Read 1 Chronicles 16
Ministering Before the Ark
16 They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God. 2 After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.3 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.
4 He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel: 5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.
7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:
8 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
9 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
11 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
12 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
13 you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
14 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
15 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
16 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
17 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
18 “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
19 When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
20 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
21 He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
22 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
25 For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
27 Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
28 Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
30 Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
33 Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
34 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
35 Cry out, “Save us, God our Savior;
gather us and deliver us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name,
and glory in your praise.”
36 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”
37 David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly, according to each day’s requirements.38 He also left Obed-Edom and his sixty-eight associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were gatekeepers.
39 David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon 40 to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, in accordance with everything written in the Law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. 41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, “for his love endures forever.” 42 Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.
43 Then all the people left, each for their own home, and David returned home to bless his family.
Go Deeper
To recap what we have previously read, David has just become King, and his kingdom has been highly exalted by the Lord (1 Chronicles 14:2). King David gets the idea to bring back the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. In the book of Exodus, God gave the Israelites specific instructions to build a tabernacle and how to properly move the Ark of the Covenant, which would be a place where the people would go to worship Him.
The tabernacle (also known as the Tent of Meeting) was split between the place where the Israelites worshiped and what was called the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and God dwelled. The Ark of the Covenant contained a copy of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s staff, and manna. David assembled the people to bring the Ark of God from Kiriath-Jearim back to Jerusalem. However, the first attempt to bring it back was unsuccessful because David did not have the Levites to collect the Ark as he was instructed to do. The Levites brought the Ark of the Covenant successfully into Jerusalem, it was placed inside the tent, and the party began! The presence of God was with them.
There were shouts of joy in Israel paired with the sound of trumpets, horns, and harps playing in celebration. They offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord as an act of worship. The burnt offerings represented a consecration and complete devotion to God as well as an acknowledgement of their sin nature. The fellowship offerings were voluntary, and it symbolized peace with God. There were worship leaders that were chosen to lead the people in praise of the God of Israel. It says that David “appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel” (v. 4). There were numerous Levites that David chose to lead, and a man named Asaph was one of them. David composed a psalm of thanksgiving and delivered it to the head musician Asaph to be sung before the Ark of the Covenant.
David’s psalm of thanksgiving is taken from a few psalms. Verses 8-23 are taken from Psalm 105 and verses 23-33 are taken from Psalm 96. We see clearly in this passage that God had been faithful to His people, and the only right response to Him is praise. A key verse for this chapter is, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; His faithful love endures forever” (v. 34). There were and there are so many reasons to give thanks to the Lord. Just as the Israelites celebrated the presence of the Lord being with them, we can celebrate as believers that we have the Spirit of God inside of us. We might not always feel like praising God, but He is always worthy. We have to constantly remind ourselves of His faithfulness towards us. In the midst of the busyness, pain, and trials in life, we need to remember His promises that are true and His Word that will never fail. We need to call to mind His goodness and love for us.
As we are going about our day, may we have a greater awareness of God’s presence. Would our lives be a true and proper act of worship to the King. Would we love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Would we declare to others the ways He has brought us from death to life. Would we gain perspective on the ways He has provided for us. Would we give thanks to His holy name and delight in his unchanging character! Would we rejoice in Him always, no matter what we are walking through. He is worthy of our worship, He is worthy of our praise, and He is worthy of our lives. His faithful love endures forever!
Questions
- How has God been faithful to you? Can you think of a time recently that you doubted the faithfulness of God?
- What are some ways that you worship the Lord?
- What can you give thanks to the Lord for today? Spent time thanking Him for His faithfulness!
By the Way
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6 responses to “1 Chronicles 16”
Trust
Remember
I am struggling to trust and God is so faithful to show me that He is bigger than the box I place Him in. Remember ALL, ALL that I have done for you, He told me. Quit having a small view of Me, He said (ugg, a stab in the heart). Test me, prove me and I will pour out blessing on you. Mal 3:10. Remember ALL, ALL, I have done for you.
8 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
10 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
11 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
God forgive me for seeing You small. I know that I know deep in my knower that You are with me and will not forsake me. God I open my hands and heart to You this day! God I amgiving thanks to You and will make sure I make Your deeds be known among the people. I will sing to You praises of all Your wonderous works. God I give glory to Your Holy name and rejoice!! God I seek You today in these minutes of this day continually and will remember and tell of Your wonderous works in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
May this be so in our nation and may we celebrate with deepest gratitude that no matter the circumstances, our God reigns!
7 That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:
We are called to praise! Best take it seriously!
Some helpful scripture memory songs from this chapter . . .
https://open.spotify.com/track/18PcnJ4zNgJjNotvPldAs9?si=C1sp1BJXRJ6gFnvWWdR_yw
https://open.spotify.com/track/18PcnJ4zNgJjNotvPldAs9?si=uATe9GtNSIKT0wkE4L6qWQ
https://open.spotify.com/track/2rPKU8o7ibArLuKNYUEbQC?si=Fd0li2sqSpaEsQMeX6o5PA
I love that you shared this, Erik!
I was thinking exactly the same thing. See my comments below.
For days I’ve been saying, “I can’t believe how much I’m getting out of 1 Chronicles.” I expect it to be dry… and then I read something beautiful. I expect I’ll struggle to find application… then find something that speaks directly into my life.
This is already a very rich passage, but to be honest, I had forgotten that a favorite memory verse I used to sing was tucked inside. It wasn’t until I read all the way through that I found this one verse calling me back to powerful memories—and leading me to some interesting questions. As soon as I read it, I could hear the music again.
When our family started attending Harris Creek Baptist Church, one of its children’s programs was Bible Drill.
Children’s Bible Drill is a discipleship program for children (grades 4-6). Bible Drill helps children increase their knowledge of the Bible by learning to locate Bible books and key passages of Scripture, memorizing the names of the books of the Bible in order and memorizing core Bible verses. By the end of this three-year program, students have learned 30 key passages and 75 memory verses.
I can’t begin to say how much we loved this, and how important it was to our family! All four of our children went through Bible drill, and eventually Brent and I would go on to teach it at Harris Creek for a number of years.
One of our favorite memory aids was listening to verses set to music. And one of those verses comes from today’s chapter. It’s been 10+ years since I’ve listened to it, but I still remember it clearly:
“Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name; make known among the peoples what he has done.”
-1 Chronicles 16:8
Given the Bible contains over 30,000 verses, I was curious as to why this particular one was selected to be one of the Bible Drill memory verses. Here’s what I found:
“1 Chronicles 16:8 is included in children’s Bible drill because it teaches core spiritual disciplines in an accessible way. For children, the verse provides a straightforward command to practice gratitude, prayer, and sharing their faith with others.
The passage comes from a song of praise King David wrote after bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, emphasizing worship, remembrance of God’s faithfulness, and declaring his glory.
Its short, clear, three-part command makes it easy to memorize and apply—and helps children grasp the value of sharing their faith, a precursor to the Great Commission.”
The explanation fits perfectly, doesn’t it? While Bible Drill is designed for children, these same truths apply to us all. The entire song in 1 Chronicles 16 emphasizes worship, remembrance of God’s faithfulness, and declaring his glory—core actions that remain central to our own walk with Him.
This verse reminds us that giving thanks, calling on His name, and making known what He has done aren’t just children’s lessons to memorize.
They are lifelong rhythms of faith we ALL practice and share.
David’s psalm of thanks in this chapter is a beautiful example of worship. He encourages us to “sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders” (1 Chronicles 16:9).
Worship isn’t just a duty; it’s a joyful expression of our love for God. Let your heart overflow with gratitude and praise, making worship a vibrant part of your daily routine.