First Chronicles 15:14

The Bible says in First Chronicles 15:14-25, “So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel.[15] And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.[16] And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.[17] So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;[18] And with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the porters.[19] So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;[20] And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth;[21] And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel.[22] And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skilful.[23] And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark.[24] And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark.[25] So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obed-edom with joy.” David understood the importance of music in worshipping the Lord and in serving the Lord. He was the sweet Psalmist of Israel. The Psalms were written in order to sing them. That is why the book of Psalms is perhaps the most spiritual of the books of the Old Testament and the Psalms are the part of the Old Testament that are most like the New Testament. Christians are told to sing the Psalms in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

The Bible says in First Chronicles 15:26-29, “And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.[27] And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen.[28] Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps.[29] And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.” Bringing the ark to Jerusalem was a significant event. The celebration was great. There was singing, there was joy, there was shouting, there was worship of God, there was the sound of music, and there was dancing. And then something terrible happened. It says in verse twenty-nine that “Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.” Michal was David’s wife, but she became his enemy by her choice. That must have been a terrible blow to David, having the woman that he loved turning on him like that. Of course, that was the end of their relationship. It takes two people to make a marriage work, but only one to destroy it.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 16:1-6, “So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before God.[2] And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD.[3] And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.[4] And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:[5] Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals;[6] Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.” Once again we are told that David made it a time of great celebration when the ark was brought to Jerusalem. There was singing and there was dancing and there were musical instruments and there was food. There was also thanking and praising God. Many people have celebrations with music and dancing, but how many add what should be added: thanking and praising God. In verse four it says that David told the Levites to “to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel.”

And then David wrote a Psalm to commemorate that day also. It says in First Chronicles 16:7-15, “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.[8] Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people.[9] Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.[10] Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.[11] Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.[12] Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;[13] O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.[14] He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.[15] Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;” In verse seven notice that it says that “David delivered first this psalm to thank the LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren.” David wrote down the Psalm and gave it to Asaph, and so we see that Asaph was charged with collecting the Psalms and putting them together into the book that we now call the Psalms. God used many people in many ways to give us the Bible and to preserve it for all generations. Verse eight tells believers to do three things: (1) Be thankful, (2) Call upon his name, and (3) Tell others about the Lord. We have a lot for which to be thankful, starting with Jesus coming to die for our sins, and ending with His promise of returning and setting all things straight. God wants us to call upon His name because He loves hearing from us. That is why He created us: so we would know Him and love Him and have a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. Having a relationship involves talking with someone.

Verse nine tells us to sing, tells us what to sing, and tells us to talk as well as sing. Singing is an important part of worshipping the Lord. Songs are powerful. Songs can express love and devotion as no other medium. That is why singing is one of the important aspects of a Christian church. Sing to the Lord and sing about the Lord. And when you leave a church gathering, take the songs with you so you can sing them throughout the day. The songs will help you to stay controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Psalms were meant to be sung. There is a great song based upon Psalm 23. There is a song from years ago based upon Psalm 48. Singing the Psalms is a great way to praise God. One of the reasons that the Christian songs are so wonderful is that they are based upon Scripture.

Verses ten and eleven tell us to “Seek the LORD.” That is a very important commandment. What are you looking for? What do you want and what do you desire? We ought to desire a closer walk with Christ. We ought to desire to live by faith in Him every moment of every day. That means to be trusting in Him for everything that comes our way. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.” Why are not more people walking close to the Lord? That is because they do not seek Him. They are finding exactly what they are looking for.

Verse twelve tells us, “Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth.” How will we know about the marvelous works that God has done? We will know from reading about them in the Bible, and so make sure that you read the Bible. We will know about the marvelous works of the Lord when we recognize and understand what He has done in our lives. And also we will know about the marvelous works of the Lord in other people’s lives. That is one of the values of Christian fellowship as we gather together in a local congregation: we hear the stories of other Christians and what the Lord has done for them. To “remember” means to think about: it means to call back to your mind certain thoughts: thoughts that Jesus can do anything, thoughts that Jesus answers prayer, thoughts that God will fight our enemies for us, thoughts that God gives victory, thoughts that God has a purpose in all things.

Notice at the end of verse fourteen that David says, “his judgments are in all the earth.” The word “all” means “all.” No one escapes God’s dealings in his or her life. It is His world. Every life is in His hands. He sees, He knows, and He decides what will happen based upon His own private plans and will. Of course, we do not always know why He has done what He has done, but we should be able to see and to know that it is God at work in the world. Praise God for what He is doing.

Notice the last phrase of verse fifteen, “the word which he commanded to a thousand generations.” David spoke about the Word that God has given. That Word is the Bible. God has not only given His Word, but He has preserved His Word. Of course, the Word will last to a thousand generations and beyond. Why would God give His Word and then not preserve it? Of course, He preserved it. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Some people (who are called theologians) try to understand with their minds all of the details of how we have the Bible today. Most of the theologians go down the wrong path that leads them to wrong conclusions. They try an intellectual path that ends up being vain and foolish because they forget this important truth: God preserved His Word for all generations. No one can tell you all the details of how He did it (how God used a certain scribe and when God used them,) but God did it. He gave His Word and He preserved His Word. If you do not believe that, you are part of the problem of people who call themselves Christian but who do not have faith in the absolute veracity of the written Word of God. It is true, it is reliable, and it is perfect. If you do not believe that, what faith and confidence can you have that what you just read in the Bible is true? Do not let your faith be based upon human intelligence. That is not faith.

David continues with his Psalm and the Bible says in First Chronicles 16:16-18, “Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;[17] And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,[18] Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.” One of the important things that we find in God’s Word are His promises. God always keeps His promises. His promises are great and wonderful and eternal.

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