The Good Book Club: Week 21

Samuel closes out the account of David, and Chronicles rewrites the whole story of the Bible thus far from scratch

"David Danced Before the Lord with All His Might," James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836–1902), watercolor, c. 1896–1902. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

This Week

We are reading:

• 2 Samuel 22-24

• 1 Chronicles 1-22

• Psalms 30, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 62

Summary

This week we finish 2 Samuel and begin 1 Chronicles.

We finish David’s story not with a bang but with a whimper — but we end up at the foundation of Solomon’s Temple.

Then we begin 1 Chronicles, which starts us back at the beginning with a retelling of our origin family and how we got from Adam to Noah to David, before diving back into David’s story.

1 Chronicles was written after the Babylonian exile, for a people returning home. It’s a lot of genealogy, yet again, but remember the books in the Bible were all separate scrolls of information, and this one was tying a somewhat nomadic people to a solid family thread so they could remember who they were.

David’s story is retold with very little scandal. Is this the boring Bible I keep hearing about? Because honestly these stories are anything but. In hindsight, we can see that David prepared everything for the temple, securing the kingdom so his son could build what he couldn’t. Moses vibes here — it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

A reminder this week: It’s ok to skim! This week is very same same, but different — it’s a lot of ground we have already covered, just from another angle. If you zone out, just come back tomorrow. It’ll still be here.

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Here is the daily breakdown from our annual plan:

• Day 138 — Monday, 5/18 — 2 Samuel 22-24, Psalm 30

• Day 139 — Tuesday, 5/19 — 1 Chronicles 1-4, Psalm 39

• Day 140 — Wednesday, 5/20 — 1 Chronicles 5-8, Psalm 40

• Day 141 — Thursday, 5/21 — 1 Chronicles 9-12, Psalm 41

• Day 142 — Friday, 5/22 — 1 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 42

• Day 143 — Saturday, 5/23 — 1 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 43

• Day 144 — Sunday, 5/24 — 1 Chronicles 20-22, Psalm 62

Day 138 — Monday, 5/18 — 2 Samuel 22-24, Psalm 30

• 2 Samuel 22 is David’s great song of deliverance and is nearly identical to Psalm 18, which we read back in Week 19.

• We then read David’s last words, including a catalog of his mighty men, followed by a census — so yet another list of men.

• David’s census taking is decidedly sinful (pride, perhaps?) and God lets him choose his punishment from three options: famine, 3 months as a fugitive, or 3 days of plague. David chooses the plague, and seventy thousand people die. David builds an altar and offers a sacrifice at the place where the angel of the Lord stops the famine — which becomes the place where Solomon will build the permanent temple.

Day 139 — Tuesday, 5/19 — 1 Chronicles 1-4, Psalm 39

• Chronicles starts from the beginning — Adam, Noah, his three sons, and their descendants. A piano teacher once told me that you’ll always know the beginning of a piece of music the best because you keep going over it every time you restart when you’re practicing. That’s what this feels like, tbh.

• Since we’re reading the Bible in chronological order, it’s interesting to go back and review from another angle everything we’ve read so far — a single unbroken line of a million stories that have brought us to this point.

Day 140 — Wednesday, 5/20 — 1 Chronicles 5-8, Psalm 40

• The genealogies continue. The Levites get the most specific lineage traced in detail because of their role in the temple.

Day 141 — Thursday, 5/21 — 1 Chronicles 9-12, Psalm 41

• Chapter 9 lists those who returned to Jerusalem after the exile, which is the whole point of all the genealogy.

• Saul dies, David becomes king. The sordid history is summarized into it’s final point — Israel is united under God’s appointed leader.

Day 142 — Friday, 5/22 — 1 Chronicles 13-16, Psalm 42

• David’s first attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem goes exactly as it does in 2 Samuel — the ark slips and Uzzah steadies it and is immediately struck dead. But Chronicles adds a detail Samuel left out: when David tries to move the ark again, he makes a point of doing it correctly, with the Levites carrying the ark on their shoulders with poles, as the law prescribes.

• Chronicles is an accurate name because the details this author includes about the party post-ark arrival — the singers the instruments — vs what the author leaves out about Bathsheba, Tamar, Absalom etc is certainly a choice.

Day 143 — Saturday, 5/23 — 1 Chronicles 17-19, Psalm 43

• The Davidic Covenant again — God’s promise that David’s son will build the temple, that his line will endure, that discipline will come but love will not be removed.

• We are provided with a summary of the wars, but the Chronicler conspicuously skips over Bathsheba.

Day 144 — Sunday, 5/24 — 1 Chronicles 20-22, Psalm 62

• More Philistine battles. More giants are killed. The kingdom is secured.

• Then the census — but again, we get a different level of detail: in Samuel, it is God who incites David to take it. In Chronicles, it is Satan who does so. Honestly, this makes more sense to me.

• Whereas Samuel implies the future temple location, Chronicles outright declares it.

• In chapter 22 we have a story entirely unique to Chronicles: David gathering enormous quantities of gold, silver, bronze, iron, timber, stone for the temple and calling Solomon and charging him with the task.

What do you think of the differences between Chronicles and Samuel? Does the shift in perspective change how you see David or anything else? Share in the comments and the chat!