Written by Asaph, Psalm 73 is one that particularly stands out for me. Asaph says he "almost slipped" because of envy. "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." (Psalm 73:2-3) He talks about how the wicked have no struggles, are free from common human burdens, have callous hearts, live carefree lives and keep on amassing wealth. He even says "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence." (Psalm 73:13) How often have we all felt like this. It seems like everyone in the marketplace succeeds through deception and wickedness, and what do we get from trying to maintain godly ethics?. But in the middle of this Psalm, Asaph says he felt this way until "I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny" (Psalm 73:17) When Asaph was looking at earthly gain, he felt envious, however, when he brought himself near the LORD, he realized how "senseless and ignorant" his thinking was. He later says the "earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:25-26)

Of the three family of musicians, only the descendants of Asaph are listed as returning from Babylonian captivity. The musicians: the descendants of Asaph 128 (Ezra 2:41)

	Passage: 1 Chronicles 6 On Sunday, May 12, 2013 (Last Updated on 7/2/2022), Yujin wrote, Now these are those whom David appointed over the service of song in the house of the Lord, after the ark rested there (1 Chronicles 6:31). There is no command that I know of in the Law of Moses requiring David to establish this musical entourage to praise God in the house of the LORD. Yet, David does so to not leave this aspect of worship in the nation to chance. Certainly, there are several occasions of spontaneous singing and celebration. For example, Moses, Miriam and Aaron led the whole congregation of Israel in song for God's deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians through the Red Sea. Recall, David danced and sang before the LORD when the ark was being brought to Jerusalem. Yet, by commissioning singers and musicians, whose expressed job it was to lead the people in praising the LORD, David, this "man after God's own heart" was expressing His devotion to the LORD and his desire to leave a legacy of worship. In the New Testament, there are not many examples of singing. For example, the disciples sang a hymn after celebrating the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-30). Yet, it is commanded: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:18-20). Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:14-17). Friends, I am surprised to hear that only a few children in the church actively participate in worship. It appears only a few know the songs and even fewer sing. This is not good. I also know the parents of the few children that actively participate in worship. These parents both encourage and teach praise songs to their children at home. They always play these songs at their home, in their car, and sing them together as a family. The Bible commands us as parents to instruct our children: Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.. (Ephesians 6:4). Their failure to actively worship God in song may simply reflect our failure, as parents, to model and teach them. I am more impressed to see a child worshipping the LORD sincerely from their heart than if I were to hear them playing Beethoven, or winning soccer games, or achieving high academic marks. Shouldn't we at least give as much time in teaching our children how to worship as we do with these other things? If you are wondering, as parents, what you can do, here is what we, as a family, recently began doing. I determined to begin a daily quiet time with my daughter when she turned four, which was recently. First, I determined a time and place. We chose a time right after lunch. We chose our living room as the place. But the TV was off. The radio was off. So, no distractions. We begin with a couple of praise songs. I use YouTube to find a list of praise songs for children (with lyrics), which I select and put into a playlist. We continue to learn new songs and repeat old ones with the goal of not only singing praise to God but also of learning these songs by heart. We read one or two chapters from the Bible. I use the YouVersion Bible App for this because it has a really nice-sounding reader reading the chapters. But, of course, you can also read the Bible aloud youself. I give a brief and simple explanation of the content and significance of what we read. I have a small dry erase board I like to use to make our discussion a bit more fun and interesting. I always try to review and reinforce what was read in the previous chapters, so that we can remember what we learned before and get a sense of the continuity of biblical history. Then, we pray in turn. One day, I pray. One day, my wife prays. Then, my child prays. This all takes about thirty minutes. My hope is to expand the time as our child gets older. What is more, when I'm not at home, like today (I'm writing this in Arizona), my wife leads our child in the quiet time. I believe consistency is very important. My hope and prayer is that doing this day after day and year after year will instill in my baby daughter's heart this most significant disciplne of daily studying God's Word and worshipping Him. Then, when she is older, by God's grace, she will continue this habit on her own and then lead her children in the same.

	Passage: 1 Chronicles 6 On Thursday, May 12, 2011, Unmi wrote, The Temple musicians are specifically mentioned by name with their genealogy. Heman, Asaph and Ethan were the chief musicians, appointed by King David. Along with David himself, it was these three men who wrote many of the Psalms. Written by Asaph, Psalm 73 is one that particularly stands out for me. Asaph says he "almost slipped" because of envy. "But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." (Psalm 73:2-3) He talks about how the wicked have no struggles, are free from common human burdens, have callous hearts, live carefree lives and keep on amassing wealth. He even says "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence." (Psalm 73:13) How often have we all felt like this. It seems like everyone in the marketplace succeeds through deception and wickedness, and what do we get from trying to maintain godly ethics?. But in the middle of this Psalm, Asaph says he felt this way until "I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny" (Psalm 73:17) When Asaph was looking at earthly gain, he felt envious, however, when he brought himself near the LORD, he realized how "senseless and ignorant" his thinking was. He later says the "earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:25-26) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith...(Hebrews 12:2) Of the three family of musicians, only the descendants of Asaph are listed as returning from Babylonian captivity. The musicians: the descendants of Asaph 128 (Ezra 2:41)

	Passage: 1 Chronicles 6 On Thursday, May 13, 2010, Matt wrote, As I was going cross-eyed reading all these names, I wondered if there was a biblical family tree of the major characters of the bible. I thought I would share a couple of the websites I found. This link tracks the major characters up to the Exile. I like this one because it gives a lot more information besides who's related to who: http://www.d.umn.edu/~jbelote/bible2.html This link traces the entire Messianic line but is a little buggy and not as user-friendly as the one above: http://complete-bible-genealogy.com/family_tree/jesus_christ_2684.htm Anyone else have any good biblical family tree references? Yujin comments... Matt, this is a wonderful genealogical tree of biblical characters, and as I peruse it, particularly the first one, it appears quite comprehensive. Great find!