1 Chronicles 16; The Importance of Giving Thanks

PastorRodney’s Weblog

11/17 1 Chronicles 16; The Importance of Giving Thanks; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20241117_giving-thanks.mp3

Biblical Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. Long before it became a national holiday, it was a biblical tradition. We’re going to look at 1 Chronicles 16, the day King David brought the ark of the covenant of God into the city of David.

This is three months after the first attempt to bring his ark to Jerusalem, when God killed Uzzah because they transported it incorrectly.

This time,

1 Chronicles 15:2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever.

Officially Proscribed Thanksgiving

1 Chronicles 16:1 And they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD 3 and distributed to all Israel, both men and women, to each a loaf of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. 4 Then he appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. 5 Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God. 7 Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers.

Those Levites not descended from Aaron, whose primary responsibility according to Numbers 3 was the care and transportation of the tabernacle and everything associated with it, now that there was a more permanent home for the ark, were re-assigned to be worship leaders, to sing thanksgiving to the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD (1Chr.23:25-26).

We see this same kind of officially proscribed thanksgiving again under king Solomon at the dedication of the temple (2Chr.5,7), king Jehoshaphat when he sought the LORD to defeat his enemies (2Chr.20:21), king Hezekiah when he restored worship to the temple (2Chr.29:25; 31:2), under Ezra rebuilding the temple (Ezr.3:10-11) and Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem (Neh.12:24, 27, 31).

We Need Reminders of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is serious business. It must not be neglected. And we have a tendency to take every good thing for granted, do we not? We tend to get comfortable and forget where every good comes from. We are more likely to consistently find things to complain about than we are to remember things to be thankful for. Do you find this to be true in your life? We need to find ways to remind ourselves toward more consistent gratitude and worship. David and Solomon and Jehosaphat and Hezekiah and Ezra and Nehemiah appointed people to lead the congregation in worship and thanksgiving, not so the rest of Israel could relax and leave the thanksgiving to the professionals, but to lead and to remind the whole congregation toward a more consistent attitude of gratitude.

1 Chronicles 16 and Psalms

I want to look at the middle section of 1 Chronicles 16, which is the Chronicler’s mash-up and adaptation of three Psalms as an example of the kind of thanksgiving that the people were led in, and see what we can learn from it.

Verses 8-22 are the first 15 verses of Psalm 105, and the last section, verses 34-36, are the first and the last two verses of Psalm 106. Inserted between these, verses 23-33 is Psalm 96.

Psalm 105 and 106 make a pair; the first recounts the faithfulness of God throughout the history of Israel. The second is a confession of the sins of God’s people throughout their history, a recounting of their sins, God’s judgment (less than what they deserved), but ends with God responding to their cries for help and remembering his covenant and steadfast love.

In between is Psalm 96, a psalm of celebration of the King of all the world enthroned and honored by the nations.

Psalm 105:1-15

1 Chronicles 16:8 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! 11 ​Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually! 12 ​Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered, 13 O offspring of Israel his servant, children of Jacob, his chosen ones! 14 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15 Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 16 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 17 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 18 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.” 19 When you were few in number, of little account, and sojourners in it, 20 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 21 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 22 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”

Look at the imperatives; the commands to us in these verses: give thanks, call upon, make known, sing, sing, tell, glory, rejoice, seek, seek, remember, remember.

We are instructed to give thanks to YHWH, and in the next breath to call upon his name. Giving thanks is an expression of gratitude for having received some good thing, and calling on his name is a prayer for him to act on our behalf. Our emptiness and need and his gracious supply go hand in glove. Even in my gratitude, I am looking to him for more.

But this is not only upward and downward; this is also outward. We receive from the Lord and submit our requests to the Lord, but we also make known his deeds to others. Having experienced his grace, we thank him, ask for more, and tell others.

Notice the importance of singing; sing appears twice in verse 9. The Levites were appointed ‘to play harps and lyres …to sound the cymbals, …to blow trumpets regularly’ (2Chr.16:5-6). They were appointed as singers (2Chr.5:12-13), and their singing was not a performance for people. They were to sing and make loud music to him, to the Lord.

When we sing to the Lord, remember, we are singing to the Lord. We don’t have people on stage singing to you the audience, with a little bit of audience participation. We have people appointed to lead us together to sing in unison to an audience of one. And remember, making sweet melody is good, but he invites us to make a joyful noise!

We sing to him, sing praises to him, and tell of all his wondrous works. Again, we receive from him, we give praise back to him, and we tell others about him.

