The genealogies continue in our reading with 1 Chronicles 6-7. It may not be completely evident to us today, but these chapters were practically relevant for the people of that time, and in order to understand why we need to visit a historical event.

Then, the Psalms we're reading today come from book three and the focus is on holiness in God's people. That's reflective of the call to holiness in Leviticus. Remember in that book that over and over God said, "Be holy as I am holy"? As you listen to these Psalms try to hear why the organizer of the Psalms put it in this section.

Today's Reading: 1 Chronicles 6-7 + Psalm 73, 77, 78

Scripture Read or Referenced:

Psalm 73:1-29

Psalm 77:1-2, 10-14

Psalm 78: 35-39

Psalm 78:5-8 (Prayer)

This is a dwelling place from Entrusted Ministries.

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I'm Stephanie Hickox.

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Today we're studying one Chronicles

six and seven, and Psalm 73, 77 and 78,

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no matter where we are in scripture.

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The idea that that God who created you

longs to dwell with you is undeniable,

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and we believe that when we understand

that it transforms our motherhood and

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our dwelling places in our homes as well.

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I am a big fan of using fractions to

encourage my progress in my goals,

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and I wanted to encourage you that if

you've been walking with us since the

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beginning, you have already read and

studied 355 chapters of scripture shortly,

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you'll be through a third of the Bible.

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Maybe you're a little bit behind

in your plan, or maybe there

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were some days you missed.

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But let me ask you this, are

you being more faithful in the

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word than you were last year?

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I know you are helping me stay accountable

to dig in and I'm grateful for it.

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And I can confidently say

I've never regretted a moment

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I've spent reading God's word.

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The genealogies continue with

First Chronicles chapter six.

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It may not be completely evident to us

today, but this chapter was practically

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relevant for the people of that time,

and in order to understand why we

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need to visit a historical event.

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Speaker 58: Back when we covered Phineas,

god blessed his zeal for righteousness by

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giving him the covenant of the priesthood.

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That means that when there was a

priest, it was supposed to be from

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S'S line while in 5 86 bc that's

another important date to remember.

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The Babylonians came and destroyed

Jerusalem and Solomon's temple.

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they carried the people

of Israel away to Babylon.

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We haven't covered it yet, but

if you're thinking about Daniel's

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friends in the fiery furnace, that all

occurs in the Babylonian captivity.

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But after a time the people were allowed

to come back to Israel and rebuild.

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Chronicles was written to the people

that are returning back from the exile

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since God had promised to continue

this priestly line, the author of

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Chronicles was laying out in this

chapter exactly who that should be.

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Speaker 57: All of these names and

lists brought clarity to the people

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they would've known by reading

this chapter who had the

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rightful priestly duties to

continue the Levitical practices.

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Jesus is a better covenant.

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We look to him as our priest now, but we

can appreciate why the author diligently

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recorded and traced the history of

these lines so they could be faithful

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in the land they were returning to.

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Because the ultimate goal of Chronicles

I was to convince the people to

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be faithful to God so that his

judgment would not be needed again.

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Chapter seven follows the Sons

of Iscar and Benjamin and Asher.

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Ann, Vanessa and Efram, maybe

you're thinking, what about Joseph?

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Wasn't he the favorite son?

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How come we never hear about him?

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His sons, Vanessa and Efram each

got an inheritance, so the fact that

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both of their names continue to be

listed is pretty cool and actually

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does honor the line of Joseph.

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Chapter seven was a significant genealogy,

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Because it was confirming that all

of these tribes had a role to play.

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Let's turn to Psalm 73 for

our main reading today.

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Perhaps your book has the

title book three above it.

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The book of Psalms is 150 chapters and

it's divided into five different books,

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and each one has a different focus.

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It's probable that these

divisions are supposed to mirror

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the five books of the Torah.

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Also known as the Pentateuch.

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Remember Genesis, Exodus,

Leviticus Numbers in Deuteronomy

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book, one of the Psalms is

chapters one through 41,

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and just like Genesis, it talks

about how we're to worship God

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and how he sovereignly chose us.

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Book two is chapters 42

through 72 of Psalms.

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And the focus, just like

Exodus is how God protects us.

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But in the Psalms we're looking at

today, they're from book three and the

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focus is on holiness in God's people.

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And that's reflective of the

Call to Holiness in Leviticus.

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Remember in that book that over

and over God said, be holy as I am.

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Holy.

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So with that preface, listen

in this Psalm and try to hear.

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Why the organizer of the

Psalms put it in this section.

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Truly, God is good to Israel

to those who are pure in heart.

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But as for me, my feet

had almost stumbled.

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My steps had nearly slipped for.

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I was envious of the arrogant when

I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

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For they have no pangs until death.

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Their bodies are fat and sleek.

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They are not in trouble as others are.

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They are not stricken

like the rest of mankind.

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Therefore, pride is their necklace.

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Violence covers them as a garment.

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Their eyes swell out through fatness.

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Their hearts overflow with follies.

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They scoff and speak with malice loftly.

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They threaten oppression.

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They set their mouths against the heavens

and their tongue struts through the earth.

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Therefore, his people turn back

to them and find no fault in them.

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And they say, how can God know?

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Is their knowledge in the

most high behold, these are

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the wicked always at ease.

