16:8-36

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A psalm of thanksgiving (1Chr 16:8-36)

The Chronicler records a psalm that was sung in celebration of the ark’s arrival in Jerusalem. It was typical of the psalms sung on such great national occasions.

It began with a call to God’s covenant people to worship him in praise for his faithfulness to the covenant he made with Abraham (1Chr 16:8-13).

This covenant was the work of God alone. Out of all the nations of the earth he chose Abraham, promising to make his descendants into a nation and to give them Canaan for a national homeland (1Chr 16:14-18).

In the early days, when they were few in number, Abraham’s descendants could easily have been wiped out by hostile neighbours, but God miraculously preserved them (1Chr 16:19-22) . In view of all he had done for them, God’s people were urged to praise him and to proclaim his mighty acts to others. People could never really know other gods, for those gods were lifeless, but they could know the only true God, both through the created universe and through the public worship of the sanctuary (1Chr 16:23-27).

Therefore, the peoples of the world were urged to bring God worship and sacrificial offerings (1Chr 16:28-30), and the physical creation was urged to bring him praise (1Chr 16:31-34).

His unfailing mercy was the Israelites’ assurance that they could always depend on him to save them (1Chr 16:35-36).

(The above psalm is not in Samuel; the two psalms of 2 Samuel 22:1-23:7 are not in Chronicles.)