Glory in his holy name, rejoice! To glory or exult is an exuberant word; to be radiant, to shine, to splendidly praise, boast, be clamorously foolish, rave, or celebrate. On this occasion David danced with all his heart before the Lord, to the point that his wife scorned him as a fool. Our thanksgiving is not to be dutiful, obligatory, or half-hearted. To glory in something or someone is to have uncontainable enjoyment that spontaneously bursts out and spills over.

Verse 11 tells us twice to seek him. Seek YHWH, seek his strength, seek his face. Our thanksgiving and praise is always coupled with asking for more, desiring more of him. Not just his gifts but his person, his face, him. We want his constant presence, we want his face to shine on us. We want him.

Verse 12 invites us to remember. A failure to be thankful is a failure to remember. We have God amnesia; we ask for his gifts, expect his gifts, take his gifts, use them, and forget where they came from. We have God amnesia; we forget who he is, what he is like, his character, his nature. We forget his promises and his track record.

Remember his wondrous works, his miracles, his judgments. Look back, recall. Not only in your own personal experience, but throughout history. This Psalm reminds Israel of their privileged position, their election, that God chose them. You belong to him, you are his servant. He is YHWH our God. We belong to him and he to us. Remember that he is judge of all the earth, that he is just absolutely.

Verse 15 invites us to remember his forever covenant, his word. He bound himself by oath to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He made promises to them, and not because of how great they were or how impressed he was with them. They were few insignificant homeless wanderers, yet he protected them. Even on occasions of disobedience and lack of faith, like Abraham lying about his wife and allowing her to be taken on two different occasions; once by Pharaoh (Gen.12:17) and once by Abimelech (Gen.20:3, 7).

Psalm 96:1-13

Psalm 96 is inserted at this point:

1 Chronicles 16:23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. 24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! 25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods. 26 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place. 28 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; 30 tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved. 31 ​Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!” 32 ​Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! 33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

Again look at the imperatives; sing, tell, declare. This Psalm is addressed not only to God’s people; it is universal. The command is to all the earth; all creation has an obligation to praise its Creator. Singing again takes first place, and the singing is ‘to the LORD’. All the earth is to ‘tell of his salvation from day to day’. Our God is a rescuing God. Every day is an occasion for speaking of his salvation. If all creation is expected to tell of his salvation, how much more us, the primary recipients of his greatest work of salvation, who for us and for our salvation he sent his only Son to die on a cruel cross to bear our sins and set us free! Declare his glory, his marvelous works among the nations, among all peoples.

Verses 25-27 give reason; Why? Why sing? Why tell? Why declare? Because he is great, because he is worthy of praise, because he is to be feared. Because he is greater than all gods, he is the Creator of all. Splendid, majestic, full of strength and joy.

So ascribe, ascribe, ascribe; give him the glory he is due. Be honest, tell it like it is. Don’t steal the glory that belongs to him, don’t pretend he isn’t what he indeed really is. As recipients of his salvation, don’t try to pretend like you didn’t need saving.

Bring, come, worship, tremble. Bring an offering; don’t come empty handed, but come! Come before him; you are invited to appear before the King of all the universe! The appropriate response? Worship, tremble. He is holy, utterly unique, in a class by himself. None other is like him.

Is this the splendor of his holiness? Or is it that we are to come appropriately attired, dressed in holiness fit for the occasion? The only holiness that is fit to be in his presence is his own holiness, and because of Jesus, we are clothed in his own perfect righteousness.

Tremble before him because he is to be feared.

The Psalm invites all creation to join in worship of its Creator; the heavens and the earth articulately declare ‘the LORD reigns! The sea roars and everything in it, the field exults and everything in it (that would include the rocks and stones crying out, and remember, we were made from dirt). even the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD. The King is worthy, and he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth, and this is an occasion for trembling joy!

Psalm 106:1, 47-48

1 Chronicles 16:34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

This is a refrain found repeatedly in the Scriptures; ‘Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!’

Between verse 1 and verse 47 of Psalm 106 we find the history of unbelief, discontent, jealousy, idolatry, drawing back, apostacy, provocation, and becoming like the pagan nations all around.

Psalm 106:20 is what Paul echoes in Romans 1

Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

This is the grand treason of the universe; God’s creation failing to honor him as God or give thanks to him, we fall short of giving him the glory that is his due. But there is hope, even for glory thieves.

1 Chronicles 16:35 Say also: “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.

In this song of thanksgiving, we close with a request; save, gather, deliver. But this request has as its goal thanksgiving; save us because you are the God of our salvation, and our salvation will magnify your glory and result in thanksgiving.

Give him thanks, call upon his name, and make him known. Glory in him, seek him, and remember all his wondrous works.

Appropriately the psalm concludes with doxology;

1 Chronicles 16:36 ​Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the LORD.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org