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They increase in riches.

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All in vain have I kept my heart

clean and washed my hands and

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Speaker 56: innocence

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Speaker 57: for all the day

long I have been stricken.

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And rebuked every morning.

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If I had said, I will speak,

thus, I would've betrayed the

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generation of your children.

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But when I thought how to understand

this, it seemed to me a worrisome task

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until I went into the sanctuary of God.

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Then I discerned their end.

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Truly, you set them in slippery places.

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You make them fall to ruin how

they are destroyed in a moment,

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swept away utterly by terrors.

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Like a dream when one awakes, oh Lord.

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When you rouse yourself, you

despise them as phantoms.

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When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

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I was brutish and ignorant.

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I was like a beast toward you.

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Nevertheless, I am continually with you.

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You hold my right hand, you guide

me with your counsel, and afterward

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you'll receive me to glory.

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Whom have I in heaven but you,

and there is nothing on earth

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that I desire besides you.

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My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my

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heart and my portion forever.

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For behold, those who are

far from you shall perish.

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You put an end to everyone

who is unfaithful to you.

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But for me, it is good to be a your God.

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I have made the Lord God my refuge

that I may tell of all your works.

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Can you relate being envious as you

watch other people's lives and thinking,

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I'm trying to serve God so faithfully.

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Why do all these things

keep happening to me?

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It doesn't feel fair.

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Why do people who don't

honor God still get blessed?

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And I love the turning point in verse

16, but when I thought how to understand

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this, it seemed to me a wearisome task

until I went into the sanctuary of God.

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It's in seeking God's perspective

that the psalmist was corrected.

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Realizing that God's presence is

a treasure that the wicked will

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never have, and then afterward

will be received to glory.

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Even when we feel weak and we're

struggling in our hearts, we can rejoice

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that God will be our strength and our

portion, and the conclusion is so sweet.

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But for me, it is good to be near God.

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I have made the Lord my refuge , that

I may tell of all your works.

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The Psalmist situation didn't change.

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His outlook did.

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He knows whom have I in

heaven, but you and Earth has

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nothing I desire besides you,

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and it's that revelation

that he'll proclaim.

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Sometimes it's so hard as a mom,

isn't it, when we just wanna have

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freedom to complain and to grumble

about how things keep going wrong.

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And it's okay to be authentic

in front of our kids,

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but I hope we can walk ourselves through.

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To a righteous conclusion

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that we meditate on what's important

for eternity, and that we have hope that

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God will bring good out of all of it.

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Chapter 77 begins.

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I cry aloud to God, and he will

hear me in the day of my trouble.

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I seek the Lord in the night.

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My hand is stretched out with wearying.

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My soul refuses to be comforted.

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The Psalmist is in anguish, but after

his spirit makes a diligent search.

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He continues in verse 10.

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Then I said, I will appeal to this to the

years of the right hand of the most high.

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I will remember the deeds of the Lord.

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Yes, I will remember your wonders of old.

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I will ponder all your work and

meditate on your mighty deeds your way.

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Oh God is holy.

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What?

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God is great like our God.

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You are the God who works wonders.

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you have made known your

might among the peoples.

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Again, the circumstances haven't changed,

but their perspective was renewed

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when we meditate on God's character

and his faithfulness in the past.

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We can be transformed in the way we

handle the ups and downs of life.

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And the purpose of chapter 78

is to give the history of God's

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faithfulness to Israel, particularly

through the Exodus and the years of

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wandering after the numerous sins of

the Nation of Israel are described.

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The grace of God.

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It is magnified

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in verse 35, they remembered

that God was their rock

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the most high God, their redeemer, but

they flattered him with their mouths.

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They lied to him with their tongues.

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Their heart was not steadfast toward him.

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They were not faithful to his covenant.

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Yet he being compassionate atuned for

their iniquity and did not destroy them.

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He restrained his anger often and

did not stir up all his wrath.

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He remembered that they were but flesh,

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aren't you grateful for a God that

remembers that we're just flesh?

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Maybe you're like me holding

yourself to an impossible standard

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frequently, but I rejoice in a God

who gives me grace over and over

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and it's when I remember that, that I can

extend that same grace to my kids that

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are also just flesh and figuring life out.

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Let me close by praying a portion

of some of these psalms over us.

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Lord, we thank you for your word that it

proclaims your faithfulness and that we

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have the honor of teaching our children.

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We pray we would be faithful

to rise up and encourage

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them to set their hope in you

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and not forget your

works throughout history.

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So that they can keep your commandments

and not be a rebellious generation.

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We pray that their hearts

would be steadfast and their

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spirit's faithful to you.

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We commit to praise your goodness

in front of our children and to tell

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of your glorious deeds, your might,

and the wonders you have done to

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redeem us as these psalmists walk

through difficult circumstances.

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But still pressed into you for a

renewed and eternal perspective.

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We pray that you would transform our

thinking and that even in the midst of

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the hard, you would make our burdens

light, so we'd have the strength to

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give you glory through all of it.

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Thank you that you hold our right

hand and guide us with your counsel

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and that you're gracious with us

when our heart and our flesh fail,

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be our strength and our portion.

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And help us to understand that your

presence is greater than anything

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we could desire on this earth.

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In the priceless name of Jesus we pray.

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Amen.