First
Chronicles 16:19
David
continues with his Psalm and the Bible says in First
Chronicles 16:19-22, When ye were but few,
even a few, and strangers in it.[20] And when they went from nation to
nation, and from one kingdom to another people;[21] He suffered no man
to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,[22] Saying,
Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. David is talking about how well God took care of the nation
of Israel, and raised them up in this wicked world. God protected them. God
provided for them. God led them. God made a great nation out of them. In verse
twenty-one it says that God reproved kings for
their sakes. God controls everyone, including the leaders of nations.
God will make whatever change is necessary to lead and to guide and to provide
for His people. That is a great benefit to being a follower of Jesus. Of
course, David was talking about the nation of Israel. In our day and age we are
talking about the entire kingdom of God that is made up of both Jews and
Gentiles who all believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers want to have a
testimony for the Lord, so they can be part of the work of building up the kingdom.
David continues with his Psalm and the Bible says in First Chronicles 16:23-29, Sing
unto the LORD, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation.[24]
Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations.[25]
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above
all gods.[26] For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD
made the heavens.[27] Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and
gladness are in his place.[28] Give unto the LORD, ye kindreds of the
people, give unto the LORD glory and strength.[29] Give unto the LORD
the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship
the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The first phrase of verse twenty-three is Sing unto the LORD. Christian singing is not done
so that people can hear you, but should be from the heart to the Lord. The Lord
wants us to praise Him in song. But not just the Christians. God wants all the earth to praise Him. Everyone on the
planet should get saved through faith in Christ, and start praising God. That
is Gods will for every person. We should praise Him from
day to day. That means every day. And we should praise Him about
salvation. Once you are saved, you can never lose your salvation. You can
lose everything else, but not your salvation. You belong to Jesus and He is
going to take you to heaven. Do you need any other reason to praise Him in
song? Verse twenty-four says, Declare his glory
among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. The Lord
wants everyone to be saved and to go to heaven, and so He wants Christians to
tell everyone about this great salvation. Verse twenty-six is making an obvious
point: there is only one God, and people need to worship the one true God
through the Son of God, not the false gods of false religions. It says, For all the gods of the people are idols: but the LORD
made the heavens. There is only One Creator. He has all power. He has
all glory: the glory of God. We should give Him glory through our praise, and
we should be thankful for His great power. That power is made available to us
through prayer. Notice the phrase at the end of verse twenty-seven: strength and gladness are in his place. There is
a connection between the power of God and your happiness. The more that you
truly believe in the power of God being made available to you, the happier that
you will be. You will have the same confidence as Paul who said, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.
Of course, the Lord does not just want us to believe: He wants our lives to be
changed. That is why it says at the end of verse twenty-eight, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.
David continues with his Psalm and the Bible says in First Chronicles 16:30-33, Fear
before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not
moved.[31] Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let
men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth.[32] Let the sea roar, and
the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.[33]
Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because
he cometh to judge the earth. God created the earth and everything that is on it. That is
proof of His great power. We should fear Him because He can do anything, and
you do not want to get on His bad side. Verse thirty makes an important point
about this earth that God has made: the world also
shall be stable, that it be not moved. There is a tremendous stability
built into the world. One season follows another year after year. Some winters
are colder than others and some summers are hotter than others, but they keep
on keeping on. That is because God created this world for His purposes and He
keeps the world going. Be careful of any theory that lends itself to the
following emotion: The sky is falling. The sky is falling. The world is going
to end soon. The world is going to end because of this disaster or that
disaster No, it is not. It is going to keep on keeping on because there is a
God, or as it says at the end of verse thirty-one, let
men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth. We should join the sea,
and the fields, and the trees; and rejoice in this great truth about God. But it
will all end one day because there is a God. Because there is a God, there will
be a judgment. The judgment is coming. It says at the end of verse
thirty-three, he cometh to judge the earth.
If you are not ready for the judgment, turn to Jesus and call upon His name. It
says in Romans 10:13, Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved.
