Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Daily Devotional by Kenton Cheek

3 May 2024

Reading From 2 Samuel 5:11-6:23, 1 Chronicles 13-16

“Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”

–I Chronicles 16:23-28

     It is important to our understanding of the nature of God that He is One[1] and there is no other before Him, no one beside Him and never will there be another.[2]  Matchless is His Name![3]  He is so wonderful and worthy to be praised and exalted.[4]  Here in this magnificent passage of Scripture, we learn that “He is to be feared above all gods.”  If the Lord were to stop here in His divine inspiration of the Bible, we might conclude that He is supreme but that there are other gods.  But that’s not where this revelation ends.  He goes on to tell us, “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” 

     There are other gods, but they are false.  They are idols made by human hands and the spiritual forces behind them are wicked demons who were originally angels.[5]  But in their rebellion, one third of the angels fell from heaven with Satan[6] and became his demons.[7]  Their eternal destiny is Hell and any power they currently have will be banished from the New Heaven and the New Earth.[8]  They do not deserve anyone’s devotion.  But our God is from everlasting to everlasting.[9]  He was not created, He alone is the Creator and Sustainer.[10]  He had no beginning and He will have no end.[11]  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.[12] 

“Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah, who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps.

As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.”

–Excerpts from II Samuel 6 and I Chronicles 15

     When the Ark of the Covenant returned to its rightful place of prominence in Israel, the worship music was loud and jubilant and King David danced with joy before the Lord.  Horns, trumpets and cymbals are not quiet instruments and the people praised Jehovah with shouting.  For this his wife Michal judged him and his style of worship.  There are some important lessons for our modern times to be gleaned from this ancient exchange between husband and wife.  Part of me wonders if her bitterness was connected to her father’s downfall, but who knows her heart except Michal and God?

     It is entirely appropriate for the volume of worship music to be turned up at times and there is something very right about expressing exuberant joy in praise of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  David laid his pride aside in honoring God with his worship, but Michal was focused on what she and other people might think.  David’s focus was glorifying the Almighty and his attitude is echoed in the New Testament by Peter, “We must obey God rather than men.”[13]  Her bitter, judgmental attitude of the way her husband expressed his heart to the Lord is immediately followed by the statement that seems to be a conclusion: her womb was not fruitful.  We must be careful not to quench the Spirit[14] or put others down for how they love the Father.[15]  Bitterness and judgment will not bear good spiritual fruit.[16]

“Lord, may I honor and glorify Your holy Name all the days of my life.  Enlighten my understanding of Your divine nature.  The thought of eternal unity with You makes me so excited!  I pray that You would reveal Yourself in a life-changing way to more and more people on this Earth.  Guide them into life-giving relationship with You so that they will become part of Your eternal family and partake of Your divine nature.  Keep us from having judgmental thoughts about how others worship You.  I pray that our expressions of love would be informed and guided by Your Word the Bible and filled with joy in the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

–Revelation 5:11-14

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[1] Deuteronomy 6:4

[2] Isaiah 44:6-8

[3] Philippians 2:9

[4] Daniel 3:52-68

[5] Genesis 1:31

[6] Luke 10:18

[7] Isaiah 14:7, 12-15, Revelation 9:1-11, 12:3-4, 9

[8] Mark 9:25

[9] Exodus 3:14, Psalm 90:2

[10] Romans 1:25

[11] Revelation 1:8, 20, 21:6, Hebrews 7:3, Jude 1:25

[12] Hebrews 13:8

[13] Acts 5:29

[14] 1 Thessalonians 5:19-25

[15] Matthew 7:1-3, Philippians 2:3, I Corinthians 14:39

[16] Ephesians 4:31–32, Matthew 3:8