Prophetic Prospective Daily Devotional

Also I will ordain a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell in their place, and shall be moved no more; neither shall the children of wickedness waste them any more, as at the beginning,

A look at I Chronicles 13-16 gives one the record of King David in two attempts at bringing the "ark of the covenant" up to Jerusalem. The first time doing the "right thing in the wrong way", chapter 13; and then doing the "right thing in the right way", chapter 15.

As we continue our devotional readings today in I Chronicles, I must mention that in the original Hebrew Canon, First and Second Chronicles were one scroll. In Hebrew, the title of that scroll means, "the words concerning the days".

Jewish tradition says that Ezra was the author of the two books. However, scholarship believes that Ezra may have been the writer but the author is actually unknown and referred to as the "Chronicler".

The two books of history start with Adam, I Chronicles 1:1, and conclude with the "carrying away" of the Jewish people into the Babylonian captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar in II Chronicles 36.

As we come in our reading today to I Chronicles 17, we see the record of David's desire to build the Lord a "permanent place of worship" instead of the "transportable worship center" known as the "Tabernacle".

David had brought the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem and rested it in a tabernacle, I Chronicles 16, and now David approaches the Lord about building the temple. The Lord responded with the Davidic Covenant, which promises that there will be a temple built by David's son, Solomon, as recorded in I Kings.

The record of David's response is worship and prayer, verses 16-27 . David's past sins have been forgiven and the Lord now tells David of the future of his family and house. It is an account worth reading and meditating on as you read it.

Notice two verses in our extended reading, verse 21 and our key verse, verse 9. In David's prayer, he thanks the Lord for his people and his nation whom God has chosen for a special purpose, verse 21. But then, reread our key verse, verse 9.

God makes the promise, in fact, He ordains a place for His "people Israel" to dwell. It will be a place where they will live forever. They will not be removed from this "place" or "wiped off the map", as threatened by the Iranian president Ahmadinejad, and the leadership of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic terrorist organization.

God's promise of a land for the Jewish people is in the process of being totally fulfilled. A Temple in that land with a king, King Jesus, on the throne in that Temple, will be fulfilled and seemingly in the near future.

PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you, Lord, for being a "promise-keeping" Lord.