1 Chronicles 11-14

The people said to David: you should lead, because its what you did under Saul anyway, you led the army. Leadership doesn't work effectively unless you are seen to lead.

1 Kings 5-8

(8v29) '...the place of which you have said "my name shall be there"...'
Solomon had the temple built, and it signified God dwelling among His people. Jesus is the temple, God dwelling among His people. Now our bodies are the temple, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, God dwelling among His people.

1 Kings 1-4

(3v11) '...understanding to discern what is right...' Here is the first step towards holier living, but also, in this case, the first step towards better counselling. It is good to remember to ask for wisdom from God when others ask for wisdom from us.

1 Chronicles 7-10

9.20 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the LORD was with him.

We have quite a different picture of the priest in our modern culture (as wrong as our limp wristed angels). Phinehas, commanding officer (archbishop!), understood how to use the weapons of his warfare and knew how to kill the enemies of the Lord. Do we understand the militant calling on our lives as Kings and Priests. The New Testament is littered with military imagery. We have different weapons, but we are called to fight and to govern with more zeal than Phinehas.

2 Samuel 21-24

(22v32) 'For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?' No imitation is good enough. No forgery is close enough. There is only one genuine article.
(22v48) '...the God who gave me vengeance...' There is no doubt that vengeance is the Lord's, and yet David seems to view God's victories over David's enemies as his vengeance, not the Lord's. Samson prays 'that I may be avenged on the Philistines' (Judges 16v28). Does God carry out vengeance, or does he sometimes give it to us to carry out?...

1 Chronicles 3-6

4.10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

This has become a principle to me. Unless we are conscious of God's blessing, we do not give; if we don't have anything (in our estimation) we will not even think of ministering to others. We must therefore ask God to bless us or to open our eyes to the blessings we already have.

2 Samuel 17-20

The pressure mounts on David, as the consequences of his sin with Bathsheba continue. It's difficult to tell if David submits to the will of the Lord or simply avoids confrontation with his son. Perhaps we see an example of 'sparing the rod': David quickly forsakes his position of authority - the 'rod' or 'sceptre' - and thus Absalom attempts to rule over his father.