Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of First Chronicles, chapter 16. What we're going to look at tonight
is David as he stands before the congregation in Israel, And
they've just brought the ark back into Jerusalem. And up to
this time, the ark had been out of Jerusalem since the reign
of Saul. And he's addressing Israel, it says in verse seven.
Then on that day, David delivered first this psalm to thank the
Lord into the hand of Aesop and his brethren. And so what we're
seeing here is that David is offering a psalm of thanksgiving
to the Lord. And over the next few verses,
we're going to look at the seven ways he gives us of giving thanks
whereby we can offer thanks to the Lord. We can offer the same
that he does. And so before I get into this
and before we actually look at the reasons he gives for giving
thanks, we need to understand a little bit about how the ark
got here so we understand what he's saying. So if I turn back
a few chapters to chapter 13. Before this, the Philistines
had had the ark, and it had plagued them, and they had given it up,
and the ark stayed outside of Jerusalem. And at this point,
in verse 2, David said unto all the congregation of Israel, If
it seem good unto you, and let it be of the Lord our God, let
us send abroad unto our brethren everywhere. that are all left
in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests
and Levites, which are in their cities and suburbs, that they
may gather themselves together unto us and let us bring again
the ark of our God unto us. For we inquired not at it after
the days of Saul, and all the congregation said that they would
do so. For the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
So David and the people get together at this point, decide, well,
we're going to bring the ark back. And so they go to get it. And then in verse 6, David went
up and all Israel to Behalah, that is Kirjath Jerem, which
belonged to Judah. That's where the ark was held.
To bring thence up the ark of the Lord, which dwelt between
the cherubims, whose name is called on it. And they carried
the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab.
And Uzzah and Ahio drove the cart. And David and all Israel
played before God with all their might. And with singing and with
harps and with psalteries and with timbrels and with cymbals
and trumpets. So at this point, this seems
like a good thing to do if they're going to bring the Ark of Israel
back. And so they go there and they build this new ark. And
he said, we're going to get the two most valiant men in the army.
We're going to have them lead it in all the way back to Jerusalem
and we're going to play music in front of it and make a big
procession of it. And so wouldn't you think God
would be bringing his ark back? But the problem is we can't apply
human wisdom and logic and reasoning to God the same way his is. So
our ways and our thoughts have to be in line with what his are.
In this case, the ends do not justify the means in which it
was brought. So it does matter how the ark was brought. There
in verse seven, we read that it was put on a new cart. And
so we have two problems. One is in Exodus 37, the Lord
lays out how the ark is constructed. He said there are four rings
of gold, one on each corner for which two staves are driven through.
So it's two staffs on either side of the ark, which is it
says for to bear the ark. So the ark was to be born. And
so the next question or the next problem in this case is, so if
the ark is to be born, can anyone carry it? And the answer is no.
Deuteronomy 10, verse 8, says only the tribe of Levi. The tribe
of Levi was to bear and to minister before the ark. And so if we
read on here in chapter 13, as they're traveling along in this
new card, it says that when they came under the threshing floor
of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the ark, for the
oxen stumbled, and the anchor of the Lord was kindled against
Uzzah, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark, and
there he died before God. And David was displeased because
the Lord had made a preach upon us where that place is called
Paris to this day. So as it dies for touching the
ark. And so what does this tell us? One is that God is holy and
that he's sovereign and that he will punish sin, all sins,
the big ones and the little ones. And I think some men's reply
to this is what I was doing a good thing. You know, the ark was
getting ready to fall and he reached up and stopped it from
falling. This was a good thing. But the problem is, again, we're
applying our reasoning and wisdom to God, and we can't do that.
So how is he responsible? It's not fair. Men will always
find an excuse to permit sin. So we find an excuse saying,
well, if he didn't stop it, it would have fallen. But nonetheless,
God said he couldn't touch the ark. Not fair? Who am I to sit in judgment against
God? Shall the thing form say to him
that form it, why hast thou made me thus? I can't judge God. How can I fall in fault with
him? He's the creator. Whatever he does is right. And
it's right because he does it. So what does this show us? That
this is no longer on man's terms. It never was. It's on God's terms. It's not what I think. God said
the ark was to be carried, not in a cart. God said the sons
of Levi are to bear the ark, not the sons of Benjamin. That's
who Uzzah and Ioh were. So as it was killed because he
violated God's decrees, irregardless of what his intentions are or
were. The same is true in my relationship with God. The God
will not deal with me outside of Christ. He's first holy, independent
of all his other attributes are all dependent upon his holiness.
