2026.08.26 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Chronicles 18

Read 1 Chronicles 18

Questions from the Scripture text: How does 1 Chronicles 18:1 relate this to God’s promise and David’s prayer from chapter 17? Whom did David attack? What did he take? Whom else did he defeat (1 Chronicles 18:2)? What did they become? And bring? Whom else did David defeat (1 Chronicles 18:3)? What did he take and do (1 Chronicles 18:4)? Who came to help them, and what did David do to them (1 Chronicles 18:5)? What did the Syrians become and do (1 Chronicles 18:6)? How did all of this happen? What did David take for what purpose (1 Chronicles 18:7-8)? Who heard what (1 Chronicles 18:9)? Whom did he send, with what, and why (1 Chronicles 18:10)? What did David do with these (1 Chronicles 18:11)? Along with what? Who else did what (1 Chronicles 18:12-13)? What did David do, in what manner (1 Chronicles 18:14-17)?

What is the significance of David’s military, economic, and political successes? 1 Chronicles 18 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these seventeen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that David’s military, economic, and political successes are the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promises to him. 

YHWH preserves His king. 1 Chronicles 18:6, 1 Chronicles 18:13 give the theological significance of all of these victories. It is YHWH Who is preserving David wherever He went. He is keeping His promise from chapter 17, as He both preserves David and foreshadows the kingdom of David’s Son. 

One day, it will not just be Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Edomites, Ammonites, and Amalekites, but all nations will become Christ’s servants and bring Him tribute (1 Chronicles 18:2, 1 Chronicles 18:6). 

YHWH prepares His temple. In addition to giving David victories, the Lord is giving David the privilege of providing for the temple that Solomon will build. 

The gold shields from the servants of Hadadezer (1 Chronicles 18:7); the large amount of bronze from the cities of Hadadezer (1 Chronicles 18:8); the gold, silver, and bronze articles that Hadoram brought with him (1 Chronicles 18:10);  and the silver and gold that he brought from Edom, Moan, Ammon, Philistia, and Amalek (1 Chronicles 18:11)—all of these were for the temple. Verse 11 specifies that David dedicated these to the Lord. And 1 Chronicles 18:8 mentions the specific temple furnishings of the Sea, and the pillars, as well as other articles of bronze.

YHWH establishes David’s throne, 1 Chronicles 18:14-17. These verses are not just a clerical record of David’s cabinet. The summary in 1 Chronicles 18:14 makes it clear that this is a testimony to the justness and excellence of the administration of his government. 

The Lord faithfully fulfills all His promises. He fulfilled them to David. He has supremely fulfilled them in Christ. And He will keep fulfilling them until all has been done. Not one of all His good Word has fallen to the ground. Not one ever will. And, if you are a believer, then you may rejoice to be part of Christ’s kingdom, one of His subjects, and part of the temple that He is building.

How has Christ subdued you and made you His subject? What does this mean for what you do, and how you do it? What part do you have in Christ’s building of His church? How does the certainty of His victory, success, wisdom, and justice strengthen and gladden you?

Sample prayer:  Lord, You gave David victory on every side, and You are giving Christ victory through the whole of this age. Thank You for subduing us as His servants and subjects. Forgive us for how we have lived as if we are autonomous. Make us to live in obedience and loyalty to Him. 

And thank You for making us to be that temple that Christ is building, as He builds His church. Forgive us for our groundless anxieties that the gates of hell might prevail against it. And, forgive us for our forgetfulness that Christ has consecrated us unto Your holy worship. We bless Your Name for the greatness and glory of King Jesus, and we thank You for forgiving us and cleansing us through Him, for which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP96A “O Sing a New Song” or TPH100B “All People That on Earth Do Dwell”

Hope for the Helpless [Family Worship lesson in Job 13:20–14:22]

What hope can Job have in the midst of his pain in this world? Job 13:20–14:22 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the believer’s hope is in God Himself, Who makes us new, forgives our sins, and desires us as the work of His hands. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson) Summary of the transcript of the audio: The devotional explores Job's desperate plea for God to reveal his sins and cease terrifying him, highlighting the brevity and misery of human life compared to the regenerative power found in Christ. Job's hope is the believer's assurance of fellowship with God through Jesus. Pastor emphasizes that while humans cannot cleanse themselves from sin, God offers forgiveness as the ultimate refuge. Believers are encouraged to maintain their hope in God's kindness and salvation regardless of earthly circumstances. The message concludes by urging his family to live and die with faith in Christ's covering of their iniquities.