King David continues with his Psalm and the Bible says in First Chronicles 16:34-36, O
give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.[35]
And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and
deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and
glory in thy praise.[36] Blessed be the LORD God of Israel for ever and
ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the LORD. In verse thirty-one David gives two reasons to be thankful:
God is good and God is merciful. God is good and God is everywhere. That means
that good can be found everywhere. Some people always see evil and never see
good. Open your eyes and see the good. What happened to me yester-year: good.
What does the future hold for me: a lot of good. Life is good because God is
good. God is also merciful, very merciful. He forgives sins. He loves sinners.
He loves to forgive and show mercy. He sent Jesus to die for us so that we
could be forgiven and taste His great mercy. And because of His great mercy, we
can have the salvation that is mentioned in verse thirty-five. If you have
salvation, you will go to heaven instead of the other place that they say is
very hot. Notice that David asked for salvation. He said, Save us, O God of our salvation. It says in
Romans 10:13, Whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved. The name of the Lord is Jesus. Once we are
saved, we know how to give thanks, and we will thank Him for ever and
ever.
The Bible says in First Chronicles
16:37-43, So he left there before the ark
of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark
continually, as every day's work required:[38] And Obed-edom with their
brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to
be porters:[39] And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests,
before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon,[40]
To offer burnt offerings unto the LORD upon the altar of the burnt offering
continually morning and evening, and to do according to all that is written in
the law of the LORD, which he commanded Israel;[41] And with them Heman
and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to
give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth for ever;[42] And
with them Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those that should
make a sound, and with musical instruments of God. And the sons of Jeduthun
were porters.[43] And all the people departed every man to his house:
and David returned to bless his house. It says in verse thirty-seven that people were appointed to minister before the ark continually, as every day's
work required. Once in a while we have a celebration and once in a
while we have a unique and life-changing spiritual experience. But most of the
time we must go through our daily routine. Make sure that you have a daily
routine that keeps you focused on the Lord Jesus and on His Word. In verse
forty notice that it tells us of the burnt
offering continually morning and evening. Animals were constantly
killed and sacrificed at the temple. Why constantly: because those sacrifices
were symbolic of what Christ would do on the cross, and believers need a
constant reminder of how much we owe the Lord. Also, the blood of animals could
never take away sin, and thus had to be done constantly. The blood of Christ
was shed once for all.
In verse forty-one the people were told to give thanks to the LORD, because his mercy endureth
for ever. We can always be thankful for His great mercy. We always need
His mercy because we never arrive at the point of being everything we ought to
be, and we are still sinners. Always believe in the mercy of God. He forgives,
and He will forgive you over and over again because of His great love. Rely
upon His mercy. He invites you to do that. It says in First John 1:7, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanses us from all sin. After telling us to be thankful for the mercy
of God, we are also told the importance of music in the worship of God. It says
in the next verse, with trumpets and cymbals for
those that should make a sound, and with musical instruments of God.
Never underestimate the importance of the right kind of music in knowing the
Lord, in having faith in the Lord, in learning more about the Lord, and in
worshipping the Lord. It says in Ephesians 5:19, Speaking
to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord;
The Bible says in First Chronicles
17:1-7, Now it came to pass, as David sat
in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, Lo, I dwell in an house of
cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD remaineth under curtains.[2]
Then Nathan said unto David, Do all that is in thine heart; for God is with
thee.[3] And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came
to Nathan, saying,[4] Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the LORD,
Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in:[5] For I have not dwelt in
an house since the day that I brought up Israel unto this day; but have gone
from tent to tent, and from one tabernacle to another.[6] Wheresoever I
have walked with all Israel, spake I a word to any of the judges of Israel,
whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why have ye not built me an house
of cedars?[7] Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David,
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, even from
following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: At other times God spoke to David directly. But not this
time. God gave a message to the preacher, and then David heard Gods message
from the preacher. God uses preachers to speak to His believers. That is one of
the reasons to be a part of a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church: you
need to hear Gods message from Gods man. David had a good desire: to build a
temple for God. But it was not Gods time. Later Solomon would do it. As we
seek the Lords help in our endeavors, remember that it is not only His will that
we seek, but also His time. He knows. He is God.
___________________________________________________
Copyright; 2021 by Charles
F. (Rick) Creech
All Rights Reserved