So he's he has a holy justice. He has a holy love and he has
a holy wrath. It's on his terms, not mine,
and he's holy. So he makes the rules. So as
we read here, David was angry at God for killing us and he
didn't want to move the ark. He was upset. It rained on his
parade. He had these big ideas to bring
it in and it all fell apart. So he said, let's just move the
ark over here into the house of this man named Obed-Edom.
So, David, in verse 13, David brought not at the Ark home to
himself at the city of David, but carried aside into the house
of Obed-Edom the Gittite. And the Ark of God remained in
the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the Lord
blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had. So in this
case, despite the Ark being put into a cart, the Lord blessed
this man, Obed-Edom, in his house. And when I look at this and say
this is going to be true for anyone who is united around a
gospel church where the truth is being preached, I can never
go wrong here to unite myself with that. It might cost me worldly
things, whether to go to the place or to stay where the preaching
is at. But where God and his people
are, that's where I want to be, too. Despite the cost, as Joshua
said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I'm very
desirous of his presence and want him to be close with me.
And so I need to be where the preaching of the word is and
where it's honored. So if we move forward a few chapters
and now after this had happened and been in the house of Obed-Eden,
chapter 15, verse 12, David's now come with a different way
of bringing it. He said unto them, You are the
chief of the fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves. both you
and your brethren, and that you may bring the ark of the Lord
up to Israel to the place where I prepared for it. For because
you did it not at first, the Lord our God made a breach upon
us, for we sought him not after the right order or after the
due order. So the priests and Levites sanctify
themselves to bring the ark of the Lord, to bring the ark of
the Lord, God of Israel. And the children of Levites bear
the ark of the Lord upon their shoulders with staves thereon.
So now they're bearing it on their shoulders. That was supposed
to be brought and as Moses commanded, according to the word of the
Lord. So David is now moving the ark the way God intended
him to. And the Lord's blessing him and
bring it back. And so now brings us to the chapter
that we started out in chapter 16. Verse one, two, so they brought
the ark of God and said in the midst of the tent that David
had pitched for it. And the temple had not been built yet, so it
dwelt in a tent. And they offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings
before God. And when David had made an end
to the offering of the burnt offerings and the peace offerings,
he blessed the people, blessed the people in the name of the
Lord. And so now the David's Dynasty has appointed the Levites
and the chief priests as ministers before the ark of the Lord. And
now he's delivering this. He's addressing them. And before
the Lord, this song and says in verse seven, then on that
day, the day they are put into the tent, David, who was God's
anointed king over Israel, delivered first. This word first means
choice, best or chief chief song to thank the Lord into the hand
of a soft and his brother. And so this Aesop was actually
the chief minister for the Lord. This was actually David's pastor.
So he was the man who ministered for the Ark and offered the sacrifices.
This is also the same Aesop from the Psalms we read that wrote
many of the Psalms. He wrote Psalm 50 and 73 through
83. And so. David is addressing Israel and
thanking the Lord for his pastor, and that brings me to mind that
I thank the Lord for my pastor. The first 20 years of my life,
I've sat under Henry Mahan, and the last nine years I've been
here under Todd Nyberg. I'm thankful that the Lord has
set me under a pastor that cares more about Christ's name than
his own, and set us under a pastor that cares more about the message
that he preaches than the praise of men and filling of pews. There's
no compromise for the gospel and the truth is preached, irregardless
of what men may think. So there are many things that
we're thankful for. One, that God's holy and because God's
holy, that means that he's going to honor his covenant. I'm thankful
for redemption, that Christ came and saved his people, for mercy,
for grace, for Christ's work for me and Christ's work in me.
But sadly, I am ashamed of how cold and feeble my thanks really
are. So soon we forget. I think about something and then
I'm thankful for it and think that it would be important to
me. And then it didn't. So soon it leaves me and I forget.
And how could I forget about, you know, the Lord or forget
it? You know, you go the whole day and then it just doesn't
even occur to you sometimes. It's just shameful. But it's
how we are. It's being sinful men and women. So here, starting
in verse 8, David gives us seven ways of giving thanks unto the
Lord. Number one is to call upon his
name. The second one is to make known
his deeds among the people. The third is to sing unto him.
