Scripture Daily

Context No. 1033 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 16:7-22: in context

7Then on that day David first ordained giving of thanks to the LORD by the hand of Asaph and his brothers. 8Oh give thanks to the LORD. Call on his name. Make what he has done known among the peoples. 9Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Tell of all his marvelous works. 10Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 11Seek the LORD and his strength. Seek his face forever more. 12Remember his marvelous works that he has done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth, 13you offspring of Israel his servant, you children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14He is the LORD our God. His judgments are in all the earth. 15Remember his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations, 16the covenant which he made with Abraham, his oath to Isaac. 17He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 18saying, “I will give you the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance,” 19when you were but a few men in number, yes, very few, and foreigners in it. 20They went about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people. 21He allowed no man to do them wrong. Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes, 22“Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”

On the day the ark comes to Jerusalem, David hands Asaph and his fellow Levites a song of thanksgiving to sing. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make his deeds known among the peoples; sing to him, glory in his holy name, let the hearts of those who seek him rejoice. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Remember his wonders, his covenant forever, the promise he made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them the land, when they were few and wandering strangers, and how he let no one oppress them, rebuking kings for their sake: do not touch my anointed ones.

Two commands drive the song, and they belong together: seek and remember. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually, an ongoing pursuit, not a one-time finding but a lifelong turning toward God. And remember his covenant forever, deliberately calling to mind what God has already promised and done. The seeking is fueled by the remembering; you go on pursuing God because you keep recalling how faithful he has been. And notice what David has them remember: that God kept his covenant when the people were few, wandering, and vulnerable, foreigners with no power, and that he protected them, rebuking kings on their behalf, do not touch my anointed. The song teaches a small, weak people to read their own survival as the work of a covenant-keeping God who guards his own. Thanksgiving here is not a vague good mood but the disciplined act of naming what God has done and telling it among the peoples, so that memory becomes praise and praise becomes witness.

Am I seeking God's face continually and deliberately remembering his covenant faithfulness, letting memory turn into thanksgiving and thanksgiving into witness?

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