to speak in praise of

IChron23 begins with something that seems so routine, you miss it. Especially when you're in a book like Chron where names upon names and numbers upon numbers pass by, and the detail between one and the others blurs. The start of IChron23 is like that -- David and another census and a division of labor.

Census? Division of labor? Sign me up for that party!

But flippantly skimming the first half-dozen v's would make you miss the actual labor division. 4K men have a very specific task, and that task according to v5 is "praising the Lord with the instruments which David made for giving praise."

This v is amazing for two reasons. One, you have a set of instruments whose only purpose, whose only use is strictly for worship. You can imagine a king like David assigning his best craftsmen with a roomful of solid gold the task of creating the finest instruments known to man. And these were kept and polished and tuned and protected. And only used in worship.

Secondly, you have very specific directions that 4,000 men -- that's four thousand -- are charged with the task of leading worship or just worshipping. This is a king with priorities. And those priorities include designating and specifying a worship team. And those priorities include clearly delineating the central role of worship in services to God.

Churches, you can be hardhearted, too. And sticking stubbornly to ways of yore and resisting the drawing close makes you no better than the unbelievers: seated, quiet, and no closer to God.