The fourth is to talk ye of all his wondrous works. Number five
is glory ye in his holy name. Number six Seek the Lord and
his strength. And number seven, remember his
marvelous works, his wonders and his judgments. And you'll
notice as we read this, this is actually Psalm 105, the first
15 verses. So so verse number eight, starting
there, give thanks unto the Lord, call ye upon his name. And so
this calling upon his name is more is much more than just the
act of doing so. This is actually one of the core
foundations of faith, to call on the name of the Lord. To call on his name, I need the
right to do so. So if we look at Romans 10, 13,
it says, for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. And so what is my right? Am I
qualified to do this? Well, I'm a whosoever, so I have
the right to do so. So I can call on his name and
There are three things that I took note about this calling on the
name of the Lord. One is to call, believing that
he will answer. And so I want us to turn back
to First Kings 18. This is a story familiar to most
of us. This is Elijah standing before
the prophets of Baal, 400 plus of them, and the people who basically
said, I'm the only one left. At this stage, you can imagine
that for me, Elijah is one of those prophets who I think is
extremely bold and you can tell he's very strong in what he's
saying. But, you know, these were still men. And I think we
see a little glimpse of his humanity, so to speak, even though he was
a man. But he says in verse 36, it came
to pass at the time of offering of the evening sacrifice that
Elijah, the prophet, came near. and said, Lord, God of Abraham,
Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that our God in Israel
and that I am my servant and I've done all these things that
that word. And so this calling and believing he will answer
to Elijah was never promised. Ward never told him he would
rain fire, but he believed that he would. And so in verse seven,
we really get it. For me, this is kind of what
I was talking about was seeing seeing him really calling into
the Lord, believing, communing with him, says Hear me, O Lord,
hear me, that this faithful may know that thou art the Lord God
and that thou hast turned their heart back again. The Lord's
glory is at stake here. These people want to kill him
and he's standing before them and he's saying, Lord, you have
to answer here to show that you're God. In verse 38, then the fire
of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood
and the stones and the dust and was licked up. The water was
in the trench. And when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is God,
the Lord, he is the God. And so Elijah believed that the
Lord would hear him and the Lord did, and he answered with fire.
And the second thing is to the call is not just verbal, it's
to believe. So I can call out, but I really
believe the Lord will hear me. Turn to the second chapter of
Acts. Look at verse 17. And it shall come to pass in
the last days, say of God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young
men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. And
on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days
of my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven
above and signs in the earth beneath blood and fire and vapor
smoke. And the sun shall be turned into
darkness and the moon into blood. Before that great and notable
day of the Lord come and it shall come to pass that whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And so what I
look at here is notice the order in which all this happens. He
says, one, the spirit is poured out. You have to have that first.
The Lord, the Holy Spirit has to be there. And secondly, when
the Holy Spirit is present, you have the preaching of the gospel
with the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the gospel. The
third is belief in faith. You only have those two things
before you have verse 21, the call in the name of the Lord,
the name of the Lord. The third thing to call in the
name of the Lord is to offer the sacrifice of Thanksgiving.
If you would turn with me to Psalm 116. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord,
truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son
of thy handmaid that has loosed my bonds. I will offer to be
the sacrifice of Thanksgiving and will call upon the name of
the Lord. And this call is more than just
saying thank you. This is David says in verse twelve,
what shall I render into the Lord for all his benefits toward
me? It's my life, my soul, my all belong to Christ. I'm his
willing bond slave. What is my assurance is that
he hears me when I call. The Lord God Almighty actually
hears me when I call. That is my assurance when I call
upon his name. Our psalm of Thanksgiving is
being able to call. Turn back a little bit to Psalm
18, if you would, with me. Being able to call on the Lord
is precious because we call when we're in trouble, we call when
we're stressed and he hears us. Start in verse six. In my distress,
I called upon the Lord and I cried unto my God and he heard my voice
out of his temple and my cry came before him, even into his
ears. So this is any of the Lord's children, any of the Lord's people
call out to him in distress and in fear, and it doesn't matter
how far away you might feel or seeing what we're in, the Lord
hears. And this is his reaction to one of his children crying
unto him for help. Then the earth shook and trembled.
The foundations also were shaken. The hills were moved and shaken
because he was wroth. And there went up a smoke out
of his nostrils and a fire out of his mouth. Devoured coals
were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also and
came down. And darkness was under his feet.
And he rode upon a cherub and did fly. Yea, he did fly upon
the wings of the wind. He made darkness his secret place.
His pavilion round about him. were dark waters and thick clouds
of the skies. At the brightness that was before
him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.
The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the highest gave
his voice, hailstones and coals of fire. Yea, he sent out his
arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings and discomfited
them. Then the channels of waters were
seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at
thy rebuke, O Lord. at the blast of the breath of
thy nostrils. And you can imagine being on the receiving end of
the Lord's wrath that those who trouble it trouble his people.