2026.08.25 Hopewell @Home ▫ Job 13:20–14:22

Read Job 13:20–14:22

Questions from the Scripture text: What two things does Job ask God not to do to him (Job 13:20-21)? What does he want God to show him (Job 13:23)? How does he regard God’s perceived silence (Job 13:22, Job 13:24)? What effect does this have upon him (Job 13:25)? In what manner is he concerned that God might be dealing with him (Job 13:26-27)? What condition highlights man’s inability to change himself (Job 13:28–Job 14:4)? Who is sovereign over him, i.e., able to change him (Job 14:5)? Apart from grace, what would be best for man (Job 14:6)? How is a tree different than man (Job 14:7-10)? How is man more similar to a lake bed or river bed (Job 14:11-12)? Since Job has gospel hope for eternity (Job 14:16-17), what would he rather have from God than his recent experiences (Job 14:13-16a)? What happens with man’s hopes and initiatives in this world (Job 14:17-22)?

What hope can Job have in the midst of his pain in this world? Job 13:20–14:22 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirty-one verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the believer’s hope is in God Himself, Who makes us new, forgives our sins, and desires us as the work of His hands.

Job is determined to trust in the Lord (Job 14:15) to be his salvation (Job 14:16). What does that look like in such painful circumstances as he finds himself? We can learn much from his basic prayers.

Don’t leave me alone, Job 13:20–22. This may sound inconsistent. Several times, we have seen Job ask that if God is going to continue to deal with him as He appears to be, just to leave him alone. But Job has come to an important conclusion: even though he cannot see it now, God is the God of gospel grace in Whom he has trusted. So, he prays that God would not leave him alone (Job 13:21a), and that God would deal with him according to grace (verse 21b). If God is your only hope, then cry out to Him not to withdraw His hand from you, but to deal with you graciously as your Hope instead of your Terror.

Show me my sins, Job 13:23-24. This is a profound little section. Job believes that it is an act of enmity (Job 13:24) when God hides His face instead of showing us our iniquity, sin, and transgression (Job 13:23). Job has repented of what he knows of. His friends have insisted that he suffers because of unrepented sin. But if Job is to repent, he needs to know what his sin is. It would be enmity indeed if God gave him over to sin to such an extent that he didn’t even know what his sin was. It might feel easier to our conscience, and especially to our pride, to be ignorant of our sin or to take it lightly. But that is not grace. If you are looking to God for true grace, then ask Him to make you know your sins.

But don’t treat me according to those sins, Job 13:25-28. This has been Job’s fear throughout: what if the Lord is actually dealing with me according to my sins (Job 13:26)? He is sovereign over the whole of our life (Job 13:27). If He deals with us according to our sin, we shall be destroyed and incinerated instantly (Job 13:25, Job 13:28).

Make me a clean thing, Job 14:1–4. Man was not created to be “of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1-2). Job is engaging the Lord in light of his fallenness. Even if God shows him his sins (Job 13:23–24), Job can’t cleanse himself from himself (Job 14:4). He needs God to give him a new nature. If the only principle upon which the Lord deals with him is one of justice (Job 14:3), then Job is done for.

Get me safely to eternity, Job 14:5–22. In the balance of the chapter, Job notes that he doesn’t have any inherent life in himself, like even the stump of a tree does (Job 14:7-8). Rather, he is like a riverbed of a river that has long since dried up (Job 14:9-12). As Ecclesiastes also observes several times, a man’s accomplishments in this life do not have “staying power” (Job 14:18-21), however much he agonizes over his endeavors (Job 14:22).

