From 1st Chronicles 6 we find out some interesting details about the Levitical priesthood and particularly those who were involved in the temple service in David and Solomon’s time.

The chapter starts with the genealogy of the priests through the linage of Eleazer the son of Aaron. The older two brothers were the ones struck dead by God for offering strange fire. But that leaves the youngest, Ithamar. Eli the priest was descended through him, but because of his sons’ horrible sins, they get left out of the list and the priesthood switched back to the line of Eleazer.

VERY confusingly, there are 2 sets of Amariah, Ahitub, and Zadok in the priestly linage. Seriously – I get wanting to name your son after great-great-grandpa, but this makes us feel like we’re reading in circles.

😵‍💫

We see in verses 22-28 that the prophet Samuel was descended from Kohath, one of the sons of Levi. One of the chief musicians at both the Tabernacle of David and later the Temple of Solomon was a descendent of Samuel – Heman.

The 3 Amigos were Heman, Asaph, and Ethan. There were also a couple other important guys named Jeduthun and Chenaniah but we’ll get to them. They were kind of like the worship team. Asaph was Heman’s “first assistant” and Ethan was “second assistant.”

The chapter ends with another listing of all the Levitical cities. Hebron is the first one mentioned. It was also A) a City of Refuge and B) the city David chose to be his capital for the 7 years that he reigned over the tribe of Judah. We also get the detail that Hebron was basically surrounded by land that belonged to the descendants of Caleb. I don’t think David could’ve chosen a safer or more defensible city than Hebron.

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PSALM 81

This psalm is interesting because at first it is Asaph speaking, then he goes into prophet mode and begins speaking on God’s behalf.

Before we get into those details, I’d like to pause for a second and point out that this kind of thing makes the Bible special. It’s not that there aren’t other writings in the world that claim to come from some supernatural source (there are plenty), but the Bible’s texts can be backed up with history, and archeology and its truth-claims stand up to philosophical examination and the tests of logic and reason. The bold claim that the Bible is the Word of the Creator is actually very difficult (even impossible) for skeptics to truly and honestly disprove. Some have even been converted in the attempt.

I hope you believe as I do that the entire Bible is inspired. But there is something special about texts that are the actual words of Almighty God. Most of this psalm is like that. God speaks in the first person.

The opening verses are clearly from the perspective of Asaph calling the nation to worship. Something interesting happens in verse 5 though. God is “He” but then there’s an “I” which seems to be Asaph. Most translations have something like “I heard a language I did not know.” The Septuagint has “he heard a language he did not know” and it refers to Israel among the Egyptians.

“He made it a decree in Joseph when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭81‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Verse 6 begins a series of “I did this and that” and it is God speaking. But I’m not sure how the “I” in verse 5 could be God. How could He possibly hear a language He didn’t know? God invented ALL the languages at Babel.

I suspect that either the Septuagint has the better choice of pronoun, or…. Check out how it reads in the NLT:

“He made it a law for Israel when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say…”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭81‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The verse is split in an odd place. The first sentence clearly belongs to the opening declaration in verses 1-4.

That second phrase though… Could it be that Asaph is explaining how he heard the voice of the Lord? If it is, it makes very good sense. Put together, it would read thusly:

“I heard an unknown voice say, ‘Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered out of the thundercloud and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.’ Interlude.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭81‬:‭5b, 6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Remember how Samuel as a boy didn’t recognize the voice of Yahweh the first time He spoke? Maybe Asaph didn’t either.

Moving on…

“For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭81‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I used to think that this verse was about the Lord filling the mouth with something worthwhile to say. That’s probably because I heard it used that way as a joke when I was a child. Instead, the picture is more like this:

But instead, the baby birds (Israel) decided they could do better on their own. You can hear the longing in Yahweh’s heart…

“But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭81‬:‭11‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This sounds like the heart of a loving parent toward a wayward child.

The Lord hasn’t changed, Friend. He still longs for us to listen to Him. Not the world. Not the internet. Not even whatever is the latest trend in the church. Listen to Him.

He will always be perfectly honest with you.

We need people in our lives who will be totally honest with us. We need to learn to be truly honest with each other. And if we feel afraid of that, or overwhelmed by it, let’s invite the Lord to rework our programming and reset our defaults and heal our hearts.

This world is a rough place. Sometimes we develop ways of dealing with people that come from coping and protection and survival responses. And they can gum up our relationship with the Heavenly Father. And all the while the Shepherd is saying,

“Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!”

Don’t let the deficiencies of your past get in the way of walking with the Shepherd. He longs for you to walk with Him in His paths. He is perfectly capable of healing and correcting whatever is messed up and broken in your heart and mind and spirit. IF you will consistently (it’s not a one-time thing!) turn away from the false voices and listen to Him.

I pray that you will and that it brings you into a new place of freedom and joy.