Written Out of the Story

Scripture: Now these were the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: The firstborn was Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; the second, Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelitess. 1 Chronicles 3:1

Observation: The chronicler uses chapter 3 to outline the entire kingly lineage of David and thus the southern kingdom. After covering all of David's sons, he will trace just the lineage of Solomon for all 16 generations of kings, then follow that last king for 13 more generations (I think ... it's hard to tell sometimes when someone is a son or a brother based on the wording).

However, back to David. There is a name missing in verses 1-9, that being Michal. Michal was Saul's daughter, and the first wife of David. At the time he fled from Saul, he had to leave her behind, taking only his other wife Ahinoam, and then meeting Abigail, however Michal is the one he trusts to aid his escape. When he becomes king, he has Michal restored to him even though by now she has been remarried to another man. She remains part of David's inner circle, though not in a good way, most notably criticizing him for dancing when the ark of the covenant is moved.

At one time, Michal was honoring God's path laid out by his divine plan, and she was then trusted by David and could have been the great love of the greatest king in history. Instead, she rebelled from God's plan and later resisted every action by David that was inspired by God, and ends up childless and even unmentioned in the royal family.

Application: Michal is a study of a person who loves the concepts of life more than she loves the realities of God. In the brief glimpses we see of her, we see that she loves the idea of being ... the future queen, a daring adventuress, a wife to another man. However, she dislikes the idea of being ... queen of Israel, worshipful toward God, and a loving wife to David. She likes her idyllic concepts even more than the fulfillment of God's promises.

I'm sure I can be like this. I elevate my own plans while ignoring how great God is doing things in and around me. This is true even of my service at church, where I can end up scrutinizing things that are actually producing good fruit.

I don't mind being a supporting character in God's great plan for the church. However, I don't want to be written out of the story entirely. I need to see God's work and follow his plan, not my own ideas or concepts or wishes for life.

Prayer: Lord, may I spend more and more time daily meditating on your word. I wish to renew my focus on your truths found in the bible, and in your plans and purposes made evident by the movement of your spirit in the world. In this, I wish spend less time in my own thoughts and ideas. Amen.