction in their life, when one desires to give God the glory for their successes, there you have the makings of a heart after God.

In the story of 1 Chronicles 14, notice how David, unlike King Saul, sought the Lord before he went to war. Then when David and his troops defeated the Philistines, he gave God full credit for his victory. Unlike Saul, he took none of the glory for himself. He didn’t set up a statue to himself to commemorate his greatness, unlike Saul. (1 Samuel 15:12) Unlike Saul, David didn’t secure the spoils of war for his own pleasure (1 Samuel 15:8), but instead, he burned all the idolatrous implements of the heathen Philistines. David’s victory over his enemy gives us a glimpse into a flawed heart that also happened to be a heart fully devoted to God.

But I am saying by this that the ends justify the means? Not at all! Human sin brings horrible consequences, and David’s life is Exhibit A—a cautionary tale that we should never cheapen God’s grace by presuming he will forgive our sin in advance of committing them. We are obligated to bring those flaws before God for cleansing, deliverance and victory over them. But at the end of the day, if the preponderance of our heart’s desires have been “after God,” the Lord himself will write our epitaph as a person “after my own heart.”

Do you want to be great in God’s eyes? You are probably thinking, “Who, me? Not likely; not going to happen.” Relax, you qualify, because you don’t have to be perfect, you only need to offer a heart that is fully devoted to God. And he will even help you with that if you ask him.

Going Deeper With God: Do you want to give God a heart that is fully devoted to him? Ask for his help—he is in the heart transformation business.

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Getting Too Casual With God (or Why Did God Kill Uzzah?)

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

There is a danger in getting too casual with God and forgetting that he is holy. When our response to him becomes predictable, when our praise is offered on autopilot, when our faith is expressed flippantly and when we begin to worship a “better” form of worship, we have committed the sin of Uzzah—growing so familiar with God that we loose a sense of wonder and reverence for his presence. When that happens, our worship is dying a slow, perhaps imperceptible, but sure death. So how do you arrest the dangerous drift of casual Christianity? Return to your first love!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 13:9-10

But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark. Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.

Why did God kill Uzzah? That’s quite a title for an uplifting devotional, wouldn’t you say? But really, why did God kill this man? Doesn’t this story, if you have read it, bother you, at least a little bit? Seriously, wasn’t Uzzah doing a good thing by securing the Ark of the Covenant when the oxen that were pulling the cart stumbled, threatening to topple this most sacred object? And if God struck Uzzah dead, what does this say about how we worship God?

Well, as always, context is everything. So let me mention a couple of lessons we need to consider in getting our minds around this strange story of Uzzah’s death:

First of all, it is fatal to take charge of God. That is how Eugene Peterson describes Uzzah’s act in his book on the life of David, Leap Over A Wall. You see, Uzzah was a priest. He had been consecrated to oversee the care of the Ark of the Covenant, and he had been at it for 30 years. For three decades, he hung out with the holy. Most important to understanding this story, this priest knew the law of God and the regulations about moving the Ark.

So, Peterson points out, Uzzah’s reflexive act wasn’t a mistake of the moment, it was a piece of his lifelong obsession with managing the Ark and controlling the presence of God. This was thirty years in the making. He had become selective in his obedience to God, which had led to cutting corners in his worship. In his mind, the cart was a better, more efficient way to worship. Peterson writes,

A well-designed ox-cart is undeniably more efficient for moving the Ark about than plodding Levites. But it’s also impersonal—the replacement of consecrated persons by an efficient machine, the impersonal crowding out the personal. Uzzah is the patron saint of those who uncritically embrace technology without regard to the nature of God.

Do you think that’s a pattern in our day? Do you think we have a tendency to manage God into more convenient forms of worship? Do you think we sometimes approach worship in terms of what’s better for us rather than what’s preferable to God? Do you think we fiddle with worship in order to make it more attractive to potential worshipers than what makes it attractive to God? When we program worship in terms of what’s better, more comfortable, more attractive to us, with little or no consideration for what pleases the heart of God, we too, have moved from a passion for God to a pattern of control and convenience.

That leads to a second lesson: Our friend Uzzah should cause us to post some warning signs around the church: “Danger! Beware of the God.” Seriously, we need a constant reminder of the holiness of God generally in our lives and specifically in our times of worship because we all face the temptation of confining God to times and places and styles of expression that are good for us, but not necessarily honoring of God. God will not be controlled!

That is prescisely why we have signs posted along the way throughout Scripture: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” We need to take seriously the cultivation of the fear of the Lord. At all costs, we must avoid reducing God to our specifications.

