Unfortunately due to technical difficulties this week’s service audio was not recorded. If you enjoy silent movies I can share the link with you.
The books of chronicles are a retelling of the history already recorded in the books of I,II Kings and I and II Samuel to a very specific audience—those who had returned from the captivity in Babylon and were re-establishing the nation of Israel.
So, the picture we see of Israel, this point is as a nation that had been judged by God, and had given up much of it’s former glory. The chronicler wanted to tell a people who were wondering if they would ever be great again that the path back to greatness for their nation is the path of repentance, of turning back to God.
He calls them to remember one of the greatest days in Israel’s history: The day when they brought the Ark of the Lord to the city of Jerusalem.
Although praise and worship is referred to in several places in Chronicles, this is the only place in the books where we see actual praising and worshiping God taking place, in this Psalm of Thanksgiving
We are told to give thanks to God, and then we are given some reasons for giving thanks. Notice that we are told to give thanks first, before all of the reasons are given. We first give thanks to God because He is Good—because of who He is—apart from anything that He does for us. It’s because we know that He is Good, and that we delight to get to know God that we praise Him, worship Him, and give Him thanks. And then we consider His lovingkindness—what He does for us.
So, our praise to the lord starts with thanksgiving.
List one thing that the Lord has done for you personally that you’d like to praise Him for, one thing that God has done for His People that you’d like to praise Him for, and one of His wonders or beautiful things that you’ve seen that you’d like to praise Him for:
Something that God has done for me: ________________________________
Something that God has done for His people: __________________________
Something God made that is wonderful: ______________________________
Between verses 8-12, there are 10 exhortations—imperative verbs that tell us to do something:
- Oh, give thanks to the Lord
- Call upon His Name
- Make known His deeds among the peoples
- Sing Praises to Him
- Speak of All His Wonders
- Boast in His Holy Name
- Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
- Seek the Lord and His Strength.
- Seek His face continually
- Remember His wonderful Deeds which He has done
It’s as if David, the Psalmist of Israel is giving the whole nation of Israel a class on how to worship and praise God. And this is how we should give thanks to God and praise Him, since this is how He wants to be praised and thanked.
And then we’re given the reasons why we should be thanking Him and praising Him. He reminds them of who they are:“remember that you were chosen by God”. And we must remember that we were chosen by God. We see God, over and over again protecting and providing for those who are His—and He will do the same for us.
We’re called to sing and proclaim that God has made a way to be saved—salvation through belief in Jesus Christ, His Son, whom He has provided as the payment for sin. And we’re to announce this Salvation every day. We’re to announce it to whomever the Holy Spirit directs us to—sharing the Good News. And notice that it’s not just the pastors who are supposed to do this—it’s everyone. So when is the last time that you proclaimed or announced the Lord’s Salvation—when’s the last time you told someone about your Savior Jesus?
So we are encouraged to bestow upon God, or ascribe to Him, or acknowledge that He has all Glory and Strength.
So, we read, that the people followed David’s instructions, his pattern for praising and giving thanks to God. The time of rebuilding after the destruction by the Babylonians was one of the lowest in the history of Israel. They were rebuilding a destroyed land. But God was still on His throne, and whether it was during the highlight of Israel’s history while David was dancing with all of his might before the Ark of the Lord, or whether it was during the dark days of rebuilding, this praising of God and thanking Him for His Goodness and Lovingkindness was the appropriate thing to do. Whether in good times, or in bad times, we thank and praise the Lord.