March 22, 2021: Day 16 – I Chronicles 12

There was joy in Israel.  This is the closest that we get to a narrative in all of the chapter so far.  I know that it has seemed a very cold rendition of the families and the numbers who composed Israel, but there is always more to a story than just the names behind them.  The names represent families and we all know that families contain stories.  David was approached by all sorts of different families who wanted to show their support to him when Saul was seeking his life.  There were others who sided with the Philistines who were also going after Saul, but at that point David had to back out, or was asked to back out, because he could not be seen as going after his own king.  Not really what God wanted him to do.

Even while he was amassing his troops, and this is really what this account is about, David amassing his troops, there was still joy in Israel.  You will find in vs.38-40 an account of the feasts that they were having and yet all the while in theory they were ready for battle.  David apparently knew how to entertain and he drew to him people who were both good soldiers and good entertainers.  All of Israel was of a single mind to make David King.  All of Israel minus Saul and his men, I suppose.