Yes, beware of the God! There is a danger in our day of getting too casual with God and forgetting that he is holy. When our response to God becomes so predictable, when our praise is offered on autopilot, when we give ourselves to God flippantly and when we begin to worship a “better” form of worship, we have committed the sin of Uzzah!

If we think and act like Uzzah—so familiar with God that we loose a sense of wonder and reverence for the Object of worship and we begin to cut corners, sooner or later we too, will be dead, at least in our spirits. The church worship service is a breeding ground for this. If we are not careful, what begins as authentic worship erodes and shrivels, until finally, nothing is left but deadness to God. We become like the religious people that Jesus described in his day as “whitewashed tombs…full of dead men’s bones.” (Matthew 23:27) Uzzah’s death wasn’t sudden; it was years in the making. Years of managing worship and obeying selectively had suffocated passion and praise right out of his life.

So from this reading, here is the question for you today: Have you hung around the holy so long that, like Uzzah, you have lost your sense of wonder for worshiping God? If you have, the good news is that through repentance and returning to your first love, Jesus himself offers to restore your passion for the holiness of God.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Revelation 3:20)

Will you let him in so he can rekindle the love and passion he longs to receive from you?

Going Deeper With God: If Jesus is indeed standing and knocking at the door of your heart today, why not let him in?

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The Greatest Place in the World

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

The fact of the matter is, you are in God’s hands. Right now! He has your back. He is watching over you. He is carrying you forward and will bring you to the place that he desires. And at the end of the day, at the time, in the place and under the circumstances of his choosing, he will bring you to the eternal dwellings. God is in control of you. And that, my friend, is the world’s greatest place!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 12:16-17

Other Benjamites and some men from Judah also came to David in his stronghold. David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, I am ready for you to join me. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free from violence, may the God of our ancestors see it and judge you.”

The fact of the matter is, you are in God’s hands. Right now! He has your back. He is watching over you. He is carrying you forward and will bring you to the place that he desires. And at the end of the day, at the time, in the place and under the circumstances of his choosing, he will bring you to the eternal dwellings. God is in control of you.

Perhaps you don’t realize that, or maybe you do, but you are not choosing by faith to live in the daily reality of God’s control over your life. If that is the case, you will wrestle with fear and anxiety. You may even struggle with anger and depression. You will be upset over many things, from the circumstances that you perceive are coming against your life to the upheaval that you perceive is ruining the larger world around you. The peace of God that passes all understanding is not guarding your heart and mind. That is what happens to people when they have not surrendered control of their world to the care and competence of Almighty God.

David did! In the long journey from his anointing to be the next king of Israel in the place of the backslidden King Saul—which turned out to be many difficult years living as a fugitive—to his actual coronation, God began to bring a support team around David. Courageous and skilled warriors began to join David, making him a formidable force. But as these fighting men came to him, it was certainly possible that some of them were actually spies from Saul; infiltrators bent on capturing or killing him. After all, as a fugitive on the lam, David still had a price on his head. He was in an exceedingly vulnerable place.

So how did David handle it? How did he stay sane, how did he remain focused, and he did he keep walking an honorable path of obedience as God prepared the kingdom of Israel for his eventual leadership? He trusted, that is what he did. He placed himself in God’s hand, entrusting his health, safety and promotion to the care and competence of the Almighty. Knowing that the timing and circumstances of his advancement were well above his pay grade, he surrendered himself to the purposes of his Great Shepherd.

Did you notice the opening verse? Men from the tribe of Benjamin joined him. If you will remember, Benjamin was the tribe of King Saul. These warriors were relatives of the current king, and perhaps they still carried some family loyalties to their monarch cousin. In letting them into his inner circle, David was risking his very life, and the lives of his family and friends. But take note of David’s trust in God’s protection as he opens the door to these people:

“If you have come in peace and to help me, you are most welcome to join this company; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies, innocent as I am, the God of our ancestors will see through you and bring judgment on you.” (1 Chronicles 12:17, MSG)

When we come to the point where we can leave our health and welfare, our success and wealth, our fame and security with Almighty God, we will have arrived at the greatest place in the world: the hands of God. Again, God already holds us there, but until we acknowledge that he’s got us, and until we surrender our entire being—body, mind and soul—to his care and competence, we will not be fully at peace. But when we do, we will arrive at that place uncommon to most human beings—the place of which David so eloquently wrote in what we call the Twenty-Third Psalm:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There is no better place in the world to be than in the care of the Good Shepherd. And we get there by surrendering our trust into his hands.

Going Deeper With God: Read Psalm 23 every morning this week before you leave your house.

