1 Chronicles 16:7 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the thanksgiving psalm that David, by the Spirit, composed and gave to the chief musician. It was to be sung when the ark entered the tent prepared for it. Some think David also appointed this hymn for daily use in temple worship, so that it would not be left out on any day.

David had written many psalms before this, some during his troubles under Saul. This psalm was composed earlier, but it was now first put into the hands of Asaph for the church’s use. It is gathered from several psalms, and some think that gives us permission to do the same, putting together parts of David’s psalms in ways that best stir Christian devotion. These psalms are best explained in their own places, if the Lord wills. Here we take them as they stand, with the aim of thanking the Lord, a duty we always need help and encouragement to do.

Let God be honored in our praise. His honor should be the center where all our words meet. We glorify him by our thanksgiving, by our prayers, by our songs, and by speaking of all his wonderful works. We should glorify him as the great God, greatly to be praised (1 Chronicles 16:25), as the highest God above all gods, as the only true God, since all others are idols (1 Chronicles 16:26). We should glorify him as glorious and blessed in himself, since glory and honor are in his presence (1 Chronicles 16:27), as Creator, for the Lord made the heavens, and as ruler over all creation, for his judgments are in all the earth (1 Chronicles 16:14). We should also honor him as our own God. In this way we give the Lord the glory due his name (1 Chronicles 16:28, 1 Chronicles 16:29), and even then we only begin to give what is rightly his.

Let others be taught and built up. We should make known his deeds among the people (1 Chronicles 16:8) and declare his glory among the nations (1 Chronicles 16:24), so that those who do not know him may be brought to know him, submit to him, and worship him. In this way we serve the growth of his kingdom among people, so that all the earth may fear before him (1 Chronicles 16:30).

We should also be encouraged ourselves to trust and rejoice in God. Those who give glory to God’s name are allowed to take joy in it (1 Chronicles 16:10). They may count themselves blessed in their relationship to God and trust his promise to them. Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord, and even more the hearts of those who have found him. Seek him, and his strength, and his face, that is, seek him by means of the ark of his strength, where he shows himself.

The everlasting covenant should be a major part of our joy and praise (1 Chronicles 16:15). We are told to remember his covenant. In the parallel passage it says that he will always remember it (Psalm 105:8). Since God never forgets it, we must never forget it either. It is called a commanded covenant because God has bound us to obey its terms, and because he has the right to make the promise and the power to keep it. This covenant was old, yet it was never meant to be forgotten. It was made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who had long since died (1 Chronicles 16:16-18), yet it still stands sure for the spiritual seed, and its promises can still be claimed.

We should remember God’s former mercy to his people in earlier times, and give him thanks for it. Think of how he protected the patriarchs in their unsettled life. They came to Canaan as strangers and lived there as temporary residents. They were few, so they could have been easily swallowed up. They were always on the move, and that left them exposed. Many disliked them and wanted to harm them, yet no one was allowed to do them wrong, not the Canaanites, Philistines, or Egyptians. Kings were warned and punished for their sake. Pharaoh was, and so was Abimelech. They were the anointed of the Lord, set apart by his grace and marked out for his glory, and they had received the Spirit’s anointing. They were his prophets, taught the things of God themselves and sent to teach others too, and prophets are called anointed ones (1 Kings 19:16; Isaiah 61:1). So if anyone touched them, he touched the apple of God’s eye. If anyone harmed them, it was at his own peril (1 Chronicles 16:19-22).

The great salvation of the Lord should be a special subject of our praise (1 Chronicles 16:23). We are to show forth his salvation from day to day, that is, as Bishop Patrick says, his promised salvation through Christ. We have good reason to celebrate that every day, because we receive its benefits every day, and it is a theme that never runs out.

God should be praised by regular and proper attendance on the worship he has appointed. Bring an offering, then the fruit of the ground, and now the fruit of the lips and heart (Hebrews 13:15). Worship him in the beauty of holiness, in holy places and in a holy way (1 Chronicles 16:29). Holiness is the beauty of the Lord, and the beauty of every sanctified soul and every religious duty.

God’s rule over all should be both our fear and our joy. Let us reverence it: fear before him, all the earth. And let us rejoice in it: let the heavens be glad and rejoice, because the Lord reigns and by his providence keeps the world in place, so that though it may be shaken, it cannot be destroyed, nor can the limits set by infinite wisdom in its government be broken (1 Chronicles 16:30, 1 Chronicles 16:31).

The coming judgment should fill us with serious joy. Let earth and sea, fields and woods, though they will all be consumed in the great day of the Lord, still rejoice that he will come, yes, that he does come, to judge the earth (1 Chronicles 16:32, 1 Chronicles 16:33).

In the middle of our praise, we must not forget to pray for the help and rescue of God’s saints and servants who are in distress (1 Chronicles 16:35). Save us, gather us, deliver us from the nations, meaning those of us who are scattered and oppressed. When we rejoice in God’s kindness to us, we must remember our suffering brothers and sisters, and pray for their rescue and deliverance as our own. We are members of one another, so when we mean, “Lord, save them,” it is proper also to say, “Lord, save us.”

Finally, let us make God the Alpha and Omega of our praises, the beginning and end of them. David begins with, “Give thanks to the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:8). He ends with, “Blessed be the Lord” (1 Chronicles 16:36). In the original psalm from which this doxology is taken (Psalm 106:48), there is also, “Let all the people say, Amen, Hallelujah.” Here we see that they followed that call: all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

When the Levites finished this psalm, prayer, and song of praise, and not before, the people who were present showed their agreement by saying, “Amen.” Then they praised the Lord. No doubt they were deeply moved by this new way of worship, which had previously been used only in the schools of the prophets (1 Samuel 10:5).

If this way of praising God pleases him more than an ox or a bullock with horns and hoofs, then the humble will see it and be glad (Psalm 69:31-32).