Let’s turn now in our Bibles to I Chronicles, chapter fifteen. David had made an aborted attempt to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, having become the king over all of Israel. When Uzza had put forth his hand to steady the ark, the Lord smote Uzza, he died, and thus David left the ark at the house of Obededom. “He was afraid”, it said, “of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark home to me?”. So we find now in chapter fifteen, that…
David made houses in the city of David, [Chapter fourteen tells us of the palace that was made for him, through the gift of Hiram, the king of Tyre. “And David made himself houses in the city of David”,] but he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent (15:1).
It would appear that David’s original intent was to bring the ark of the covenant to his own house, until he saw what happened to Uzza, and he figured, “Man, I can’t dwell with that thing!”.
So he then made a tent in Jerusalem, for the ark of the covenant. The tent was probably modeled after the tabernacle. However, the tabernacle did exist, without the ark of the covenant, in Gibeon. There is where the sacrifices were still being offered. Thus the priesthood had a certain number of priests that were in Gibeon, offering the sacrifices unto the Lord, but the ark of the covenant was to be brought to Jerusalem.
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever (15:2).
Now it had been three months since the last attempt to bring the ark of the covenant. During this three months, David erected a tent for it when it arrived in Jerusalem, but he also no doubt began to search the scriptures to find out just how things should be done. In searching the scriptures, he found that no one was to bear the ark of the covenant except the Levites. So David is here declaring that, “No one ought to carry the ark of God, but the Levites”.
And David gathered all of Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it. And David assembled the children of Aaron, the Levites: The sons of Kohath; and Uriel who was the chief, with his hundred and twenty brethren: The sons of Merari; with two hundred and twenty of the brethren of Asaiah: The sons of Gershom, and their brethren: And unto them [Verse twelve] he said, You are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: so sanctify yourselves, both you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it (15:3-12).
So his command unto these six hundred Levites, was to sanctify themselves. This was through the ritual washings and so forth, that they might be clean, in order that, from a ceremonial standpoint, in order that they might bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. For he declares…
Because you didn’t do it at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order (15:13).
There is a right way of doing things, there is a wrong way of doing things, and the end does not justify the means in a spiritual sense. David had a good desire to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, in order that they might create a place of worship for the people, establishing the ark of the covenant, that the people might gather to worship God, that the priests might be there continually, offering their praises unto the Lord. Good desire. He went about it the wrong way, did not enquire of the Lord as to the methods, by which it should be accomplished. David now recognizes his failure in this. “God made a breach against us because we did not follow the due order.”
So many times we say, “Well doesn’t God want us to have a large church?”, and the assumption is, “Oh yes, God wants us to have a large church”. So, “How then can we get a large church?” “Well, if the pastor will just sit on the roof to eat his lunch, if we have five hundred in Sunday morning service, that ought to attract a crowd. Let’s create a membership drive. Let’s divide the city into blocks, and let’s canvas the city. Let’s do this, let’s do that, and then let’s have a prayer meeting, and ask God to bless our plans.” We devise our methods and our means, without seeking the due order.
You say, “Well what is the due order for church growth?” In Acts, the second chapter, it says, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayer; and the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved”. That’s the new testament due order, for God’s building His church. But we have followed the world. We have mocked the Philistines.
The Philistines made an ark, uh made a cart, put the ark of the covenant on the cart, let it be drawn by the cows, as it came to the camp of Israel. So David copied the Philistines, “It worked for them, it should work for us!”. But that wasn’t God’s order, it wasn’t the due order. So God made a breach upon them. Uzza was slain.
So David now searches out God’s way, and he follows out God’s methods. It’s not that I just accomplish something for God, it’s important in how I go about, to accomplish it. Do I follow God’s ways, or do I follow the ways of man?
So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord [the God, the ark of the Lord,] God of Israel. And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord (15:14-15).