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The Power of Team

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

God typically works in plurals. He is not primarily interested in creating superstars, but in creating winning teams. Abraham had his fighting men, Jethro gave Moses his team of judges, Jesus had his disciples, Paul had his unsung heroes, and David had his mighty men. God works in teams, even when he puts a single individual as the front of that pack. But the leader would be nothing without the pack.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 11:10

These were the chiefs of David’s mighty warriors—they, together with all Israel, gave his kingship strong support to extend it over the whole land, as the Lord had promised.

Do you desire to do great things for God with your life? That is a good thing to want, and God may just grant it. That is why it is never a bad idea to ask God to use you for big things. And why not? God is in the prayer-answering business, and big, bold prayers don’t scare him at all. In fact, the largeness of our prayer honors our Heavenly Father in that it places great confidence in his sufficiency and generosity. One of my life verses, 2 Chronicles 16:9, tells us that God is actually looking for people with that kind of audacious faith in him:

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

But when you ask for big things, don’t forget that God typically works in plurals. He is not primarily interested in creating superstars, but in creating winning teams. Abraham had his fighting men, Jethro gave Moses his team of judges, Jesus had his disciples, Paul had his unsung heroes, and David had his mighty men. God works in teams, even when he puts a single individual as the front of that pack. But the leader would be nothing without the pack.

1 Chronicles 11 is a long list of names that have mostly been forgotten, but neither God, David, nor the author of the Chronicles—likely Ezra the priest—forgot these mighty men of valor and their super-human achievements. They were men of strength, fearlessness, skill and tremendous loyalty to David. David would not have made it to the throne without them, nor would he have maintained his rule over Israel, given the enemies who lined up to bring him down, without his mighty men.

So yes, desiring to accomplish great exploits for God with your one and only life is a noble thing. Praying for extraordinary courage, Holy Spirit infused skill, and divine favor is a good thing—and you should. But since God alone is the one who is to receive the credit for our accomplishments, and since he has a track record of doing great things through great teams, it would rather be a much better prayer to ask, “God, bring around me men and women of valor, skill and loyalty to help me accomplish something great for you.” Or perhaps the wiser prayer would be, “God, make me a person of valor, skill and loyalty, and place me on a team that you can use to do great exploits.”

God wants to use you to do great things. So start looking for the people he will place you with to do them!

Going Deeper With God: God does his kingdom work today through the church. And every church is made up of friends of Christ. But every church also has enemies of the Gospel. Even your church! That means, like David, your pastor needs mighty men and women of God to help keep the church strong. Given that, here is your two-part assignment as someone who desires to be a person of valor: First, take the time to express your gratitude to God for those true friends who make the advancement of the Gospel possible in your church. And not only thank God for them, thank them, too. Second, simply and steadfastly stay alert to anyone that would cause a division in your fellowship—and don’t let them. Satan’s chief strategy to weaken your church is to divide it—and he usually begins with small, subtle cracks! Your job is to stand your ground for as long as it takes to preserve the calling of your church!

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An Opportunity To Distinguish Yourself

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

If you are facing a back-against-the-wall situation in your life today, you have the perfect opportunity to exhibit faith in the face of it. Faith is an investment of trust in the sufficiency of God to take care of you. The return on your investment is up to God, but to this point, he has a 100% track record of delivering a yield of ever-increasing value in response to faith. Step out in faith, my friend, and you too, like the heroes of the Bible, will earn your spiritual bona fides.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 10:11-12

When all the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the great tree in Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.

You and I never want to have our backs against the wall, but on the other hand, isn’t a backs-against-the-wall circumstance usually the very place where our natural lives are infused with supernatural empowerment that enable us to do great exploits for God? We normally don’t develop outstanding testimonies of faith in the good times. Those stories come out of desperation and darkness. When we are pressed into knowing no helper but God is when we, well, know God. As someone has rightly pointed out, you will never know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.

In this sad story, Israel’s arch nemesis, the Philistines, have defeated the army of Saul. An enemy archer wounded the king, and fearing that he will be captured, and tortured in the most unspeakable way, he pleads with his armor bearer to take his life. When the loyal soldier refuses, Saul falls on his own sword, and the glory of Israel is snuffed out. The Philistines overrun the rest of the army, Saul’s sons, including the heroic Jonathan, are also killed, and God’s people are put to flight.

