King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2026
Chapters: I Chronicles 20, Psalms 32, 86, 122
Message: I Chronicles: David Takes The Crown
Hello My Friend,
Yesterday upon listing to the church service, the preacher pointed out something that I found quite interesting. He said that we as Christians always focus on Christ being in us but rarely do we focus on us being in Him. Jesus, said it this way, [John 17:20-22 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:]
Then I read this from Charles Spurgeon today, “Christ’s throne, crown, sceptre, palace, treasure, robes, heritage, are yours. Far superior to the jealousy, selfishness, and greed, which admit of no participation of their advantages, Christ deems his happiness completed by his people sharing it. “The glory which thou gavest me have I given them.” “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” The smiles of his Father are all the sweeter to him, because his people share them.”
Clearly, God has something to say to us, we are one in Christ and that is something that we ought not take lightly. This is the promise from God, the Father Himself, that goes beyond avoiding hell through our faith in His Son alone. That in itself ought to be enough to rejoice about, but God did not stop there. In fact, Jesus Himself, praying to His Father, prayed that we would be as He is, meaning, a child of God, one in the same Spirit, perfect and unblemished. When our Father looks at us, He sees His Son. As we continue in the reading of the Psalms, we are reminded that all who call upon the name of the LORD are heard by their Father.
[Psalms 86:1-7 A Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. 3 Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. 4 Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. 6 Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.]
David, understood all too well just how important it was to call upon the LORD daily. This is not the same as seeking repentance for our salvation, that is something that is one and done. Calling upon the LORD daily is what keeps us out of trouble. As we return to the reading of I Chronicles, it also gives the account of the battle between Israel and Ammon, but does not go into detail about David’s transgressions with Bathsheba and Uriah.
[I Chronicles 20:1-3 And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it. 2 And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David’s head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city. 3 And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.]
David, showed up after the event with Ammon, which we learned yesterday, and here is a recap, [II Samuel 10:7,14,17-18 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men. 14 And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem. 17 And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him. 18 And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.]
Incidentally, the crown that David placed upon his head weighed nearly one hundred and twenty‑five pounds. It was set upon him only for a moment, a symbolic act declaring that Ammon was now fully subdued under Israel’s authority. Yet even in this victory, we are reminded that sin carries consequences long after forgiveness has been granted, [Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.]
God removes our guilt, but does not always remove the chastening to come, and when we continue to dwell on our past failures, we often make the chastening much heavier than God intended it to be. This is exactly what we will see in David’s life. Nevertheless, even in the midst of his chastening, God did not abandon him. Watch how, even though the wars never ceased again, God, enabled Israel to rise again and defeat the Philistines.
[I Chronicles 20:5-8 And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver’s beam. 6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant. 7 But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him. 8 These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.]
God is not out to punish us for every sin, and if He were, we would never experience a moment of rest. His desire is not to crush us but to transform our heart, shaping it so that our affections remain fixed upon Him. When our heart is anchored in His ways, the desires of the flesh lose their appeal, and we learn to walk in the freedom that His Spirit provides, [II Corinthians 7:11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
Once we receive Christ as our Saviour, we possess a salvation that is permanent because we have repented, meaning turned our thinking away from the fact our own righteousness cannot save us from the burning pit of hell. From that moment forward, the chastening we experience is not a threat to our salvation but a vital part of us becoming one in Christ. If we are indulging in some sin and have not repented of that, meaning turned away from it, then the suffering will continue until we do repent. God allows that discomfort so that our heart will be like His Son’s. The moment repentance is sincere, the matter is settled. We are not only forgiven; the sin is removed completely from God’s thoughts. David understood this truth deeply.
[Psalms 32:1-5 A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.]
The longer you walk with Christ the more you realize that you cannot sin and not confess and repent of it to God because it will eat you up from the inside out until you do. The Holy Spirit inside of us will not allow us to rest comfortably in disobedience. Even if you must come to Him a hundred times in a single day, seeking forgiveness with a sincere desire to turn from that sin, He will receive every confession, [I John 1:7-9 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.]
There is so much truth to this, if we are living in sin, and I am talking about knowingly doing something that is immoral and goes against God’s Word, then the truth is not in us and we will suffer for it. God’s mercy does not wear thin, and His patience does not run out for those who come to Him honestly and sincerely. It is the Holy Spirit in us that purges us away from that sin one confession at a time.
[Psalms 32:6-10 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. 7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. 9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. 10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.]
That is not an exaggeration, there will come a day when people will seek the LORD and He will not be found. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Jesus, did not die to save us so that we could fulfill every lust of our flesh, banking on our salvation to keep us from suffering. If we honestly and sincerely receive Him as our Saviour, then the Holy Spirit will work in us to instruct us and teach us in the ways of God. We ought to be asking God daily what He would have for us to do, [Psalms 86:9-12 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. 10 For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. 12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.]
While sin truly does affect those around us, each one of us remains responsible before God for our own salvation and for the consequences that arise from our own choices. Yet even in this, God is faithful. His hand in all that we do, even if we have messed up, time and time again. His assistance will help us overcome and be a testimony for those who are struggling.
[Psalms 86:13-17 For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. 14 O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. 15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. 16 O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. 17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.]
Before we knew Christ as our Saviour, we were enslaved to our sin, the world, and whatever we turned to for hope and comfort. While we may found temporary hope and comfort, it did not last because it was only to please our flesh. The hope and comfort that the world offers never lasts, leaving in an endless cycle searching for it again and again. However, the cycle ends once we receive Christ, [Romans 8:24-26 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.]
That word holpen means to protect or secure. When we stop searching for that temporal hope, we will not only find that eternal hope and comfort, we find safety in the arms of Jesus. With Jesus we do not need to seek the things of the world to bring us hope and comfort as He is all we need, [I Peter 3:15-16 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.]
I was watching an old television program in which a priest asked a man if he believed. The man replied that he believed in God, but he did not believe in rules that tell you how to live. This is a common misconception, especially for those who grew up in religion. People often mistake man’s religion for Jesus Himself, yet the two are not the same. If salvation depended on religious systems alone, no one would ever be saved, for religion cannot reveal Christ to the heart. Only Christ can open our eyes to truth. David understood this. His heart delighted in the mercies and forgiveness of God, and he longed for all his brethren to experience the same joy, the same peace, and the same freedom that come from walking closely with the Lord.
[Psalms 122:1-9 A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. 2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: 4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD. 5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. 7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. 8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. 9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.]
Do you truly think that God desires His people to live shut away in a bubble, or to spend their days in misery, tortured endlessly for their sins? He does not. His heart is to bless His children with peace, with prosperity of soul, and with an abundant life even now, as we await the far greater life that awaits us in His Kingdom.
[Hebrews 6:7-10 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercy, no matter what I do or how many times I mess up, You still love me and are merciful to me. I know that my heart is not always one hundred percent on You, life has a way of doing that, but I know that You can change my heart because You have already, and continue to do so. You already gotten me this far, I know that I am forgiven, and that I have the hope of Your Kingdom to look forward to. Lord, I do want to live a life that is pleasing to You, and one that shows Your Son in me, open my heart, remove anything from it that hardens it to You. Fill me with Your grace, never let it depart from me so that I may walk in Your Spirit and not in my flesh. Teach me Your will for my life and help me to walk in Your truths continually so that my heart never sways. And continue to use me to be a testimony to teach others Your truths. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/ready-to-follow-jesus/
Read Previous Devotions: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Read The Bible: https://kingjamesbible.imfollowingjesus.com/
Visit I’m Following Jesus: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/welcome/
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2026 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.