Now when the ark of the covenant was made, there were these golden rings that were put on the corners. Through these golden rings, were inserted these sticks of acacia wood, that were covered by gold. They weren’t to actually touch the ark of the covenant, and only the priests were to bear these sticks. The ark of the covenant actually rode between them, on these staves that were borne on the shoulders of the priests.
So David is now following this order. The priests take these staves, put them through the golden rings, they lift it together, and on their shoulders, between them, they bear the ark of the covenant, according to the commandment of the Lord, given to Moses.
And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers to be singers with the instruments of music, psalteries [Which is sort of a box shaped type of a instrument, with strings on it, and uh strings of, of metal.] and harps and cymbals, and this sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. [Quite a procession! They had these psalteries, a little bit of a bulky instrument. The harps, which is not quite like our harps today, but the cymbals, and their lifting up of their voices with joy, the singers that were going before the ark.] So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph and their brethren; [And all.] And with them their brethren of the second, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, [And these names that mean nothing to any of us.] So the trio of singers, [In verse nineteen.] was Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, and they were appointed the sound with the cymbals of brass (15:16-19);
These other fellows came with their psalteries on Alamoth. Now Alamoth is the Hebrew word for virgin, and thus in the music, they feel that it applies to the soprano singers. There is another, shimoneth, which means eighth, which is an octave below the sopranos, or the women singers, these others who sing the octave below that. So with all of this music, they came with the ark of God. They had the priests that were there, as the doorkeepers, that is to go before the ark of the covenant. Verse twenty five…
David, and the elders of Israel, the captains over the thousands, went to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams (15:25-26).
Of course in the book of Samuel, it tells about the offerings that David made. They would go so far, and then they would offer more offerings.
And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and the Chenaniah the master of song with the singers: David had also upon him an ephod of linen. [So his robe of linen, with an ephod of linen.] Thus all of Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shoutings, with the sound of the cornet, with the trumpets, with the cymbals, making a noise with the psalteries and harps (15:27-28).
That must have been quite a procession! I’d like to have been sitting on the wall, watching it go by. It was no doubt, an exciting moment. These trumpeters, this, who were, the trumpets were made of silver, and they were just straight, with the expanded horn end, and these fellows blowing the trumpets in front. We do read, at the time of David they had a hundred and twenty of these fellows blowing these silver trumpets. The cornets were probably ram’s horns, made of ram’s horns. So the singing, the trumpets, the psalteries, and all of this music, as they are parading, as it tells us, David was dancing with all of his might. And, of course, David was a leader, they were all rejoicing, singing, dancing, and with the music, bringing the ark of the covenant on up the hill, into Jerusalem, from the way of Tel Aviv, actually, and probably on that same valley where the road comes from Tel Aviv today. Because they were coming from the area of Obededom, which is out towards Kirjath Jearim, which is about ten miles out of Jerusalem, toward Tel Aviv. So, coming up through that valley, all of the singing, the rejoicing, the dancing, as the priests are bearing the ark of the covenant.
Now it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out the window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart (15:29).
She did not understand spiritual things. She did not understand her husband David, his exhilaration in the Spirit over this exciting event. She was upset that he had not worn his kingly robes, but was wearing a linen robe, like the priests. Seeing him without the royal garments, out there dancing with the common people, and mixing with them, she just thought, “Ooh!”. You know, despised him in her heart. Of course we had it in Samuel, when David came in the house, she said, “Well, weren’t you something out there today, with all those common people, without your king’s robes on. Didn’t you look nice, aren’t you something”.
It’s amazing how Satan likes to bring us down from Spiritual highs. Whenever God has done a marvelous work in your life, and you’re just on cloud nine, in a spiritual sense, watch out! Satan likes to bring you off that cloud, and scorn is one of the cruelest weapons that Satan uses. It can just bring you right down from a spiritual high. So excited about the things of the Lord, so excited what the Lord’s doing in your life, and you share it with someone, and they say, “Oh well now don’t you think you’re great!” “Well that’s not why I was telling you that!” But you know, you can get in the flesh really quick. David did, unfortunately, and he had many wives, and so Michal was just ignored by David from then on, she remained childless. As far as David was concerned, he let her experience the curse of the culture.

