We are studying 1 Chronicles 17:16-27 for Sunday, December 29. This text records David’s response to the news that God will bless David’s lineage with the kingship of Israel far into the future. [My notes on the text are here.] Here are a few questions we might ask ourselves as we consider this text:
How would we describe David’s response to God’s news through the prophet Nathan? [That is, would we describe David as happy, excited, grateful, what?] What in the text tells us that? What difference does David’s response make in our understanding of this text, do we think? Why is that?
What do we learn about God from David’s response? What does David say directly about God? What does David’s response imply about God? Again, what in the text tells us that? Why do we say it?
In v21, David recalls God’s action in freeing the Israelites from Egypt and helping the Israelites occupy the land of Israel. How do different historical circumstances affect the import of this memory? We might want to consider: the immediate circumstances of David’s time; the exile; the return from exile; later points in history? That is: what is the impact of recalling this particular activity of God’s in those different times?
How does David see God’s role in David’s fortunes in life, according to this text? How does our own view of God’s role in our own fortunes in life resemble David’s? How does it differ from David’s? What explains those differences, do we think?
If we compare David’s response to God in 1 Chronicles 17:16-27 and Mary’s response to God in Luke 1:26-56, what similarities do we notice between the two speeches? What differences do we notice? What do we learn from these two figures’ responses to God about our own responses to God? Why is that?
Matters of Interpretation 