� Reading 4 - 2 Sam 9-10; 1 Chron 18-19

9 - 2 Samuel 9 appears to be unremarkable, until we remember that Mephibosheth could have been a rival claimant to the throne since he was Saul’s grandson. Instead of exterminating the house of Saul David shows kindness to Mephibosheth, since David trusts in God’s promise to establish him.

18 - 1 Chronicles 18 is part of our reading today. It deals with much of the same material we read yes- terday in 2 Samuel 8. Watch for the emphasis on gold, silver and bronze that was captured. These items were saved by David for Solomon to use in the building of God’s temple.

10 and 19 - Chapter 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 cover the same material: the war with Ammon. It ap- pears to be just extending the theme of military victory begun in chapter 8, but actually sets up the events of chapter 11. Sadly an entire war gets started over a misunderstanding and bad advice (verse 3).

Psalm 89

Psalm 89 pairs well with Psalm 132, because here God’s promise for the Davidic throne seems to have failed. After the Babylonian captivity there was no king who was an heir of David ruling. Psalm 89 is a lament that asks plaintively, “God what has happened?” (verses 1-4). “Faithfulness” is the key theme, appearing repeat-

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edly (verses 1, 5, 8, 24, 49). God’s great power isn’t the problem, the psalmist says, for He made everything and rules over everything (verses 5-18). “Rahab” in verse 10 is probably a reference to Egypt. The grand promise to David is then recounted (verses 19-37). But the current situation doesn’t reflect what the psalmist believes should be happening (verses 38-45). The psalm ends asking “how long God?” because the psalmist knows that God will act to fulfill His word and keep His promises (verses 49-52). Verse 52 is the closing dox- ology for Book Three of the psalms (psalms 73-89).

26 - Paul uses his position, even if it is as a novelty, to preach one of the most stirring sermons ever. The theme again is Paul the Good and Obedient Jew (note verse 6). Verse 18 gives us an excellent summary of the Gospel message. Is Agrippa mocking Paul or genuine in his statement of verse 28? We cannot hear his tone of voice so we do not know. The chapter ends with Paul being vindicated by the Roman government again (verse 32). Luke is letting everyone know that Paul (and Christianity in general) has not broken Roman law.