He sent from above. He took me. He drew me out of
many waters. He delivered me from my strong
enemy, from them which hated me, for they were too strong
for me. They prevented me in the day
of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth
also into a large place and he delivered me because he delighted
in me. And this is my confidence, this
year, that the Lord delivers me because he delights in me,
one of his people. Let's go back to our text, 1
Chronicles 16. So in verse 8, it says, Give
thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name. Number two, make known
his deeds among the people. Any time man's deeds are mentioned
in the scripture, it's evil, wicked and corrupt. And that's
all we are because we're sin. But yet, speaking of his deeds,
it says, Yet he was made a little lower than the angels and by
the suffering of death has been crowned with glory and honor.
And that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every
man. So what are his deeds that we
make known? Second Corinthians, verse eight, nine says, For we
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes, he became poor. Yet yet that you through
his poverty might be rich. He left his glory to seek and
save that which was lost. He endured the holy wrath of
God to save his people. He made me what I'm not by nature,
gave me a new heart, gave me a new spirit. He's given me his
name and his righteousness. He is willed that where he is,
that I will be also from one of his children. I can say because
of these things with David that I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even thine only. He's done everything. How could
I ever be ashamed to declare his deeds in this life, to make
known his deeds? Because it's my promise of the
next, if I want part of that. So go to the number three in
verse nine, sing unto him, sing songs unto him. Well, I can speak
for myself that when I was a child, I did not like to be made to
sing. I was made to sing. And I think for children, you
know, you sit there and say, well, my mom's just making me
do this, you know, make me do it. And you don't really understand
why. And so now I do. But at that time, I didn't understand
why. So I'll say this about singing. It is part of worship. Just as
much as reading a scripture as prayer is, it's one of the things
that says our Lord will do in the midst of the church. So it
is part of worship and it comes from the heart, not from ability.
And I feel sorry for Steve Sly and his family who has to sit
right in front of me when I sing because I have no ability whatsoever.
But yet I sing because I want to. It comes from my heart. We
sing because we're happy. It's praise and thanksgiving
to the Lord. To the person that says, despite this, well, I worship
my own way, I just don't like to sing. I have a question to
the man or woman, and this is to the man or woman who's been
saved by God's unmerited grace, who have called you to be his
child, who gave you a new heart to believe, the will to believe
in faith. who came and died for you because
of your sin, shed his blood for you, that you might be saved
with no contribution from you ever, with nothing to be ever
held accountable for. What reason can I give for not
singing unto the Lord? If I don't like to do it now,
I'm really not going to like it when I get to heaven, because
that's one of the things that we'll be doing. Revelation 14
3 says we'll be singing a new song before the throne. We'll
be singing a song that no man could learn. And there's going
to come a day when men and women are going to want to learn that
song, but they can't. And the reason is they don't
know the song. And the reason they don't know the song is because
we can only sing what's in our hearts. I like that song Redeemed
by Fanny Crosby. It says, I sing for I cannot
be silent. His love is the theme of my song. And so to only someone who Christ
has been revealed can sing about the love of Christ and loves
to do it. So that's the singing to him.
So we'll look in verse nine again for the fourth thing, it says,
talk ye of all his wondrous works. Turn with me over to Isaiah chapter
12, if you would. Let's start in verse one. In
that day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee, though thou
wast angry with me, and thine anger is turned away, and thou
comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation.
I will trust and not be afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song. He's also become my salvation.
Therefore, with joy shall you draw out water in the wells of
salvation. And in that day, shall you say, praise the Lord, call
upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention
that his name is exalted, sing unto the Lord, for he hath done
excellent things. This is known in all the earth.
And so when we talk of his wondrous works, I see the comfort to the
believer in verse one, that his anger is turned away. In verse,
verse number two, that his name is exalted. And I just noticed
in preparing this in verse five, where it says scene of the Lord,
for he had done excellent things. This is known in all of the earth.
So the earth knows even throughout the earth that he had done excellent
things. He's the maker and creator. And there are many wonders in
this life for us to behold. But I believe the one most amazing
to me is that how he could love me, how the Lord can look upon
me and in what I am and sin and my continual disappointment to
myself. The only way is in Christ, and
we know that he only has love to Christ. And if I'm in Christ,
that's how he loves me. It's only in his wondrous works
that I have any peace, the works of Christ. Let's turn back to
our text again. So the fifth point, In verse
10, glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. So how do we glory in his holy
name? It says, well, glory means to
praise or to be boastful, to be boastful in his holy name.
