David Bahn – Reflections

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These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are 1 Chronicles 6-8, Psalm 119:1-24.

Psalm 119:9-16

How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By guarding it according to your word.
¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you;
    let me not wander from your commandments!
¹¹ I have stored up your word in my heart,
    that I might not sin against you.
¹² Blessed are you, O LORD;
    teach me your statutes!
¹³ With my lips I declare
    all the rules of your mouth.
¹⁴ In the way of your testimonies I delight
    as much as in all riches.
¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts
    and fix my eyes on your ways.
¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes;
    I will not forget your word.

Names. Names. Names. More names. Names only a mother could love. Or a father – or our Father in heaven. These chapters of 1 Chronicles are not going to end up on many people’s “Most Favorite Bible Chapters” list. But there they are. Name after name, after name – with very little commentary throughout.

I’m guessing, however, that Levi, Aaron, and Issachar – among all the others – might be very interested in those names. They might have read the Chronicler’s account with keen interest. And if not they, then certainly their children and grandchildren would have. They might have remembered crazy Uncle Shimron (1 Chronicles 7:1) or Aunt Maacah (1 Chronicles 7:15). And who could forget great-great-great grandfather Aaron? Or great-great-great grandmother Miriam (1 Chronicles 6:3)?

Diane was recently filling in some family history. She wanted to know the birthdates of her grandparents on her dad’s side. In our hall hangs a large framed Bahn/Grimm family tree with names dating back to the 1600s in Germany. There’s even a Schwartzkopf in the bunch – am I related to the famous General Schwarzkopf? (Yes, I know: slightly different spelling.)

Those names matter – at least to us. They tell a story. They connect us to something bigger than ourselves. They remind us that we are part of a history that did not begin with us.

The same is true – even more so – with the names in Scripture. They are not filler. They are not accidental. They are part of the story God is telling – a story of promise, preservation, and fulfillment. Each name is a thread in the fabric that ultimately leads to Jesus. They anchor Jesus in the history of Israel and in the history of our world.

We’ll be reading Psalm 119 over the next days. This psalm celebrates the Word of the LORD in all its richness – every line, every promise, every command. Not just the familiar parts, but the whole of it. Even the sections we might be tempted to skim are included for a reason. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). That light does not shine only in the obvious places, but across the whole of God’s Word.

So even here – in the long lists of names – the LORD is at work. He is reminding us that his promises unfold in real lives, across generations, in ways both ordinary and remarkable. And he is inviting us not simply to look for what seems most interesting, but to trust that all of his word is given for our good.

Click on the graphic below to watch the Bible Project video summary of the book of 1 Chronicles (we’ll get to 2 Samuel later this May in our reading program).