So, if Job’s life is going to be one of misery and pain under the apparent wrath of God (Job 14:13b), it would be better for him to be hidden by God in his grave (verse 13a) until the time of his redemption comes. He would rather just wait for the resurrection (Job 14:14), in which he is confident that he will know the grace of God (Job 14:15). His ultimate hope is in God and His forgiveness (Job 14:16-17). Note that, while Job is asking God to spare him the balance of the miseries of this life, it does not even cross his mind to take his own life. As he hopes in God for eternal forgiveness and blessedness, he does not even consider committing such a sin as suicide.

Instead, here he is with eternal hope in God, asking for a word from God that he might have resolved his perplexity about the pain in his life. By the end of the book, he would know God better. And we, with the cross and the resurrection as finished events, know even more fully this grace of God and our eternal hope in Him! Let us live in that hope, sure that when our hard service is over, our change will come (Job 14:14), and that God Himself will bring us out of the season of misery (Job 14:13), that He might delight in us, whom He has transformed (Job 14:15) and whose sin He has forgiven (Job 14:16-17).

What miseries are you enduring? How do you know that God is not treating you according to your sin? What hope do you have for when your life in this world is done? What hope do you have even now, as the work of God’s hands?

Sample prayer: Lord, two things we desire from You: that You would not withdraw Your hand far from us, and that the dread of You would not make us afraid. Make us to know our sins, and make us to know Your forgiveness and cleansing of sin. Since a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean thing, grant that Your Spirit would make us to be clean things. Give us to worship You from the new life that is in us from Christ. Come, now, and call; and, we will answer You. Desire us as the work of Your hands, covering our iniquity, and giving us to live, and work, and worship by Your grace in Christ, through Whom we ask it, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP51B “From My Sins, O Hide Your Face” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!”

2026.08.24 Hopewell @Home ▫ Proverbs 26:23–28

Read Proverbs 26:23–28

Questions from the Scripture text: What are the two components of the condition in Proverbs 26:23a? To what does verse 23b compare it? What does the one in Proverbs 26:24a do? With what does he disguise it? What might he do anyway (Proverbs 26:25a)? But what mustn’t the hearer do? Why (verse 25b)? With what does he cover his hatred (Proverbs 26:26a)? But what will happen, in what context (verse 26b)? What does the man in Proverbs 26:27a do? With what result? What does the man in verse 27b do? With what result? To what sort of tongue does Proverbs 26:28a refer? What does it do to whom? To what sort of mouth does verse 28b refer? What does it work?

What is the key to godly speech? Proverbs 26:23–28 looks forward to the opening portion of morning public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a grace-changed heart is the key to godly speech.

The wicked heart, Proverbs 26:23. Our words should be good food (cf. Job 6:6–7, Job 12:11), but out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (cf. Luke 6:45). When someone with a wicked heart tries to serve up good food, it is polluted by the dross on which it is served, like putting a nutritious meal on a filthy plate. If we wish to do others good with our mouths, we must seek God’s grace to cleanse our hearts, first.

The hateful heart, Proverbs 26:24-26. The fool doesn’t think about how God sees his heart, so he is not concerned about the hatefulness he finds within himself. He cares more about what others think, and disguises that hateful heart with gracious-sounding words (Proverbs 26:24-25). There is coming a day, in the great assembly of the judgment, when the heart will be laid bare (Proverbs 26:26). When we go to worship, if we realize that our hearts are already laid bare before God, we may be helped to think about what it would be like if the entire congregation knew our heart. They will! How we need God’s grace to change and cleanse our heart!

The scheming heart, Proverbs 26:27-28. This final section is both a warning and a comfort. If we find in our hearts that we are trying to lay traps for others, Proverbs 26:27 warns us that we are the ones whom we will end up harming, and Proverbs 26:28 alerts us to how such thinking is truly hateful to oneself. But if others are trying to set traps for us, these verses give us comfort from God, Who assures us of these outcomes. God give us grace to be honest about the schemes of our hearts.

To whom have you been trying to sound better than you are? In which area do you most need heart-help: wickedness, hatefulness, or scheming? How will you seek that help?