Jesus, the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows
cease, to his music and the sinners ears, to his life and health
and peace. He's our only hope and our only peace. In the second
part of verse 10, where it says, let the heart of them rejoice
and seek the Lord, who seeks the Lord? Well, the only one
who seeks the Lord are his people, people he's revealed himself
to, his elect. If I'm a believer, I have much
to rejoice in. In verse 11, seek the Lord in
his strength, seek his face continually. It's number six. So we seek the
Lord in his strength, but it doesn't stop there. It says continually. I need him every minute because
I'm weak. I have no strength. I have no knowledge of myself.
I need him to guide me, to impart wisdom, to give me discretion,
patience, faith, love. None of these things I have.
I'm a complete disappointment. It's only found in seeking his
face. I can do this in study, prayer, through singing. He is
my strength. In verse 11, seek the Lord in
his strength. So he's my strength, one, before
the law, because I can't keep it. He's my strength before the
father because I can't come before the father. He intercedes for
me and he's my strength before men. David gives us two examples
in Psalm 56 as to what this is. He says, what can men do unto
me? For in God have I put my trust.
What can flesh do unto me? Looking to self, I can only find
complete despair, disappointment and inability. I'm lost if not
for him. So he has to be my strength and
my confidence. And lastly, number seven, verse
12, remember his marvelous works that he's done, his wonders and
the judgments of his mouth. And this is the hardest thing
for me to do is to remember. I don't feel like I have a good
memory anyway, and to forget What is the only thing important
in life is it disappoints me daily that it's a plague of my
sin, that we can't remember the mercies of the Lord as graces
unto us. How can I forget? But yet we do. I long for the
day when I rid myself of this flesh and can believe as I want
to believe, as I fully can perfectly love and understand and be with
Christ. So the Lord has to remind us
what to remember. And so as we read through here,
his covenant works of old, even the Lord's table do this in remembrance
of me. And so the Lord knows that we
have this difficulty in verse 13. Oh, you see, the seed of
Israel, his servants, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. So
his chosen ones, his covenant were to remember the covenant
in verse 14. He's the Lord, our God. His judgments
are in all the earth. So the Lord, our God, he's not
everyone's God. who shall lay anything to the
charge of God elects. It's God that justifies. He says
that I'm clean, that I'm clean, whether I see it or not. Verse
15, be mindful always of this covenant, the word which he commanded
to a thousand generations, even of the covenant which he made
with Abraham and his oath unto Isaac. So his covenant again,
we're to be reminded of this because our continual Plague
of sin and unbelief causes us to thank the Lord. Surely the
Lord will cut me off. But he reminds us often of his
covenant. I believe it's one of the things
he talks about in his word very often and that I need to be reminded
of. In verse 17, 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? And this is God's promise to
Israel, his precious promises. This is the land of Canaan. In
verse 19, when you were but few, even a few and strangers in it,
strangers in this land that the Lord was giving them, was bringing
them into it. And when they went from nation to nation and from
one kingdom to another, to another people. They're being brought
to and fro through the land towards small people, encountering all
the people of the land. But yet the Lord's guiding them.
And he says in verses 21 and 22, he suffered no man to do
them wrong. Yet he reproved kings for that
sakes, saying, Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no
harm. And so you think of the power
and the majesty of what a king is. We don't really have the
concept of that. our generation other than figureheads.
But if king had absolute power, he was the most powerful man
in the land. And yet the Lord says he reproved kings for themselves,
for their sakes, his little flock. And so that's how important the
Lord's people are to him. They're nothing to him. And he'll
order all things around his people, and he'll give them only what's
good. And so if that means casting
down a king like you did Pharaoh, just for the Lord's people, he'll
do it. And so we have much to be thankful for. So I'd like
us to read the next 13 verses and we'll close. And this is
David kind of summing up what he's saying here. He says, sing
unto the Lord, all the earth, show forth from day to day his
salvation, declare his glory among the heathen and his marvelous
works among all nations. For great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods, for all the gods of the people are idols, but the
Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor are in his presence. Strength and gladness are in
his place. Give unto the Lord ye kindreds of the people. Give
unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. Bring an offering and come before
him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. fear before him all the earth. The world also
shall be stable, that it not be moved. Let the heavens be
glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let men say among the nations,
The Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar, and the fullest
thereof. Let the fields rejoice, and all
that is therein. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye,
Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver
us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name,
and to glory in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for ever and ever. And all the people said Amen,
and praised the Lord. And verse thirty five is my prayer
and your prayer to save us. Oh, God, of our salvation, gather
us together, deliver us that we may give thanks unto thy holy
name and glory. And I praise their.