Proclaim His Salvation Day After Day

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1 CHRONICLES 15:1-16:36 | ROMANS 1:18-32 | PSALM 10:1-15 | PROVERBS 19:6-7

There is considerable detail afforded in these chapters that describes how David had the Ark brought in, had it established in a certain manner temporarily until the Temple is built, and appoints the Levites as the people who are to handle it and care for its maintenance.  Beyond all this, David also appoints musicians to sing praises to the Lord, and he himself composes one prayer, which is most likely one of the very first psalms that he pens. 

So beautiful is it in its simplicity of extolling the praises of the Almighty and in chronicling the long history of the Hebrew people, that I reproduce it here in its entirety:

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.

Turning next to our reading in the book of Romans, we find Paul outlining the many reasons in the utmost detail for the wrath of God to have descended upon the earth at varying times.  One thinks of the times of Noah and Lot when God’s wrath burned so deeply that we see evidence of God turning his face away from all humanity.  Paul speaks of the specific points of our weaknesses and ills that are abhorrent to God. 

He says:  ²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

We now turn to our psalm of the day, and find one in which David is waxing long and loud about the perceived injustice of God overlooking the evil-doers.  And yet, he is not quick to despair.  In these verses, he affirms God’s power and provision, as always:

¹⁴ But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

Finally, a couple of verses from the book of Proverbs that highlight the usual state of affairs with respect to the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.  Solomon, the wise king of Israel observes:

⁶ Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts. ⁷ The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.

May God bless the reading and reflection of His Word.