Sample prayer: Lord, please give us new hearts from Christ, by Your Spirit. And make the words of our mouths to overflow from the good with which You fill our hearts by Christ’s grace, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP15 “Within Your Tent, Who Will Reside” or TPH400 “Gracious Spirit, Dwell with Me”

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2026.08.22 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 3:10–13

Read Ephesians 3:10–13

Questions from the Scripture text: What is being made known (Ephesians 3:10)? By whom? To whom? Where? According to what (Ephesians 3:11)? How was this purpose accomplished? What do we have in Christ (Ephesians 3:12)? Through what? What, therefore, does the apostle ask (Ephesians 3:13)? For whom is he suffering these troubles? So that they may have what?

How great is God's work in the church? Ephesians 3:10–13 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God's work in the church is so glorious that it is the object of even the angels' worship. 

Ephesians 2:6–7 told us that one of the reasons for seating us in the heavenly places was so that in the ages to come God would display (in us) the exceeding riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. 

Now the apostle marvels at his own ministry, which isn’t just announcing among the nations the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8), but also making the church into a display unto the heavenly beings of the “multicolored” [literally translated] wisdom of God (Ephesians 3:10). Sometimes, we hear people talk about what a “watching world” sees, and we rightly desire to be light. But the darkness hates the light. Believers who worry too much about their image before men would do well to meditate upon how we are also God’s display of His own wisdom before the angels!

Hidden in God from all eternity (Ephesians 3:9a), and the reason for creating all things (verse 9b), the existence of the gospel church displays that the purpose of God in Christ Jesus our Lord has now been accomplished (Ephesians 3:11)!

It can be difficult to persist in serving the Lord under the ordinary ministry of the elders (Ephesians 4:11–16), in the battle of sanctification (Ephesians 4:17–24), and the complexities of relationships in the congregation (Ephesians 4:25–32) and to the world (Ephesians 5:1–14), especially in the ins and outs of the daily slog in marriage (Ephesians 5:22–33), parenting (Ephesians 6:1–4), and work (Ephesians 6:5–9). 

So, the apostle sets before us the cosmic significance of our ordinary sanctification (both here in Ephesians 3:10 and later in Ephesians 6:10–20) to bring us back to Christ Himself, and the now-revealed mystery of God’s grace to us in Him. This—God’s plan from eternity to glorify Himself in Christ by being gracious to us—is what gives us not only boldness in life, but even confidence when we approach God Himself (Ephesians 3:12). It would do us good, in the midst of the daily grind, to reflect often upon the eternal plan that is being carried out in our serving God as beloved children.

This is why the apostle, rather than losing heart at his own trouble, has just rattled off 13 verses of amazement at the grace of God toward him in giving him this ministry. And this is why he doesn’t want them to be distracted by his troubles either. He knows their Christian affection for him, but what he wants them to see, in his imprisonment, not  the light and momentary affliction, but the eternal weight of glory that it is accomplishing (Ephesians 3:13, cf. Romans 8:18–23,  2 Corinthians 4:15–18).

May the Lord bless our daily worship in our homes and weekly worship in the assembly, such that we may live our lives in this world with eyes and hearts that feast upon this glory of God in Christ that is the purpose of all things!

In what situation do you find it most difficult to remember that God has planned this for His glory in Christ? How will you go about reminding yourself of this from passages like this one?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for making our lives to be displays of the multicolored wisdom of God. Please, accomplish Your purposes in us, and grant that we would remember that You are doing so. Thus, do not let us lose heart over our own troubles, or the troubles of any believer. Give us to live with boldness and confidence that we have in our access to You, and in the whole of our lives, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place”

2026.08.21 Hopewell @Home ▫ Habakkuk 2:2–5

Read Habakkuk 2:2–5

Questions from the Scripture text: Who is speaking in Habakkuk 2:2a? What does He tell him to do (verse 2b)? Upon what (verse 2c)? So that who may do what (verse 2d)? What about the vision necessitates this (Habakkuk 2:3a)? What will it do, when (verse 3b)? So, what must Habakkuk, do with it (verse 3c)? Why (verse 3d–e)? Whom is he to behold/consider (Habakkuk 2:4a)? What is he to observe/conclude about him (verse 4b)? Who lives in what other way (verse 4c)? What does the proud man do in Habakkuk 2:5a–b? What doesn’t he do (verse 5c)? What does he enlarge, to what extent (verse 5d–e)? What does he gather and heap up (verse 5f–g)? 

