Tuesday, July 12, 2022

            I Chronicles is another history book in the Old Testament.  It is considered by many to be a historical supplement to I and II Samuel and I and II Kings.  I and II Chronicles tend to focus much more heavily on the history of the southern kingdom of Judah.  One of the prevailing themes or thoughts that we find in I Chronicles is the sovereignty of God.  He is clearly God and Lord over the affairs of both Judah and the earth.  A little more than midway through I Chronicles, David paused to offer a Psalm of Thanks to the Lord in I Chronicles 16:8-36.  Two important thoughts stand out in David’s Psalm.  He said, “Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done” (16:8).  And he said, “he remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded for a thousand generations” (16:15).  We acknowledge God’s sovereignty by our gratitude and by our trust in His faithfulness to a “thousand generations.”   
            Let’s consider those thoughts that stand out for us to see.  First, we learn to be thankful people.  We learn to express our thanks to the Lord God who is the Giver of every good and perfect gift or blessing.  And in our gratitude, we make the Lord known to others.  We reveal Him through our sense and expression of gratefulness.  You may know people who are exceedingly grateful and thankful for all the blessings that they possess and enjoy.  Second, we learn that God remembers His people and His promises.  God’s memory extends beyond today or this generation.  His memory extends out to generations to come far beyond our days and times.  David knew, and we can know, that God is always at work with the future in mind.  The events of today play a role in His unfolding plans and purposes.  God is not caught off-guard by tomorrow or next week.  He is already at work with the future in mind as He writes out His purposes in history. 
            A bit later in this Psalm of Thanks, David wrote about the singular nature of the Lord God.  We read, “For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens” (I Chronicles 16:25-26).  David played a word game with his readers.  He is saying that GOD is the GOD of all gods.  We might turn things or people into gods or place our allegiance with things or people.  But God is the GOD of anything else we might be tempted to chase or pursue.  David wrote of God’s awesome and incomparable nature by declaring that the LORD made the heavens and all the things of creation from which we might make or fashion idols.  In human ignorance and defiance, we fail to realize that the LORD GOD made the very things that we are often tempted to turn into idols and worship with our lives and talents.  What we might elevate to the status of an idol by our attention, affection and adoration was made by the GOD of all gods.   
            David ended his Psalm of Thanks by challenging his readers to praise God in an unrelenting way—or to praise the LORD God forever.  “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting” (I Chronicles 16:36).  David’s message to us is never stop giving praise or thanks to God.  Let praise and thanks be in your heart and on your mind constantly and continuously.  The Maker of all things deserves all the praise and thanks that we can make and offer for His glory.  We likely have little trouble asking God for help or petitioning God to be at work in our lives.  But we often have to grow in our sense of praise and gratitude.  And may today mark a starting line or trend where we do just that.  Have a great Tuesday and remember you can share our worship any time at youtube.com/FirstBaptistKannapolis.