Chapter 16
So they brought the ark of God, and they put it in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it: and they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings before the Lord. [The burnt sacrifices were offerings of consecration. The peace offerings were offerings of communion.] And when David had made an end of offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah. And he dealt to every one of Israel, both man and woman, to every one a loaf of bread, a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine (16:1-3).
So a time of tremendous excitement, spiritual high, and celebration, as the ark is now placed in the tent, in Jerusalem.
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, [Now that word record, is the title of two psalms. Psalms thirty-eight, and Psalm seventy. As you read the thirty-eighth, and the seventieth Psalm, you find that these are psalms that are rehearsing the great acts of God, in the history of their people. Psalms that are remembering God’s deliverance, and God’s work, on behalf of the people. So they are psalms of historic connotations, as they are rehearsing, or recording, or declaring really, the record of what God has done. So they are psalms that declare the record of the works of God, among His people. So they were there to sing the psalms that are the records of God’s work.] songs that were designed to give thanks unto God, and then [Psalms that lifted them into that highest capacity of man, into the worship of God.] psalms of praise (16:4).
So psalms that are a record of God’s work, psalms that give thanks unto God, and psalms that offer worship and praise, unto the Lord.
Asaph was the chief musician, and they were there with their psalteries and their harps; but Asaph was the cymbal player; And Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with their trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God (16:5-6).
So the idea was that, here in this tent, before the Lord, there was to be offered, continual songs of praise, of worship, of thanksgiving, and of memorial, as they remembered the works of God. This happened, this would go on day and night, a continuous place of praise and worship, as these men were appointed to this task, and would come according to their courses to fulfill their tasks.
And on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord in the hand of Asaph his brethren (16:7).
So David gave to Asaph this song, when they inaugurated this time of worship. Now, this is a psalm that, more or less, defines for the priests, their duties, as they were there before the ark of the covenant. It is a psalm that is a part of three of the psalms, in the book of Psalms. Psalm one hundred and five, and uh, parts of Psalm one hundred and six, and parts, I think of Psalm ninety, are in this psalm here. Basically it is exhortation. It is telling us what we are to do.
Now unfortunately, so many times when we read this, we read words, not thoughts, or we don’t think of it as commandments. We just read through this without putting it into practice. But each of these things are to be put into practice. They were to be put into practice daily, by the priests, as they were there before the ark of the covenant. As we, as children of God in this dispensation, stand before the Lord, these are things that we should put into daily practice, in our lives. First of all…
Giving thanks unto Jehovah, calling upon his name, and his name is Jehovah (16:8),
The King James translators, translate the name of God, as Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. You see it there in your text, in verse eight. “Give thanks unto the Lord”, all capitals. The all capitals indicate that it is the translation of the name of God. But God is not a name, God is a title. The problem is, in our English language, Lord is a title, not a name, and so it’s developed confusion. In the new testament, the Lord is a title, when referring to Jesus. Kurios, and that is a title, and His name is Jesus.
In the new testament we think of His name as, “Lord”. No that’s not His name, that’s His title. Jesus is His name. In the old testament, God is not His name, that’s His title, and His name is Jehovah, or Yahweh, and we are not certain of the pronunciation. All we have are the consonants with no vowels, “Yhvh”, and without vowels, you can’t really pronounce just the consonants. So we have guessed that the consonants are probably, a, and o, and a. So we have the “Yahovah”, as a possible name for God, the pronunciation of the name for God. But, we are uncertain that, that is so. But, God does have a name.