How do believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence? Habakkuk 2:2–5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these four verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that believers overcome doubt and self-indulgence by faith in God’s Word.  

A Word for everyone in Scripture and preaching. YHWH gives Habakkuk a vision; so why must he write it down? Because what God is giving Habakkuk to experience isn’t just for himself. It’s for God’s people throughout the ages. The “runner” in Habakkuk 2:2 isn’t engaging athletics, or even fleeing. He’s a messenger. God wants His message to His people written down so that it will be read. So that it will be proclaimed exactly. Here are the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of preaching. What Habakkuk writes is “a vision,” which is to say that it is given by God, rather than coming from Habakkuk. And what the preacher proclaims is what he “reads,” which is to say that he proclaims the written Word, rather than his own ideas.

A reliable Word to wait for. The Lord has told Habakkuk to look and watch (cf. Habakkuk 1:5), and Habakkuk is doing just that for the Word of God (cf. Habakkuk 2:1). YHWH has appointed a time for its fulfillment (Habakkuk 2:3a). Habakkuk does not know what that time is, but he knows that the fulfillment is certain (verse 3b), and its arrival will be not a moment later than the Lord has planned (verse 3c–e). As I once heard a preacher say, in my youth, “the Lord’s train may seem slow to us, but it is always right on time.”

Two ways to relate to the Word. Skepticism isn’t honest; it’s arrogant. The righteous man, in Habakkuk 2:4, lives by his faith. The way that he watches is by the Word of God. He is not discouraged, and does not doubt. Circumstances may be bewildering, but the Word of God is sure. Fulfillment may take time to come, but the Word of God is sure. And this is especially the Word of God about Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10:37–38 identifies this Word as a Person! This righteous man, who lives by his faith, is set over-against “the proud” in Habakkuk 2:4. The alternative to faith is to be one whose soul is not upright within him. It is arrogance to allow our experience or our assessment to overrule, in our hearts, what God’s Word says. The outcome of this skepticism is self-indulgence (Habakkuk 2:5). Wine easily deceives him (verse 5a), because in his pride (verse 5b), he is subject to all of his impulses (verse 5c–e). Self-indulgence is a conqueror even more ruthless than the Chaldeans (verse 5f–g). Apart from believers, there are none whom it does not overcome.

The Lord has given us faith in His Word as both the mechanism by which we come to be counted as righteous, and the method by which we live. How shall it be for you, dear reader? Will you (arrogantly!) live as one who questions God’s Word, but never questions his own impulses and desires? Or, will you live by the confidence that God’s Word is His Word, and that it shall be perfectly fulfilled at exactly the right time?

What experiences threaten to discourage you? What impulses and desires threaten to overcome you? What prescription does this passage give against those? How are you implementing what it says?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for causing Your sure Word to be written down for us. And thank You for sending us messengers who proclaim not their words but Yours. Please grant that we would have faith to take You at Your Word. And make our preachers faithful to preach only Your Word. Thus, strengthen us and gladden us in Christ, Who is that Word, and the great proclamation of all Scripture. And, guard us from all pride and self-indulgence. Make us those just ones who live by faith, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP131 “My Heart Is Not Exalted, LORD” or TPH256 “God Moves in a Mysterious Way”

2026.08.20 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 9:14–29

Read Mark 9:14–29

Questions from the Scripture text: What did Jesus see, when He came to His disciples (Mark 9:14)? How did the people respond when they saw Jesus (Mark 9:15)? What did Jesus ask the scribes (Mark 9:16)? Who answers, and how (Mark 9:17-18)? What does Jesus call that entire generation in response (Mark 9:19)? What did the spirit do when they brought the boy to Jesus (Mark 9:20)? What did Jesus ask (Mark 9:21a)? What did the father answer (Mark 9:21-22)? What did he not seem sure that Jesus could do? What does Jesus tell the father in Mark 9:23? How does the father respond in Mark 9:24? Whom did Jesus rebuke in Mark 9:25? What happened in Mark 9:26? How do the people respond? But how does Jesus respond in Mark 9:27? What do the disciples ask in Mark 9:28? And what does Jesus say in Mark 9:29?

