Even the King Went Home

1 Chronicles 16:43 “Then all the people departed each to his house, and David went home to bless his household.”

I have been studying 1 Chronicles for the past month.  I love it.  In short the entire book is a history of God’s covenant with David and its impact on the nation called Israel.  The book begins with seemingly endless genealogies describing the family lines of the 12 tribes of Israel.  If you read it, don’t breeze past the genealogies.  You will learn a ton.  The Genealogies culminate in a detail of Saul’s Family and ultimately the household of David…the boy who killed a giant and became king.

In epic fashion, Saul and his son’s are killed in chapter 10 and the Lord transitions the leadership of Israel to a young David.  David immediately begins to battle for the city of Jerusalem occupied by the Jebusites.  David took the stronghold of Zion and established the City of David.  David built his army and then worked to return the Ark of the Covenant back to Israel.  As he worked to restore the very “presence of the Lord” to Jerusalem he also tore down the despicable high places of the foreign gods. He fought the Philistines and struck them down from Gibeon to Gezer and David’s fame spread throughout the lands.

He brought the ark back to Jerusalem and pitched a tent for the Lord.  He organized the Levites (priests)to minister to the Lord according to the instructions described in Torah.  He demanded that the priests consecrate themselves and then gave them jobs specific to their areas of expertise.  He through an incredible party and danced before the Lord.  Then, he went home.

I give you background because I want you to see that David was an important, busy man.  Read chapters 11-16 of 1 Chronicles to discover just how busy and how important.

There are not any words placed in the Bible by accident.  You have to look at each word and phrase and ask yourself, “What does it mean and why is it in there.” Consider  the second half of 1 Chronicles 16:43. “…and David went home to bless his household.”

What does it mean and why is it in the text?

David was busy with really important work:  Re-establishing the Kingdom of Israel, pointing the people back to God, tearing down the high places, being King, constantly fighting battles, and obtaining and pitching a tent for the ark, the presence of God, in Israel.  Why does it tell us at the end of this work, he went home to bless his household?

Maybe it is because, no matter how important your work, you should always go home and bless your household.

How did David bless his household:

With his physical presence:

Being home for his family meant that he wasn’t just the king, he was also a husband and dad.  His presence offered peace and security for the household. Face time with his family communicated love and affection.  His presence was ultimately a blessing to the family at least in this instance.  A couple of questions you might ought to ask.

1) Is my presence a covering of peace and security for my family?

2) Do I give my family enough of my physical presence?

With Biblical Intentionality:

If you look at 1 Chronicles 16:43 closely it says he went home “to bless his household.” David went home with a purpose.  He would offer blessing and be a blessing.  In his culture certainly this meant the recitation of scriptural blessing over the household.  It also meant spiritual, physical, and emotional blessing to the entire household because David was home.  More questions:

1) Do I go home with the purpose of intentionally blessing my household?

2) Would the members of my family say that time with me is a blessing?

Take some practical steps:

1) Plan to go home and bless your household.  Look at your annual calendar.  Schedule your days off and all of your vacation to go home and bless your household.

2) Find out what it means to bless your family by reading scriptural blessing over them.  A great resource is “A Father’s Guide to Blessing His Children” available in the legacy resource center on campus at Kingsland or at http://www.desiringgod.org.

3) Work hard to be a blessing at home.  When your home, be home.  Listen to your spouse and your kids.  Give them all of you.  Turn the blackberry off and listen to the people who matter.

Go home and be a blessing to your household.  Even the King went home!