There are many gods you see, and if you are around a person who says, “Oh my God, how can you do that?”, you might well ask, “And just who might you be referring to? Who is your God?” For there are many gods, and all through history, men have worshiped many different gods. In verse twenty five, the latter part, “he also is to be afeared above all gods”. Or, reverenced above all gods, “For the gods of the people are idols: but (then the name of our God,) Jehovah made the heavens”.
There’s a vast difference between our God, and their god. In the Psalms it often points out this difference. In the Psalms one hundred and fifteen. “Why should the heathen now say, Where is your God? Our God is in the heavens, and He rules over all. But their gods are silver and gold, they are carved out by man’s hands. They have eyes, but they can’t see, they have feet, but they can’t walk. Ears they have, but they can’t hear. Contrasting our God with their gods. Our God is alive, our God has created the universe. Their gods are insensate. They can’t walk, they can’t see, they can’t hear, they can’t feel, they can’t talk! So there’s a vast difference between the true and the living God, the creator of our universe.
Now, you remember, the commandment was, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God”, or “Jehovah thy God”, now taking the name of Jehovah in vain. They quite often use the name, God, in vain. But that isn’t taking the name of God in vain. The name of our God is Jehovah. You’re not to take the name of Jehovah, our God in vain. Thus the, the importance of us realizing that God is not a name, a title. Thus every man has a god, and it’s sheer stupidity for a person to say, “I don’t believe in God”. Because the person is really saying, “I do not believe in Jehovah”, the God who created the heavens and the earth, who has revealed Himself to man in the bible.
Because though you may not believe in Him, you have a god, and you serve a god, and you worship a god, and if I can talk to you for a little while, I can find out who your god is! If all you want to talk about is skiing, and all of the exciting things you’ve been doing lately for, uh for a thrill, and excitement, then I will understand quite readily, that you actually are worshiping Molech, the god of pleasure. Easy to discover, because a man gets very animated and excited when he talks about his god.
Though in our cultured, sophisticated world, we no longer give them names, they are nonetheless gods that people worship. The fact that they don’t have names allows the person to deceive himself more readily saying, “Well I’m an atheist, I don’t believe in God”, and he is quite deceived because, though he declares not to believe in God, in reality he is worshiping and serving, and maybe the god of his own intellect, which would’ve been the Baal, of the old testament period.
So, God the title, and the name of our God is Jehovah. The name of our God is a Hebrew verb, “to be”, or “to become”, or a literal translation of His name is, “The becoming one”, as God becomes to man, whatever man’s particular need might be at that moment, for He is the all-sufficient one. When Paul the apostle was going through his heavy trial, and three times he asked God to remove that thorn, God said, “My grace is sufficient for you”. He is the all-sufficient one. Thus that all-sufficiency can cover any need that you might possibly have.
Thus the name Jehovah is used in compound form. Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Shammah, Jehovah-Shalom, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, which interestingly enough will be the name of Jesus in, when He comes back to reign as King, and Lord, we will then call Him, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, for He is our righteousness. He is also Jehovah-Shalom, for He is our peace, who has broken down every wall. But to us right now, He is our Saviour, and thus He is Jehovah-Shewa, or Joshua, which in Greek, is Jesus. So the name of God is incorporated in the name of Jesus. The name of our God. Thus, “God has given to Him a name, that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, Joshua, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is the Lord.” To the glory of God the Father, that Jesus Christ, is actually, Kurios, which is in the Greek, the translation of the Hebrew, Jehovah.
So give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name, [The name of Jehovah.] make known his deeds among the people (16:8).
Here you have three things that the priests were going to do, in the very first verse of this psalm. They were to give thanks to Jehovah, they were to call upon the name of Jehovah, and they were to make known His deeds among the people. That is the recording part. They, they were there to record, you remember. So, they were there to worship, or to lead in praise, to give thanks, and to record, and thus the three duties are incorporated in the first verse of the commands. Next, they were to sing unto him, the singing was to go on continually, day and night.