What is impressive about Jesus’s disciples? Mark 9:14–29 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus Himself if the only impressiveness of His disciples. 

In this passage, we run into a problem that is not so rare, even today. There are people failing to believe in Jesus because His followers don’t seem to have special powers of their own. 

While it is true that Jesus would later give them particular “signs of an apostle” by His Holy Spirit, apparently the people thought that the disciples’ inability to cast out the demon meant that Jesus was somehow gone. Notice that they are “greatly amazed” to see Him in Mark 9:15. And notice in Mark 9:18 that the man had come with full expectation that the disciples could help. Even the disciples thought they should have been able to do it (Mark 9:28).

Sometimes, we are tempted to think this way too. We look around the church, and maybe we see a bunch of unimpressive people. Sometimes, in fact, they leave exactly the wrong impression upon us. There are people still today who see that and say, “if these are His people, then Jesus must not really exist; or, at least, He must not be a Savior worth having.”

But by this time in Mark’s gospel, we’re noticing a theme. Jesus saves by going to the cross. Jesus tells us that we have to take up our own cross. Even when He says, “all things are possible to Him who believes” in Mark 9:23, He makes it plain that this “all-things-possible” is not some kind of power that He gives us, but something that goes along with a life that consists in trusting Him:

“This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” Depending upon Jesus and denying ourselves. That’s the Christian life! Notice that Jesus didn’t pray and fast; He just commanded. He is the One unto Whom we pray and fast.

In the end, there were two people in that family who were deaf and mute. The father, spiritually so, needed Jesus’s help as much as the son did. He needed Jesus’s help to open his ears with the understanding of faith, and to open his mouth with expressions of faith.

We need that too, if we’re going to live a life of depending upon Jesus and denying ourselves. Let us learn to cry out to Him, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

In what situation in your life, do you need Jesus to give you the faith to trust that the Lord is doing and will do something wonderful for your good and His glory?

Sample prayer:  Lord, forgive us for having lower opinions of You on account of the unimpressiveness of Your people. We believe; help our unbelief! Grant that we would not seek a life of being able to do things in ourselves, but of resting upon You in all circumstances. Make us those who pray and fast unto You, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP46 “God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength” or TPH429 “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” 

2026.08.19 Hopewell @Home ▫ 1 Chronicles 17

Read 1 Chronicles 17

Questions from the Scripture text: Where was David dwelling (1 Chronicles 17:1)? To whom did he speak? What did he note about his house? What else did he observe? How does Nathan respond to him (1 Chronicles 17:2)? But then Who speaks to Nathan (1 Chronicles 17:3)? What will David not do (1 Chronicles 17:4)? What does He note about Himself (1 Chronicles 17:5)? What hasn’t He done/said (1 Chronicles 17:6)? Who has done what for whom (1 Chronicles 17:7)? And what else has He done for him (1 Chronicles 17:8)? And what will He yet do for whom (1 Chronicles 17:9-10)? Whom will YHWH raise up, when (1 Chronicles 17:11)? What will He establish? What will the offspring build (1 Chronicles 17:12)? How long will His throne be established? Where will YHWH establish Him (1 Chronicles 17:14)? What did Nathan do (1 Chronicles 17:15)? Where did David go (1 Chronicles 17:16)? Asking what? Amazed at what (1 Chronicles 17:17)? At a loss for what words (1 Chronicles 17:18)? What does he acknowledge in 1 Chronicles 17:19? How does he praise God in 1 Chronicles 17:20? At whom else does he marvel (1 Chronicles 17:21)? On what basis? What is the greatest thing YHWH has done for them (1 Chronicles 17:22)? For what does David now ask (1 Chronicles 17:23)? Unto what end (1 Chronicles 17:24)? In response to what does David pray (1 Chronicles 17:25)? What does he see that God has done (1 Chronicles 17:26)? Of what is he certain (1 Chronicles 17:27)?