And true to his fears, the Philistines mutilate Saul’s body, and then abuse his honor by putting it on display in the temple of their god:

They stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news among their idols and their people. They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung up his head in the temple of Dagon. (1 Chronicles 10:9-10)

Israel is at a low point, and all the people in the nearby towns flee in fear to escape similar brutality at the hands of this cold-blooded enemy. All—except some incredibly courageous men from the town of Jabesh Gilead. On that dark and desperate day, we are told that they put together their special forces and marched right into the temple of Dagon to recover the bodies of King Saul and his sons. They brought them back to Israel, gave them a proper burial, and mourned their loss for a number of days that was appropriate in that culture. Later, when David was anointed king, he singled these brave men out for special recognition:

When David was told that it was the men from Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, he sent messengers to them to say to them, “The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to Saul your master by burying him. May the Lord now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this. Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the people of Judah have anointed me king over them. (2 Samuel 2:3-7)

What inspired the bravery of these warriors from Jabesh Gilead? Were they just naturally courageous fighters? Did they have such love for the Lord or such hatred for the Philistines, or both, that they acted with such bold defiance in the face of such an atrocity? We don’t know for sure, but what we do know is that their backs were against the proverbial wall, and they acted in faith. And in that act, they “made their bones!”

Courage isn’t the lack of fear, it is the presence of faith. Captain Eddie Rickenbacker, the famed American pilot in World War I and recipient of the Medal of Honor, said,

Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared.

I would propose that you could drop the word “faith” in the place of “courage” and it would be just as true.

If you are facing a back-against-the-wall situation in your life today, you have the perfect opportunity to exhibit faith in the face of it. Faith is an investment of trust in the sufficiency of God to take care of you. The return on your investment is up to God, but up to this point, he has a 100% track record of delivering a yield of ever-increasing value in response to faith.

Step out in faith, my friend, and you too, like the men of Jabesh Gilead, will earn your spiritual bona fides.

Going Deeper With God: You may not be facing something as dramatic as a Philistine today, but you will likely face an enemy of God in the small details of your Christian walk: an opportunity to fudge on a report, cut a corner in your job, gossip about someone, etc. Show courage instead by choosing what faith would have you to do. Do that in the small matters, and then when the big enemies show up, you will be more prepared to exhibit Jabesh Gilead type courage.

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Gratitude for the Gatekeepers

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Let’s hear it for the gatekeepers! Today we probably call them church custodians. They are the unsung heroes who don’t get much recognition—unless something goes wrong. They guard the house of God. They prepare it for worship. They unlock the doors for services and batten down the hatches when everybody else abandons ship and heads for home at the end of the day. They make sure the temperature is just right—although in my experience, the gatekeepers will never achieve that lofty ideal. They make sure the restrooms are presentable and keep all the light bulbs working. Their work really never ends. Thank God for them!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 9:26-27

The four chief gatekeepers, all Levites, were trusted officials, for they were responsible for the rooms and the treasuries at the house of God. They would spend the night around the house of God, since it was their duty to guard it and to open the gates every morning.

Let’s hear it for the gatekeepers! Today we probably call them church custodians. They are the unsung heroes who don’t get much recognition—unless something goes wrong. They guard the house of God. They prepare it for worship. They unlock the doors for services and batten down the hatches when everybody else abandons ship and heads for home at the end of the day. They make sure the temperature is just right—although in my experience, the gatekeepers will never achieve that lofty ideal. They make sure the restrooms are presentable and keep all the light bulbs working. Their work really never ends.

They are truly heroes of the faith—but they don’t get credit for it. They are mostly unnoticed, underappreciated, and probably underpaid. But they did make it into God’s bulletin—they got listed in 1 Chronicles 9 along with the star quarterback and the wide-receivers—i.e., the priests and tribal leaders. They were the gatekeepers, and they were “trusted officials.”

I’ve been in church all my life—I cut my teeth on the backs of the pews, even carved my initials in one—and all my adult life has been in vocational ministry. And in each of the churches that I have been a part of, the “gatekeepers” played a significant but underappreciated roll in the ministry of those houses of God. And I have to confess, I don’t think I did a proper job of appreciating them.

So here’s what I’d suggest: This week, write a note to the “gatekeeper” of your church, and tell him or her how much you appreciate them and value the work they do to prepare God’s house so that you might enjoy worship. Perhaps you can take it a step further and take them out to lunch or buy them an appreciation gift.

And make it a regular practice—they deserve it.

Oh, and one more thing: Encourage others in your fellowship to do the same. And by all means, teach your children to show respect for them.

Going Deeper With God: A prayer of gratitude for the gatekeepers: “Lord, I want to acknowledge the scores of people throughout my life that have served as gatekeepers in your house. Most of them have been behind-the-scenes type people, and I am not sure I ever remember any one of them ever being singled out for special appreciation. I pray that you will honor each one in some tangible way. I ask for blessings to be poured out upon them and that deep within their spirit they will sense your love and affirmation. And Lord, the ones who are in my life currently serving as gatekeepers, I will commit before you in this moment that I will do something to show my appreciation for their labor of love.