We recently have installed a, a sound system here. Where all day long we have beautiful, spiritual music, that is being played on the premises, on the speakers outside within the church. Come around and you just hear the beautiful music. It’s just, well you know modern technology. We don’t have priests here that are singing all day long, but we do have records. Record, and record that’s sort of close!
Then they were commanded to sing psalms unto him, [The book of Psalms is actually the Hebrew song book. These were all originally sung. Thus they were to sing these psalms unto the Lord. I love it that we are now, again beginning to sing the psalms. That some of our musicians have set upon themselves, to set these psalms to music, and our worship community, as they sing these psalms, I really enjoy it. I love it, to hear the psalms being sung!] talk ye of all of his wonderous works (16:9).
Not only to sing about the Lord, but you’re to talk about His wonderous works. As we pointed out this morning, “They that loved the Lord, spake often one to another”, and the Lord hearkened unto them”, and He kept a record, “and they will be accounted as His jewels when He makes up His kingdom”. The treasure that God has in His people! That was Paul’s prayer that the Ephesians might know the exceeding richness of His inheritance in the saints. Peter said, “We are his peculiar treasure”. Oh if you only knew how much God treasured you! If you only knew the value that God places on you!
We so often deprecate ourselves. “Oh I’m no good, Oh I’m nothing”, and God doesn’t appreciate that! You’re running down His property. And, speaking against His treasure. God treasures you highly, and thus you are His special treasure. So they are to talk of His wonderous works. And then they are to…
Glory in his holy name: [Now the name, Jehovah. They’re to glory in that name. Of course, to us it is Jesus. We’re to glory in the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus, is just a name that brings joy, it brings hope, it brings peace, it brings comfort, it brings healing. You remember when Peter was being examined, concerning the lame man that was healed, and how it was done? He said, “Be it known unto you, that in the name of Jesus, or by the name of Jesus, this man stands here before you whole”. Name of Jesus, there’s power in the name of Jesus. So we’re to give glory to His holy name.] and let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord (16:10).
A sad heart is a poor witness. We who seek the Lord should be rejoicing, in that we’re His children. Rejoicing in the Lord! Now, there’s a big difference between rejoicing in situations, and rejoicing in the Lord. Sometimes I’m weeping over the situations, though I’m rejoicing in the Lord. I can’t always rejoice in situations. Sometimes situations make me extremely sad. I hurt over the situations, but I rejoice in the Lord. You can always rejoice in the Lord, though you may be in miserable circumstances, you can always rejoice in the Lord. Paul was in extremely miserable circumstances in the Roman jail, and yet from that prison in Rome, he wrote to the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say unto you, Rejoice!”.
But the rejoicing is in the Lord, and that’s the secret. Get your eyes off yourself, off your circumstances, onto the Lord, and you can rejoice. Get your eyes on yourself, and you’ll probably cry. The circumstances can be miserable, get your eyes on Jesus, and it lifts the spirit to rejoicing.
Seek the Lord [Another command is to seek the Lord. “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found”, the scripture says, “call upon Him while he is near”. How many times we seek the advice, the counsel, the help of man, rather than seeking the help of the Lord. We’re so quick to turn to man for the answers, and we use God as a last resort. We should be seeking the Lord, seek His strength, and seek His face continually, and then, they were to,] Remember his marvelous works that he has done, [That’s part of the, “record” again. Is the remembering the marvelous works that God has done. So important that we have the record of what God has done. For God has basically revealed His plan, His purpose, His intent, in that which He has already wrought. He has shown His desire to be with His people, to strengthen His people, to help His people, to bless His people! As we see what God has done, He has revealed His character, His nature, and His desire for His children. “They that seek Him. They that seek His face continually.” And, thus we are to remember those marvelous works. He goes on to tell now, define that a bit.] his wonders, his judgements of his mouth; [And then he exhorts,] O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is Jehovah our God; his judgements are in all the earth (16:11-14).
