Dedicated to Detail

I sympathized with a gal I met recently who told me that she was having a tough time reading through Chronicles in her daily devotions. It's true, there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to plough through, and even more difficult to apply. I didn't ask her, but she might be reading her way through my book, Divine Design for Daily Living because I got to read 1 Chronicles 27-29 in my quiet time this morning as well.

David has come to the end of his earthly life. He is "getting his house in order" as they say, as he prepares to take that journey from the temporal to the eternal.

There are several things that stand out for me in these chapters but I think the most significant this morning is the reminder that God is in the details.

David was to leave his heir apparent,  Solomon, a pretty full basket of goodies. Chapter 27 lists all the officials and all their duties. Solomon's team was in place. Chapter 28 finds David turning over his plans for the temple that God had not allowed him to build, along with the explanation why this task was to be his son's and not his. It was all written down and ready to go: "because the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan" –1 Chronicles 28:19, NIV.

David also has some last advice for his son: "acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever...Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished" –1 Chronicles 28:9, 20, NIV. Solomon's mandate, both on a personal and on a professional level, was clear.

Then David explains the resources that Solomon has available to him in Chapter 29. The new king had materials to do the job that his father was to leave him. David even set an example for the rest of the nation by giving a huge portion of his own personal fortune to the building of God's house. The chapter ends with David's song of praise (1 Chronicles 29:10-13), his last song before he joins the angelic bands in singing before the throne of his God. He follows his last praise with a magnificent prayer in which he acknowledges the sovereignty of God over people and possessions and pleads for the spiritual resolve of his son, and for the people his son is about to lead (1 Chronicles 29:14-19).

These chapters are loaded with good stuff. But there is one tiny phrase that stood out above all these wonderful examples of God's provision. We often think of God's provision in terms of big things–just as we find here in these chapters. But tucked away in these verses was the phrase: "Hushai the Arkite was the king's friend" –1 Chronicles 33, NIV.

Big deal! So David has a friend, so what?

But the phrase appears in the list of all David's officials, officers, and overseers. Why would a friend be listed there?

God pays attention to the details of our lives, even the smallest ones. David had everything. He had a team. He had a plan. He had resources. Big stuff. But God knew that David needed a friend–an official friend to do whatever it is that friends need to do in the midst of all the big things going on in our lives.

That tiny phrase, that little detail in the midst of big and important issues, was such a blessing to me this morning. God is dedicated to EVERY detail, even down to friends.