Julie
These first two chapters are genealogies, taking us from Adam to Abraham and then through the line of David. These might be good reference chapters as we continue to read to figure out who belongs where within the genealogies.
David seems to be asking for God's protection during one of the times that he was constantly being treated poorly by others. One thing that stood out to me in this is that he prayed for all of them with love in his heart regardless of how they were treating him. That is something to remember...
Michelle
Yes this seems to be a good reference. It was a little hard to follow toward the end. The preface to this book I found interesting. It reads, "The Chronicles were written for a people in the process of rebuilding - rebuilding their walls, their temple, their country, their lives. Judgement and exile were their most recent memories, and even at this point they were still subject to Persia. They had once been God's people, but now, with the exile over and the time for rebuilding begun, would he take them back? Would he even want them back? Remember, the Chronicler seems to say. Remember your past. These people in your family tree are more than just dusty old names. They are a part of you. Their choices are what created your history, and it is your history that shapes your present. You would do well to learn from them. You would do well to learn all you possible can." In the side note is says the audience is the people of Judah who had returned from exile in Babylonia. What I find interesting is the reference to history. How we must learn from our past, good and bad, to do better in our future. If only we could see this in action now. It has made me think though that we might not be in the minority in our thinking, but evil people and actions appear much louder than good most of the time. If we think about it the negative always stands out more than the positive, no matter how we want it to be. So we have to work harder to maintain the good and follow God so that it will, at some point in time, be more noticeable and prevalent. One of the questions in the preface also made me think that God was at the point of deciding if we should continue to be his people, although I don't believe that to be the case as God has shown time and again that he is with you no matter what, we need only turn to him instead of to others or to evil. The right path is usually the harder one.
There is a part in the psalm where it seems that David is asking God do let bad things happen to his enemies. He is also praying that God rescues him from these attackers and that David will praise him always.
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