Who builds what for whom? 1 Chronicles 17 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these twenty-seven verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the great endeavor of all of history is God’s building a house for Christ, which is Christ’s building a house for God. 

There is a sense in which the whole of creation and providence is about God building David a house(hold). This is because it has been His intention, from all eternity, that God the Son (cf. Romans 1:4) would become the son of David, according to the flesh (cf. Romans 1:3; Hebrews 1:5–14, Hebrews 2:14; Ephesians 1:3–5). God is the original, and that what He builds into creation and providence is for our understanding and enjoyment of Him and His gospel. 

Good, but ignorant intentions. That is what both David and Nathan have at the beginning of this passage. David is grateful. He does not think that his prosperity is his own achievement. It is precisely because he knows that it is the goodness and greatness of God that has given him his throne, his victories, and his great house (1 Chronicles 17:1), that he wishes to do something out of gratitude to God. But he has difficulty grasping the greatness of God. We all do—and will, forever! A house of cedar is not somehow more appropriate to God than tent curtains! This is a lesson that Solomon will have learned from him, by the time he finishes the temple (cf. 1 Kings 8:37). But David isn’t the only one. His suggestion sounds so good to Nathan, that he apparently doesn’t even need to pray about it (1 Chronicles 17:2). 

It is always God Who does us good, not the other way around. So David wishes to build God a house (1 Chronicles 17:4), but God has never indicated that this is something that He desires (1 Chronicles 17:4-6). Has David not understood, yet, that it is always God Who is the giver (1 Chronicles 17:7-9)? This is true, not only for David, but for Israel as a whole (1 Chronicles 17:9-10a). So, it is not David who will build God a house (1 Chronicles 17:4), but God Who will build David a house (1 Chronicles 17:10b). 

The true house. David’s house of cedar, as big and sturdy and beautiful as it was, would end up on the rubbish heap of history. The true house would be the kingdom of Christ. By referring to a Seed/Offspring in 1 Chronicles 17:11, rather than a Son, God ties the promise of verse 11 to Genesis 3:15, Genesis 22:18, etc.. Amazingly, David’s house and God’s house are going to end up being the same house! David thought he already had a house (1 Chronicles 17:1), but now he learns that he really doesn’t, yet, because his true house is the one that the Lord is going to build for him (1 Chronicles 17:10b). The One Who builds the house in 1 Chronicles 17:12 cannot be Solomon, because Solomon’s throne is not forever (verse 12b, 1 Chronicles 17:14). 

So the house that God builds for David (1 Chronicles 17:10b), and the house that David’s Seed builds for God (1 Chronicles 17:12) is the same house! Solomon does enjoy some fulfillment of the promise in 1 Chronicles 17:13. 2 Samuel 7:14 refers to Solomon, specifically (Christ has no iniquity of His own!), but 1 Chronicles 17 leaves that portion out. By the time of 1 Chronicles, Solomon is long gone, so the focus here is almost exclusively and entirely upon Christ. This is just so for us. In all of His work in gathering and perfecting the church, God is fulfilling the promise made in this chapter. What seems mundane at first: the ins and outs of daily discipleship in the family, and weekly discipleship in the assembly, ought to shine to us with great gospel glory, in the light of this chapter.

Overflowing praise, gratitude, and confident prayer. Therefore, we learn from David, in 1 Chronicles 17:16-27, how we should be responding to God’s promise and fulfillment in what He does in our families, congregations, and the broader church. What are we, and our houses, in and of ourselves (1 Chronicles 17:16)? Nothing! But, in this promise and fulfillment, we see the greatness of His love and grace toward us (1 Chronicles 17:19). And, in this promise and fulfillment, we learn how to pray for better things than we would have asked otherwise (1 Chronicles 17:21-23)—let us learn to draw our prayers from His promises! And, in this promise and fulfillment, we learn God’s own pleasure, for the manner in which He would magnify His Name—magnifying Himself as our own covenant God (1 Chronicles 17:24). And, in this promise and fulfillment, we learn to pray with the confidence of those who are asking for what cannot fail.

