August 8, Day 220 – Precious In His Sight
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Aug 7
- 3 min read
Once again today, in 1 Chronicles 24:1-26:19, we encounter more lists of names. In chapter 24, we see “the divisions of the sons of Aaron” (verse 1). The priests and the Levites were ordered into twenty-four divisions. Verses 7-18 give us the “appointed order of ministering” of the priests “when they entered the temple of the LORD according to the prescribed regulations by their forefather, Aaron” (verse 19). In verses 20-30, we see the “rest of the descendants of Levi” listed “according to their families” (verse 20). Chapter 25 provides for us a list of “the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres, and cymbals … and for the music of the temple” (verses 1-6). “All of them were trained and skilled in music for the LORD” (verse 7). In chapter 26, we read about the “divisions for the gatekeepers – descendants of Korah and Merari” (verses 1-19). Generally, we are not very endeared to reading through long lists of names, and because we are unfamiliar with those to whom these names refer. As a result, we wonder, “Who were these people?” For some of us (like me), it’s often difficult enough for us to remember names and faces – especially over the years – so it’s easy for us to get bogged down in lists of strange information or unknown names of individuals who are now dead and gone. Still, we want to believe that, just as we are important and matter to God, so did they. And God informs us that we are all precious in His sight (cf., Psalm 139:13-16: Isaiah 49:14-16; Jeremiah 31:3; and Romans 5:8). In other words, every time we read a list that’s not very exciting to us, we need to thank God that all those people mattered enough to Him to be included in His lists. And He has a list that includes us.
Today, Psalm 92 spoke to my heart. I especially appreciated the contrasting analogy of the “grass” (verse 7) and the “palm tree” (verse 12) as representatives corresponding to “the wicked” and “the righteous.” God’s “thoughts” are truly profound (verse 5), but “senseless people do not know” (verse 6). Because a good and wise God created mankind, we might wonder, “How could there be senseless people?” Clearly, we don’t have to look too far to see them. Senselessness must be a choice – a self-induced condition whereby people find themselves content to live in their limited, mindless, and dulled state of “foolish understanding” (verse 6). Such individuals do not wish to exert any of the effort necessary to learn, determine, or discern the truth. This Psalm indicates that we need daily to sharpen the “eyes, ears, and voices” of our spiritual senses by “praising the LORD, making music to His name, affirming His love and His uprightness” (verses 1-14). If we do this, God promises that “we will flourish and bear fruit, even into old age” (verse 14). Continuing in my own advancing age, I pray that my life would indeed represent such a proclamation before the world – not so much for my own sake – but for His.
1 Corinthians 3 informs us of a truth similar to that of 1 Chronicles 24-26 and Psalm 92. We must guard ourselves against the world’s deceptive “standards for wisdom” (verse 18) and rise above them. If we trust those standards, we have “deceived ourselves” (verse 18). By those standards, we should become “fools” in order that we “may become wise” (verse 18). What does Paul mean by that? He next says, “the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight” (verses 19-20). Paul is saying that the world’s standards are not worthy of our trust. They are disingenuous, unreliable, and misleading. Men who follow those standards like to boast about their so-called “wisdom,” but to God, their “wisdom” is utterly “futile” (verse 20). Until we accept the truth of what God is saying, we “deceive ourselves” (verse 18), and we become “caught in our own craftiness” (verse 19). To become truly wise, we must trust the eternal truth of God’s Word – exclusively.
Comments