Todays readings.. 1 Chronicles 16, Ezekiel 28, Galations 1&2
“AN EVERLASTING COVENANT TO ISRAEL”
What was this covenant – that was everlasting? It was the action of God that brought this covenant into being! Bible readers should be very conscious of this as they have watched the friction in the Middle East about the ownership of the Holy Land over the last 50 years, especially if we are old enough to remember the events of 1947/8. Look at Leviticus 25 and the references to “49 years” in v. 8 and the next 2 verses!
We read today in Chronicles of David’s Psalm that he wrote for the people to sing on the day “they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it.” [1 Chron. 16 v.1] “Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the Lord” [v.7] and he gave Asaph this Psalm. Its initial emphasis is thanksgiving: “Oh give thanks to the LORD call upon his name; make known his deeds … let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually” [v,8,10,11]
After this, the psalm in our Chronicles chapter today is about the relationship God has established with his people, called a covenant.
The people would sing, “Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel.” [v.15-17]
His covenant with Abraham was that “all the land of Canaan (would be his) for an everlasting possession” [Genesis 17 v.8] The Psalm they sang includes the words, “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations” [v.35]
God inspired David to write of the future – and the greatest vision of the future is – “Worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness; tremble before him all the earth … let the earth rejoice, let them say among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns!’ … for he comes to judge the earth. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” [ v.29-34] May we be there to “rejoice.”
How long now before the nations say “The LORD reigns” we do not know – but we should live our lives so that, one day, maybe very soon, our eyes will see and our voices sing, “The LORD reigns.”