How, in history, has God been fulfilling the promises of this chapter? How has He been doing so in your life and your family’s life? How has He been doing so in your congregation? How are you responding to this? How are you praying and laboring, in light of what He has promised?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we thank You and praise You for the house that You are still building for David. And, we thank You and praise You for the house that Christ is building for You. We confess that we have often been more impressed with our personal, earthly endeavors. And, we have often been more invested in our personal, earthly endeavors. So, we have not been sufficiently interested in the progress of Christ’s kingdom, and we have not been sufficiently invested in the progress of Christ’s kingdom. In fact, we have sometimes thought of things like “cultural influence” as the advancement of that kingdom, rather than Your gathering and perfecting Your saints. Make us to remember that it is You Who are the great giver, not we. And forgive us for all of our earthly-mindedness. Give us to do even our earthly endeavors with a heavenly mindedness that rejoices over Your building of Your house, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP96A “O Sing a New Song” or TPH100B “All People That on Earth Do Dwell” 

2026.08.18 Hopewell @Home ▫ Job 13:1–19

Read Job 13:1–19

Questions from the Scripture text: In what is Job equal to his friends (Job 13:1-2)? With Whom would he rather speak (Job 13:3)? Why (Job 13:4)? What would be the wises thing for them to say (Job 13:5)? Whom should they hear instead (Job 13:6)? What is wrong with their own speech (Job 13:7)? In what way (Job 13:8)? What should they consider (Job 13:9)? What is their status before God (Job 13:10-11)? How useful is their counsel (Job 13:12)? To whom should they listen instead (Job 13:13)? What would following their counsel be like doing (Job 13:14)? What will he do instead (Job 13:15)? Whom does this make to be his salvation (Job 13:16)? What should his friends do (Job 13:17)? So that they, also, might have what outcome (Job 13:18)? To Whom, will he now directly turn his attention (Job 13:19)?

What should legalists do? Job 13:1–19 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these nineteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that legalists should shut their mouths and listen to those whose hope is not in personal performance but in the God of grace. 

The counsel of each of Job’s three friends have struck the same chord: repent well enough, and you will be blessed. They have grounded this false idea upon the truth of God’s justice and righteousness—a truth that Job knows just as well as any of them (Job 13:1-2), but a truth which leads him to the opposite conclusion than they. 

Job’s only hope is in the God of grace Himself (Job 13:3, Job 13:15-16). The reality of God’s justice and holiness is one that should have terrified the friends for themselves (Job 13:9, Job 13:11). The idea that one could repent well enough to merit blessing from Him is a worthless lie (Job 13:4) that speaks wickedly of God (Job 13:7), as if someone could be good enough for Him (Job 13:8). Legalism makes too little of God’s law and justice, and too much of our ability. With legalism as their “wisdom,” it would have been wiser to say nothing at all (Job 13:5, Job 13:12-13a), and to listen to Job speak instead (Job 13:6, Job 13:13b, Job 13:17). 

And what would they hear Job say? That it is folly to wager his life upon his own repentance (Job 13:14). That, regardless of what he might receive from God’s hand, the only defense that he has before God (Job 13:15b) is God Himself (verse 15a). That he refuses to pretend to be good enough for God (Job 13:16b), as his friends purport to be, but that God Himself is his salvation (verse 16a). With God as his hope, Job is confident of being vindicated (Job 13:18), so he hastens now to address God Himself (Job 13:19).

When you consider the eternal outcome of your soul, what is your hope? In what circumstances, where you have been the one talking, would it have been wiser for you to be silent? 

Sample prayer:  Lord, You are God Almighty, Whose divine nature is on display in the things that You have made. We praise You for Your wisdom, power, justice and holiness! And we thank You have announced to us what we could not have known from the creation: Your gospel of grace. You alone are our trust! You alone are our salvation! So, receive us now, in Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And grant unto us to worship You, not from what is from within us, but from that which is in us from Him, by His grace, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH433 “Amazing Grace!”