Year 1, Week 43, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 43, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Chronicles 1; Psalm 72, Song of Solomon 1-2.

Today’s reading records the start of Solomon’s reign as king. Unlike its counterpart in the early chapters of 1 Kings, 2 Chronicles goes right from the death of David to the rule of Solomon. 2 Chronicles does not indicate any of the challenges to Solomon’s installation as king due to the attempt by Abiathar to become king. The matter of Abiathar was not within the focus of the Chronicler’s goals. But 2 Chronicles 1 does include the LORD granting Solomon the wisdom, "that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king” (2 Chronicles 1:11b). 2 Chronicles also includes a report of Solomon’s great accumulation of wealth. Psalm 72 is a Psalm attributed to Solomon, and the Psalm serves as a prayer for Solomon’s rule: “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!” (Psalm 72:1-2). Today’s reading also includes the first two chapters of the Song of Solomon. Solomon produced many literary works: “He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005” (1 Kings 4:32). This particular work expresses the beauty of marital love: "Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful” (Song of Solomon 1:15). The subsequent day’s reading will include a closer look at the role of the Song of Solomon in the Scriptures.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the LORD’s prophetic description of a Davidic King who would rule on a very grand scale: “May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field! May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (Psalm 72:16-17). While Psalm 72 concerns Solomon, it is very possible that it was David who prayed it for his son, Solomon. This notion that David prayed Psalm 72 is suggested in the way the Psalm concludes: “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended” (Psalm 72:20). Psalm 72 ends Book II of the Psalms. And while Psalm 72 pertains to Solomon in terms of the wisdom that he will need in order to rule justly, there are facets of Psalm 72 that seem to include matters of ultimate concern: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!” (Psalm 72:18-19). Portions of the vision portrayed in Psalm 72 does not find ultimate expression until the end of the New Testament: “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations” (Revelation 21:22).

The Psalmists references to facets of the rule of a Davidic King harken back to promised made to Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3); and: “and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 22:18a). But not the promises referenced to Abraham find their fulfillment through a descendant of Abraham, through the tribe of Judah, and from the house of David: “May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!” (Psalm 72:17b). While the scope of the promises consist of global blessings on all nations, the focus on whom these blessings will come through gets narrowed. Someone from the line of Abraham and from the line of David: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The Apostles intentionally express the relationship of Jesus Christ to Abraham and David, for Jesus expressly is the One who would fulfill all that was promised to Abraham and David. Jesus is David’s Son: “concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:3-5). Jesus is the seed of Abraham: “Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16).

Even the reference to the enduring greatness of the name of the king from David’s line, harkens back to assurances granted to David as well as Abraham: “May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun!” (Psalm 72:17a). The LORD specifically said to David: "And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth” (2 Samuel 7:9). And to Abraham, the LORD said: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2). So this prayer for Solomon ties together the LORD’s plans given to Abraham and David, even as it looks forward to a ultimate fulfillment in the great name of Jesus: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe