God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 16:23-26 The Psalm of the Ark Part 3
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, January 16, 2024
23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Tell of his salvation from day to day.
24 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all the peoples.
The first order of worship is to give glory to God. Here in two verses David describes this giving of glory (in other words, preaching) in three stages or venues. First, we sing to God himself. This praise is the general praise of all worship (shiru, a qal imperative, is the simple act of singing). The music and cadence of worship helps the glory of God to remain in our minds and makes it easy to recall. This is not only true of music, but it’s also true of such learning tools as the creeds and the catechism.
Second, we “tell of his salvation.” Here the verb is the piel basru, “bear tidings,” a repetitive action of telling again and again, multiple times. This use of the verb is also hinted at with the expression “day after day,” miyom el-yom (from day to day). The same piel stem can focus on the aim or intended result of the telling as well: the proclamation of God’s salvation is done to create and sustain faith and to make God’s people aware of God’s plan of salvation.
Third, we “declare his glory… and his marvelous deeds.” To declare is another piel verb, saphru “recount, retell.” It, too, carries a repetitive idea, and also the idea of aim or end result. To tell and retell the great deeds of the Lord is done with the object of faith and trust in God above all things. The description “marvelous” is an interesting Hebrew word, a participle from the root pala’, “to be extraordinary” or “to be wonderful; difficult to understand.” God said to Samson’s father Manoah, “Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful!” (NIV “beyond understanding,” Judges 13:18). How marvelous and wonderful are all the things God has done for us through his Son Jesus Christ! “Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 15:1). “Confess the great and wonderful works of God,” “You are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible!” “We will call him blessed, for he has done wonderful things among his people.”
25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Three descriptions of God unfold in verse 25: “Great, to be praised greatly, to be feared above….” Notice the ladder-climbing effect of the verse with those thoughts, since each of the three descriptions increases the idea, finally coming to “above all gods.” And yet, as we know, the gods of the nations are nothing but idols (verse 26), whereas the true God the Lord, is the one who made the heavens. The word for “idols” in verse 26 is ’elilim, “petty gods, nothings.” “A man who makes an idol trusts in his own creation! He makes ‘petty gods’ that cannot speak” (Habakkuk 2:18).
The question is sometimes asked, is the word “God” a title (an apellative), or a truly proper name? This was raised by a sect called the Photinians, a group that denied the Deity of Christ, saying “the word ‘God’ is the name of an office and responsibility rather than of nature and essence” (Eniedinus, writing on John chapter 1). But there is a proper and a modified understanding of the word. When the name “God” is used for others besides the true God, it is always modified by restrictions added by the text of the Scripture. So we always find references such as “so-called gods” (1 Corinthians 8:5); and the true God is the “God whom no one is like” (Exodus 8:10; Jeremiah 10:7). He is the “God of gods” (Psalm 136:2), but they are never “gods of or over the one God.” He is “the Great God above all gods” (Psalm 95:3); they are not “gods above the Great god.” The true God, the Great God, is “God by nature,” and the false gods, the idols, “by nature are not gods” (Galatians 4:8). In general, “Wherever the name ‘God’ is used, we must take it in a literal sense unless the circumstances of the text show the contrary.” The clearest example is when he says, “I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:22), and again, “I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah 46:9). Jesus said, “If God were your Father, you would love me” (John 8:42). And Paul greets his peers by saying, “Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord,” using name followed by title (1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4).
David’s simple statement of praise is that “all of the gods of the people are idols,” nothing but worthless nothings, “but the LORD made the heavens.” Our God is the one who created all things, the one who rescued us from the guilt of our sins, and the one who fills us with his Spirit, has brought us to faith, and sustains our faith through his word and sacrament until in death we are at last set free from sin and are brought to his side forever. There is no idol, no godling, no petty god or nothing-god, that hears our prayers, Only the true God, the God of all, listens to his people and answers them; only he invites us to pray boldly.
Dear heavenly Father, bless the spirits of our loved ones who are already with you in heaven. Bless and watch over their bodies, waiting for the resurrection. And bless their memories in our hearts, through Jesus our Lord. Amen.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.