You’re to remember the judgements of His mouth. His judgements are in all the earth! “Don’t you realize that, you children of Jacob?” Then he gives them the next exhortation, verse fifteen…
Be mindful always of his covenant; [Not the covenant that He made with Moses, but the covenant that He made,] with Abraham. [The covenant of giving to Abraham, this land in which they now were dwelling.] He established it with his oath to Isaac; He has confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance (16:15-18);
So, I don’t care what the press may say today, nor the situation that is going on, over in the land of Palestine, or who are the Palestinians, or who are the rightful inhabitants of the land! It belongs to Israel, by a divine decree, a covenant that God made with them! Now my heart goes out to the Palestinians, and their plight, but unfortunately for them, the land belongs to Israel. God made a covenant with Abraham. He repeated it to Isaac, and He established it and confirmed it to Jacob, the land belongs to their seed forever. When the whole thing is over, and all of the fuss, and all of the UN and everything else is over, ultimately the land will belong to Israel. When Jesus comes again, He’s going to apportion out to the tribes, that land. It belongs, by a everlasting covenant, unto Israel.
For when you were but few, and you were even strangers in it. When they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; He would not allow any man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes (16:19-21),
He’s talking about Abraham, you remember, went over to Abimelech, and Abimelech was reproved by God, for Abraham’s sake? He went down to Egypt, and the Egyptian Pharaoh was reproved by God. He was a stranger, he was going from uh, place to place, kingdom to kingdom, yet God had said to Abraham, “As far as you can see, from the top of Bethel, as far as you can see Abraham, it’s all yours. I’m giving it to you”. And yet all Abraham ever possessed was a cave at Machpelah, to bury his wife. God said…
Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm (16:22).
David had tremendous respect for Saul, because he had been anointed the king over Israel, and even though Saul had failed, failed miserably, yet David wouldn’t lay a hand on him. He wouldn’t touch him, because David respected the command of the Lord, that said, “Touch not mine anointed and do my prophet no harm”. Having been anointed of God for a ministry, when God’s anointing is upon that ministry, and upon that person’s life, it is best that you don’t touch them. God will deal with them if they are in the wrong. But for you to go around and try and undercut, or undermine, places you in a very precarious place, and position. You’re going against what God said. “Touch not mine anointed, do my prophet no harm.” So God was watching over him, and was protecting him. Now they are ordered to…
Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; [And then, that’s a repetition, of actually, verse nine. Sing unto him, sing songs. But then he adds,] show forth from day to day his salvation (16:23).
Your life should be a witness. “Showing forth”, is just living your life in fellowship with God, through Jesus Christ, and that becomes a witness before the world around you every day. Paul the apostle said, “You are my living epistles, known and read of all men. I don’t need letters of commendation. I don’t need reference letters, you are my reference letters. Your lives in Christ, you’re living epistles, and known and read of all men. So you show forth His salvation day by day, in the life that you live, in fellowship with Jesus Christ. It has that effect of being a witness to those around you. But more than just showing by my life, I am to…
Declare his glory among the heathen; [As we pointed out this morning, the moment we mention heathen, don’t picture in your mind, some place in the jungles of Borneo. It’s some place in the jungles of Santa Ana, Newport Beach. I think there are more heathen per square foot in Newport Beach, than almost anyplace else! “Declare his glory among the heathen.”] and his marvelous works among the nations (16:24).
Among all nations. Oh that people would know the glorious, marvelous works of God. It’s our obligation, and duty to declare them.
For great is Jehovah, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be reverenced above all gods. For all of the gods of the people are idols: but Jehovah made the heavens (16:25-26).
The big difference! Ours is the true and living God. He is the creator, and to be distinguished from all other gods.
Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. [Now we get back to the commands.] Give unto the Lord, ye families of the people, give unto the Lord glory [Give unto God by your praises. “Give unto the Lord glory,”] and strength. [Your strength, your life.] Give unto the Lord the glory that is due his name: [Again the name, which is Jehovah, or to us, it is Jesus, Jehovah-Shewa. “Give unto the Lord the glory that is due his marvelous name!”] bring an offering, come before him: and then worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (16:27-29).
Oh to lift up our hearts in praise unto God! Pure lips, pure hearts, worshiping Him, in the beauty of holiness, realizing what a holy, righteous, awesome God we have.
Reverence him, all the earth: for the world will be stable, [because He will,] that it will not be moved. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord [Or more literally, Jehovah,] reigneth (16:30-31).
Or Jesus reigns. We do sing, “Jesus shall reign where ere the sun doth her successive journeys run”. But He reigns now, where? In my heart, in my life. How important that Jesus reign in your heart. Jesus reigns!
Let the sea roar, the fullness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. And then shall the trees of the woods sing in the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth (16:32-33).
So the glorious prophecy, “The Lord is coming. Jehovah is coming to judge the earth!”, and who is coming to judge the earth, from the new testament? It’s Jesus, who is coming. So, here Jehovah, the presence of Jehovah, because He comes to judge the earth. Of course that’s the first order of business for Jesus when He comes again.
O give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, gather us together, deliver us from the heathen, [These are the requests that you’re to make now. “Save us, gather us together, deliver us from the heathen,”] that we may give thanks to thy holy name, [What is His holy name? Jesus!] and glory in thy praise. Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and they praised the Lord (16:34-36).
Glory, glory, oh what a time that must have been! A time of great spiritual revival in the nation, and thus a time of tremendous strength for the nation.
So he left there before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required: so he left them there daily, to continue ministering before the Lord: And Obededom [Whose house the ark had been in] was there with their brethren, sixty eight of them; and Zadok the priest, and his brethren, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, [So Zadok had his ministry up at the uh, at the tabernacle, and the places of sacrifice at Gibeon,] And there they offered the burnt offerings unto the Lord upon the altar of the burnt offering continually morning and evening, to do according to all that was written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel: And with them was Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to the Lord, because his mercy endures for ever; And there with the trumpets, with the cymbals, those that should make a sound, and the musical instruments of God. The sons of Jeduthun were the porters. [The ones that carried.] And all the people departed every man to his house: and David returned to bless his house (16:37-43).
So, one of those special, special moments. God’s presence manifested, God’s power working in the hearts of the people, and this beautiful, glorious response unto the Lord, and to the work of the Lord.
Looks like we’re not gonna get chapter seventeen tonight, um I’m not going to just rush into that, because it’s a very important chapter, and we want to spend some time with it. So we’ll get to that next week, David’s desire to build a house for God. Remember, he made this tent, he’s dwelling in this house, and he’s sitting there by the fire in his house, comfortable in his, in his family room, and he says to Nathan the prophet, “Hey I ought to build a house for God!”. We’ll get that next week, as we move along in Chronicles here.
How many exhortations did you find in that chapter? About twenty-five or so? There’s just an awful lot for us to do, as far as praising the Lord, giving thanks to the Lord, declaring His works, declaring His power, declaring His glory, singing unto the Lord, worshiping the Lord in the beauty of holiness, and on, and on, and on, as we are exhorted to give thanks, and to acknowledge Him, to reverence Him, and to declare His works among the heathen, and to show His salvation day by day. So you’ve got your work cut out for you this week, as we seek to be all that God wants us to be. As we seek to do that which the Lord would have us to do.
Take this chapter, again underline these things that you were exhorted to do, and then let’s put it into practice. Not just words, let’s begin to put it into practice, and let’s begin to worship the Lord, call upon His name, rejoicing in Him, and in His salvation. Declaring His salvation, showing His salvation. May you have a blessed week, as you follow the commandments of the Lord. In Jesus’ name.

Edited & Highlighted from “The Word For Today” Transcription, Pastor Chuck Smith, Tape #7126
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